04-29-2024  5:27 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

City Council Strikes Down Gonzalez’s ‘Inhumane’ Suggestion for Blanket Ban on Public Camping

Mayor Wheeler’s proposal for non-emergency ordinance will go to second reading.

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. 

NEWS BRIEFS

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...

Mt. Tabor Park Selected for National Initiative

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

Oregon's Sports Bra, a pub for women's sports fans, plans national expansion as interest booms

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — On a recent weeknight at this bar in northeast Portland, fans downed pints and burgers as college women's lacrosse and beach volleyball matches played on big-screen TVs. Memorabilia autographed by female athletes covered the walls, with a painting of U.S. soccer legend Abby...

Oregon university pauses gifts and grants from Boeing in response to student and faculty demands

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — An Oregon university said Friday it is pausing seeking or accepting further gifts or grants from Boeing Co. after students and faculty demanded that the school sever ties with the aerospace company because of its weapons manufacturing divisions and its connections to...

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

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

Obstacles remain as women seek more leadership roles in America's Black Church

No woman had ever preached the keynote sermon at the Joint National Baptist Convention, a gathering of four historically Black Baptist denominations representing millions of people. That changed in January when the Rev. Gina Stewart took the convention stage in Memphis, Tennessee, —...

Wild onion dinners mark the turn of the season in Indian Country

OKMULGEE, Okla. (AP) — As winter fades to spring and the bright purple blossoms of the redbud trees begin to bloom, Cherokee chef Bradley James Dry knows it’s time to forage for morels as well as a staple of Native American cuisine in Oklahoma: wild green onions. Wild onions are...

2012 Olympic champion Gabby Douglas competes for the first time in 8 years at the American Classic

KATY, Texas (AP) — Gabby Douglas is officially back. Whether the gymnastics star's return to the sport carries all the way to the Paris Olympics remains to be seen. Douglas, who became the first Black woman to win the Olympic all-around title when she triumphed in...

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

Millions of Afghans made Pakistan home to escape war. Now many are hiding to escape deportation

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Born and raised in Pakistan to parents who fled neighboring Afghanistan half a century...

Scotland's leader is under pressure to resign as he struggles to win support for weakened government

LONDON (AP) — Scotland’s leader is under pressure to resign as he struggles to engineer a deal to rescue his...

Likely missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targets a container ship in the Red Sea

JERUSALEM (AP) — A suspected missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a container ship in the Red Sea on...

Renowned Peruvian investigative reporter battles criminalized smear campaign — and cancer

LIMA, Peru (AP) — At age 75, one of Latin America’s most storied journalists had been looking forward to...

German police arrest a Russian man in connection with the fatal stabbings of 2 Ukrainian men

BERLIN (AP) — Two Ukrainian men were stabbed to death in southern Germany, police said Sunday, and a Russian man...

Passage of harsh anti-LGBTQ+ law in Iraq draws diplomatic backlash

BAGHDAD (AP) — Human rights groups and diplomats criticized a law that was quietly passed by the Iraqi...

Special to the NNPA from the Louisiana Weekly

(NNPA) - Analysis by the National Women's Law Center of July jobs data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics has revealed that unemployment surged among vulnerable groups of women last month, highlighting the need for Congress to do more to help vulnerable families.
While the data indicates no change in overall unemployment and little change for all men and women, the unemployment rates for women who head families and minority women shot up, while rates among minority men dropped.
Unemployment for women who head families jumped to 13.4 percent in July from 12.1 percent in June. This marks the highest unemployment rate for this particularly vulnerable group since the recession began in December 2007 and the highest rate in over 25 years.
Unemployment among African-American women rose from 11.8 percent in June to 12.9 percent in July, while the rate for African-American men declined from 17.4 percent to 16.7 percent. The situation was similar for Hispanic women, whose unemployment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points to 12.1 percent in July, marking this group's highest unemployment rate since 1986. Hispanic men's unemployment rate dropped from 11.3 percent in June to 10.2 percent in July.
Women lost 62 percent of the 131,000 non-farm jobs lost in July. And while the private sector added 71,000 jobs, women's employment actually dropped by 1,000 jobs in this area. Additionally state and local government education systems, a female-dominated sector, shed a substantial number of jobs. Preliminary numbers reveal that local education lost 27,100 jobs, the largest loss of any industry (excluding temporary Census workers).
"Today's data show that for many women and families, things are getting worse," said Nancy Duff Campbell, NWLC Co-President. "Congress must do far more to help the most vulnerable. Additional funding for child care assistance, child support enforcement, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Fund would help struggling families make ends meet. But even more must be done to create jobs and strengthen the economy."
Congress recently extended enhanced unemployment benefits through November to help workers unemployed for six months or more, and the Senate just approved additional funding to states and localities for health care and education that will help stem further job losses and deeper cuts in public services. But Congress has yet to act on a more substantial jobs measure—the Jobs for America Act, additional funding for child care assistance, restored funding for child support enforcement, and an extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Fund, which has allowed states to create jobs and provide emergency assistance to families.
"This brutal recession will have lasting effects on the well-being of women and their families," Campbell said. "Congress must treat it as the emergency it is."

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast