10-04-2024  11:34 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

NORTHWEST NEWS

Taxpayers in 24 States Will Be Able to File Their Returns Directly With the IRS in 2025

The pilot program in 2024 allowed people in certain states with very simple W-2s to calculate and submit their returns directly to the IRS. Those using the program claimed more than million in refunds, the IRS said.

Companies Back Away From Oregon Floating Offshore Wind Project as Opposition Grows

The federal government finalized two areas for floating offshore wind farms along the Oregon coast in February. But opposition from tribes, fishermen and coastal residents highlights some of the challenges the plan faces.

Preschool for All Growth Outpaces Enrollment Projections

Mid-year enrollment to allow greater flexibility for providers, families.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden Demands Answers From Emergency Rooms That Denied Care to Pregnant Patients

Wyden is part of a Democratic effort to focus the nation’s attention on the stories of women who have faced horrible realities since some states tightened a patchwork of abortion laws.

NEWS BRIEFS

Oregon’s 2024-25 Teacher of the Year is Bryan Butcher Jr. of Beaumont Middle School

“From helping each of his students learn math in the way that works for them, to creating the Black Student Union at his school,...

Burn Ban Lifted in the City of Portland

Although the burn ban is being lifted, Portland Fire & Rescue would like to remind folks to only burn dried cordwood in a...

Midland Library to Reopen in October

To celebrate the opening of the updated, expanded Midland, the library is hosting two days of activities for the community...

U.S. Congressman Al Green Commends Biden Administration on Launching Investigation into 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre; Mulls Congressional Action

The thriving African American community of Greenwood, popularly known as Black Wall Street, was criminally leveled by a white mob...

Governor Kotek, Oregon Housing and Community Services Announce Current and Projected Homelessness Initiative Outcomes

The announcement is accompanied by a data dashboard that shows the progress for the goals set within the...

Senators ask Justice Department to take tougher action against Boeing executives over safety issues

Two U.S. senators have asked the Department of Justice to take tougher action against Boeing executives by holding them criminally accountable for safety issues that have impacted its airplanes. In a letter dated Wednesday and sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Democratic...

Taxpayers in 24 states will be able to file their returns directly with the IRS in 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS is expanding its program that allows people to file their taxes directly with the agency for free. The federal tax collector’s Direct File program, which allows taxpayers to calculate and submit their returns to the government directly without using...

No 9 Missouri faces stiff road test in visit to No. 25 Texas A&M

No. 9 Missouri hits the road for the first time this season, facing arguably its toughest challenge so far. The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) know the trip to No. 25 Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0) on Saturday will be tough for several reasons if they want to extend their...

No. 9 Missouri looks to improve to 5-0 in visit to No. 25 Texas A&M

No. 9 Missouri (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) at No. 25 Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0), Saturday, 12 p.m. ET (ABC). BetMGM College Football Odds: Texas A&M by 2 1/2. Series record: Texas A&M leads 9-7. WHAT’S AT STAKE? The winner will...

OPINION

The Skanner News: 2024 City Government Endorsements

In the lead-up to a massive transformation of city government, the mayor’s office and 12 city council seats are open. These are our endorsements for candidates we find to be most aligned with the values of equity and progress in Portland, and who we feel...

No Cheek Left to Turn: Standing Up for Albina Head Start and the Low-Income Families it Serves is the Only Option

This month, Albina Head Start filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to defend itself against a misapplied rule that could force the program – and all the children it serves – to lose federal funding. ...

DOJ and State Attorneys General File Joint Consumer Lawsuit

In August, the Department of Justice and eight state Attorneys Generals filed a lawsuit charging RealPage Inc., a commercial revenue management software firm with providing apartment managers with illegal price fixing software data that violates...

America Needs Kamala Harris to Win

Because a 'House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand' ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

In Michigan, Harris works to solidify union support amid signs some of it could be slipping to Trump

REDFORD CHARTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is visiting the union stronghold of Flint in the critical swing state of Michigan on Friday as she battles with Donald Trump for working-class voters who could tip the scales in this year's election. Her appearance...

For Pittsburgh Jews, attack anniversary adds to an already grim October

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jewish communities everywhere reacted with horror at last year's Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, but the approaching one-year commemoration of the assault hits home particularly hard in Pittsburgh's Jewish community, which already marks a grim anniversary each October. ...

Civilization 7 makers work with Shawnee to bring sincere representation of the tribe to the game

MIAMI, Okla. (AP) — Shawnee Tribe Chief Ben Barnes grew up playing video games, including “probably hundreds of hours” colonizing a distant planet in the 1999 title Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. So when that same game studio, Firaxis, approached the tribal nation a quarter-century...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: 'The Last Dream,' short stories scattered with the seeds of Pedro Almodovar films

The seeds of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar's later cinematic work are scattered throughout the pages of “The Last Dream,” his newly published collection of short writings. The stories and essays were gathered together by Almodóvar's longtime assistant, including many pieces...

Book Review: Louise Erdrich writes about love and loss in North Dakota in ’The Mighty Red’

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Louise Erdrich (“The Night Watchman,” 2021) returns with a story close to her heart, “The Mighty Red.” Set in the author’s native North Dakota, the title refers to the river that serves as a metaphor for life in the Red River Valley. It also carries a...

Book Review: 'Revenge of the Tipping Point' is fan service for readers of Gladwell's 2000 book

It's been nearly 25 years since Malcolm Gladwell published “The Tipping Point," and it's still easy to catch it being read on airplanes, displayed prominently on executives' bookshelves or hear its jargon slipped into conversations. It's no surprise that a sequel was the next logical step. ...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

A year later, Israeli survivors reflect on the lingering toll of Oct. 7

Lilach Almog walks past the remains of a police station seized by Hamas militants and buildings pockmarked by...

Supreme Court steps into a fight over plans to store nuclear waste in rural Texas and New Mexico

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to step into a fight over plans to store nuclear waste at...

Cousins throws for 509 yards, hits Hodge in OT to give Falcons 36-30 win over Bucs

ATLANTA (AP) — Kirk Cousins sure earned all that money Thursday night. The 0 million...

US arranges flights to bring Americans out of Lebanon as others seek escape

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S.-arranged flights have brought about 350 Americans and their immediate relatives out of...

Clashes in Kenya as people discuss the deputy president's impeachment motion

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Supporters and opponents of Kenya's deputy president clashed Friday at public forums over...

Rainstorms and heavy floods hit large parts of Bosnia, killing at least 16 people

KISELJAK, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A severe rainstorm struck Bosnia overnight Friday, killing at least 16...

Graham Winch Hlntv.com

(CNN) -- An all-female jury will start hearing the murder case against Florida neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman next week, with opening arguments in the closely watched trial set for Monday.

The jury was selected Thursday afternoon after defense attorney Mark O'Mara completed his question-and-answer session with the potential jurors. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday morning, Judge Debra Nelson said Thursday.

The prosecuting and defense attorneys referred to the jury members as five white women and one black or Hispanic woman. CNN does not have access to the juror questionnaires and cannot confirm the ethnicities of the jurors.

Four alternate jurors -- two women and two men -- will hear the case as well. Nelson asked Zimmerman if he agreed with the jurors selected to serve on the panel, and he said he did.

Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch captain, is charged with second-degree murder for killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, on the night of February 26, 2012. He says he shot the teenager in self-defense, but prosecutors accuse him of unjustly profiling and killing Martin.

An initial decision by police not to pursue charges in the case led to the dismissal of the town's police chief and sparked fresh debates about race relations and gun laws in the United States. Zimmerman is Hispanic; Martin was African-American.

O'Mara began the day by explaining the definition of reasonable doubt to the jury pool. He said it's a complicated concept that even "third-year law students" can have difficulty understanding.

O'Mara questioned the 40 potential jurors about a variety of topics, including their beliefs about gun ownership and their thoughts on self-defense.

O'Mara pointed out that Florida law states that there is no duty to retreat when being threatened, but Nelson admonished O'Mara, saying she did not want the attorneys interpreting the law for the jurors. Nelson then read to the jury the strict definition of justifiable homicide that they must consider during deliberations.

Justifiable homicide is a killing where no criminal liability can result, such as when someone acts in self-defense to protect himself or another person.

O'Mara finished his questioning of the jury before Nelson broke for lunch. When court resumed Thursday afternoon, the attorneys began the process of whittling down jury pool to the six jurors and the four alternates needed for the trial.

Under Florida law, six-person juries hear all criminal cases except capital offenses. The charges against Zimmerman do not make it a capital case.

Both sides had the chance to keep or strike jurors. Each side had 10 peremptory strikes -- 10 opportunities to eliminate potential jurors without having to disclose their reasons -- and an unlimited number of strikes "for cause," for such reasons as bias or hardships.

Later Thursday, attorneys were to resume the hearing to decide the admissibility of technology used to analyze the screams on a 911 call from the night of the shooting.

The technology may be key to the prosecution's case, because their experts' testimony may be able to shed light on what was said between Zimmerman and Martin moments before the teenager was shot.

If the analysis indicates Martin screamed for help, it could hurt the credibility of Zimmerman's claim that he acted in self-defense.

The law states that for technology to be admissible, it must be "generally accepted" in that particular field. Zimmerman's attorneys are arguing the technology does not satisfy that threshold.

On June 6, defense expert Hirotaka Nakasone, an audio engineer for the FBI, expressed his doubts about using the recordings.

"A screaming voice is too far for us to address," Nakasone said. "It might mislead in the worst case."

CNN's Grace Wong and Rich Phillips contributed to this report.