04-19-2024  4:48 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Don’t Shoot Portland, University of Oregon Team Up for Black Narratives, Memory

The yearly Memory Work for Black Lives Plenary shows the power of preservation.

Grants Pass Anti-Camping Laws Head to Supreme Court

Grants Pass in southern Oregon has become the unlikely face of the nation’s homelessness crisis as its case over anti-camping laws goes to the U.S. Supreme Court scheduled for April 22. The case has broad implications for cities, including whether they can fine or jail people for camping in public. Since 2020, court orders have barred Grants Pass from enforcing its anti-camping laws. Now, the city is asking the justices to review lower court rulings it says has prevented it from addressing the city's homelessness crisis. Rights groups say people shouldn’t be punished for lacking housing.

Four Ballot Measures for Portland Voters to Consider

Proposals from the city, PPS, Metro and Urban Flood Safety & Water Quality District.

Washington Gun Store Sold Hundreds of High-Capacity Ammunition Magazines in 90 Minutes Without Ban

KGW-TV reports Wally Wentz, owner of Gator’s Custom Guns in Kelso, described Monday as “magazine day” at his store. Wentz is behind the court challenge to Washington’s high-capacity magazine ban, with the help of the Silent Majority Foundation in eastern Washington.

NEWS BRIEFS

Governor Kotek Announces Chief of Staff, New Office Leadership

Governor expands executive team and names new Housing and Homelessness Initiative Director ...

Governor Kotek Announces Investment in New CHIPS Child Care Fund

5 Million dollars from Oregon CHIPS Act to be allocated to new Child Care Fund ...

Bank Announces 14th Annual “I Got Bank” Contest for Youth in Celebration of National Financial Literacy Month

The nation’s largest Black-owned bank will choose ten winners and award each a $1,000 savings account ...

Literary Arts Transforms Historic Central Eastside Building Into New Headquarters

The new 14,000-square-foot literary center will serve as a community and cultural hub with a bookstore, café, classroom, and event...

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Announces New Partnership with the University of Oxford

Tony Bishop initiated the CBCF Alumni Scholarship to empower young Black scholars and dismantle financial barriers ...

Firefighters douse a blaze at a historic Oregon hotel famously featured in 'The Shining'

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. (AP) — Firefighters doused a late-night fire at Oregon's historic Timberline Lodge — featured in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film “The Shining” — before it caused significant damage. The fire Thursday night was confined to the roof and attic of the lodge,...

Idaho's ban on youth gender-affirming care has families desperately scrambling for solutions

Forced to hide her true self, Joe Horras’ transgender daughter struggled with depression and anxiety until three years ago, when she began to take medication to block the onset of puberty. The gender-affirming treatment helped the now-16-year-old find happiness again, her father said. ...

University of Missouri plans 0 million renovation of Memorial Stadium

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri is planning a 0 million renovation of Memorial Stadium. The Memorial Stadium Improvements Project, expected to be completed by the 2026 season, will further enclose the north end of the stadium and add a variety of new premium...

The sons of several former NFL stars are ready to carve their path into the league through the draft

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. wears his dad’s No. 54, plays the same position and celebrates sacks and big tackles with the same signature axe swing. Now, he’s ready to make a name for himself in the NFL. So are several top prospects who play the same positions their fathers played in the...

OPINION

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...

OP-ED: Embracing Black Men’s Voices: Rebuilding Trust and Unity in the Democratic Party

The decision of many Black men to disengage from the Democratic Party is rooted in a complex interplay of historical disenchantment, unmet promises, and a sense of disillusionment with the political establishment. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Kansas has a new anti-DEI law, but the governor has vetoed bills on abortion and even police dogs

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' Democratic governor on Friday vetoed proposed tax breaks for anti-abortion counseling centers while allowing restrictions on college diversity initiatives approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature to become law without her signature. Gov. Laura...

Attorneys argue that Florida law discriminates against Chinese nationals trying to buy homes

An attorney asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block a controversial Florida law signed last year that restricts Chinese citizens from buying real estate in much of the state, calling it discriminatory and a violation of the federal government's supremacy in deciding foreign affairs. ...

Choctaw artist Jeffrey Gibson confronts history at US pavilion as its first solo Indigenous artist

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Jeffrey Gibson’s takeover of the U.S. pavilion for this year’s Venice Biennale contemporary art show is a celebration of color, pattern and craft, which is immediately evident on approaching the bright red facade decorated by a colorful clash of geometry and a foreground...

ENTERTAINMENT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 21-27

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 21-27: April 21: Actor Elaine May is 92. Singer Iggy Pop is 77. Actor Patti LuPone is 75. Actor Tony Danza is 73. Actor James Morrison (“24”) is 70. Actor Andie MacDowell is 66. Singer Robert Smith of The Cure is 65. Guitarist Michael...

What to stream this weekend: Conan O’Brien travels, 'Migration' soars and Taylor Swift reigns

Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver” landing on Netflix and Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” album are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as...

Music Review: Jazz pianist Fred Hersch creates subdued, lovely colors on 'Silent, Listening'

Jazz pianist Fred Hersch fully embraces the freedom that comes with improvisation on his solo album “Silent, Listening,” spontaneously composing and performing tunes that are often without melody, meter or form. Listening to them can be challenging and rewarding. The many-time...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Soldiers who lost limbs in Gaza fighting are finding healing on Israel's amputee soccer team

RAMAT GAN, Israel (AP) — When Ben Binyamin was left for dead, his right leg blown off during the Hamas attack on...

The Latest | Iran says air defense batteries fire after explosions reported near major air base

Iran fired air defense batteries Friday reports of explosions near a major air base at the city of Isfahan, the...

Indians vote in the first phase of the world's largest election as Modi seeks a third term

NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of Indians began voting on Friday in a six-week election that's a referendum on...

The West African Sahel is becoming a drug smuggling corridor, UN warns, as seizures skyrocket

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Drug seizures soared in the West African Sahel region according to figures released Friday...

5 Japanese workers in Pakistan escape suicide blast targeting their van. A Pakistani bystander dies

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber targeted a van carrying Japanese nationals in Pakistan's port city of...

A trial is underway for the Panama Papers, a case that changed the country's financial rules

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Eight years after 11 million leaked secret financial documents revealed how some of the...

Greg Botelho CNN

(CNN) -- The final, violent moments in the life of their son, Trayvon Martin, no longer dominate the national news, as they once did. Tens of thousands no longer attend rallies demanding justice for the slain teenager; pundits no longer debate the case on every media platform imaginable. What once had been the big story has increasingly become yesterday's news.

But Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin haven't stopped fighting.

One year ago Tuesday, they were grieving and relatively anonymous parents, trying to come to grips with the sudden death of their 17-year-old son. But in time, they became celebrities of sorts in a world of gun violence and vigilante justice.

To their supporters, they were the faces and the voices of victims of racial profiling.

While the spotlight largely has faded since then, they say their commitment has not.

"We (want to) make sure that no other parents have to go through what we have gone through in the last year," Fulton told CNN's Piers Morgan on Monday night.

On February 26, 2012, her teenage son was walking back to the Sanford, Florida, home of his father's fiancee after picking up some Skittles and an iced tea at 7-Eleven. That's when, and where, then-28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman spotted him.

What happened between then and when Zimmerman fatally shot the teen is subject to dispute, one that could be settled by a jury starting June 10, when Zimmerman is set to go on trial on a second-degree murder charge.

As the prosecution and defense lawyers battled in court in the weeks and months that followed, Trayvon Martin's parents became less visible on the national scene.

But they've still been active, said Fulton, including continuing to work on behalf of the Justice for Trayvon Martin Foundation, which they started.

They held a benefit dinner for the nonprofit organization, as well as a peace walk in Miami "to let teenagers know they have a right to walk in peace," she said Monday. On Tuesday, the anniversary of their son's death, they'll be in New York for a candlelight vigil.

Their efforts include continuing to speak out on issues. Among them is gun violence, a debate over which is brewing in Washington and nationwide after several grisly mass shootings, including one that left 20 children and 6 adults dead at a Connecticut elementary school last December.

"It's just too much senseless violence; it's overwhelming the homes right now," Tracy Martin said Monday, referring to the Newtown massacre as well as murders in places like Chicago. "We, as parents, certainly feel the pain."

Even as they continue to fight, Trayvon Martin's parents acknowledge that -- after months in the spotlight, trying to ramp up pressure on authorities to go after Zimmerman -- much about their son's case is now out of their hands.

Their lawyer, Benjamin Crump, on Monday asked rhetorically if Zimmerman is "not held accountable, what message does that send to the next child that's killed, unarmed, on the ground?"

Still, Sybrina Fulton said that, to a large extent, she and her ex-husband have gotten what they asked for. Zimmerman was arrested and, unless something unforeseen happens, he will stand trial.

"We just want to have that trial, and let the jury decide," she said. "And whatever decision comes out of that, we're going to accept that.

"We may not like it, but we're going to accept it."

The jury will have to decide between two starkly different versions of what happened that night.

Zimmerman told police that, after the two exchanged words, Martin went after him. According to his account, the teen, who didn't have any weapons on him, punched him, forced him to the ground, and slammed his head on the concrete. That's when Zimmerman shot Martin in self-defense, he claims.

Martin's family and supporters, though, have long had a different story.

One of the first to tell it was Tracy Martin, who initially addressed reporters last March 8, trying to raise the case's profile and hike pressure on authorities. He and, soon, others suggested Zimmerman had targeted his son, an African-American youth wearing a hooded sweatshirt, because of his race.

The parents' legion of supporters grew exponentially as the weeks wore on after the shooting, with no one charged. They created a petition on the website Change.org calling for Zimmerman's arrest. Within a week, it was the second most-popular petition in the website's history, with 877,110 signatures.

Protests drawing thousands of people sprung up nationwide demanding "Justice for Trayvon" and blasting local authorities' response. As their reason for not immediately arresting Zimmerman, police cited Florida's "stand your ground" law, which states that people who feel threatened don't have to retreat from danger and can use deadly force to protect themselves.

Zimmerman was charged on April 11, with a probable cause affidavit stating he "profiled" Martin and disregarded a 911 dispatcher's request that he wait for police.

The weeks that followed produced more news. For example, Zimmerman posted $150,000 bail, only to have it revoked after the judge said he'd mislead the court about his financial situation, including tens of thousands of dollars he'd raised online for his defense fund.

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast