11-12-2024  8:28 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

In Portland, Political Outsider Keith Wilson Elected Mayor After Homelessness-focused Race

Wilson, a Portland native and CEO of a trucking company, ran on an ambitious pledge to end unsheltered homelessness within a year of taking office.

‘Black Friday’ Screening Honors Black Portlanders, Encourages Sense of Belonging

The second annual event will be held Nov. 8 at the Hollywood Theatre.

Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson Wins Governor’s Race in Washington

Ferguson came to national prominence by repeatedly suing the administration of former President Donald Trump, including bringing the lawsuit that blocked Trump’s initial travel ban on citizens of several majority Muslim nations. 

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.

NEWS BRIEFS

Janelle Bynum Statement on Her Victory in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District

"I am proud to be the first – but not the last – Black Member of Congress from Oregon" ...

Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11: Honoring a Legacy of Loyalty and Service and Expanding Benefits for Washington Veterans

Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) is pleased to share the Veterans Day Proclamation and highlight the various...

Nkenge Harmon Johnson honored with PCUN’s Cipriano Ferrel Award

Harmon Johnson recognized for civil rights work in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest ...

Volunteers of America Oregon Announces Retirement CEO, Kay Toran

Toran's tenure at VOA Oregon is marked by decades of dedicated public service in the State of Oregon and unwavering commitment to...

Family of security guard shot and killed at Portland, Oregon, hospital sues facility for M

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The family of a security guard who was shot and killed at a hospital in Portland, Oregon, sued the facility for million on Tuesday, accusing it of negligence and failing to respond to the dangers that the gunman posed to hospital staff over multiple days. ...

Ex-Duke star Kyle Singler draws concern from basketball world over cryptic Instagram post

Former Duke star Kyle Singler’s cryptic Instagram post saying he fears for his life has drawn an outpouring of concern and support from former teammates and others. Singler, 36, spoke slowly and was shirtless in the short video, which was posted Tuesday morning. “I...

Grill makes 8 3s, scores career-high 33 points to lead Missouri over Eastern Washington 84-77

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Caleb Grill matched a career best with eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points to lead Missouri to an 84-77 victory over Eastern Washington on Monday night. Grill, who missed Missouri's final 23 games last season with a wrist injury, shot 10 of 13...

Missouri hosts Eastern Washington following Cook's 25-point game

Eastern Washington Eagles (1-1) at Missouri Tigers (1-1) Columbia, Missouri; Monday, 7 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -18.5; over/under is 155.5 BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Washington visits Missouri after Andrew Cook scored 25 points in Eastern...

OPINION

Why Not Voting Could Deprioritize Black Communities

President Biden’s Justice40 initiative ensures that 40% of federal investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities, addressing deep-seated inequities. ...

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. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Chinese hackers target Tibetan websites in malware attack, cybersecurity group says

BANGKOK (AP) — A hacking group that is believed to be Chinese state-sponsored has compromised two websites with ties to the Tibetan community in an attack meant to install malware on users' computers, according to findings released Wednesday by a private cybersecurity firm. The...

French farmers protest EU-Mercosur deal that will increase South American imports

PARIS (AP) — French farmers protested Tuesday against a trade deal that would increase agricultural imports from South America, saying it hurt their livelihoods. The European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc, composed of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, reached an...

Panel advises Illinois commemorate its role in helping slaves escape the South

In the decades leading up to the Civil War, fearless throngs defied prison or worse to secretly shuttle as many as 7,000 slaves escaped from the South on a months-long slog through Illinois and on to freedom. On Tuesday, a task force of lawmakers and historians recommended creating a full-time...

ENTERTAINMENT

Movie Review: In Andrea Arnold's 'Bird,' a gritty fairy tale doesn't take flight

“Is it too real for ya?” blares in the background of Andrea Arnold’s latest film, “Bird,” a 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) rides with her shirtless, tattoo-covered dad, Bug (Barry Keoghan), on his electric scooter past scenes of poverty in working-class Kent. The song’s...

After 20 years of acting, ‘My Old Ass’ filmmaker Megan Park finds her groove behind the camera

Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs. She didn’t set out to make a tearjerker with “My Old Ass,” now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young...

At an art festival in Dakar, artists from both sides of the Atlantic examine the legacy of slavery

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A whirlwind of color and art at the opening of this year's Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Art in the Senegalese capital stood in stark contrast to the serious topic of slavery featuring in the artworks of guest artists from the United States. The U.S....

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Israeli strikes kill 46 people in the Gaza Strip and 33 in Lebanon, medics say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 46 people in the Gaza Strip in the past day,...

Trump spends first week as president-elect behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago

WASHINGTON (AP) — For a man who loves the spotlight, Donald Trump has been conspicuously out of view since his...

Welcome to China’s underground raves, from street techno to quotes from Chairman Mao

CHANGCHUN, China (AP) — Crouch through the small metal door and walk down the dark tunnel, and even before you...

Head of UN nuclear watchdog: 'Dire straits dynamic' with Iran's nuclear program amid Mideast wars

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Tuesday he's hopeful that...

US says it will not limit Israel arms transfers after some improvements in flow of aid to Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday that Israel has made some good but limited progress in...

UN force says Israeli work on Syrian frontier saw 'severe violations' of cease-fire after AP report

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — United Nations peacekeepers warned Tuesday that the Israeli military has...

Jacques Billeaud the Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) -- Federal authorities sued America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff Thursday after months of negations failed to yield an agreement to settle allegations that his department racially profiled Latinos in his trademark immigration patrols.

The U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit marked an escalation in the agency's civil rights investigation of Joe Arpaio and puts the dispute on track to be decided by a federal judge.

The DOJ first leveled the allegations against Arpaio in December, saying that a culture of disregard for basic constitutional rights prevailed at the Maricopa County sheriff's office, which covers metro Phoenix. Federal officials held off on filing a lawsuit as they tried to reach a settlement, but talks broke off last month.

At the time, Arpaio refused to agree to a court-appointed monitor who would help enforce a settlement. Arpaio said it would mean every policy decision would have to be cleared through an observer and would nullify his authority.

At a news conference Wednesday, after DOJ officials notified him of their intent to sue, Arpaio defended himself.

"If they sue, we'll go to court," he said. "And then we'll find out the real story. They're telling me how to run my organization. I'd like to get this resolved, but I'm not going to give up my authority to the federal government. It's as simple as that."

Arpaio's office is also accused of punishing Hispanic jail inmates for speaking Spanish and launching some patrols based on complaints about dark-skinned people congregating in a given area or speaking Spanish. A crime was never reported.

The DOJ has been seeking an agreement requiring Arpaio's office to train officers in how to make constitutional traffic stops, collect data on people arrested in traffic stops and assure Latinos that the department is there to also protect them.

"Constitutional policing is an essential element of effective law enforcement," according to the DOJ lawsuit. The sheriff's office "and Arpaio's conduct is neither constitutional nor effective law enforcement."

One of the examples cited in the lawsuit was a Latino woman who is a U.S. citizen and was 5-months pregnant when she was stopped as she pulled into her driveway.

When the woman refused to sit on the hood of a car as the officer insisted, the officer pulled her arms behind her back, slammed her stomach first into the vehicle three times and dragged her to his patrol car. He shoved her into the back seat and made her wait for about 30 minutes without air conditioning, the lawsuit said.

Eventually, the woman was cited for failure to provide proof of insurance, but the matter was resolved when she provided such proof to a court, the lawsuit said.

The sheriff has said the investigation was a politically motivated attack by the Obama administration, denied allegations of systematic discriminatory policing and insisted that the Justice Department provide facts to prove its allegations. The Justice Department has said a 22-page letter it sent to Arpaio in December provided those details.

Arpaio is a national political fixture who built his reputation on jailing inmates in tents and dressing them in pink underwear, selling himself to voters as unceasingly tough on crime. Along the way, he aggressively pushed for a stronger role for local police to confront illegal immigration, launching 20 patrols looking for illegal immigrants since January 2008.

During the patrols, deputies flood an area of a city - in some cases, heavily Latino areas - over several days to seek out traffic violators and arrest other suspected offenders. Over the last three years, he also raided 58 businesses suspected of breaking a state law by knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

Earlier in the three-year investigation, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Arpaio, alleging his office refused to fully cooperate with a request for records and access to jails and employees. That 2010 case was settled last summer after the sheriff's office handed over records and gave access to employees and jails.

Separate from the Justice Department's allegations, a lawsuit that alleges that Arpaio's deputies racially profiled Latinos in immigration patrols is scheduled for a July 19 trial in federal court.

A federal grand jury also has been investigating Arpaio's office on criminal abuse-of-power allegations since at least December 2009 and is specifically examining the investigative work of the sheriff's anti-public corruption squad..

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