04-25-2024  12:38 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

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. 

Lessons for Cities from Seattle’s Racial and Social Justice Law 

 Seattle is marking the first anniversary of its landmark Race and Social Justice Initiative ordinance. Signed into law in April 2023, the ordinance highlights race and racism because of the pervasive inequities experienced by people of color

NEWS BRIEFS

Mt. Tabor Park Selected for National Initiative

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

OHCS, BuildUp Oregon Launch Program to Expand Early Childhood Education Access Statewide

Funds include million for developing early care and education facilities co-located with affordable housing. ...

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 ...

Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge US to prosecute the company

Boeing said Wednesday that it lost 5 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers. ...

Authorities confirm 2nd victim of ex-Washington officer was 17-year-old with whom he had a baby

WEST RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — Authorities on Wednesday confirmed that a body found at the home of a former Washington state police officer who killed his ex-wife before fleeing to Oregon, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was that of a 17-year-old girl with whom he had a baby. ...

Missouri hires Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch for the same role with the Tigers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri hired longtime college administrator Laird Veatch to be its athletic director on Tuesday, bringing him back to campus 14 years after he departed for a series of other positions that culminated with five years spent as the AD at Memphis. Veatch...

KC Current owners announce plans for stadium district along the Kansas City riverfront

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The ownership group of the Kansas City Current announced plans Monday for the development of the Missouri River waterfront, where the club recently opened a purpose-built stadium for the National Women's Soccer League team. CPKC Stadium will serve as the hub...

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

Body-cam footage shows police left an Ohio man handcuffed and facedown on a bar floor before he died

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man who was handcuffed and left facedown on the floor of a social club last week died in police custody and the officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave. Police body-camera footage released Wednesday shows a Canton police officer...

Bishop stabbed during Sydney church service backs X's legal case to share video of the attack

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A Sydney bishop who was stabbed repeatedly in an alleged extremist attack blamed on a teenager has backed X Corp. owner Elon Musk’s legal bid to overturn an Australian ban on sharing graphic video of the attack on social media. A live stream of the...

Biden just signed a bill that could ban TikTok. His campaign plans to stay on the app anyway

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden showed off his putting during a campaign stop at a public golf course in Michigan last month, the moment was captured on TikTok. Forced inside by a rainstorm, he competed with 13-year-old Hurley “HJ” Coleman IV to make putts on a...

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

Columbia's president, no stranger to complex challenges, walks tightrope on student protests

Columbia University president Minouche Shafik is no stranger to navigating complex international issues, having...

US abortion battle rages on with moves to repeal Arizona ban and a Supreme Court case

Action in courts and state capitals around the U.S. this week have made it clear again: The overturning of Roe v....

Former tabloid publisher testifies about scheme to shield his old friend Trump from damaging stories

NEW YORK (AP) — The former publisher of the National Enquirer testified Thursday at Donald Trump's hush money...

Macron outlines his vision for Europe to become an assertive global power as war in Ukraine rages on

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron warned Thursday that Europe could “die” if it fails to build...

EU military officer says a frigate has destroyed a drone launched from Yemen's Houthi-held areas

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A top European Union military officer said that a frigate that’s part of an EU mission...

Ukrainian duo heads to the Eurovision Song Contest with a message: We're still here

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Even amid war, Ukraine finds time for the glittery, pop-filled Eurovision Song Contest....

Kim Jones
The Skanner News

This week saw two historic decisions from The Supreme Court of the United States as the justices dismissed challenges to President Obama's healthcare law and wrote marriage equality into US law. Those radicals!

But that news came late in a week overshadowed by grief for the victims of the mass shooting in Charleston. 

 

VIDEO: President Obama's Eulogy

President Obama gave the eulogy for Reverend Clement Pinckney and the eight other congregation members of Emanuel AME lost on June 17, 2015. The service was at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

 

Bryan Stevenson: Our Real Problem with Race

Bryan Stevenson at TED 2012The Marshall Project interviewed Bryan Stevenson, who runs the Equal Justice Initiative.  Stevenson told them:   

"I hear people talking about the civil rights movement and it sounds like a three-day carnival. Day One: Rosa Parks gave up her seat on the bus. Day Two: Dr. King led a march on Washington, and Day Three: we just changed all these laws. And we tell our history as if it's the true history when in fact that's not the true history.

The true history is that for decades, we humiliated black people in this country every day. For decades we did not let them vote, we did not let them get full education, we did not let them work for pay, we did not let them live as full human beings with dignity and hopefulness, we denied all of these basic opportunities to African Americans, and we've never really talked about the consequences of that era of apartheid and segregation."  

Find the full interview here: http://bit.ly/1RIwxT9

 

Flag Takedown

A woman climbed up the South Carolina State Capitol and took down the confederate flag. Bree Newsome and James Ian Tyson were arrested and charged with defacing monuments on state Capitol grounds.

That's a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $5,000 and prison term of up to three years or both. They have been released.  Read the full story.

Politico magazine's covered the flag discussion saying: The Confederate Flag was Always Racist.

 

Same Sex Marriage Victory

With cities arounrainbow white housed the country holding PRIDE events Sunday 28 June, celebrations were on display around the country. New York expected 22,000 people marching a 2-mile route and more than 2 million people to visit throughout the day. San Francisco's party welcomed close to 1 million people and Seattle hosted 500,000 parade watchers.

 PHOTO: The White House lit up in rainbow colors in commemoration of the Supreme Court's ruling to legalize same-sex marriage on Friday, June 26, 2015, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

 Buzzfeed reported the reactions of all the candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination. http://bzfd.it/1KnOhEA

 

 

 Larry Wilmore made fun of Bobby Jindal's presidential ambitions. Wilmore will look at the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage in his comedy show on Monday.

Here's a Key and Peele take on same sex marriage from last year.

 

The Supreme Court Left Healthcare Law Standing 

healthcare

Students cheered as they held up signs supporting the Affordable Care Act after the Supreme Court decided that the ACA may provide nationwide tax subsidies, Thursday June 25, 2015, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The New York Times said the decision delivers a big win for President Obama personally, and makes it more likely that access to healthcare is here to stay for many more Americans.  

At the same time Republican foes of the law have not conceded defeat. 

"House Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, promised to "do everything we can" to undermine the law. Jeb Bush, a Republican candidate for president, vowed "to repeal and replace this flawed law" if he succeeds Mr. Obama in the Oval Office."  

Read the New York Times story: http://nyti.ms/1fYeRr9

White Woman and a Black Man change Places ...and Voices

 

Amar'e and Alexis enjoy Paris 

fashion pMeanwhile in Paris, Amar'e Stoudemire and his wife Alexis Welch attended Balmain men's Spring/Summer 2016 fashion show. The basketball player spoke to The Associated Press about his love of design and style:

"All 6'10" (2.08 meters) of Stoudemire have stood out quite prominently in Paris fashion week this season — with the NBA player attending numerous shows including Balmain Saturday.
Stoudemire, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks, is no stranger to the fashion scene and has attended Paris menswear weeks twice before — as well as having collaborated on his own fashion line.
He said it's great that more and more sportswear is being seen on the ready-to-wear catwalk, like in Givenchy's use of basketball top silhouettes or Balmain's use of baseball caps.
"I love fashion. And it's a sign of creativity that brands are mixing sports in their designs, like Givenchy," he said, at the Balmain show.
"I think in the last five or six years, collaborations with sports and fashion have really taken off — like my sporty collaboration with (designer) Rachel Roy in womenswear," he said."

PHOTO: Amar'e Stoudemire and wife Alexis Welch attended Balmain men's Spring/Summer 2016 fashion show., during Mode a Paris, in France, Saturday, June 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

 

Kanye West performed at the Glastonbury Festival in England.

Coming up this week:

Seattle City Council will talk about financial stability for the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute at its meeting Monday 29 June (9:30 am at City Hall). Also on the agenda: a Racial Impact Assessment of the King County Children and Family Justice Center. The workgroup has come up with three recommendations designed to eventually eliminate youth detention.

Multnomah County Board will reappoint Serena Stoudamire Wesley to the Portland Children's Levy at its regular meeting 9:30 am July 2. Commissioner Smith will proclaim Thursday July 2, Bring your dad to the doctor day. 

Human Rights Watch reports that Kenya will host a regional conference on countering violent extremism. http://bit.ly/1SUK9xh

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast