On Steps of US Supreme Court, AG Rosenblum Rallies Abortion Rights Supporters
Speaking at an ACLU-organized rally on the steps of the United States Supreme Court this morning, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum made an impassioned defense of abortion as essential healthcare, and of medication abortion as a key part of those healthcare rights. The rally coincided with arguments being presented inside the Supreme Court in the AHM (Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine) v. FDA (Food & Drug Administration) case.
Should College Essays Touch on Race? Some Feel the Affirmative Action Ruling Leaves Them No Choice
When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. Yet the added weight of the college essay has fallen unevenly on students of color, who often feel pressure to exploit their hardships as they compete for a spot on campus.
Bird Flu, Weather and Inflation Conspire to Keep Egg Prices Near Historic Highs for Easter
The cost of filling a basket or completing a Seder plate reflect a market scrambled by disease, high demand and growing costs for farmers. While global prices are lower than they were at this time last year, they remain elevated.
Strippers' Bill of Rights Bill Signed Into Law in Washington State
Gov. Jay Inslee signed the measure on Monday which creates safer working conditions for people in the adult entertainment industry. The law requires employee training in establishments to prevent sexual harassment, identify and report human trafficking, deescalate conflict and provide first aid.
The Portland Art Museum presents Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks
Exhibition on view March 30 - August 11, 2024. Programs to include sneaker-focused Summer Camps and in-gallery activities ...
Portland Street Response Hosts Town Hall
PCCEP is seeking community input to help shape their recommendation in support of Portland Street Response. ...
Joint Center Responds to the U.S. House Office of Diversity and Inclusion Disbandment
This decision jeopardizes the establishment of policies to support diverse communities and threatens the pursuit of inclusivity for...
Bonamici, Kaine Praise Billion Dollar Increase for Child Care, Early Childhood Learning
Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) —members of the House Committee on Education and Workforce and the...
Portland Rose Festival 2024 Court Member from Benson Polytechnic High School Announced
The Rose Festival Princess from Benson Polytechnic High School, Laedyn Romero, was selected March 22. ...
Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95
SEATTLE (AP) — Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, and who taught generations of climbers during his more than 250 trips up Mount Rainier, the tallest peak in Washington state, has died at age 95. RMI Expeditions,...
Should college essays touch on race? Some feel the affirmative action ruling leaves them no choice
CHICAGO (AP) — When she started writing her college essay, Hillary Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. About being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana and growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. About hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it...
Georgia ends game on 12-0 run to beat Missouri 64-59 in first round of SEC tourney
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Blue Cain had 19 points, Justin Hill scored 17 off the bench and 11th-seeded Georgia finished the game on a 12-0 run to beat No. 14 seed Missouri 64-59 on Wednesday night in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Cain hit 6 of 12 shots,...
Georgia faces Missouri in SEC Tournament
Missouri Tigers (8-23, 0-18 SEC) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (16-15, 6-12 SEC) Nashville, Tennessee; Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. EDT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bulldogs -3; over/under is 147 BOTTOM LINE: Georgia plays in the SEC Tournament against Missouri. ...
COMMENTARY: Is a Cultural Shift on the Horizon?
As with all traditions in all cultures, it is up to the elders to pass down the rituals, food, language, and customs that identify a group. So, if your auntie, uncle, mom, and so on didn’t teach you how to play Spades, well, that’s a recipe lost. But...
A Full Court Press to Get the Lead Out
With a “goal of identifying and remediating lead hazards in at least 2,800 Lancaster County homes,” LG Health is setting an example for the private sector. And the Biden-Harris administration’s focus on environmental justice and access to clean and safe...
OP-ED: Congress Is Right: Federal Reserve’s Reg II Will Hurt Minority Communities in America
The Fed is taking every effort to promote income equality and workplace diversity and inclusion, but Regulation II would undercut its great work in this respect and cause potential harm to millions of minority families. Now that a congressional coalition has...
OP-ED: A Silent Killer No More
Data from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City shows that more than 13 percent of African American men between the ages 45 and 79 will develop prostate cancer in their lifetimes. And Black men have a 70 percent higher rate of developing...
France's lower house passes a bill banning hair discrimination. It now goes to the Senate
PARIS (AP) — Lawmakers in France's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved a bill that would ban discrimination over the texture, length, color or style of someone's hair. The bill's authors hope the groundbreaking bill sends a message of support to Black people and others...
US changes how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity. It's the first revision in 27 years
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — For the first time in 27 years, the U.S. government is changing how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity, an effort that federal officials believe will more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African heritage. ...
Why did more than 1,000 people die after police subdued them with force that isn't meant to kill?
Carl Grant, a Vietnam veteran with dementia, wandered out of a hospital room to charge a cellphone he imagined he had. When he wouldn’t sit still, the police officer escorting Grant body-slammed him, ricocheting the patient’s head off the floor. Taylor Ware, a former Marine and...
Celebrity birthdays for the week of March 31-April 6
Celebrity birthdays for the week of March 31-April 6: March 31: Actor William Daniels (“St. Elsewhere,” ″Boy Meets World”) is 97. Actor Richard Chamberlain is 90. Actor Shirley Jones is 90. Musician Herb Alpert is 89. Actor Christopher Walken is 81. Comedian Gabe Kaplan...
How to make an Easter ham last all week
The beauty of making a baked ham for Easter (or any holiday or large gathering) is that there's bound to be leftovers. Leftover ham, which will last for up to five days in the fridge, can be a springboard for other meals during the week. Of course you’ll want a sandwich or two, but...
Book Review: 'Glorious Exploits' turns classical history into an endearing comedy about tragedy
Best friends Lampo and Gelon are potters by trade, but their souls are filled with poetry. It’s 412 B.C. and the city of Syracuse doesn’t know what hit it when these two hatch up the best worst idea: They’ll put on a play using the Athenian prisoners of war who are starving to death down in...
UConn, San Diego State set for title game rematch in Sweet 16; Iowa State, Illinois target Elite 8
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VP Harris says US agencies must show their AI tools aren't harming people's safety or rights
U.S. federal agencies must show that their artificial intelligence tools aren't harming the public, or stop using...
Dethroned crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced for defrauding FTX investors
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Opposition figure who became Senegal's president-elect won over 54% of the vote, results show
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal's little-known opposition figure who was elected president this week in a tightly...
Haiti's transitional council issues its first statement, signaling its creation is nearly complete
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Members of a transitional presidential council who will be responsible for...
A Paris exhibit shows how the Olympics mirror society, from Nazi propaganda to fighting inequalities
PARIS (AP) — More than a sporting competition, the Olympics are also a powerful political stage widely used in...
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Buoyed by recent successes in the Midwest, conservatives and business groups are targeting at least three additional states for new efforts that could weaken labor unions by ending their ability to collect mandatory bargaining fees.
The latest efforts are focused on Missouri, Ohio and Oregon and — in a new twist — could put the issue before voters in 2014 instead of relying on potentially reluctant governors to enact laws passed by state legislators.
The strategy of appealing to voters could avoid a redo of the massive union-led protests that clogged some Midwestern capitols where Republicans recently enacted other anti-labor proposals. It also could result in a multi-million dollar advertising battle between businesses and labor unions waged on several fronts at the same time.
“There's national money to be had, and there are large donors in the state that definitely want to move forward,” said Jill Gibson Odell, a Portland, Ore., attorney who is sponsoring an initiative to restrict union fees for public employees in her state.
With the addition of Indiana and Michigan in 2012, there now are 24 states with “right to work” laws that prohibit making union fees a condition of employment. If the newest efforts succeed, unions in a little more than half of the states could have fewer resources to resist pension cuts, health care cost increases or other management initiatives they don't like.
Organizers of the right-to-work movement have seized upon recent economic struggles to suggest that states could gain jobs by making their labor policies more favorable toward business.
A report by the Congressional Research Service last year noted that right-to-work states had stronger employment during the past decade but lower average wages. The report stopped short of attributing that to right-to-work policies, however.
Supporters of such laws contend employees shouldn't be forced to pay fees to a union to get or keep a job. But unions contend the fees are fair because federal law requires them to represent all employees in a bargaining unit regardless of whether they join the union.
Most state right-to-work laws were enacted in the 1940s and 1950s. But businesses and conservative lawmakers, working through groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, have mounted a new push as union membership has dwindled and the competition for jobs has intensified among states.
Indiana in 2012 became the first state in more than a decade to enact a right-to-work law. The movement's biggest victory came later that year, when Republicans in the traditional union stronghold of Michigan followed suit even though thousands of union protesters thronged the Capitol.
“What we're seeing is a lot of states are looking and saying, 'Hey, if Michigan can do it, why can't we?” said Vincent Vernuccio, director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank based in Midland, Mich.
Vernuccio has traveled Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington state and elsewhere encouraging conservatives to press the issue.
At a conference in Chicago last August that brought together hundreds of Republican officials and business leaders, Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder publicly predicted that his state's lawmakers would place right-to-work on the November 2014 ballot.
“We need to ignite a series of prairie fires in other states. It helps us pass it in Missouri if Wisconsin kicks over the bee hive,” Kinder told the audience.
There's no indication that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker plans to pursue right to work as a follow up to his successful 2011 push to limit collective bargaining rights for public workers, which sparked noisy around-the-clock protests at the Capitol. But others are embracing Kinder's strategy.
“If a labor-related issue was on the ballot in multiple states at the same time, labor would have to diffuse their resources,” said Chris Littleton, a consultant and former tea party leader who is backing the right-to-work initiative in Ohio.
Unions have been coordinating their efforts to fight the proposals. Officials from the Missouri AFL-CIO met recently with union leaders in Ohio. Some union leaders also have looked to Colorado, where a right-to-work measure was defeated by voters in 2008.
Read a report on ALEC from the Center for Media and Democracy
“We'll launch a very robust and aggressive campaign” against it, said Scott Moore, a spokesman for Keep Oregon Working, a coalition of groups opposing the Oregon initiative.
Right-to-work supporters in Ohio have begun collecting signatures for a ballot proposal. In Missouri, Republican House Speaker Tim Jones has declared right-to-work a priority for the session that starts Jan. 8. Unions are hoping to quietly derail the measure in the Senate.
“Do we want to storm the Capitol and create a nuclear war if we don't have to? I would say 'no.' But if that's what it takes, we certainly have the capabilities to do that,” said Mike Louis, secretary-treasurer of the Missouri AFL-CIO.