04-20-2024  1:18 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Don’t Shoot Portland, University of Oregon Team Up for Black Narratives, Memory

The yearly Memory Work for Black Lives Plenary shows the power of preservation.

Grants Pass Anti-Camping Laws Head to Supreme Court

Grants Pass in southern Oregon has become the unlikely face of the nation’s homelessness crisis as its case over anti-camping laws goes to the U.S. Supreme Court scheduled for April 22. The case has broad implications for cities, including whether they can fine or jail people for camping in public. Since 2020, court orders have barred Grants Pass from enforcing its anti-camping laws. Now, the city is asking the justices to review lower court rulings it says has prevented it from addressing the city's homelessness crisis. Rights groups say people shouldn’t be punished for lacking housing.

Four Ballot Measures for Portland Voters to Consider

Proposals from the city, PPS, Metro and Urban Flood Safety & Water Quality District.

Washington Gun Store Sold Hundreds of High-Capacity Ammunition Magazines in 90 Minutes Without Ban

KGW-TV reports Wally Wentz, owner of Gator’s Custom Guns in Kelso, described Monday as “magazine day” at his store. Wentz is behind the court challenge to Washington’s high-capacity magazine ban, with the help of the Silent Majority Foundation in eastern Washington.

NEWS BRIEFS

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 ...

Bank Announces 14th Annual “I Got Bank” Contest for Youth in Celebration of National Financial Literacy Month

The nation’s largest Black-owned bank will choose ten winners and award each a $1,000 savings account ...

Literary Arts Transforms Historic Central Eastside Building Into New Headquarters

The new 14,000-square-foot literary center will serve as a community and cultural hub with a bookstore, café, classroom, and event...

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Announces New Partnership with the University of Oxford

Tony Bishop initiated the CBCF Alumni Scholarship to empower young Black scholars and dismantle financial barriers ...

The drug war devastated Black and other minority communities. Is marijuana legalization helping?

ARLINGTON, Wash. (AP) — When Washington state opened some of the nation's first legal marijuana stores in 2014, Sam Ward Jr. was on electronic home detention in Spokane, where he had been indicted on federal drug charges. He would soon be off to prison to serve the lion's share of a four-year...

Firefighters douse a blaze at a historic Oregon hotel famously featured in 'The Shining'

GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. (AP) — Firefighters doused a late-night fire at Oregon's historic Timberline Lodge — featured in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film “The Shining” — before it caused significant damage. The fire Thursday night was confined to the roof and attic of the lodge,...

Two-time world champ J’den Cox retires at US Olympic wrestling trials; 44-year-old reaches finals

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — J’den Cox walked off the mat after dropping a 2-2 decision to Kollin Moore at the U.S. Olympic wrestling trials on Friday night, leaving his shoes behind to a standing ovation. The bronze medal winner at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 was beaten by...

University of Missouri plans 0 million renovation of Memorial Stadium

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri is planning a 0 million renovation of Memorial Stadium. The Memorial Stadium Improvements Project, expected to be completed by the 2026 season, will further enclose the north end of the stadium and add a variety of new premium...

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

The drug war devastated Black and other minority communities. Is marijuana legalization helping?

ARLINGTON, Wash. (AP) — When Washington state opened some of the nation's first legal marijuana stores in 2014, Sam Ward Jr. was on electronic home detention in Spokane, where he had been indicted on federal drug charges. He would soon be off to prison to serve the lion's share of a four-year...

Lawsuits under New York's new voting rights law reveal racial disenfranchisement even in blue states

FREEPORT, N.Y. (AP) — Weihua Yan had seen dramatic demographic changes since moving to Long Island's Nassau County. Its Asian American population alone had grown by 60% since the 2010 census. Why then, he wondered, did he not see anyone who looked like him on the county's local...

USC cancels graduation keynote by filmmaker amid controversy over decision to drop student's speech

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The University of Southern California further shook up its commencement plans Friday, announcing the cancelation of a keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M. Chu just days after making the controversial choice to disallow the student valedictorian from speaking. The...

ENTERTAINMENT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 21-27

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 21-27: April 21: Actor Elaine May is 92. Singer Iggy Pop is 77. Actor Patti LuPone is 75. Actor Tony Danza is 73. Actor James Morrison (“24”) is 70. Actor Andie MacDowell is 66. Singer Robert Smith of The Cure is 65. Guitarist Michael...

What to stream this weekend: Conan O’Brien travels, 'Migration' soars and Taylor Swift reigns

Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver” landing on Netflix and Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” album are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as...

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...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Final jurors seated for Trump's hush money case, with opening statements set for Monday

NEW YORK (AP) — The final jurors were seated Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, and an appellate judge...

Not a toddler, not a parent, but still love 'Bluey'? You're not alone

PHOENIX (AP) — A small blue dog with an Australian accent has captured the hearts of people across the world. ...

Emergency rooms refused to treat pregnant women, leaving one to miscarry in a lobby restroom

WASHINGTON (AP) — One woman miscarried in the lobby restroom of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff...

Indians vote in the first phase of the world's largest election as Modi seeks a third term

NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of Indians began voting on Friday in a six-week election that's a referendum on...

US sanctions fundraisers for extremist West Bank settlers who commit violence against Palestinians

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday imposed sanctions on two entities accused of fundraising...

Ukraine, Israel aid advances in rare House vote as Democrats help Republicans push it forward

WASHINGTON (AP) — With rare bipartisan momentum, the House pushed ahead Friday on a foreign aid package of ...

Dana Ford CNN

(CNN) -- It was supposed to be the beginning of a new life.

Melinda Coleman and her four children moved to the small town of Maryville, Mo., to start fresh after her husband and the children's father died in a car accident.

But their move to Maryville turned into a nightmare early on Jan. 8, 2012.

Coleman's daughter Daisy, then 14 and a high school freshman, was hosting a sleepover with a girlfriend at the Colemans' home. They were drinking alcohol, according to a report from the Nodaway County Sheriff's Office.

Daisy had been texting with a football player, a senior, who was then 17. They decided to meet up.

"We snuck into his house through his basement window, and I went to go sit on the couch, and he gave me a big glass of a clear liquid. And that's all I remember," the teenager said Monday on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront."

The next morning, Daisy was found outside her front door with no shoes, socks or coat despite the below-freezing temperatures. Her mother found her.

"There was frost on the ground, and it was about 22 degrees. So we initially got her inside the house, and tried to warm her up and at that point, I couldn't figure out what had happened," said Coleman, who spoke alongside her daughter.

"It wasn't until I undressed her to put her in a warm tub that I realized that maybe she had been sexually assaulted. So I asked her if she was hurting, and she said yes, and started to cry," she said.

CNN does not typically identify possible victims of sexual assault, but Daisy and her mother chose to go public.

The football player was arrested and charged with sexual assault. His friend was also charged with recording at least a part of the incident on an iPhone.

About two months after the alleged attack, the charges were dropped.

On Monday, CNN stopped by the football player's home and spoke with his parents. They declined to comment and said they would have their lawyer get in touch.

Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White told CNN that his office and the prosecuting attorney were ready to prosecute. They did not move forward because the victim and her family refused to cooperate, he said.

"The only people's stories that have been inconsistent throughout this whole thing are the Colemans -- are the victims in this case -- and I don't know why that is," White said.

Coleman denied that claim.

CNN was not able to reach the office of Robert Rice, the Nodaway County prosecutor, on Monday, which was the Columbus Day holiday.

According to the The Kansas City Star, which reported the story over the weekend, Rice told the newspaper the charges were dropped for lack of evidence.

"There wasn't any prosecuting attorney that could take that case to trial," he said. "It had to be dismissed. And it was."

The story is picking up steam on social media.

A Facebook page called "Justice for Daisy" is calling for a protest at the Nodaway County courthouse next week.

Anonymous also appears to be involved. The loosely organized hacker group released a statement calling for an investigation into the handling of the case.

It made similar calls around a separate teenage rape case in Steubenville, Ohio, recently.

Two teenage boys were convicted in that case, which gained worldwide attention because of -- and through -- the use of social media.

In the weeks that followed Daisy's alleged assault, Coleman said threats were made against her children. She said she was fired from her job at avet clinic.

According to Coleman and her daughter, the backlash from many residents in the town was relentless.

"There was really a lot of cyberbullying," Daisy said. "And I really, at first I didn't really, it didn't affect me as much, but whenever you hear it so often that you're all these different things then you start to believe it, and I really did start to hate myself."

So the family picked up and moved again -- away from the small all-American town that was supposed to give them a new lease on life.

CNN's Sara Weisfeldt and Ana Cabrera contributed to this report.

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The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast