05-05-2024  4:19 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Safety Lapses Contributed to Patient Assaults at Oregon State Hospital

A federal report says safety lapses at the Oregon State Hospital contributed to recent patient-on-patient assaults. The report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services investigated a recent choking attack and sexual assault, among other incidents. It found that staff didn't always adequately supervise their patients, and that the hospital didn't fully investigate the incidents. In a statement, the hospital said it was dedicated to its patients and working to improve conditions. It has 10 days from receiving the report to submit a plan of correction. The hospital is Oregon's most secure inpatient psychiatric facility

Police Detain Driver Who Accelerated Toward Protesters at Portland State University in Oregon

The Portland Police Bureau said in a written statement late Thursday afternoon that the man was taken to a hospital on a police mental health hold. They did not release his name. The vehicle appeared to accelerate from a stop toward the crowd but braked before it reached anyone. 

Portland Government Will Change On Jan. 1. The City’s Transition Team Explains What We Can Expect.

‘It’s a learning curve that everyone has to be intentional about‘

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.

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...

Escaped zebra captured near Seattle after gallivanting around Cascade mountain foothills for days

SEATTLE (AP) — A zebra that has been hoofing through the foothills of western Washington for days was recaptured Friday evening, nearly a week after she escaped with three other zebras from a trailer near Seattle. Local residents and animal control officers corralled the zebra...

Safety lapses contributed to patient assaults at Oregon State Hospital, federal report says

Safety lapses at the Oregon State Hospital contributed to recent patient-on-patient assaults, a federal report on the state's most secure inpatient psychiatric facility has found. The investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that staff didn't always...

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

As US spotlights those missing or dead in Native communities, prosecutors work to solve their cases

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It was a frigid winter morning when authorities found a Native American man dead on a remote gravel road in western New Mexico. He was lying on his side, with only one sock on, his clothes gone and his shoes tossed in the snow. There were trails of blood on...

Biden awards the Medal of Freedom to Nancy Pelosi, Medgar Evers, Michelle Yeoh and 16 others

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 19 people, including civil rights icons such as the late Medgar Evers, prominent political leaders such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn, and actor Michelle Yeoh. ...

With a vest and a voice, helpers escort kids through San Francisco’s broken Tenderloin streets

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Wearing a bright safety vest with the words “Safe Passage” on the back, Tatiana Alabsi strides through San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood to its only public elementary school, navigating broken bottles and stained sleeping bags along tired streets that occasionally...

ENTERTAINMENT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 5-11

Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 5-11: May 5: Actor Michael Murphy is 86. Actor Lance Henriksen (“Millennium,” ″Aliens”) is 84. Comedian-actor Michael Palin (Monty Python) is 81. Actor John Rhys-Davies (“Lord of the Rings,” ″Raiders of the Lost Ark”) is 80....

Select list of nominees for 2024 Tony Awards

NEW YORK (AP) — Select nominations for the 2024 Tony Awards, announced Tuesday. Best Musical: “Hell's Kitchen'': ”Illinoise"; “The Outsiders”; “Suffs”; “Water for Elephants” Best Play: “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”; “Mary Jane”; “Mother...

Book Review: 'Crow Talk' provides a path for healing in a meditative and hopeful novel on grief

Crows have long been associated with death, but Eileen Garvin’s novel “Crow Talk” offers a fresh perspective; creepy, dark and morbid becomes beautiful, wondrous and transformative. “Crow Talk” provides a path for healing in a meditative and hopeful novel on grief, largely...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Hush money, catch and kill and more: A guide to unique terms used at Trump’s New York criminal trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial is full of terms you don’t typically hear in a...

Ukraine marks its third Easter at war as it comes under fire from Russian drones and troops

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As Ukraine marked its third Easter at war, Russia on Sunday launched a barrage of drones...

As Putin begins another 6-year term, he is entering a new era of extraordinary power in Russia

Just a few months short of a quarter-century as Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday will put his hand on a...

Australian police shoot dead a boy, 16, armed with a knife after he stabbed a man in Perth

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A 16-year-old boy armed with a knife was shot dead by police after he stabbed a man...

Afghanistan's only female diplomat resigns in India after gold smuggling allegations

ISLAMABAD (AP) — An Afghan diplomat in India, who was appointed before the Taliban seized power in 2021 and said...

The UN warns Sudan's warring parties that Darfur risks starvation and death if aid isn't allowed in

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations food agency warned Sudan’s warring parties Friday that there is a...

Linda Deutsch and Anthony Mccartney the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An attorney for the promoter of Michael Jackson's final concerts said Wednesday the singer's personal physician asked the company for life-saving equipment just days before the pop superstar's death.

Kathy Jorrie, who works for concert giant AEG Live, testified at the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray that she questioned some of the doctor's requests, which also included the possibility of hiring a second doctor to assist him.

"Dr. Murray told me Michael Jackson was perfectly healthy, in excellent condition," Jorrie testified.

She said Murray told her not to worry about Jackson's condition.

"He's great," she recounted the doctor telling her in a conversation the day before Jackson's death.

Murray asked for a CPR machine in case one wasn't available at the concert venue at London's O2 arena, Jorrie explained.

Prosecutors allege Murray caused Jackson's death by providing him with a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol and other sedatives without the proper lifesaving equipment or skills.

Other testimony came from Jackson's former personal assistant, Michael Amir Williams, who recounted a 35-second phone conversation with Murray on the day Jackson died.

"He said `Get here right away, Mr. Jackson had a bad reaction. Get somebody up here immediately,'" Williams told the jury.

He said the doctor never told him to call 911 or described Jackson's condition.

Williams said he arrived at Jackson's mansion just as the singer was being loaded into an ambulance. He saw Murray, who he described as "frantic."

Earlier in the day, a promoter told jurors that Jackson appeared strong during one of the final rehearsals for the highly anticipated comeback concerts.

Paul Gongaware, an executive for AEG Live, said Jackson seemed engaged and energetic during the rehearsal just two days before he died.

Prosecutors called Gongaware to demonstrate the importance of the concerts and in an apparent attempt to show that both the singer and his physician were deeply engaged in preparations for the show before Jackson died on June 25, 2009.

Gongaware also testified that he saw Murray at one of Jackson's rehearsals after people affiliated with the planned concerts complained that the singer had been missing some of the sessions.

Prosecutors wrapped up their direct questioning of Gongaware before defense attorney Ed Chernoff briefly questioned the executive.

Under the cross-examination, Gongaware acknowledged AEG is being sued by Jackson's mother for negligent supervision of Murray when he worked with Jackson.

Jorrie also testified about drafting a contract for Murray to work as Jackson's personal physician.

At one point in negotiations, Murray requested his contract be modified to allow him to hire another physician in case he was tired or unavailable while Jackson was performing in London, she testified.

"He wanted to make sure that there was somebody else available to be of assistance," Jorrie said.

In opening statements Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said Murray delayed summoning emergency crews and lied to doctors and medics when he failed to reveal he had been giving Jackson the medications to try to help the entertainer sleep.

Chernoff claimed Jackson gave himself a fatal dose of medication in a desperate attempt to get some sleep.

He said Murray had been trying to wean Jackson off propofol, but the entertainer kept requesting it on the day he died.

"Michael Jackson started begging," Chernoff said. "When Michael Jackson told Dr. Murray, `I have to sleep. They will cancel my performance,' he meant it."

Prosecutors rejected Murray's version and told jurors the Houston-based cardiologist also had a tremendous stake in Jackson appearing in the concerts.

The doctor had initially asked to be paid $5 million a year for working with Jackson, but Gongaware said he immediately rejected the proposal. Instead, Murray accepted an offer to become Jackson's doctor for $150,000 a month - a sum he was never paid because his contract hadn't been signed before Jackson's death.

Murray has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison and have to relinquish his medical license.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast