04-26-2024  8:39 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

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 ...

Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday voted to restore “net neutrality” rules that prevent broadband internet providers such as Comcast and Verizon from favoring some sites and apps over others. The move effectively reinstates a net neutrality order the...

Biden celebrates computer chip factories, pitching voters on American 'comeback'

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday sought to sell voters on an American “comeback story” as he highlighted longterm investments in the economy in upstate New York to celebrate Micron Technology's plans to build a campus of computer chip factories made possible in part with...

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

Dozens of deaths reveal risks of injecting sedatives into people restrained by police

Demetrio Jackson was desperate for medical help when the paramedics arrived. The 43-year-old was surrounded by police who arrested him after responding to a trespassing call in a Wisconsin parking lot. Officers had shocked him with a Taser and pinned him as he pleaded that he...

Takeaways from AP's investigation into fatal police encounters involving injections of sedatives

The practice of giving sedatives to people detained by police spread quietly across the nation over the last 15 years, built on questionable science and backed by police-aligned experts, an investigation led by The Associated Press has found. At least 94 people died after they were...

South Africa will mark 30 years of freedom amid inequality, poverty and a tense election ahead

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — As 72-year-old Nonki Kunene walks through the corridors of Thabisang Primary School in Soweto, South Africa, she recalls the joy she and many others felt 30 years ago when they voted for the first time. It was at this school on April 27, 1994, that Kunene joined...

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

Egypt sends delegation to Israel, its latest effort to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt sent a high-level delegation to Israel on Friday with the hope of brokering a cease-fire...

Trading Trump: Truth Social's first month of trading has sent investors on a ride

WASHINGTON (AP) — There have been lawsuits, short-selling and rampant speculation. Now, as Trump Media &...

South Africa will mark 30 years of freedom amid inequality, poverty and a tense election ahead

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — As 72-year-old Nonki Kunene walks through the corridors of Thabisang Primary School in...

A Russian journalist has been detained for posts criticizing the military, his lawyer says

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A journalist for the Russian edition of Forbes magazine has been detained on charges of...

Ukraine pulls US-provided Abrams tanks from the front lines over Russian drone threats

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine has sidelined U.S.-provided Abrams M1A1 battle tanks for now in its fight against...

Scotland's under-pressure leader insists he won't resign before crunch confidence vote next week

LONDON (AP) — Scotland's leader insisted Friday that he won't be resigning as he fights for his political...

Rapper Flo Rida
DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Rapper Flo Rida, the Macy's department store chain and football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith all had something in common on Wednesday: They're the latest to distance themselves from Donald Trump following his remarks about Mexican immigrants.

 

 

The Republican presidential hopeful's team is struggling to hold the Miss USA pageant together following defections by hosts, performers, judges and the two television networks that were scheduled to broadcast the event on July 12. Trump, who fired back at Macy's, owns the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
Flo Rida had been the highest-profile performer scheduled for Miss USA in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and his representative confirmed Wednesday that he would not perform. Country singer Craig Wayne Boyd, winner of "The Voice" last year, and pop singer Natalie La Rose, whose single "Somebody" hit the Billboard Top Ten this year, also dropped out. There were no more announced performers.
Smith, the former Dallas Cowboys running back who was a judge for Miss USA, cited Trump's statement and NBC's decision in backing out. He said that knowing how much women prepare for the event, he sent his best wishes to the competitors.
HGTV "Property Brothers" star Jonathan Scott was also one of the pageant's judges but backed out, too, saying on Facebook that he could not support Trump's views.
"We are all on this big rock together," he said, "and I choose love."
Trump's presidential campaign announcement contained his assertion that some Mexican immigrants to the United States bring drugs and crime, and some are rapists. The comment struck many Latinos as insensitive, and Univision's decision last week to back out of televising Miss USA and break off its business ties with Trump led to a cascade of others following suit. Trump responded by suing Univision on Tuesday.
Macy's said in a statement that the retailer is "disappointed and distressed" by Trump's remarks and will end its relationship with him. Macy's has carried a Donald Trump menswear line since 2004, including $70 button down-shirts and $65 striped ties. Most items were heavily discounted on Macy's website on Wednesday.
"We have no tolerance for discrimination in any form," the company said. "We welcome all customers, and respect for the dignity of all people is a cornerstone of our culture."
The move comes after an outcry on social media, including online petitions, for Macy's to drop the line. NBC, TV Company Ora TV and Mexican TV network Televisa have also cut ties to Trump.
Trump said in a statement that he had decided to end his relationship with Macy's because of pressure put upon them by outside sources. He said he was never happy that the ties and shirts were made in China, and if he were to do another product line in the future, he would insist they were American-made.
"Both Macy's and NBC totally caved at the first sight of potential difficulty with special interest groups who are nothing more than professional agitators," Trump said.
Besides Smith and HGTV's Scott, Miss USA listed country singer Jessie James Decker, E! News anchor Terrence Jenkins and TV host and former Miss Universe winner Zuleyka Rivera as pageant judges in a news release issued last month. Of that quintet, only Decker's name was listed as a judge by Miss USA on its website Wednesday. A show spokeswoman said she had no information about judges or performers.
The pageant lost both of its co-hosts, Cheryl Burke of "Dancing With the Stars" and MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Jeannie Mai, who hosted a show on the Style Network, was listed as a show host.
Last week, the hosts of the Univision simulcast, Roselyn Sanchez and Cristian de la Fuente, said they wouldn't take part in the Spanish-language telecast.
The pageant issued a statement earlier this week that "we are disheartened by recent events but the show will go on."
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AP music writer Mesfin Fekadu in New York and AP Business Writer Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this story.

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast