12-14-2024  8:25 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Oregon Lawmakers Approve $218M in Emergency Wildfire Funding in Special Session

According to Gov. Tina Kotek's office, fighting the fires cost the state over 0 million, making it the most expensive wildfire season in Oregon history. 

Rosemont Court Among Affordable Housing Projects to Receive State Funding

The historic property housed more than 100 low-income seniors until a Legionnaire’s outbreak forced residents out in 2021.

Proposed Merger of Supermarket Giants Kroger and Albertsons Is Halted by Federal, State Judges

A federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked the proposed merger until an in-house administrative judge at the Federal Trade Commission considers it. 

1803 Fund Will Invest $8 million in 11 Community Partners to Strengthen Black Portland

The 1803 Fund has announced it will invest million in 11 community-based partners aimed at strengthening Black Portland. Founded in 2020, the investment fund aims to grow shared prosperity, through a mix of financial investments and investments in community-based organizations.

NEWS BRIEFS

Congress Honors Shirley Chisholm with Congressional Gold Medal for Trailblazing Legacy

In 1972, she made history as the first Black candidate and the first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. ...

House Votes to Rename Post Office in Honor of Elijah Cummings

Elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1982, Cummings became the youngest chair of the Legislative Black Caucus and the first...

House Passes Bonamici Bill to Rename Post Office in Honor of Former Rep. Elizabeth Furse

Furse represented Oregon’s First Congressional District for three terms from 1993-1999 and established her legacy as a champion for...

Portland Parks & Recreation Wedding Reservations For Dates in 2025

In-person applications have priority starting Monday, January 6, at 8 a.m. ...

Grants up to $120,000 Educate About Local Environmental Projects

Application period for WA nonprofits open Jan. 7 ...

Mysterious googly eyes go viral after appearing on public art in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Googly eyes have been appearing on sculptures around the central Oregon city of Bend, delighting many residents and sparking a viral sensation covered widely by news outlets and featured on a popular late-night talk show. On social media, the city shared photos...

Travis Hunter and Ashton Jeanty give this year's Heisman Trophy ceremony a different vibe

NEW YORK (AP) — Same iconic statue, very different race. With two-way star Travis Hunter of Colorado and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty leading the field, these certainly aren't your typical Heisman Trophy contenders. Sure, veteran quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel...

Bates leads Missouri against LIU after 29-point game

Long Island Sharks (4-8) at Missouri Tigers (8-1) Columbia, Missouri; Saturday, 12 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -26.5; over/under is 146.5 BOTTOM LINE: Missouri hosts LIU after Tamar Bates scored 29 points in Missouri's 76-67 victory over the...

Slaughter and Missouri host Lipscomb

Lipscomb Bisons (6-3) at Missouri Tigers (9-3) Columbia, Missouri; Sunday, 4 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Missouri plays Lipscomb after Grace Slaughter scored 20 points in Missouri's 94-55 win against the Northern Illinois Huskies. The Tigers are 7-1 in home...

OPINION

My Head Start Story: A Lifetime Connection

NNPA NEWSWIRE — When it was time to move on from Head Start, my literacy and numeracy skills were advanced. Head Start taught my mother how to advocate for what was in my best interest educationally. ...

OP-ED: The Future of American Education: A Call to Action

“Education is a non-negotiable priority. Parents and community leaders must work to safeguard the education system. The future of our children—and the fabric of our society—depends on advocating for policies that give every student the chance to...

A Loan Shark in Your Pocket: Cellphone Cash Advance Apps

Fast-growing app usage leaves many consumers worse off. ...

America’s Healing Can Start with Family Around the Holidays

With the holiday season approaching, it seems that our country could not be more divided. That division has been perhaps the main overarching topic of our national conversation in recent years. And it has taken root within many of our own families. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Benin grants citizenship to slave descendants as it faces its own role in the trade

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — When Nadege Anelka first came to the West African country of Benin from her home island of Martinique, a French overseas territory in the Caribbean, the 57-year-old travel agent said she had a feeling of deja vu. “A lot of the people reminded me of my...

Leader of California white supremacist group gets two years in prison

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The leader of a Southern California white supremacist group was sentenced Friday to two years in federal prison for inciting violence at California political rallies in 2017. Robert Paul Rundo, 34, pleaded guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to violate...

NY police force strip searched nearly everyone it arrested, DOJ says

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. (AP) — A suburban New York police department routinely violated residents' civil rights, including making illegal arrests and using unnecessary strip and cavity searches, according to a new U.S. Department of Justice report. The report on a pattern and practice of...

ENTERTAINMENT

Lauren Mayberry steps out of the band Chvrches for a solo album that shows her influences

NEW YORK (AP) — The birth of Lauren Mayberry as a solo artist should be marked by something like a wolf cry. And that's exactly what it sounds like. The vocalist and percussionist from the Scottish pop band Chvrches has punctuated her debut album with a playful howl while telling...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 15-21

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 15-21: Dec. 15: Singer Cindy Birdsong of The Supremes is 85. Drummer Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five is 82. Drummer Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge is 78. Actor Don Johnson is 75. Actor Melanie Chartoff (“Rugrats,” ″Parker Lewis...

Kate Hamill delivers a 'feminist primal scream' with her new play 'The Light and the Dark'

NEW YORK (AP) — The inspiration for Kate Hamill's latest play came from across centuries and the planet. The actor-playwright was honeymooning in Italy in 2020 when she walked into the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and spotted a painting by pioneering Baroque painter Artemisia...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she 'sustained an injury' from fall on official trip to Luxembourg

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been hospitalized after she “sustained an injury”...

OpenAI's legal battle with Elon Musk reveals internal turmoil over avoiding AI 'dictatorship'

A 7-year-old rivalry between tech leaders Elon Musk and Sam Altman over who should run OpenAI and prevent an...

A look at the whirlwind events that led to the impeachment of South Korea's president

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s parliament on Saturday voted to impeach embattled President Yoon Suk...

American pilgrim imprisoned in Assad's Syria calls his release from prison a 'blessing'

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An American who disappeared seven months ago into former Syrian President Bashar...

Hearings are done: Now the wait begins for verdict on closely-watched climate case at UN’s top court

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A lawyer for a small South Pacific island nation told the world’s highest court...

Saudi Arabia's plans to host the men's World Cup 2034 will be harmful for the climate, experts say

As the newly-named host of the 2034 World Cup in men's soccer, Saudi Arabia says it will construct or renovate 15...

The Associated Press and The Skanner News

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP)-- A distraught Libyan woman stormed into a Tripoli hotel Saturday to tell foreign reporters that government troops raped her, setting off a brawl when hotel staff and government minders tried to detain her. The Skanner News Video: raw footage from the BBC
Iman al-Obeidi was tackled by waitresses and government minders as she sat telling her story to journalists after she rushed into the restaurant at the Rixos hotel where a number of foreign journalists were eating breakfast.
She claimed loudly that troops had detained her a checkpoint, tied her up, abused her, then led her away to be gang raped.
Her story could not be independently verified, but the dramatic scene provided a rare firsthand glimpse of the brutal crackdown on public dissent by Moammar Gadhafi's regime as the Libyan leader fights a rebellion against his rule that began last month.
The regime has been keeping up a drumbeat of propaganda in the Tripoli-centered west of the country under its control even as it faces a weeklong international air campaign against the Libyan military.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim originally said that investigators told him al-Obeidi was drunk and seemed to be suffering mentally, but he retreated from that position later Saturday. He said she was in safe custody and her claims were being investigated but as a criminal, not a political case.
Before she was dragged out of the hotel, al-Obeidi managed to tell journalists that she was detained by a number of troops at a Tripoli checkpoint on Wednesday. She said they were drinking whiskey and handcuffed her. She said 15 men later raped her.
"They tied me up ... they even defecated and urinated on me," she said, her face streaming with tears. "The Gadhafi militiamen violated my honor."
The woman, who appeared in her 30's, wore a black robe and a floral scarf around her neck and identified herself. She had scratches on her face and she pulled up her black robe to reveal a bloodied thigh. She said neighbors in the area where she was detained helped her escape.
The Associated Press only identifies rape victims who volunteer their names.
As al-Obeidi spoke, a hotel waitress brandished a butter knife, a government minder reached for his handgun and another waitress pulled a jacket tightly over her head.
Al-Obeidi said she was targeted by the troops because she's from the eastern city of Benghazi, a rebel stronghold.
The waiters called her a traitor and told her to shut up. She retorted: "Easterners – we're all Libyan brothers, we are supposed to be treated the same, but this is what the Gadhafi militiamen did to me, they violated my honor."
It soon turned into a scene of chaos with journalists attempting to protect the woman from government minders who physically attacked and intimidated her.
Journalists who tried to intervene were pushed out of the way by the minders. A British television reporter was punched, and CNN's camera was smashed on the ground and ripped to pieces by the government minders.
Eventually the minders overpowered the woman and led her outside, shoving her into a car that sped away. Al-Obeidi kept crying that she was certain she would be thrown in jail. She begged photographers to take her picture, raising her robe to show them her bruised body. A minder tried to cover her mouth with his hand to keep her from talking.
"Look at what happens – Gadhafi's militiamen kidnap women at gunpoint, and rape them ... they rape them," al-Obeidi screamed.
She said she wanted to be taken to see the leader himself.
"I want to see Moammar Gadhafi. Didn't he say that every victim will have justice? I want my rights," she said.
The government spokesman said al-Obeidi was "safe and well" with the criminal investigation bureau.
"As far as we know she is a sane person, she is in good health, she has serious claims about four or five individuals," he said. "Those claims are being investigated. We believe this is not political case, this is a criminal case, a lawyer has been offered to her."
Gadhafi's crackdown has been the region's most violent against the wave of anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East. Tensions have been rising between foreign reporters in the Libyan capital and the government minders who have sought to tightly control what they see and whom they talk to. Most of the international press corps is being housed at the Rixos hotel.