05-03-2024  3:58 am   •   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...

Police detain driver who accelerated toward protesters at Portland State University in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police said Thursday they detained the driver of a white Toyota Camry who briefly accelerated toward a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Portland State University in Oregon and then ran off spraying what appeared to be pepper spray toward protesters who confronted...

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...

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

Why did bill to stem ‘foreign influence’ trigger protests in Georgia over country's media freedom?

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia has been engulfed by huge protests triggered by a proposed law that critics see...

Damaged in war, a vibrant church in Ukraine rises as a symbol of the country's faith and culture

LYPIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — This Orthodox Easter season, an extraordinary new church is bringing spiritual comfort...

US jobs report for April will likely point to a slower but still-strong pace of hiring

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American economy likely delivered another solid hiring gain in April, showing continuing...

E-waste is overflowing landfills. At one sprawling Vietnam market, workers recycle some of it

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AP) — Dam Chan Nguyen saves dead and dying computers. When he first...

Damaged in war, a vibrant church in Ukraine rises as a symbol of the country's faith and culture

LYPIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — This Orthodox Easter season, an extraordinary new church is bringing spiritual comfort...

Denmark to liberalize its abortion law to allow the procedure until 18th week of pregnancy

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark's government said Friday it is relaxing its restrictions on abortion for the...

Anthony Mccartney and Thomas Watkins Associated Press Writers

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death had requested lifesaving gear and a nurse from the concert promoter organizing the singer's London shows, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.
But neither request was apparently in place when Jackson died last June 25 after Dr. Conrad Murray administered a mixture of sedatives, including the anesthetic propofol, in an attempt to get the chronic insomniac to sleep.
Propofol is extremely powerful and is usually administered only in medical settings with emergency equipment on hand. Patients are normally constantly monitored.
Murray was alone when he gave the drugs to Jackson. After he realized the sedated star was not breathing, he performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation but was unable to revive him. He performed CPR on the singer while he was in bed instead of moving him to the floor, an action that was criticized after Jackson's death.
The doctor has pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in Jackson's death. His proposed contract with promoter AEG Live, which included a monthly fee of $150,000 (euro122,000), was not finalized before the singer's death. Murray never received payment for his services.
The request for a heart resuscitation machine and another person with medical training are revealed in e-mails and a contract drafted by AEG Live and sent to Murray.
The documents are included in a complaint filed by Jackson's father, Joe, to the California Medical Board against AEG Live, accusing the promoter of Jackson's comeback ``This Is It'' tour of engaging in the ``unlawful practice of corporate medicine.'' It also accuses the company of forcing Murray to provide Jackson with dangerous medical services.
Michael Roth, an AEG spokesman, said the company had not seen the complaint and could not comment on it or the contract.
Murray's lawyer Ed Chernoff declined to comment.
``AEG hired, directed, controlled and demanded Dr. Conrad Murray, a medical doctor, to medicate Michael Jackson, provide Jackson with dangerous medical services, and to give Michael Jackson controlled substances and other drugs without providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation equipment or nursing assistance as it had promised in writing it would provide,'' the complaint states.
Murray's request for the CPR equipment was first made to a concert tour business manager, an e-mail message shows. The complaint states Murray also requested a nurse, and the doctor's proposed contract called for AEG to hire a ``qualified assistant medical person.''
The request was later mentioned in Murray's proposed contract. The language stated AEG ``shall provide Dr. Murray for his use during the term with medical equipment requested by Dr. Murray to assist him in performing the services as approved by (AEG).''
The equipment is described as a ``portable cardio pulmonary resuscitation unit ('CPR Machine'), saline, catheters, needles, a gurney and other mutually approved medical equipment necessary for the Services.''
The complaint states Murray signed the document a day before Michael Jackson's death.
Murray had known Jackson and treated him and his children occasionally in recent years, the doctor's attorney has said and the complaint states.
The AEG agreement would have covered Murray's work while Jackson was preparing for the London shows and throughout the concerts last summer.
An e-mail sent to Murray during the negotiations explained a delay in the contract's drafting because it was a ``rare event'' for a physician to be hired to care for a singer on tour.
E-mails also show the contract was still being reworked two days before Jackson's death, which happened a week before he was to travel to London for the ``This Is It'' shows.
A spokeswoman for the California Medical Board said complaints filed to the agency are confidential unless it takes any action. The board receives 8,000 complaints a year, according to its website.
Joe Jackson's attorney, Brian Oxman, confirmed he filed a complaint with the California Medical Board but declined to discuss it.
In his complaint, Joe Jackson -- who has repeatedly criticized AEG Live since shortly after his son's death -- accuses the promoter of agreeing to pay Murray vastly more than he was making so that it could exert control over his medical decisions.
Joe Jackson's filing cites a 2008 income declaration by Murray in a child support proceeding in which the cardiologist stated he earned only $3,300 per month. The Jackson family patriarch is also contemplating a wrongful death lawsuit against Murray.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast