05-02-2024  6:00 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...

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...

Tension grows on UCLA campus as police order dispersal of large pro-Palestinian gathering

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Law enforcement on the UCLA campus donned riot gear Wednesday evening as they ordered the dispersal of over a thousand people who had gathered in support of a pro-Palestinian student encampment, warning over loudspeakers that anyone who refused to leave could face arrest. ...

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...

What is at stake in UK local voting ahead of a looming general election

LONDON (AP) — Millions of voters in England and Wales cast ballots Thursday in an array of local elections...

Here's what's on the table for Israel and Hamas in the latest cease-fire talks

CAIRO (AP) — Israel and Hamas appear to be seriously negotiating an end to the war in Gaza and the return of...

United Methodists remove anti-gay language from their official teachings on societal issues

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates on Thursday removed a 52-year-old declaration from their...

By Jessica Yellin. Jake Tapper and Tom Cohen CNN

President Barack Obama formally canceled a much-discussed visit to Moscow next month for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing a lack of progress in bilateral relations since Putin regained the presidency a year ago.

Obama will still attend a G-20 summit in St. Petersburg in early September, but now will go to Sweden beforehand instead of stopping in Moscow to meet with Putin, the White House announced.

"Following a careful review begun in July, we have reached the conclusion that there is not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda with Russia to hold a U.S.-Russia Summit in early September," a White House statement said.

It noted progress in relations with Russia during Obama's first term, much of it when Dmitry Medvedev was president and Putin was prime minister. Putin regained the presidency in May 2012.

"Given our lack of progress on issues such as missile defense and arms control, trade and commercial relations, global security issues, and human rights and civil society in the last 12 months, we have informed the Russian government that we believe it would be more constructive to postpone the summit until we have more results from our shared agenda," the White House said.

The statement also cited Russia's recent decision to grant asylum to classified leaker Edward Snowden as a factor in the decision, but a senior administration official told CNN that the talks with Putin were likely to have been canceled regardless.

"We just hadn't gotten any traction" on issues that the summit would have addressed, including missile defense and a reduction in nuclear missiles, the official said on the condition of not being identified, adding that attempts to find common ground on economic and trade agreements also were problematic.

"We're not in the business of doing summits just to do summits," the official told CNN.

Despite canceling the Moscow talks with Putin, the White House said a meeting set for Friday between Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel with their Russian counterparts would proceed "to discuss how we can best make progress moving forward on the full range of issues in our bilateral relationship."

Yuri Ushakov, an aide to Putin, told reporters on Wednesday that "we're disappointed with the U.S. administration's decision," the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported.

"It's clear that the decision is linked to the situation around former CIA contractor Edward Snowden," Ushakov said, according to Tass, which quoted him as saying the situation "illustrates that the U.S. is not ready to build equal relations with Russia."

The invitation for Obama "remains in force," he said.

The senior Obama administration official said, "we still have business to do with these guys on Afghanistan and Iran as well as other issues."

On NBC's "Tonight Show" Tuesday, Obama said he was disappointed Russia had granted asylum to Snowden, a former government contractor who leaked details of National Security Agency surveillance programs that sparked a political firestorm.

The United States wants Russia to return Snowden to face trial on charges under the Espionage Act, but Russia instead granted him at least a year of asylum and he is in an unknown location in the country.

Russia's leaders have a proclivity for slipping into a Cold War mindset, Obama said, adding that it is essential that cooperation continues between the two nations.

Obama also criticized Russia for a new law banning "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations around minors."

Implemented last month after Putin signed it into law, the measure bars public discussion of gay rights and relationships anywhere children might hear it. The law has been condemned by Russian and international rights groups as highly discriminatory.

"I have no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them," Obama said.

U.S. legislators from both parties had called for Obama to cancel the Moscow talks with Putin, and some suggested he also should refuse to attend the G-20 summit in Russia.

"Putin doesn't deserve the respect after what he's done with Snowden," Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York told CNN on Wednesday. "He goes out of his way to stick the knife into the United States."

But Schumer said he supports Obama attending the G-20 gathering.

CNN's Jessica Yelling, Jake Tapper and Jill Dougherty contributed to this report, which was written by Tom Cohen.

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast