04-25-2024  5:42 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

A Conservative Quest to Limit Diversity Programs Gains Momentum in States

In support of DEI, Oregon and Washington have forged ahead with legislation to expand their emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion in government and education.

Epiphanny Prince Hired by Liberty in Front Office Job Day After Retiring

A day after announcing her retirement, Epiphanny Prince has a new job working with the New York Liberty as director of player and community engagement. Prince will serve on the basketball operations and business staffs, bringing her 14 years of WNBA experience to the franchise. 

The Drug War Devastated Black and Other Minority Communities. Is Marijuana Legalization Helping?

A major argument for legalizing the adult use of cannabis after 75 years of prohibition was to stop the harm caused by disproportionate enforcement of drug laws in Black, Latino and other minority communities. But efforts to help those most affected participate in the newly legal sector have been halting. 

Lessons for Cities from Seattle’s Racial and Social Justice Law 

 Seattle is marking the first anniversary of its landmark Race and Social Justice Initiative ordinance. Signed into law in April 2023, the ordinance highlights race and racism because of the pervasive inequities experienced by people of color

NEWS BRIEFS

Mt. Tabor Park Selected for National Initiative

Mt. Tabor Park is the only Oregon park and one of just 24 nationally to receive honor. ...

OHCS, BuildUp Oregon Launch Program to Expand Early Childhood Education Access Statewide

Funds include million for developing early care and education facilities co-located with affordable housing. ...

Governor Kotek Announces Chief of Staff, New Office Leadership

Governor expands executive team and names new Housing and Homelessness Initiative Director ...

Governor Kotek Announces Investment in New CHIPS Child Care Fund

5 Million dollars from Oregon CHIPS Act to be allocated to new Child Care Fund ...

Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge US to prosecute the company

Boeing said Wednesday that it lost 5 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers. ...

Authorities confirm 2nd victim of ex-Washington officer was 17-year-old with whom he had a baby

WEST RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — Authorities on Wednesday confirmed that a body found at the home of a former Washington state police officer who killed his ex-wife before fleeing to Oregon, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was that of a 17-year-old girl with whom he had a baby. ...

Missouri hires Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch for the same role with the Tigers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri hired longtime college administrator Laird Veatch to be its athletic director on Tuesday, bringing him back to campus 14 years after he departed for a series of other positions that culminated with five years spent as the AD at Memphis. Veatch...

KC Current owners announce plans for stadium district along the Kansas City riverfront

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The ownership group of the Kansas City Current announced plans Monday for the development of the Missouri River waterfront, where the club recently opened a purpose-built stadium for the National Women's Soccer League team. CPKC Stadium will serve as the hub...

OPINION

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...

OP-ED: Embracing Black Men’s Voices: Rebuilding Trust and Unity in the Democratic Party

The decision of many Black men to disengage from the Democratic Party is rooted in a complex interplay of historical disenchantment, unmet promises, and a sense of disillusionment with the political establishment. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Bishop stabbed during Sydney church service backs X's legal case to share video of the attack

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A Sydney bishop who was stabbed repeatedly in an alleged extremist attack blamed on a teenager has backed X Corp. owner Elon Musk’s legal bid to overturn an Australian ban on sharing graphic video of the attack on social media. A live stream of the...

Biden just signed a bill that could ban TikTok. His campaign plans to stay on the app anyway

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden showed off his putting during a campaign stop at a public golf course in Michigan last month, the moment was captured on TikTok. Forced inside by a rainstorm, he competed with 13-year-old Hurley “HJ” Coleman IV to make putts on a...

2021 death of young Black man at rural Missouri home was self-inflicted, FBI tells AP

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal investigation has concluded that a young Black man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a rural Missouri home, not at the hands of the white homeowner who had a history of racist social media postings, an FBI official told The Associated Press Wednesday. ...

ENTERTAINMENT

Music Review: Jazz pianist Fred Hersch creates subdued, lovely colors on 'Silent, Listening'

Jazz pianist Fred Hersch fully embraces the freedom that comes with improvisation on his solo album “Silent, Listening,” spontaneously composing and performing tunes that are often without melody, meter or form. Listening to them can be challenging and rewarding. The many-time...

Book Review: 'Nothing But the Bones' is a compelling noir novel at a breakneck pace

Nelson “Nails” McKenna isn’t very bright, stumbles over his words and often says what he’s thinking without realizing it. We first meet him as a boy reading a superhero comic on the banks of a river in his backcountry hometown in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia....

Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots to headline the BET Experience concerts in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots will headline concerts to celebrate the return of the BET Experience in Los Angeles just days before the 2024 BET Awards. BET announced Monday the star-studded lineup of the concert series, which makes a return after a...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

The Latest | Israeli strikes in Rafah kill at least 5 as ship comes under attack in the Gulf of Aden

Palestinian hospital officials said Israeli airstrikes on the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip killed at...

Columbia's president, no stranger to complex challenges, walks tightrope on student protests

Columbia University president Minouche Shafik is no stranger to navigating complex international issues, having...

US growth likely slowed last quarter but still pointed to a solid economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Coming off a robust end to 2023, the U.S. economy is thought to have extended its surprisingly...

Turkish rail officials jailed for more than 108 years for crash that left 25 dead

ISTANBUL (AP) — A court in Turkey sentenced nine rail officials to more than 108 years' imprisonment over a...

Russia fines actress who hosted 'almost naked' party over her calls for peace

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Moscow court on Thursday imposed a 50,000-ruble (0) fine on a TV presenter and...

Controversy over spiked antifascist speech dominates Italy's Liberation Day anniversary

ROME (AP) — Italy on Thursday marked its liberation from Nazi occupation and fascist rule amid a fresh media...

Lisa Loving of The Skanner

Mayor Sam Adams and Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman this afternoon announced they'll be joining with Black leaders to call for a U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights investigation into the fatal police shooting of Aaron Campbell.
Saltzman staffer Shannon Callahan confirmed the coalition of elected and community leaders will request a federal investigation into the shooting "and the larger issue of the Portland Police Bureau."
"It's a highly fluid situation," Callahan told The Skanner News.
The official announcement is set for Friday, Feb. 19 at 9:30 at the Northeast Precinct, while at noon another protest march is set for 3 p.m. at Pioneer Courthouse Square to urge Oregon Attorney General John Kroger to launch an investigation into the police shooting of Aaron Campbell.
For his part, Kroger had already scheduled a special event Friday Feb. 19 at Portland state University to flesh out his priorities for the state's new Civil Rights Unit, and introduce its new chief, Assistant Attorney General Diane Schwartz.
That event starts at 3:30 p.m., at the Urban Center, Room 250, at Southwest Fifth and Mill Streets.
Also today the Multnomah County District Attorney released a 454-page transcript of the Grand Jury proceedings into the Campbell shooting, plus a transcript of the 9-1-1 call that triggered the police response and the Medical Examiner's report.
The medical document failed to specify a time of death for Campbell, 25, who did not receive medical attention after being beanbag-gunned, attacked by a German shepherd and shot in the back with an AR-15 rifle.
The police report released Tuesday indicated Campbell was handcuffed by a SERT team that approached him using a shield, about 20 minutes after he was shot.
He was left lying face down on the wet pavement of a parking lot until he was confirmed dead, the police report showed. The Medical Examiner's report confirmed he died from a single gunshot to the back.

Rev. Jesse Jackson – who spoke to Portlanders Wednesday night at Marantha Church – inspired a hundreds-strong rally Wednesday at noon, protesting Frashour's return to duty. The group stormed City Hall, demanding to speak with Mayor Sam Adams, who met with Campbell family members after a tense confrontation.
Also this week, Officer Ronald Frashour, who pulled the AR-15 trigger that killed Campbell, was revealed to be the subject of two lawsuits that arose from one domestic violence dispute in 2007, according to the Oregonian newspaper.
A Citizens Review Committee hearing Wednesday on a third complaint against Frashour saw the panel take the unusual step of voting to change the findings of Chief Rosie Sizer's ruling that Frashour used undue force in Tasering a man videotaping a police search for a jaywalker in a junkyard. Frashour had claimed he thought the man might use the camera as a weapon.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast