05-02-2024  8:57 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

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‘

What Marijuana Reclassification Means for the United States

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The Justice Department proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis but wouldn’t legalize it for recreational use. Some advocates for legalized weed say the move doesn't go far enough, while opponents say it goes too far.

US Long-Term Care Costs Are Sky-High, but Washington State’s New Way to Help Pay for Them Could Be Nixed

A group funded by hedge fund executive Brian Heywood is attempting to undermine the financial stability of Washington state's new long-term care social insurance program.

A Massive Powerball Win Draws Attention to a Little-Known Immigrant Culture in the US

An immigrant from Laos who has been battling cancer won an enormous jumi.3 billion Powerball jackpot in Oregon earlier this month. But Cheng “Charlie” Saephan's luck hasn't just changed his life — it's also drawn attention to Iu Mien, a southeast Asian ethnic group with origins in China, many of whose members fled from Laos to Thailand and then settled in the U.S. following the Vietnam War.

NEWS BRIEFS

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. ...

Chair Jessica Vega Pederson Releases $3.96 Billion Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025

Investments will boost shelter and homeless services, tackle the fentanyl crisis, strengthen the safety net and support a...

New Funding Will Invest in Promising Oregon Technology and Science Startups

Today Business Oregon and its Oregon Innovation Council announced a million award to the Portland Seed Fund that will...

Unity in Prayer: Interfaith Vigil and Memorial Service Honoring Youth Affected by Violence

As part of the 2024 National Youth Violence Prevention Week, the Multnomah County Prevention and Health Promotion Community Adolescent...

Police detain driver who accelerated toward protesters at Portland State University in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police said Thursday they detained the driver of a white Toyota Camry who briefly accelerated toward a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Portland State University in Oregon and then ran off spraying what appeared to be pepper spray toward protesters who confronted...

The Latest | Arrests top 2,000 as protests against Israel-Hamas war roil college campuses

The number of people arrested in connection with protests on college campuses against the Israel-Hamas war has now topped 2,000. The Associated Press has tallied arrests at 35 schools since a tent encampment began at Columbia University on April 17. Student protests have popped up at...

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...

Elliss, Jenkins, McCaffrey join Harrison and Alt in following their fathers into the NFL

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Marvin Harrison Jr., Joe Alt, Kris Jenkins, Jonah Ellis and Luke McCaffrey have turned the NFL draft into a family affair. The sons of former pro football stars, they've followed their fathers' formidable footsteps into the league. Elliss was...

OPINION

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...

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...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Judge grants autopsy rules requested by widow of Mississippi man found dead after vanishing

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi judge granted a request Thursday by the widow of a deceased man who vanished under mysterious circumstances to set standards for a future independent autopsy of her late husband's body. Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas formalized...

Asian American Literature Festival that was canceled by the Smithsonian in 2023 to be revived

NEW YORK (AP) — A festival celebrating Asian American literary works that was suddenly canceled last year by the Smithsonian Institution is getting resurrected, organizers announced Thursday. The Asian American Literature Festival is making a return, the Asian American Literature...

Critics question if longtime Democratic congressman from Georgia is too old for reelection

CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — U.S. Rep. David Scott faces multiple Democratic primary opponents in his quest for a 12th congressional term in a sharply reconfigured suburban Atlanta district. But with early voting underway ahead of the May 21 primary elections, the 78-year-old is ignoring challengers and...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: Rachel Khong’s new novel 'Real Americans' explores race, class and cultural identity

In 2017 Rachel Khong wrote a slender, darkly comic novel, “Goodbye, Vitamin,” that picked up a number of accolades and was optioned for a film. Now she has followed up her debut effort with a sweeping, multigenerational saga that is twice as long and very serious. “Real...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 5-11

Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 5-11: May 5: Actor Michael Murphy is 86. Actor Lance Henriksen (“Millennium,” ″Aliens”) is 84. Comedian-actor Michael Palin (Monty Python) is 81. Actor John Rhys-Davies (“Lord of the Rings,” ″Raiders of the Lost Ark”) is 80....

Select list of nominees for 2024 Tony Awards

NEW YORK (AP) — Select nominations for the 2024 Tony Awards, announced Tuesday. Best Musical: “Hell's Kitchen'': ”Illinoise"; “The Outsiders”; “Suffs”; “Water for Elephants” Best Play: “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”; “Mary Jane”; “Mother...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Send us Patriots: Ukraine's battered energy plants seek air defenses against Russian attacks

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At a Ukrainian power plant repeatedly hit by Russian aerial attacks, equipment department...

Maryland officials release timeline, cost estimate, for rebuilding bridge

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland plans to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in just over four years at an...

Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years...

Send us Patriots: Ukraine's battered energy plants seek air defenses against Russian attacks

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At a Ukrainian power plant repeatedly hit by Russian aerial attacks, equipment department...

A scroll for the king, a website for the people: Coronation document to be released digitally

LONDON (AP) — It is a record fit for a king, but it’s going online for everyone to see. King...

Death toll jumps to at least 48 as a search continues in southern China highway collapse

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll from a collapsed highway in southeastern China climbed to 48 on Thursday as...

Mark Thompson CNN Money

LONDON (CNNMoney) -- Banks in Cyprus will remain shut until early next week to prevent a catastrophic flight of capital after efforts by its leaders and European officials to come to terms on a bailout made little progress Wednesday.

The Cypriot parliament blocked a €10 billion rescue plan by the European Union Tuesday by rejecting a tax on bank deposits that would have helped fund the rescue.

In the aftermath of that vote, President Nicos Anastasiades met the leaders of Cyprus' political parties and officials from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund to try to salvage the bailout.

But the talks failed to achieve a breakthrough. The central bank was forced to announce that, in the interests of preserving financial stability, the country's banks would not open at all this week.

Without agreement on a bailout, policymakers fear depositors will rush to withdraw cash, pushing the country ever closer to bankruptcy.

Under the EU plan, Cyprus agreed to raise €5.8 billion to prevent the country's debt from ballooning to unsustainable levels, but rejection of the controversial tax on deposits has left it scrambling to find alternative sources of funding.

In other talks at the central bank of Cyprus on Wednesday, teams looked at the "financing and reduction" of the €5.8 billion amount, a government spokesman said.

At the same time, Finance Minister Michalis Sarris met officials in Moscow to discuss whether Russia would be prepared to ease the terms of an existing €2.5 billion loan, and perhaps provide additional financing. Anastasiades also spoke by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia has extensive business and banking ties to the tiny Mediterranean island and was angered by the proposed bank levy, which would have clawed back 10% of all deposits over €100,000, and a smaller percentage on deposits of more than €20,000.

For the first time, bank depositors were asked to contribute to a eurozone bailout, provoking outrage in the Cypriot parliament and widespread condemnation for a measure that also included small deposits covered by a national guarantee scheme.

The EU deal, agreed in the early hours of Saturday, sent Cypriots racing to withdraw money from bank cash machines over the weekend, and raised fears of a broader run on the country's ailing banks.

Cyprus' banking sector is several times the size of its economy and it sustained heavy losses on Greek government debt when a haircut on bondholders was imposed as part of an EU bailout.

They are being kept afloat by emergency funding from the European Central Bank, a lifeline that can't continue indefinitely, according to one of the bank's executive board members.

"We haven't made any threats but rather pointed out as a matter of fact that we can only provide emergency liquidity to banks that are solvent, and the solvency of Cypriot banks can't be taken for granted without early agreement on an aid program that would allow a rapid recapitalization of the banking sector," Joerg Asmussen told German newspaper Die Zeit.

There are few alternatives for Cyprus to escape its financial crisis, given its immediate funding needs total nearly €17 billion, almost equivalent to the size of its economy.

Eurozone policymakers insisted they would not repeat the Greek government bond haircut and tapping bank bondholders won't raise nearly enough cash. Further tax rises on top of a proposed increase in corporate tax would drive the economy even deeper into recession and drive up borrowing.

Some local media reports suggest the government may tap social security reserves or convert bank deposits into long-term bonds, backed by revenue from Cyprus' as-yet undeveloped natural gas deposits.

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast