05-18-2024  7:40 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

AP Decision Notes: What to Expect in Oregon's Primaries

Oregon has multiple hotly contested primaries upcoming, as well as some that will set the stage for high-profile races in November. Oregon's 5th Congressional District is home to one of the top Democratic primaries in the country.

Iconic Skanner Building Will Become Healing Space as The Skanner Continues Online

New owner strives to keep spirit of business intact during renovations.

No Criminal Charges in Rare Liquor Probe at OLCC, State Report Says

The investigation examined whether employees of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission improperly used their positions to obtain bottles of top-shelf bourbon for personal use.

Portland OKs New Homeless Camping Rules That Threaten Fines or Jail in Some Cases

The mayor's office says it seeks to comply with a state law requiring cities to have “objectively reasonable” restrictions on camping.

NEWS BRIEFS

Rose Festival Announces Starlight Parade Grand Marshal

The Portland Rose Festival announced today the 2024 CareOregon Starlight Parade Grand Marshal is Jenny Nguyen, founder and CEO of The...

Oregon Community Foundation Welcomes New Board Members

Oregon Community Foundation’s Board of Directors has elected two new members who bring extensive experience in community engagement...

Governor Kotek Issues Statement on Role of First Spouse

"I take responsibility for not being more thoughtful in my approach to exploring the role of the First Spouse." ...

Legislature Makes Major Investments to Increase Housing Affordability and Expand Treatment in Multnomah County

Over million in new funding will help build a behavioral health drop in center, expand violence prevention programs, and...

Poor People’s Campaign and National Partners Announce, “Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C. and to the Polls” Ahead of 2024 Elections

Scheduled for June 29th, the “Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C.: A Call to...

For decades, states have taken foster children's federal benefits. That's starting to change

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — By the time Jesse Fernandez turned 18, the federal government had paid out thousands of dollars in Social Security survivor's benefits because of the death of his mother. But Jesse's bank account was empty. The money had all been used by Missouri's foster...

A man investigated in the deaths of women in northwest Oregon has been indicted in 3 killings

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man who has been under investigation in the deaths of four women whose bodies were found scattered across northwest Oregon last year has been indicted in two of those killings — as well as in the death of a woman whose body was found in Washington state. A...

Defending national champion LSU boosts its postseason hopes with series win against Texas A&M

With two weeks left in the regular season, LSU is scrambling to avoid becoming the third straight defending national champion to miss the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers (31-18, 9-15) won two of three against then-No. 1 Texas A&M to take a giant step over the weekend, but they...

The Bo Nix era begins in Denver, and the Broncos also drafted his top target at Oregon

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — For the first time in his 17 seasons as a coach, Sean Payton has a rookie quarterback to nurture. Payton's Denver Broncos took Bo Nix in the first round of the NFL draft. The coach then helped out both himself and Nix by moving up to draft his new QB's top...

OPINION

The Skanner News May 2024 Primary Endorsements

Read The Skanner News endorsements and vote today. Candidates for mayor and city council will appear on the November general election ballot. ...

Nation’s Growing Racial and Gender Wealth Gaps Need Policy Reform

Never-married Black women have 8 cents in wealth for every dollar held by while males. ...

New White House Plan Could Reduce or Eliminate Accumulated Interest for 30 Million Student Loan Borrowers

Multiple recent announcements from the Biden administration offer new hope for the 43.2 million borrowers hoping to get relief from the onerous burden of a collective

Op-Ed: Why MAGA Policies Are Detrimental to Black Communities

NNPA NEWSWIRE – MAGA proponents peddle baseless claims of widespread voter fraud to justify voter suppression tactics that disproportionately target Black voters. From restrictive voter ID laws to purging voter rolls to limiting early voting hours, these...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Even with school choice, some Black families find options lacking decades after Brown v. Board

Since first grade, Julian Morris, 16, has changed schools six times, swinging between predominantly white and predominantly Black classrooms. None has met all his needs, his mother said. At predominantly white schools, he was challenged academically but felt less included. At...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave few pardons before rushing to clear Army officer who killed a protester

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — In issuing a full pardon to a former Army sergeant convicted of murder in the shooting death of an armed Black Lives Matter protestor, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pushed a limited executive power to its absolute limit to get a desired outcome in a politically charged...

Missouri candidate with ties to the KKK can stay on the Republican ballot, judge rules

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A longshot Missouri gubernatorial candidat e with ties to the Ku Klux Klan will stay on the Republican ticket, a judge ruled Friday. Cole County Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker denied a request by the Missouri GOP to kick Darrell McClanahan out of the...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: Anonymous public servants are the heart of George Stephanopoulos' 'Situation Room'

The biggest challenge for an author tackling the history of the Situation Room, the basement room of the White House where some of the biggest intelligence crises have been handled in recent decades, is the room itself. As a setting, it's pretty underwhelming. In “The Situation...

Book Review: A grandfather’s 1,500-page family history undergirds Claire Messud’s latest novel

Secrets and shame — every family has its share. When it came time to write her most autobiographical novel, Claire Messud relied on a 1,500-page family history compiled by her paternal grandfather. The result, “This Strange Eventful History,” sprawls over a third as many pages — 423, to be...

Movie Review: Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt deserve more than Netflix's ‘Mother of the Bride’

Romantic comedies are in a destination wedding rut. Perhaps it’s a collective post-COVID wanderlust kicking in, or, more cynically, some combination of tax credits and a place producers want to spend time. But between “ Ticket to Paradise,” “Anyone But You,” “ Shotgun Wedding ” and...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Even with school choice, some Black families find options lacking decades after Brown v. Board

Since first grade, Julian Morris, 16, has changed schools six times, swinging between predominantly white and...

Landslide forces closure of iconic Southern California chapel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's son

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (AP) — A decades-old landslide that’s rapidly accelerating has forced the...

Jesus is their savior, Trump is their candidate. Ex-president's backers say he shares faith, values

As Donald Trump increasingly infuses his campaign with Christian trappings while coasting to a third Republican...

As Japan's yakuza weakens, police focus shifts to unorganized crime hired via social media

TOKYO (AP) — A senior member of yakuza was arrested for allegedly stealing Pokemon cards near Tokyo in April, a...

Social divisions and hostile rhetoric in Slovakia provide fertile ground for political violence

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — When a gunman shot Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico this week, shock rippled across...

King Charles III to travel to France for UK ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III plans to travel to France next month for British ceremonies marking the 80th...

CNN




One week after an all-too-real scene befitting a movie played out on the famed Las Vegas Strip -- a pre-dawn shooting that sparked a deadly, fiery crash -- the man authorities suspect started it all is finally under arrest.


Ammar Asim Faruq Harris, 26, was apprehended around noon (3 p.m. ET) on Thursday in North Hollywood, California, said FBI spokeswoman Lourdes Arocho.



FBI agents and members of the Los Angeles Police Department's Fugitive Task Force made the arrest, according to Arocho.



Harris was detained "without incident" in the Los Angeles neighborhood and will be held pending extradition proceedings, Las Vegas police said in a news release.



"Mr. Harris is in custody, and that's where we hope to keep him," said Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Steiber.



This all went down 275 miles southwest from where, authorities say, Harris was at the wheel of a black Range Rover around 4:15 a.m. last Thursday when he pulled up to a Maserati and yelled at its driver, Kenneth Cherry, an aspiring rapper known as Kenny Clutch, a witness said, according to the arrest warrant. The Maserati's driver opened his window and the two then had a "very brief exchange" before the light turned green and they headed off.



A few minutes later, the Range Rover's driver opened fire -- in two separate bursts -- at the Maserati, which was heading north on Las Vegas Boulevard, authorities said.



The sequence ended with Cherry shot in the chest and arm. His vehicle collided with a taxi, which caught fire.



The crash killed cab driver Michael Boldon and a passenger, Washington state resident Sandra Sutton-Wasmund. The 27-year-old Cherry later died at a hospital.



"I can't imagine anything more serious than firing a weapon from a moving vehicle into another moving vehicle on a corner such as Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo," Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson said Thursday. "That is reckless. It disregards human life."



The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department identified Harris as the shooting suspect on Saturday, at which time they said his vehicle had been impounded. He had an "extensive and violent criminal history" and was considered armed and dangerous, according to police.



Harris is charged with three counts of murder and "other attendant felonies," according to Wolfson. The 11 charges include firing at a vehicle, firing from a vehicle and attempted murder, the criminal complaint states. Additional charges could be coming.



The whole scene played out February 21 in the middle of the Las Vegas tourist hub, closing a block and a half of the well-known boulevard near some of the Nevada city's biggest draws -- Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, Bally's and the Flamingo.



Seventeen years earlier, legendary rapper Tupac Shakur was shot dead two blocks from the accident scene.



On Tuesday, police said they looking for a woman in connection with the latest shooting, adding that she was believed to be inside the Range Rover when the shots were fired.



At the time, they characterized her as missing and possibly endangered.



The photos they released, however, showed the wrong woman. Earlier Thursday, Las Vegas police said they no longer considered the woman -- identified as Yenesis Alfonso, also known as Tineesha Howard -- "a missing person or a person of interest."



A woman who identified herself as Howard's mother told CNN that her daughter and Harris have been girlfriend and boyfriend for about a year.



Steiber said this woman indeed had been in the Range Rover that Thursday morning with Harris and "is safe." She and two other passengers in the vehicle "are not suspects" and authorities currently do not have any plans to charge them, the lieutenant said.



As to Harris, the local district attorney said all the information compiled thus far -- especially shooting into such a busy intersection, endangering an untold number of innocent people -- will be weighed in a decision on whether to seek the death penalty.



"There are certain consequences when you engage in that kind of behavior," Wolfson said. "Thank God only three people lost their lives ... It could have been worse."

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast