05-14-2024  7:00 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

NORTHWEST NEWS

Portland OKs New Homeless Camping Rules That Threaten Fines or Jail in Some Cases

The mayor's office says it seeks to comply with a state law requiring cities to have “objectively reasonable” restrictions on camping.

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‘

NEWS BRIEFS

Governor Kotek Issues Statement on Role of First Spouse

"I take responsibility for not being more thoughtful in my approach to exploring the role of the First Spouse." ...

Legislature Makes Major Investments to Increase Housing Affordability and Expand Treatment in Multnomah County

Over million in new funding will help build a behavioral health drop in center, expand violence prevention programs, and...

Poor People’s Campaign and National Partners Announce, “Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C. and to the Polls” Ahead of 2024 Elections

Scheduled for June 29th, the “Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C.: A Call to...

Legendary Civil Rights Leader Medgar Wiley Evers Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

Evers family overwhelmed with gratitude after Biden announces highest civilian honor. ...

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. ...

Who's laughing? LateNighter, a digital news site about late-night TV, hopes to buck media trends

NEW YORK (AP) — At first glance, Jed Rosenzweig's new venture would seem like a fool's errand: launching a digital news site during brutal economic times for the media to cover an industry that, by traditional measures, is waning in influence. That didn't dissuade him. LateNighter,...

No criminal charges in rare liquor probe at Oregon alcohol agency, state report says

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Criminal charges are not warranted in the rare liquor probe that shook Oregon’s alcohol agency last year and forced its executive director to resign, state justice officials said Monday. In February 2023, the Oregon Department of Justice began investigating...

Defending national champion LSU boosts its postseason hopes with series win against Texas A&M

With two weeks left in the regular season, LSU is scrambling to avoid becoming the third straight defending national champion to miss the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers (31-18, 9-15) won two of three against then-No. 1 Texas A&M to take a giant step over the weekend, but they...

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...

OPINION

The Skanner News May 2024 Primary Endorsements

Read The Skanner News endorsements and vote today. Candidates for mayor and city council will appear on the November general election ballot. ...

Nation’s Growing Racial and Gender Wealth Gaps Need Policy Reform

Never-married Black women have 8 cents in wealth for every dollar held by while males. ...

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...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Takeaways from AP investigation into police training on the risks of handcuffing someone facedown

For decades, police across the United States have been warned that the common tactic of handcuffing someone facedown could turn deadly if officers pin them on the ground with too much pressure or for too long. Recommendations first made by major departments and police associations...

Risks of handcuffing someone facedown long known; people die when police training fails to keep up

For decades, police across the United States have been warned that the common tactic of handcuffing someone facedown could turn deadly if officers pin them on the ground with too much pressure or for too long. Recommendations first made by major departments and police associations...

AP Investigation: In hundreds of deadly police encounters, officers broke multiple safety guidelines

In hundreds of deaths where police used force meant to stop someone without killing them, officers violated well-known guidelines for safely restraining and subduing people — not simply once or twice, but multiple times. Most violations involved pinning people facedown in ways that...

ENTERTAINMENT

Doug Liman, Matt Damon and the Afflecks made a heist comedy for Apple. 'The Instigators'

Filmmaker Doug Liman realized quickly he wasn't on his home turf anymore. Matt Damon, who he’d directed in “The Bourne Identity” over 20 years ago, had recruited Liman for his new movie “The Instigators,” an action-comedy about a heist gone wrong. Though two decades of...

Book Review: Coming-of-age meets quarter-life crisis in Fiona Warnick's ambitious debut 'The Skunks'

Usually when I see a book described as an “ambitious debut” I read it as a cop-out. Isn’t a debut inherently ambitious? What does that even mean? “The Skunks” is what that means. And Fiona Warnick makes it look effortless. A coming-of-age novel with a...

Police investigating shooting outside Drake's mansion that left security guard wounded

TORONTO (AP) — Police are investigating a shooting outside rapper Drake's mansion in Toronto that left a security guard seriously wounded. Authorities did not confirm whether Drake was at home at the time of the shooting, but said his team is cooperating. The shooting happened...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Dispute over transgender woman admitted to Wyoming sorority to be argued before appeal judges

DENVER (AP) — A U.S. appeals court in Denver is set to hear arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by six...

Primaries in Maryland and West Virginia will shape the battle this fall for a Senate majority

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Voters across Maryland and West Virginia will decide key primary elections Tuesday with...

Takeaways from AP investigation into police training on the risks of handcuffing someone facedown

For decades, police across the United States have been warned that the common tactic of handcuffing someone...

Indonesian rescuers search through rivers and rubble after flash floods that killed at least 52

TANAH DATAR, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers on Tuesday searched in rivers and the rubble of devastated villages for...

A town in western Canada prepares for a possible 'last stand' as wildfires rage in British Columbia

FORT NELSON, British Columbia (AP) — An intense wildfire could reach a town in western Canada this week, fire...

A monarchy reform activist in Thailand dies in detention after months of a hunger strike

BANGKOK (AP) — A young Thai activist who went on a hunger strike after being jailed for advocating reform of the...

CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) -- The day he returned to school from a three-day suspension, a Colorado first-grader and his family on Monday were still fighting his being disciplined for what the school labeled "sexual harassment" for quoting the song "Sexy and I Know It."

D'Avonte Meadows, who is African American, was suspended last week from Sable Elementary School in Aurora, just east of Denver. His suspension notice from the school claimed that the boy sang the LMFAO hit "I'm Sexy and I Know It" to a female classmate -- the second time he had done so.

His mother, Stephanie, told HLN's Vinnie Politan on Monday night that the first incident took place in art class and the second in a lunch line, describing both as her 6-year-old son's awkward attempts to impress a girl.

"It's an adolescent boy that possibly likes a girl and doesn't understand, 'Hey, I like you and I put it in those terms,' " Stephanie Meadows said. "That's the adolescent mind."

She added that while D'Avonte is now allowed back in school, his family is still trying to get the suspension for "sexual harassment" overturned.

"I don't want him to have this on his record like that," Meadows said.

The incident comes as school suspensions have become a national issue, particularly within the Black community: Several reports have indicated African American children are suspended and expelled at disproportional rates when compared with Whites.

Aurora school district officials did not comment directly on the boy's case on Monday. But the school district did release a statement explaining its policy on "offensive behavior," including its definition of "sexual harassment."

"'Sexual harassment' refers to behavior which is not welcome, is personally offensive and, therefore, interferes with the learning of the victim(s) and sometimes their peers," the district said. "This is not a criminal definition of sexual harassment; it is one that is focused on providing a safe learning environment for all Aurora Public School students."

The school district pointed to its anti-bullying program, saying that examples of sexual harassment include "sexually oriented 'kidding' or inappropriate references to sexual matters, continued or repeated verbal remarks about a person's body (and) making sexual or lewd gestures."

Meadows took issue with any assertion that her son's remarks, in an arts classroom and the school cafeteria, hurt anyone's education.

"I'm still kind of baffled how it was interrupting the learning, especially with this last incident, when all he was (doing) was singing this song," she said.

Belting out the tune Justin Bieber's smash "Baby," D'Avonte pointed out that he loves to sing.

"Karaoke is fun," he said.

And why did he sing part of "Sexy and I Know It," of all songs, in school?

"Because it's on every commercial, Elmo, and the M&Ms and 'on demand,' " he explained. The first reference is to a Sesame Street parody "I'm Elmo and I Know It," the second to the M&M spoof commercial that debuted in between the action at Super Bowl XLVI and the third to snippets of LMFAO's video that appear while surfing for music and programs on cable TV "on demand" services.

Meadows said that she has already impressed upon young D'Avonte that he should not sing that specific LMFAO song in school any more.

That said, she added she feels it's hard to shelter him from everything in the outside world -- noting, for instance, that she did not play "Sexy and I Know It" on the radio, though he likely heard it on TV in commercials and more.

"As much as you monitor, as much as you try to be careful, as much as you watch everything your child does ... they are going to be exposed to something," the mother said.

The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta/+1-404-827-WIRE(9473)

™ & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast