11-02-2024  10:09 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

African American Alliance On Homeownership Turns 25, Honors The Skanner Cofounder Bernie Foster

AAAH's executive director Cheryl Roberts recalls how the efforts of Bernie Foster led to an organization that now offers one-on-one counseling for prospective home buyers, homebuyer education, foreclosure prevention services, estate planning, assistance with down payments and more.

Police Say Fires Set at Ballot Boxes in Oregon and Washington Are Connected; ‘Suspect Vehicle’ ID'd

Surveillance images captured a Volvo stopping at a drop box in Portland, just before security personnel nearby discovered a fire inside the box. That fire damaged three ballots inside, while officials say a fire at a drop box in nearby Vancouver, Washington, early Monday destroyed hundreds of ballots.

Two Major Affordable Housing Developments Reach Milestones in Portland

Both will provide culturally specific supportive services to residents. 

Washington State AG and Ex-Sheriff Face off in Governor's Race

Former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert is trying to become Washington’s first GOP governor in 40 years. But he faces a difficult hurdle in the Democratic stronghold against longtime Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a darling of liberals for his many lawsuits against the Trump administration. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Oregon Begins Rollout of New Housing Benefits for Eligible OHP Members With Health Conditions

The housing benefits include rent assistance for up to six months, utility set-up and payments for up to six months, home...

Oregon Department of Education Releases Cell Phone Policy Guidance

ODE recommends creating policies to limit or reduce cell phone use during the school day. ...

Metro, Central City Concern and Partners to Mark Affordable Housing Complex Grand Opening With Halloween Celebration

Meridian Gardens will offer 85 single room occupancy and studio apartments to people who are in substance use disorder recovery and...

Oregon MESA Expands with Two New Regional Centers in Washington County and Lane County

“Our regional partners are embedded in the communities MESA serves, bringing a wealth of local knowledge and expertise. Regional...

Historic Seattle Black Church Hosts "Bring Your Ballot to Church" Event to Mobilize Voters

As Seattle's oldest African American-founded church, FAME carries forward the legacy of Black churches as centers of civic engagement...

Ballot-sorting machine woes slow count in Oregon county with pivotal US House race

OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — Problems with a ballot-sorting machine are slowing the vote tally in a suburban Portland county that was also plagued by counting issues in 2022 and is home to a key congressional race this year. The sorter in Oregon's third-largest county, Clackamas, began...

He’s fast, feisty and could play Quidditch. Meet the bat that won a beauty contest

ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) — A winged creature from Oregon was crowned this year’s winner Thursday in an annual bat beauty contest put on by the Bureau of Land Management. On Halloween, which was also the last day of International Bat Week, a hoary bat with a feisty personality named...

Many top players from one-bid leagues left for bigger schools. Here are some of the best who stayed

Identifying the top returning players in the era of the transfer portal is trickier than ever. Now that players can transfer without having to sit out a season, mid-major and low-major programs have essentially become farm systems for power-conference teams. Players who earn...

Miller rushes for 2 TDs, No. 15 Alabama picks off 3 passes in 34-0 win over No. 21 Missouri

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Jamarion Miller rushed for two touchdowns and No. 15 Alabama's defense had three interceptions in a 34-0 victory Saturday over No. 21 Missouri, which played most of the game without starting quarterback Brady Cook. The Crimson Tide (6-2, 3-2 Southeastern...

OPINION

The Skanner News 2024 Presidential Endorsement

It will come as no surprise that we strongly endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president. ...

Black Retirees Growing Older and Poorer: 2025 Social Security COLA lowest in 10 years

As Americans live longer, the ability to remain financially independent is an ongoing struggle. Especially for Black and other people of color whose lifetime incomes are often lower than that of other contemporaries, finding money to save for ‘old age’ is...

The Skanner Endorsements: Oregon State and Local Ballot Measures

Ballots are now being mailed out for this very important election. Election Day is November 5. Ballots must be received or mailed with a valid postmark by 8 p.m. Election Day. View The Skanner's ballot measure endorsements. ...

Measure 117 is a Simple Improvement to Our Elections

Political forces around the country have launched an all-out assault on voting rights that targets Black communities. State legislatures are restricting voting access in districts with large Black populations and are imposing other barriers and pernicious...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Local sheriff asks FBI to investigate death of Black man found hanging in Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The FBI is investigating the death of a Black man in Alabama, who was found hanging in an abandoned house, following a request from a local sheriff amid fears among community members who accuse local law enforcement of longstanding, unchecked misconduct. ...

UK Conservatives pick Kemi Badenoch as new leader, first Black woman to head a big British party

LONDON (AP) — Outspoken, right-leaning lawmaker Kemi Badenoch was named leader of Britain's opposition Conservatives on Saturday, as the party tries to rebound from a crushing election defeat that ended its 14 years in power. The first Black woman to lead a major British political...

Listen to business owners and voters in Erie, Pennsylvania. They could help decide the White House.

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — It wasn’t much when he bought it, but Michael Hooks has made the old garage his own haven. And the city of Erie knows it. Half a dozen cars honk as they pass by one October afternoon, the people hanging out of car windows to wave hello at him. About a dozen cars...

ENTERTAINMENT

Samuel L. Jackson lauded at MoMA film benefit by close family and friends

NEW YORK (AP) — The Museum of Modern Art was filled with expletives and laughter Wednesday evening as Samuel L. Jackson’s family and friends celebrated the actor and director’s storied career of box office hits, larger-than-life characters and explosive one-liners at the annual film benefit. ...

A playwright in Africa hopes to break the cultural silence on rape

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Under a spotlight in an otherwise dark room, Oliva Ouedraogo held up a piece of fabric that looked stained with blood. “Long live the girl!” she cried, her voice competing with the loud hum of a generator. Ouedraogo was starring in her own play —...

Music Review: Muna frontwoman Katie Gavin makes her solo debut with folky, evocative 'What A Relief'

On “What a Relief,” the debut solo album from Katie Gavin, the Muna frontwoman tackles love, family and selfhood through folk and country twang that departs from the band's usual dance-forward pop. Don't worry, this isn't the end of Muna — the trio of Gavin, Naomi McPherson and...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Moldovans are voting in a pivotal presidential runoff. But voter fraud threatens its democracy

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovan historian and politician Octavian Ticu remembers when the Soviet Union...

What to watch over the final weekend of the 2024 presidential campaign

NEW YORK (AP) — The 2024 presidential contest speeds into its final weekend with Democrat Kamala Harris and...

Debate over abortion rights leads to expensive campaigns for high-stakes state Supreme Court seats

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Abortion and reproductive rights have been central to the races for president and...

What to know about the unprecedented floods that killed more than 200 in Spain

MADRID (AP) — In a matter of minutes, flash floods caused by heavy downpours in eastern Spain swept away...

Negotiations stall over some crucial issues on final day of UN biodiversity summit in Colombia

CALI, Colombia (AP) — At the United Nations biodiversity summit in Colombia, negotiators have struggled to find...

FBI links video falsely depicting voter fraud in Georgia to 'Russian influence actors'

WASHINGTON (AP) — A video purporting to depict voter fraud in Georgia is fake and the work of “Russian...

Foster Klug and Christopher Bodeen the Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Material that can be used to make nuclear bombs is stored in scores of buildings spread across dozens of countries. If even a fraction of it fell into the hands of terrorists, it could be disastrous.

Nearly 60 world leaders who gathered Tuesday in Seoul for a nuclear security summit agreed to work on securing and accounting for all nuclear material by 2014. But widespread fear lingers about the safety of nuclear material in countries including former Soviet states, Pakistan, North Korea, Iran and India.

While the threat of nuclear terrorism is considered lower now than a decade ago, especially after the death of Osama bin Laden, the nightmare scenario of a terrorist exploding a nuclear bomb in a major city isn't necessarily the far-fetched stuff of movies.

"It would not take much, just a handful or so of these materials, to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people and that's not an exaggeration, that's the reality that we face," President Barack Obama told world leaders at the meeting, a follow-up to a summit he hosted in Washington in 2010.

Building a nuclear weapon isn't easy, but a bomb similar to the one that obliterated Hiroshima is "very plausibly within the capabilities of a sophisticated terrorist group," according to Matthew Bunn, an associate professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

There's an "immense difference between the difficulty of making safe, reliable weapons for use in a missile or combat aircraft and making crude, unsafe, unreliable weapons for delivery by truck," Bunn said.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based nonproliferation group that tracks the security of world nuclear stockpiles, said in a January report that 32 countries have weapons-usable nuclear materials. Some countries, such as the United States, maintain strict controls already. However others, including Russia and other former Soviet republics, have struggled to secure their stocks, raising fears of "loose nukes" falling into the hands of terrorist groups.

It's unclear how nations will enforce the summit's goal of securing nuclear material by 2014. The International Atomic Energy Agency shares best practices for securing nuclear material, but the U.N. body has no power to enforce its recommendations.

Some countries on the NTI list are a concern because of their government's ties with militant groups or because of corruption among their officials. Others simply don't yet have good safety practices.

Although Pakistan's small stockpiles of nuclear material are heavily guarded, it is believed to be prone to corruption by officials who may have sympathies to hard-line Islamic militants, Bunn said.

Despite New Delhi's insistence that its nuclear materials are secure, the NTI ranked India among the top five nuclear security risks, saying the government needs more transparency, more independence for its nuclear regulator and tighter measures to protect nuclear material in transit.

India's lax security was displayed in at least two incidents in recent years in which radioactive materials - from a hospital and a university laboratory - were discarded and later ended up in a scrap dealer's shop.

Other recent nuclear scares include a suspected attempt by a crime syndicate in the eastern European country of Moldova to sell weapons-grade uranium to buyers in North Africa. Officials in the country told The Associated Press that 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of highly enriched uranium remains in criminal hands and is probably in another country.

The investigation provided fresh evidence of a black market in nuclear material probably taken from poorly secured Soviet stockpiles.

Russia has dramatically improved its nuclear security over the last 15 years, Bunn said, but it has the "world's largest stockpiles in the world's largest number of buildings and bunkers" as well as corruption and a weak security culture and regulations.

North Korea and Iran are viewed with worry because of fears of nuclear proliferation.

But Bunn said both are "likely small parts of the nuclear terrorism problem."

"North Korea has only a few bombs' worth of plutonium in a tightly controlled garrison state," he said. "Iran has not begun to produce weapons-usable material."

At least four terror groups, including al-Qaida and Japan's Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, have expressed a determination to obtain a nuclear weapon, said Kenneth Luongo, co-chair of the Fissile Materials Working Group, a Washington-based coalition of nuclear security experts.

Nuclear materials stored at research facilities are generally considered less secure than weapons at military installations, Luongo said. Last year's meltdown at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant also shows how terrorists could launch a radiation hazard simply by sabotaging a facility's functions.

While some groups could develop crude missiles or other delivery systems, unconventional weapons such as a single briefcase containing plutonium and a detonator may be an even bigger threat, said Chang Soon-heung, a nuclear expert at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and technology.

Nuclear security experts say greater political commitment is needed to drive efforts to secure radioactive materials and overcome barriers to international cooperation.

While experts praised this week's nuclear summit as a sign of progress, some doubted whether countries would meet the 2014 deadline for securing the world's loose nuclear material, defined generally as completed weapons, bomb material, or the skills to build them.

"There needs to be more political leadership from the top, and countries need to stop talking about what they're doing individually and acknowledge that this is a cross-border international issue," Luongo said.

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AP writers Sam Kim in Seoul and Nirmala George in New Delhi contributed to this report.

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