05-05-2024  9:50 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Safety Lapses Contributed to Patient Assaults at Oregon State Hospital

A federal report says safety lapses at the Oregon State Hospital contributed to recent patient-on-patient assaults. The report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services investigated a recent choking attack and sexual assault, among other incidents. It found that staff didn't always adequately supervise their patients, and that the hospital didn't fully investigate the incidents. In a statement, the hospital said it was dedicated to its patients and working to improve conditions. It has 10 days from receiving the report to submit a plan of correction. The hospital is Oregon's most secure inpatient psychiatric facility

Police Detain Driver Who Accelerated Toward Protesters at Portland State University in Oregon

The Portland Police Bureau said in a written statement late Thursday afternoon that the man was taken to a hospital on a police mental health hold. They did not release his name. The vehicle appeared to accelerate from a stop toward the crowd but braked before it reached anyone. 

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.

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...

Want to show teachers appreciation? This top school gives them more freedom

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — When teachers at A.D. Henderson School, one of the top-performing schools in Florida, are asked how they succeed, one answer is universal: They have autonomy. Nationally, most teachers report feeling stressed and overwhelmed at work, according to a Pew...

Escaped zebra captured near Seattle after gallivanting around Cascade mountain foothills for days

SEATTLE (AP) — A zebra that has been hoofing through the foothills of western Washington for days was recaptured Friday evening, nearly a week after she escaped with three other zebras from a trailer near Seattle. Local residents and animal control officers corralled the zebra...

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

5 years after federal suit, North Carolina voter ID trial set to begin

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina's photo voter identification law is set to go to trial Monday, with arguments expected to focus on whether the requirement unlawfully discriminates against Black and Hispanic citizens or serves legitimate state interests to boost...

Kim Godwin out as ABC News president after 3 years as first Black woman as network news chief

NEW YORK (AP) — Kim Godwin is out after three tumultuous years as ABC News president, a move presaged earlier this year when network parent Walt Disney Co. installed one of its executives, Debra O'Connell, to oversee the news division. Godwin, the first Black woman to lead a network...

As US spotlights those missing or dead in Native communities, prosecutors work to solve their cases

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It was a frigid winter morning when authorities found a Native American man dead on a remote gravel road in western New Mexico. He was lying on his side, with only one sock on, his clothes gone and his shoes tossed in the snow. There were trails of blood on...

ENTERTAINMENT

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...

Book Review: 'Crow Talk' provides a path for healing in a meditative and hopeful novel on grief

Crows have long been associated with death, but Eileen Garvin’s novel “Crow Talk” offers a fresh perspective; creepy, dark and morbid becomes beautiful, wondrous and transformative. “Crow Talk” provides a path for healing in a meditative and hopeful novel on grief, largely...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Biden has rebuilt the refugee system after Trump-era cuts. What comes next in an election year?

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A church volunteer stood at an apartment door, beckoning inside a Congolese family for...

Panama's new president-elect, José Raúl Mulino, was a late entry in the race

PANAMA CITY (AP) — José Raúl Mulino said he was practically retired from politics just over six months ago. ...

Commercial jet maker Airbus is staying humble even as Boeing flounders. There's a reason for that

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — In the latest round of their decades-long battle for dominance in commercial aircraft,...

The UN warns Sudan's warring parties that Darfur risks starvation and death if aid isn't allowed in

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations food agency warned Sudan’s warring parties Friday that there is a...

Kevin Spacey denies new allegations of inappropriate behavior to be aired on UK television next week

LONDON (AP) — Kevin Spacey, the Oscar-winning actor, has denied new allegations of inappropriate behaviour from...

Labour's Sadiq Khan reelected as London mayor as UK's ruling Conservatives face more electoral pain

LONDON (AP) — Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party's mayor of London, romped to victory Saturday, securing a record...

Bill Mears CNN Senior Producer

FORT HOOD, Texas (CNN) -- Heartbreaking testimony from victims and family members of the Fort Hood shooting continued Tuesday, as the court-martial of convicted shooter Nidal Hasan moves closer to a dramatic conclusion.

"The shooting and his killing is not going to destroy my family," said Joleen Cahill, widow of Michael Cahill, the only civilian to die in the massacre. "He is not going to win," she said firmly, referring to the defendant sitting just feet away.

The 2009 killings on this sprawling U.S. Army base by a lone gunman left 13 people dead and 32 others wounded, some severely.

The sentencing phase could wrap up by mid-week, and the jury panel of 13 officers will then decide whether the Army Medical Corps officer should die for his crimes. The wild card is what Hasan will say to the court -- if anything -- when he gets his turn to speak. He serves as his own attorney and has not put up much of a defense.

He asked no questions of the prosecution witnesses who spoke separately on the stand. None directly addressed Hasan at the defense table or bothered to look at him while they testified.

Three shooting victims, six widows, five parents and an adult offspring were among those who fought tears to describe their physical and emotional suffering over the past two days.

Cahill recalled going numb when she was told about the killings. "A lot of that night was a blank."

Also testifying Tuesday was Jerri Krueger, mother of Sgt. Amy Krueger, who was 29 at the time of the incident. She recalled what her daughter said the day of the 9/11 attacks: "She said, 'Mom, I'm joining the Army.' I told her she couldn't fight bin Laden all by herself, and she said, "Watch me."

Krueger and her best friend enlisted the next day, and had aspired to be a clinical psychologist.

"When a parent loses a child," said Jerri Krueger, "it creates an irreplaceable void. I live with that every day."

Hasan was convicted Friday of all 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting rampage at a Fort Hood deployment processing center. The incident occurred about a month before Hasan was to deploy to Afghanistan.

Wounded by two gunshots was Lt. Col Randy Royer, a Reservist.

"I have mental issues, I take anxiety medication," he told the panel Tuesday. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and dealing with crowds is especially tough. Visiting the local pharmacy, where chairs line the counter, reminds him of the setup at the center where the killings occurred. "I don't do well with that," he said softly.

Hasan continued to forgo asking any questions of the witnesses.

Prosecutors will call more witnesses to describe the impact the shootings had on their lives, part of the "aggravating" evidence the prosecution will use to try to demonstrate why Hasan deserves lethal injection.

The court-martial unexpectedly recessed mid-afternoon Monday, and Hasan's standby attorney John Galligan told CNN that "health-related concerns promoted the delay."

From his wheelchair, the defendant, who was wounded by military police in the attacks and paralyzed, repeatedly asked the bench Monday to take brief breaks from the proceedings.

The American-born psychiatrist of Palestinian descent has the opportunity to offer "mitigating" evidence that could persuade the panel to spare his life.

But victims' family members had their turn Tuesday. Among them was, Philip Warman who was so distraught about losing his wife -- 55-year-old Lt. Col Juanita Warman -- that he testified that friends had to take his guns away for his own safety. And he abused alcohol almost constantly until the following June.

"I was falling apart," he testified. "It was like something was ripped from me."

Warman entered rehab and has not had a drink since. He earns Alcoholics Anonymous coins as reminders of his sobriety. He told the panel that he pushes the coins into the ground when he visits his wife's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast