05-02-2024  4:36 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...

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...

A new form of mpox that may spread more easily found in Congo's biggest outbreak

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo is struggling to contain its biggest mpox outbreak, and scientists say a new form...

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...

At time of rising antisemitism, Holocaust survivors take on denial and hate in new digital campaign

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Herbert Rubinstein was 5 years old when he and his mother where taken from the...

Mark Thompson CNN Money

LONDON (CNNMoney) -- Cyprus' banks will remain shut until Thursday to give regulators time to guard against a run on deposits, the Ministry of Finance announced Monday.

Cyprus agreed early Monday to raise billions of euros from big depositors at the Bank of Cyprus and Popular Bank of Cyprus, and to shrink its banking sector dramatically, in return for a €10 billion European Union rescue package.

The tiny island had allowed its banking industry to grow to about seven times the size of the economy, based on total assets, attracting depositors and businesses with its low rate of tax. But the banks were brought crashing down by losses on Greek government debt, pushing the country to the brink of bankruptcy.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said in a statement Monday that the bailout package would avert "the collapse and the bankruptcy of the state," and that the banking system "will be stabilized."

"The danger for the bankruptcy of Cyprus is definitely left behind and the tragic consequences for the economy and the society are averted," Anastasiades said. "I don't even want to think what our day would be tomorrow without an agreement."

The original terms of the bailout, announced on March 16, included a levy on all Cypriot deposits including those of less than €100,000 insured under EU rules. That provision was thrown out by Cypriot lawmakers but not before long queues had formed at ATMs as people rushed to withdraw their savings.

Limits on withdrawals were introduced and the banks remained shut all last week after the European Central Bank said it would cut off emergency funding if Cyprus was unable to agree to a bailout with the EU and International Monetary Fund. Monday was a scheduled bank holiday in Cyprus.

The ECB said Monday it would continue to provide emergency liquidity assistance, given the agreement on "restoring the viability of the Cypriot financial system," but would continue to monitor the situation closely.

By clinching a bailout, Cyprus has at least temporarily avoided financial collapse and secured its place in the eurozone, but will pay a high price as one of its main service industries contracts rapidly and foreign investors seek a safer home for their cash.

Deposits of over €100,000 at Bank of Cyprus and Popular Bank will be frozen until they have been restructured. Popular Bank will be split up, its viable assets and insured deposits transferred to Bank of Cyprus, and its non-performing loans moved into a bad bank that will be wound down.

Big depositors at Popular Bank face complete wipe-out, along with shareholders and bondholders.

The losses facing big depositors as part of a deposit-equity conversion at Bank of Cyprus have yet to be determined but could be around 30%, a Cypriot government minister said Monday. Again, shareholders and bondholders will be tapped first.

The Cypriot parliament last week gave the government powers to implement temporary capital controls, which would restrict depositors from moving their money out of the country. It remains unclear exactly what sort of restrictions will be implemented, however.

Anastasiades said in his statement that on Tuesday, Cyprus' Central Bank "will implement ... certain restrictive measures with regard to financial transactions," though he did not provide specifics.

"It concerns a very temporary measure, which will gradually be relaxed," he said. "I want to assure you that we will do whatever possible so that we can return soon to full normalcy."

CNN Wires staff and CNNMoney's James O'Toole contributed reporting.

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast