05-02-2024  3:51 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

What Marijuana Reclassification Means for the United States

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The Justice Department proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis but wouldn’t legalize it for recreational use. Some advocates for legalized weed say the move doesn't go far enough, while opponents say it goes too far.

US Long-Term Care Costs Are Sky-High, but Washington State’s New Way to Help Pay for Them Could Be Nixed

A group funded by hedge fund executive Brian Heywood is attempting to undermine the financial stability of Washington state's new long-term care social insurance program.

A Massive Powerball Win Draws Attention to a Little-Known Immigrant Culture in the US

An immigrant from Laos who has been battling cancer won an enormous jumi.3 billion Powerball jackpot in Oregon earlier this month. But Cheng “Charlie” Saephan's luck hasn't just changed his life — it's also drawn attention to Iu Mien, a southeast Asian ethnic group with origins in China, many of whose members fled from Laos to Thailand and then settled in the U.S. following the Vietnam War.

City Council Strikes Down Gonzalez’s ‘Inhumane’ Suggestion for Blanket Ban on Public Camping

Mayor Wheeler’s proposal for non-emergency ordinance will go to second reading.

NEWS BRIEFS

April 30 is the Registration Deadline for the May Primary Election

Voters can register or update their registration online at OregonVotes.gov until 11:59 p.m. on April 30. ...

Chair Jessica Vega Pederson Releases $3.96 Billion Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025

Investments will boost shelter and homeless services, tackle the fentanyl crisis, strengthen the safety net and support a...

New Funding Will Invest in Promising Oregon Technology and Science Startups

Today Business Oregon and its Oregon Innovation Council announced a million award to the Portland Seed Fund that will...

Unity in Prayer: Interfaith Vigil and Memorial Service Honoring Youth Affected by Violence

As part of the 2024 National Youth Violence Prevention Week, the Multnomah County Prevention and Health Promotion Community Adolescent...

Tension grows on UCLA campus as police order dispersal of large pro-Palestinian gathering

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Law enforcement on the UCLA campus donned riot gear Wednesday evening as they ordered the dispersal of over a thousand people who had gathered in support of a pro-Palestinian student encampment, warning over loudspeakers that anyone who refused to leave could face arrest. ...

Appeals court rejects climate change lawsuit by young Oregon activists against US government

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal appeals court panel on Wednesday rejected a long-running lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate activists who argued that the U.S. government's role in climate change violated their constitutional rights. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...

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...

Elliss, Jenkins, McCaffrey join Harrison and Alt in following their fathers into the NFL

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Marvin Harrison Jr., Joe Alt, Kris Jenkins, Jonah Ellis and Luke McCaffrey have turned the NFL draft into a family affair. The sons of former pro football stars, they've followed their fathers' formidable footsteps into the league. Elliss was...

OPINION

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...

Loving and Embracing the Differences in Our Youngest Learners

Yet our responsibility to all parents and society at large means we must do more to share insights, especially with underserved and under-resourced communities. ...

Gallup Finds Black Generational Divide on Affirmative Action

Each spring, many aspiring students and their families begin receiving college acceptance letters and offers of financial aid packages. This year’s college decisions will add yet another consideration: the effects of a 2023 Supreme Court, 6-3 ruling that...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Critics question if longtime Democratic congressman from Georgia is too old for reelection

CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — U.S. Rep. David Scott faces multiple Democratic primary opponents in his quest for a 12th congressional term in a sharply reconfigured suburban Atlanta district. But with early voting underway ahead of the May 21 primary elections, the 78-year-old is ignoring challengers and...

Hakeem Jeffries isn't speaker yet, but the Democrat may be the most powerful person in Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — Without wielding the gavel or holding a formal job laid out in the Constitution, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries might very well be the most powerful person in Congress right now. The minority leader of the House Democrats, it was Jeffries who provided the votes needed to...

Advocates say Supreme Court must preserve new, mostly Black US House district for 2024 elections

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Voting rights advocates said Wednesday they will go to the Supreme Court in hopes of preserving a new majority Black congressional district in Louisiana for the fall elections, the latest step in a complicated legal fight that could determine the fate of political careers and...

ENTERTAINMENT

Music Review: Neil Young delivers appropriately ragged, raw live version of 1990's 'Ragged Glory'

The venerable Neil Young offers a ragged and raw live take of his beloved 1990 album “Ragged Glory” with a new album, titled “Fu##in’ Up.” Of course, the 2024 version doesn't have the same semi-youthful energy that the 44-year-old Young put into the original. Maybe his voice...

Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi is 'tickled pink' to inspire a Barbie doll

Like many little girls, a young Kristi Yamaguchi loved playing with Barbie. With a schedule packed with ice skating practices, her Barbie dolls became her “best friends.” So, it's surreal for the decorated Olympian figure skater to now be a Barbie girl herself. ...

Book Review: Rachel Khong’s new novel 'Real Americans' explores race, class and cultural identity

In 2017 Rachel Khong wrote a slender, darkly comic novel, “Goodbye, Vitamin,” that picked up a number of accolades and was optioned for a film. Now she has followed up her debut effort with a sweeping, multigenerational saga that is twice as long and very serious. “Real...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Hakeem Jeffries isn't speaker yet, but the Democrat may be the most powerful person in Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — Without wielding the gavel or holding a formal job laid out in the Constitution, Rep. Hakeem...

Biden administration weighing measures to help Palestinians bring family from region

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is weighing measures to help Palestinians living in the United States...

What is at stake in UK local voting ahead of a looming general election

LONDON (AP) — Millions of voters in England and Wales will cast their ballots on Thursday in an array of local...

Ecuador defends raid on the Mexican Embassy and tells top UN court it acted to take in a criminal

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Ecuador on Wednesday defended its storming of the Mexican Embassy in Quito last...

Death toll jumps to at least 48 as a search continues in southern China highway collapse

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll from a collapsed highway in southeastern China climbed to 48 on Thursday as...

Cambodia's Defense Ministry says explosion at military base that killed 20 soldiers was an accident

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A huge explosion at a military base in southwestern Cambodia that killed 20 soldiers...

Gregory Pellechi and Elizabeth Joseph CNN

PHNOM PENH (CNN) -- More than 20 striking garment workers were injured this week, including two pregnant women, during clashes with police outside a factory in Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia, a labor leader said.

Roughly 4,000 workers have walked off the job at a factory owned by Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing, which supplies Nike and Lululemon Athletica.

They are demanding a $14 monthly increase, from the $74 they make now, said Say Sokmy, secretary-general of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Police used stun batons to disperse strikers on Monday, she said, injured more than twenty.

Both Nike and Lululemon released statements, expressing concern about the incident.

"As outlined in Nike's Code of Conduct, Nike requires its contract manufacturers to respect their employees' rights to freedom of association," the U.S.-based company said in a statement.

It continued: "Workers are employed by the contract factories, not by Nike, and wages and compensation are the responsibility of the factories. It is our understanding that this factory raised its own minimum wage on May 1 and pays above the country's minimum wage."

Vancouver-based Lululemon Athletica said its sustainability teams are monitoring events and are in daily contact with the factory to ensure workers' safety.

"We require all of our vendors to uphold and respect the workers' rights around the freedom of association and collective bargaining as stated in our lululemon Code of Ethics," said Therese Hayes, vice president of sustainability.

"The current situation deeply concerns us and we will continue to be in close contact with our factory partner, and take any immediate actions if necessary."

Both companies stressed that the factory is part of Better Factories Cambodia (BFC), a program established by the International Labor Organization to monitor workplaces and offer advice.

According to BFC, the garment industry employs some 400,000 workers and accounts for $4 billion, or roughly 80%, of Cambodia's total export revenue.

Most of what's made is exported to the European Union and the United States.

Journalist Gregory Pellechi reported from Phnom Penh; CNN's Elizabeth Joseph reported from Hong Kong.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast