09-23-2023  11:21 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

What's Next in Major College Football Realignment? How About a Best-of-the-Rest League

Now that the Power Five is about to become the Power Four, the schools left out of the recent consolidation of wealth produced by conference realignment are looking at creative ways to stay relevant.

Oregon's Attorney General Says She Won't Seek Reelection Next Year After Serving 3 Terms

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, a Democrat and the first woman elected to the post, said she is stepping aside to allow new leadership, new energy and new initiatives to come to the Oregon Department of Justice that she has headed since 2012

Police Accountability Commission Presents Council With Proposed Major Overhaul

Voter-approved board for police accountability will have disciplinary power, ability to impact policy changes, access to body cam footage and more.

Oregon Judge to Decide in New Trial Whether Voter-Approved Gun Control Law Is Constitutional

The law, one of the toughest in the nation, was among the first gun restrictions to be passed after a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year changed the guidance judges are expected to follow when considering Second Amendment cases.

NEWS BRIEFS

Rep. Annessa Hartman Denounces Political Violence Against the Clackamas County Democratic Party

On Tuesday, the Clackamas County Democratic Party headquarters was

Bonamici Announces 5 Town Hall Meetings in October

The town hall meetings will be in St. Helens, Hillsboro, Seaside, Tillamook and Portland. ...

Nicole De Lagrave Named Multnomah Regional Teacher of the Year

De Lagrave is also a finalist for 2023-24 Oregon Teacher of the Year ...

KBOO Birthday Block Party to be Held September 23

Birthday block party planned as KBOO, 90.7FM celebrates 55 years broadcasting community radio ...

Appeals Court Allows Louisiana to Keep Children in Angola Prison

The district court had ordered the state to remove children from Angola by Sept. 15. But the Fifth Circuit issued a temporary stay,...

Seattle police officer put on leave after newspaper reports alleged off-duty racist comments

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle police officer has been placed on administrative leave after Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said Friday he listened to an audio recording including comments by the officer that led to the filing of a bias/hate complaint. “As I have said from the...

Biden deal with tribes promises 0M for Columbia River salmon reintroduction

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Biden administration has pledged over 0 million toward reintroducing salmon in the Upper Columbia River Basin in an agreement with tribes that includes a stay on litigation for 20 years. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Coeur...

Missouri tries to build on upset of K-State with a game against Memphis in St. Louis

Memphis (3-0) vs Missouri (3-0) at St. Louis, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU) Line: Missouri by 7, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Series record: Missouri leads 3-1. WHAT’S AT STAKE? Memphis won its first three games a couple of years ago...

Missouri quarterback Brady Cook endures the home boos and keeps the Tigers on an unbeaten roll

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri quarterback Brady Cook spent most of last season playing through a shoulder injury so severe it required offseason surgery. Yet because he never whimpered or complained, few outside the program even knew what he had to endure. All most people saw was...

OPINION

Labor Day 2023: Celebrating the Union Difference and Building Tomorrow’s Public Service Workforce

Working people are seeing what the union difference is all about, and they want to be a part of it. ...

60 Years Since 1963 March on Washington, Economic Justice Remains a Dream

Typical Black family has 1/8 the wealth held by whites, says new research ...

The 2024 Election, President Biden and the Black Vote

As a result of the Black vote, America has experienced unprecedented recovery economically, in healthcare, and employment and in its international status. ...

Federal Trade Commission Hindering Black Economic Achievement

FTC Chair Linda Khan has prioritized her own agenda despite what Americans were telling her they needed on the ground ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

A Black student’s family sues Texas officials over his suspension for his hairstyle

HOUSTON (AP) — The family of a Black high school student in Texas who was suspended over his dreadlocks filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Saturday against the state's governor and attorney general, alleging they failed to enforce a new law outlawing discrimination based on hairstyles. ...

French activists protest racism and police brutality while officers are on guard for key events

PARIS (AP) — Families, community groups and far-left activists marched in cities around France on Saturday to decry racism and police brutality, putting authorities on edge at a time when French police are deployed en masse for a string of high-security events. Lingering anger over...

National Cathedral replaces windows honoring Confederacy with stained-glass homage to racial justice

The landmark Washington National Cathedra l unveiled new stained-glass windows Saturday with a theme of racial justice, filling the space that had once held four windows honoring Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The new windows depict a march for justice by...

ENTERTAINMENT

Music Review: Rootsy harmonies and spiritual uplift from Buddy and Julie Miller on 'In the Throes'

Buddy and Julie Miller have been wed for 40 years. Their latest album, “In the Throes,” celebrates the marvelous marriage of his rustic, raspy tenor and her eternally youthful alto. The 12-song set, which will be released Friday is filled with the Tennessee duo’s rootsy...

Music Review: The Replacements’ ‘Tim: Let it Bleed Edition’ captures the band’s sublime songwriting

Near the 40th anniversary of their fifth studio album and major label debut, “Tim,” The Replacements are releasing “Tim: Let it Bleed Edition.” The massive box set features a loving remaster of the original release of “Tim,” but the real value is in the live performance, the unreleased...

`10 Days in a Madhouse' opera premieres in Philadelphia, celebrating women's voices

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kiera Duffy is disturbed by “10 Days in a Madhouse” as much as an 1887 public was outraged by the squalid surroundings exposed by trailblazing reporter Nellie Bly. “The idea of the hysterical woman trope really does persist today,” the soprano said ahead...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

A month after Prigozhin’s suspicious death, the Kremlin is silent on his plane crash and legacy

Why Yevgeny Prigozhin's private jet plummeted into a field northwest of Moscow is still a mystery. The Russian...

Cracks in Western wall of support for Ukraine emerge as Eastern Europe and US head toward elections

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Once rock-solid, the support that Ukraine has gotten from its biggest backers for its...

Ronald Acuña Jr. joins exclusive 40-40 club with 40th home run of the season for Braves

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. joined baseball’s exclusive 40-40 club Friday night by hitting his 40th...

A court in China sentences a famed Uyghur scholar to life in prison, foundation says

BEIJING (AP) — A prominent Uyghur scholar specializing in the study of her people’s folklore and traditions...

Niger's junta accuses United Nations chief of blocking its participation at General Assembly

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The military government that seized power in Niger has accused United Nations...

Netanyahu tells UN that Israel is 'at the cusp' of a historic agreement with Saudi Arabia

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday that...

Paul Wiseman and Christopher S. Rugaber AP Economics Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Employers stopped adding jobs in August, an alarming setback for an economy that has struggled to grow and might be at risk of another recession.

The government also reported that the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent. It was the weakest jobs report since September 2010.

Stocks tumbled on the news. The Dow Jones industrial average sank more than 190 points in early-morning trading.

Total payrolls were unchanged in August, the first time since 1945 that the government has reported a net job change of zero. Economists warned that the economy can't keep growing indefinitely if hiring remains stalled.

"Underlying job growth needs to improve immediately in order to avoid a recession," said HSBC economist Ryan Wang.

Fears that the United States will slip back into recession have been rising since the government reported over the summer that the economy barely grew in the first half of the year. Consumer and business confidence has been sapped by the political standoff over the federal debt limit, a downgrade in the U.S. government's credit rating and a debt crisis in Europe.

Job growth had already been sputtering before it stalled completely last month. The economy produced an average 166,000 a month in the first quarter, 105,000 a month in the second quarter and just 28,000 a month so far in the third quarter, said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo.

The dispiriting job numbers for August will put more pressure on the Federal Reserve, President Barack Obama and Congress to find ways to stimulate the economy. So far, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has been reluctant to try a third round of bond purchases designed to jolt the economy by further lowering long-term interest rates.

Obama next week will deliver a rare address to a joint session of Congress to introduce a plan for creating jobs and boosting economic growth. But House Republicans have resisted any federal stimulus spending.

The weakness in employment was underscored by revisions to the jobs data for June and July. Collectively, those figures were lowered to show 58,000 fewer jobs added. The downward revisions were all in government jobs.

The average work week also declined, and hourly earnings fell by 3 cents to $23.09.

"There is no silver lining in this one," said Steve Blitz, senior economist at ITG Investment Research. "It is difficult to walk away from these numbers without the conclusion that the economy is simply grinding to a halt."

With job creation stalled and wages declining, consumers won't see much gain in incomes. That will limit their ability to spend, which undercuts growth. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the economy.

"The importance of job growth cannot be overstated," said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc.

The economy needs to add roughly 250,000 jobs a month to rapidly bring down the unemployment rate, which has been above 9 percent in all but two months since May 2009.

In August, the private sector added 17,000 jobs, the fewest since February 2010. That compares with 156,000 in July and 75,000 in June.

"The stagnation in US payroll employment is an ominous sign," said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics. "The broad message is that even if the US economy doesn't start to contract again, any expansion is going to be very, very modest and fall well short of what would be needed to drive the still elevated unemployment rate lower."

Hiring fell across many different sectors. Manufacturers cut 3,000 jobs, its first decline since October 2010. Construction companies, retailers, and transportation firms also cut workers.

The health care industry added 30,000 jobs last month.

The economy expanded at an annual pace of only 0.7 percent in the first six months of the year. That was the slowest six months of growth since the recession officially ended in June 2009.

In August, consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since April 2009, according to the Conference Board.

Most economists forecast that growth may improve to about a 2 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But that's not fast enough to generate many jobs.

The Obama administration has estimated that unemployment will average about 9 percent next year, when Obama will run for re-election. The rate was 7.8 percent when Obama took office.

The White House Office of Management and Budget projects overall growth of only 1.7 percent this year.

"The economy continues to stagger," said Sung Won Sohn, economist at California State University Channel Islands. "It wouldn't take much (of a) shock to tip it onto a recession."

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