10-15-2024  12:04 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

The Skanner News Endorsements: Oregon Statewide Races

It’s a daunting task replacing progressive stalwart Earl Blumenauer, who served in the office for nearly three decades. If elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Clackamas) would be the first Black representative Oregon has ever sent to the U.S. Congress. This election offers many reasons to vote.

Washington State Voters will Reconsider Landmark Climate Law

Supporters of repealing the Climate Commitment Act say it has raised energy costs and gas prices. Those in favor of keeping it say billions of dollars and many programs will vanish if it disappears. The law is designed to cut pollution while raising money for investments that address climate change. 

In Pacific Northwest, 2 Toss-up US House Races Could Determine Control of Narrowly Divided Congress

Oregon’s GOP-held 5th Congressional District and Washington state’s Democratic-held 3rd Congressional District are considered toss ups, meaning either party has a good chance of winning. If Janelle Bynum wins in November, she'll be Oregon’s first Black member of Congress. 

Salmon Swim Freely in the Klamath River for 1st Time in a Century After Dams Removed

“It’s been over one hundred years since a wild salmon last swam through this reach of the Klamath River,” said Damon Goodman, a regional director for the nonprofit conservation group California Trout. “I am incredibly humbled to witness this moment and share this news, standing on the shoulders of decades of work by our Tribal partners, as the salmon return home."

NEWS BRIEFS

Senator Manning and Elected Officials to Tour a New Free Pre-Apprenticeship Program

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Prepare Your Trees for Winter Weather

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PSU’s Coty Raven Morris Named a Semifinalist for GRAMMY 2025 Music Educator Award

Morris, the Hinckley assistant professor of choir, music education and social justice, is one of just 25 music teachers selected as...

Washington State Fines 35 Plastic Producers $416,000 For Not Using Enough Recycled Plastic

The Washington Department of Ecology issued the first penalties under a 2021 state law aimed at reducing waste and pollution from...

Washington state's landmark climate law hangs in the balance this election

SEATTLE (AP) — A groundbreaking law that forces companies in Washington state to reduce their carbon emissions while raising billions of dollars for climate programs could be repealed by voters this fall, less than two years after it took effect. The Climate Commitment Act, one of...

AP Top 25: Oregon, Penn State move behind No. 1 Texas. Army, Navy both ranked for 1st time since '60

Oregon and Penn State each moved up a spot in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday following thrilling wins in high-profile games, and Top 25 newcomers Navy and Army are in the rankings together for the first time since 1960. Texas strengthened its hold on No. 1 with...

Luther Burden's long TD run gets No. 21 Missouri started in 45-3 rout of Minutemen

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — Missouri receiver Luther Burden scored on a 61-yard jet sweep less than a minute into the game, and the 21st-ranked Tigers went on to beat Massachusetts 45-3 on Saturday. “The first play Luther scored on I thought set the tone,” Missouri coach Eliah...

After blowout loss to Texas A&M, No. 21 Missouri hopes to bounce back against struggling UMass

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz is hoping his No. 21 Tigers can make people forget about their embarrassing 41-10 loss to then-No.25 Texas A&M. And that’s bad news for UMass (1-4). Mizzou (4-1) heads to Amherst, Massachusetts, on Saturday for...

OPINION

The Skanner News: 2024 City Government Endorsements

In the lead-up to a massive transformation of city government, the mayor’s office and 12 city council seats are open. These are our endorsements for candidates we find to be most aligned with the values of equity and progress in Portland, and who we feel...

No Cheek Left to Turn: Standing Up for Albina Head Start and the Low-Income Families it Serves is the Only Option

This month, Albina Head Start filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to defend itself against a misapplied rule that could force the program – and all the children it serves – to lose federal funding. ...

DOJ and State Attorneys General File Joint Consumer Lawsuit

In August, the Department of Justice and eight state Attorneys Generals filed a lawsuit charging RealPage Inc., a commercial revenue management software firm with providing apartment managers with illegal price fixing software data that violates...

America Needs Kamala Harris to Win

Because a 'House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand' ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Harris zeroes in on Black men, Trump focuses on women as both seek to fire up key voting blocs

DETROIT (AP) — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both pushed Tuesday to energize key constituencies that their allies worry might be slipping away, with the vice president looking to reach Black men and the former president focusing on women. Harris will appear at a town hall-style...

Ex-Louisville officer who fired shots in Breonna Taylor raid readies for 3rd trial

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former Louisville police officer accused of acting recklessly when he fired shots into Breonna Taylor’s windows the night of the deadly 2020 police raid is going on trial for a third time. Federal prosecutors will try again to convict Brett Hankison of...

Lowriding is more than just cars. It's about family and culture for Mexican Americans

CHICAGO (AP) — For Luis Martinez, competing in lowriding bike and car competitions is about more than glory and bragging rights. The lowrider clubs in the Chicago area have become like one big family and a source of mutual support. “It just starts with the metal,” said Martinez,...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: 'The Book of George' is a witty novel in lively episodes like a first-rate TV sitcom

“The Book of George” is a novel of many finely crafted, often funny moments that arrive episodically as the title character grows older. At first he’s a millennial kid, then a college guy as the Twin Towers fall on 9/11. In time George — he’s given no surname — graduates...

Book Review: 'Countdown 1960' shows parallels with this year's presidential election season

"Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 312 Days that Changed America's Politics Forever" is a look at a critical period in U.S. history that holds lessons for today. CNN news anchor Chris Wallace starts the book in January 1960, when U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy of...

Jack Nicholson, Spike Lee and Billy Crystal set to become basketball Hall of Famers as superfans

Back when the Lakers were putting on shows as good as anything coming out of Hollywood, the coolest guy in the building might've been courtside. Even across the country, everyone noticed Jack Nicholson. “Growing up, the guy I looked at was Jack Nicholson,” Spike Lee...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

US law entitles immigrant children to an education. Some conservatives say that should change

BOSTON (AP) — At a sparsely attended meeting last year, the Saugus Public School Committee approved a new...

Mexico is struggling to stamp out a homophobic soccer chant ahead of the World Cup

GUADALAJARA, México (AP) — Guadalajara is the capital of a Mexican state that is home to tequila and Mariachi...

Trump's economic plans would worsen inflation, experts say

WASHINGTON (AP) — With characteristic bravado, Donald Trump has vowed that if voters return him to the White...

Kenya's High Court rejects move to stop deputy president's impeachment debate

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's High Court on Tuesday rejected an application by the deputy president's lawyers to...

Israeli strike in northern Lebanon kills at least 21 people

AITO, Lebanon (AP) — An Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing at...

Russia releases man whose daughter's drawing opposed Ukraine fighting

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian man convicted of discrediting the military after his daughter made a drawing criticizing...

Rachel La Corte and Mike Baker the Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Washington's Legislature has enough votes to legalize gay marriage with a statement from Democratic Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen Monday who said she will support the measure, becoming the 25th vote needed to pass the bill out of the Senate. The House already has enough support, and Gov. Chris Gregoire has endorsed the plan.

Washington would become the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriages, following New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Washington state has had a domestic partnership law since 2007, and an "everything but marriage" law since 2009.

Haugen's announcement came has hundreds of people filled the capitol to advocate for and against gay marriage. State senators began considering the bill during a morning committee hearing.

"I know this announcement makes me the so-called 25th vote, the vote that ensures passage," Haugen said in a statement.

She said she took her time making up her mind to "to reconcile my religious beliefs with my beliefs as an American, as a legislator, and as a wife and mother who cannot deny to others the joys and benefits I enjoy. This is the right vote and it is the vote I will cast when this measure comes to the floor."

Opponents and supporters of gay marriage packed a Senate committee hearing Monday for the first public hearing of the most high-profile issue before the Washington state Legislature this session.

Dozens of people crammed into a small Senate committee hearing room, which was quickly filled to capacity as people lined up outside the room two hours in advance of the 10 a.m. start. The Senate set up three overflow areas for the public, including the public gallery on the Senate floor.

Opponents of gay marriage wore buttons that said "Marriage. One Man. One Woman." Others wore stickers that read "Washington United for Marriage," a group that announced in November that it was forming a coalition to support same-sex marriage legislation.

Democratic Sen. Ed Murray, a gay lawmaker from Seattle who has led the push for gay civil rights and domestic partnerships, testified before the Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections Committee with his longtime partner, Michael Shiosaki.

"I have waited 17 years to ask this body to consider marriage equality for gay and lesbian families," said Murray, who is sponsoring the Senate bill. "I realize the issue of marriage for our families is emotional and divisive. It touches what each of us holds most dear, our families."

Opponents argued that the measure goes against traditional marriage and the Bible.

"You are saying as a committee and a Legislature that you know better than God," said Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church.

The National Organization for Marriage issued a statement Monday morning pledging a referendum campaign to fight any gay marriage law at the ballot. Last week, the group announced that it would spend $250,000 to help fund primary challenges to any Republican who crosses party lines to vote for same-sex marriage in Washington state. So far, two Republicans in the Senate, and two in the House have said they would vote in support of gay marriage.

Gay marriage has won the backing of several prominent Pacific Northwest businesses, including Microsoft Corp. and NIKE, Inc., and last week a conservative Democrat who once opposed same-sex marriage said he will now vote for it.

The state House is widely expected to have enough support to pass gay marriage, and Gov. Chris Gregoire publicly endorsed the proposal earlier this month.

The state Senate is now just one vote shy of having the 25 votes needed to approve the bill, with a half-dozen lawmakers remaining uncommitted.

In October, a University of Washington poll found that an increasing number of people in the state support same-sex marriage. About 43 percent of respondents said they support gay marriage, up from 30 percent in the same poll five years earlier. Another 22 percent said they support giving identical rights to gay couples but just not calling it marriage.

When asked how they would vote if a referendum challenging a gay marriage law was on the ballot, 55 percent said they would vote yes to uphold the law, with 47 percent of them characterized as "strongly" yes, and 38 percent responded "no," that they would vote to reject a gay marriage law.

If a marriage bill were passed during this legislative session, gay and lesbian couples would be able to get married starting in June unless opponents file a referendum to challenge it at the ballot.

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The gay marriage bills are Senate Bill 6239 and House Bill 2516.

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Rachel La Corte can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/RachelAPOly

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Online:

http://www.leg.wa.gov

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