04-24-2024  9:10 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

A Conservative Quest to Limit Diversity Programs Gains Momentum in States

In support of DEI, Oregon and Washington have forged ahead with legislation to expand their emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion in government and education.

Epiphanny Prince Hired by Liberty in Front Office Job Day After Retiring

A day after announcing her retirement, Epiphanny Prince has a new job working with the New York Liberty as director of player and community engagement. Prince will serve on the basketball operations and business staffs, bringing her 14 years of WNBA experience to the franchise. 

The Drug War Devastated Black and Other Minority Communities. Is Marijuana Legalization Helping?

A major argument for legalizing the adult use of cannabis after 75 years of prohibition was to stop the harm caused by disproportionate enforcement of drug laws in Black, Latino and other minority communities. But efforts to help those most affected participate in the newly legal sector have been halting. 

Lessons for Cities from Seattle’s Racial and Social Justice Law 

 Seattle is marking the first anniversary of its landmark Race and Social Justice Initiative ordinance. Signed into law in April 2023, the ordinance highlights race and racism because of the pervasive inequities experienced by people of color

NEWS BRIEFS

Mt. Tabor Park Selected for National Initiative

Mt. Tabor Park is the only Oregon park and one of just 24 nationally to receive honor. ...

OHCS, BuildUp Oregon Launch Program to Expand Early Childhood Education Access Statewide

Funds include million for developing early care and education facilities co-located with affordable housing. ...

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 ...

Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge US to prosecute the company

Boeing said Wednesday that it lost 5 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers. ...

Authorities confirm 2nd victim of ex-Washington officer was 17-year-old with whom he had a baby

WEST RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — Authorities on Wednesday confirmed that a body found at the home of a former Washington state police officer who killed his ex-wife before fleeing to Oregon, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was that of a 17-year-old girl with whom he had a baby. ...

Missouri hires Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch for the same role with the Tigers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri hired longtime college administrator Laird Veatch to be its athletic director on Tuesday, bringing him back to campus 14 years after he departed for a series of other positions that culminated with five years spent as the AD at Memphis. Veatch...

KC Current owners announce plans for stadium district along the Kansas City riverfront

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The ownership group of the Kansas City Current announced plans Monday for the development of the Missouri River waterfront, where the club recently opened a purpose-built stadium for the National Women's Soccer League team. CPKC Stadium will serve as the hub...

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

Biden just signed a bill that could ban TikTok. His campaign plans to stay on the app anyway

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden showed off his putting during a campaign stop at a public golf course in Michigan last month, the moment was captured on TikTok. Forced inside by a rainstorm, he competed with 13-year-old Hurley “HJ” Coleman IV to make putts on a...

2021 death of young Black man at rural Missouri home was self-inflicted, FBI tells AP

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal investigation has concluded that a young Black man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a rural Missouri home, not at the hands of the white homeowner who had a history of racist social media postings, an FBI official told The Associated Press Wednesday. ...

Sister of Mississippi man who died after police pulled him from car rejects lawsuit settlement

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A woman who sued Mississippi's capital city over the death of her brother has decided to reject a settlement after officials publicly disclosed how much the city would pay his survivors, her attorney said Wednesday. George Robinson, 62, died in January 2019,...

ENTERTAINMENT

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...

Book Review: 'Nothing But the Bones' is a compelling noir novel at a breakneck pace

Nelson “Nails” McKenna isn’t very bright, stumbles over his words and often says what he’s thinking without realizing it. We first meet him as a boy reading a superhero comic on the banks of a river in his backcountry hometown in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia....

Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots to headline the BET Experience concerts in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots will headline concerts to celebrate the return of the BET Experience in Los Angeles just days before the 2024 BET Awards. BET announced Monday the star-studded lineup of the concert series, which makes a return after a...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by US to hit Russian-held areas, officials say

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by...

Australia and New Zealand honor their war dead with dawn services on Anzac Day

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people gathered across Australia and New Zealand for dawn...

Relatives of those who died waiting for livers at now halted Houston transplant program seek answers

DALLAS (AP) — Several relatives of patients who died while waiting for a new liver said Wednesday they want to...

Australian police arrest 7 alleged teen extremists linked to stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian police arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in...

European leaders laud tougher migration policies but more people die on treacherous sea crossings

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Children dead in the English Channel. Morgues full of migrants reaching capacity in...

Ethnic Karen guerrillas in Myanmar leave a town that army lost 2 weeks ago as rival group holds sway

BANGKOK (AP) — Guerrilla fighters from the main ethnic Karen fighting force battling Myanmar’s military...

Faith Karimi and Nima Elbagir CNN

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- As they strolled through Westgate Mall, guns strapped to their torsos, the attackers chatted on their cell phones while they sprayed bullets at terrified shoppers.

Ruthless and unafraid, they randomly gunned down shoppers at the upscale mall in the Kenyan capital.

At one point, they took turns to pray, removing shoes to perform the ritual washing in a room stacked with boxes. They bowed down in Islamic prayer, taking a break from incessant gunfire.

Chilling footage from mall

Closed-circuit television footage obtained by CNN provides the chilling new details of what happened during the attack last month.

In part, it shows two people with guns casually walking and shooting their way through a supermarket in the mall. During the hours of video, they are seen talking on the phone, praying and shooting toward anything that moved.

A man whimpering in a pool of blood on the floor crawled to get away. A gunman returned and shot him, again.

In between the gunfire, the attackers scanned ceilings for surveillance cameras. Nearby, shoppers hid behind cash registers while some ran for their lives. Others, too terrified to move, cowered on bloody floors.

Parking lot mayhem

The footage was taken on September 21, day one of the four-day siege. Though the video has no sound, the terror on the faces of the victims is loud and clear.

In addition to the two attackers in the supermarket, the footage shows two more making their way through the parking lot. They opened fire. Shoppers slithered under cars. Others tumbled to the ground, felled by bullets.

The attack left at least 67 people dead, many more injured and dozens unaccounted for.

Details match up

Details from the footage appear to corroborate a running commentary by the Al-Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In its Twitter account during the siege, the terror group said the attacks were conducted by men. It denied reports that terror suspect Briton Samantha Lewthwaite was involved.

Al-Shabaab said it remained in contact with the attackers as they battled Kenyan forces during the hostage crisis.

Hostage takers join forces

The attackers in the parking lot later joined the others in the mall. The four wandered, rounding up hostages.

A woman with two children and a third in a shopping cart walked by a line of cash registers. A bloody teenage girl followed them; a gunman pointed the way. The woman, the children and girl were all eventually released.

The footage focuses on the corner of the mall closest to the supermarket, which occupies the anchor position in the four-story mall. The stories repeated themselves in various places at the mall, which has more than 80 stores.

Many unknowns

There are many mysteries about the mall attack.

With dozens still unaccounted for, how many people did the attackers kill? How many terrorists did the Kenyan forces kill? How many civilians and terrorists are buried beneath the concrete chunks of the collapsed section of the mall?

It's unclear whether the four terrorists in the video were arrested or gunned down by security forces at the scene. Even the total number of assailants is unknown.

At the time of the attack, Kenyan officials said that up to 15 gunmen were involved.

On day four, as the operation wound down, President Uhuru Kenyatta said five terrorists were killed and 11 suspects were in custody.

But since then, the numbers have fluctuated, with different officials citing various numbers between four and six.

This month, military spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir said four gunmen died when part of the mall collapsed. It's unclear whether he was referring to those in the video. Their charred bodies, he said, are undergoing DNA tests.

Chirchir also released the names of the dead militants, including an American of Somali origin, but analysts say those names may be pseudonyms.

Officials have said the answers may be buried beneath the rubble of the collapsed section of the mall.

But, as they scour through the mangled heap, there are more questions than answers.

CNN's Faith Karimi wrote and reported from Atlanta; Nima Elbagir reported from Nairobi

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast