03-27-2023  3:35 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Idaho Hospital to Stop Baby Deliveries, Partly Over Politics

A rural hospital in northern Idaho will stop delivering babies or providing other obstetrical care, citing a shifting legal climate in which recently enacted state laws could subject physicians to prosecution for providing abortions, among other reasons

Water Contamination in Oregon Could Prompt EPA to Step In

It's been three decades since state agencies first noted high levels of nitrate contamination in the groundwater in Morrow and Umatilla counties and residents have long complained that the pollution is negatively impacting their health.

North Portland Library to Undergo Renovations and Expansion

As one of the library building projects funded by the 2020 Multnomah County voter-approved bond, North Portland Library will close to the public on April 5, 2023, to begin construction processes for its renovation and expansion.

Report: 119K People Hurt by Riot-Control Weapons Since 2015

The report on casualties from a largely unregulated industry cites an alarming evolution of crowd-control devices into more powerful and indiscriminate designs and deployment, including dropping tear gas from drones.

NEWS BRIEFS

Motorcycle Lane Filtering Law Passes Oregon Senate

SB 422 will allow motorcyclists to avoid dangers of stop-and-go traffic under certain conditions ...

MET Rental Assistance Now Available

The Muslim Educational Trust is extending its Rental Assistance Program to families in need living in Multnomah or Washington...

Two for One Tickets for Seven Guitars on Thursday, March 23

Taylore Mahogany Scott's performance in Seven Guitars brings to life Vera Dotson, a woman whose story arose in August Wilson's...

PassinArt: A Theatre Company and PNMC Festival Call for Actors and Directors

Actors and directors of all skill levels are sought for the Pacific NW Multicultural Readers Series and Film Festival ...

Hearing on New Burnside Bridge Construction

The Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge Project team will present HB 3323 and 3301 this Thursday, March 23 from 5-6:30 p.m. ...

States' divisions on abortion widen after Roe overturned

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A group of Tennessee Republicans began this year’s legislative session hoping to add narrow exceptions to one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, armed with the belief that most people — even in conservative Tennessee — reject extremes on the issue. ...

Factory or farm? Oregon may alter land use for chipmakers

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. (AP) — Aaron Nichols walked past rows of kale growing on his farm, his knee-high brown rubber boots speckled with some of the richest soil on earth, and gazed with concern toward fields in the distance. Just over the horizon loomed a gigantic building of the semiconductor...

Texas without star Dylan Disu for regional final vs. Miami

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Texas forward Dylan Disu, one of the bright stars of the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, was ruled out of the Longhorns' game against Miami for a spot in the Final Four on Sunday with a left foot injury. The 6-foot-9 Disu was the MVP of the Longhorns'...

March Madness: Alabama and surprising bunch remain in South

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Alabama was expected to be in the Sweet 16 as the overall top seed in the NCAA Tournament. Few thought the teams standing between the Crimson Tide and a trip to the Final Four would be No. 5 seed San Diego State, sixth-seeded Creighton and 15th-seeded...

OPINION

Celebrating 196 Years of The Black Press

It was on March 17, 1827, at a meeting of “Freed Negroes” in New York City, that Samuel Cornish, a Presbyterian minister, and John Russwurn, the first Negro college graduate in the United States, established the negro newspaper. ...

DEQ Announces Suspension of Oregon’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program

The state’s popular incentive for drivers to switch to electric vehicles is scheduled to pause in May ...

FHA Makes Housing More Affordable for 850,000 Borrowers

Savings tied to median market home prices ...

State Takeover Schemes Threaten Public Safety

Blue cities in red states, beware: conservatives in state government may be coming for your police department. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

India expels Rahul Gandhi, Modi critic, from Parliament

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's top opposition leader and fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expelled from Parliament Friday, a day after a court convicted him of defamation and sentenced him to two years in prison for mocking the surname Modi in an election speech. The...

1st Black editor named to lead Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday named Leroy Chapman Jr. as its new editor-in-chief, making him the first Black editor to lead the newspaper in its 155-year history. Chapman, 52, has worked in journalism for nearly three decades and has spent the past 12 years at the...

Lawsuit: Slurs, coercion at BBQ chain with racist history

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina barbecue chain known for its pro-segregation stance in a landmark 1960s case and its embrace of the Confederate flag in 2000 is facing allegations of racism and sexual harassment by the fired general manager of one of its restaurants. According...

ENTERTAINMENT

Review: Lana Del Rey's 'Ocean Blvd' is an intimate epic

“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” by Lana Del Rey (Interscope Records) Lana Del Rey is a complicated, enigmatic pop star — since the height of her breakout album, “Born to Die," the singer has been labeled one of the best songwriters of her generation....

Book thief in plot that duped famous authors avoids prison

NEW YORK (AP) — It was the stuff of novels: For years, a con artist plagued the publishing industry, impersonating editors and agents to pull off hundreds of literary heists. But the manuscripts obtained from high-profile authors were never resold or leaked, rendering the thefts all the more...

Darcelle, world's oldest working drag queen, dies at 92

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Walter Cole, better known as the iconic drag queen who performed for decades as Darcelle XV and a fearless advocate for Portland's LGBTQ+ community, has died of natural causes in Portland, Oregon. He was 92. Darcelle, who died Thursday, was crowned the...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Deputies accused of shoving guns in mouths of 2 Black men

BRANDON, Miss. (AP) — Several deputies from a Mississippi sheriff’s department being investigated by the...

Black, Hispanic investors struggle with faith in crypto

NEW YORK (AP) — A software developer twice invested his savings in cryptocurrencies, only to lose it all. But he...

In Macron's France, streets and fields seethe with protest

PARIS (AP) — A big day has come for French high school student Elisa Fares. At age 17, she is taking part in her...

Berlin climate proposal fails to get enough yes votes to win

BERLIN (AP) — A Sunday referendum in Berlin that would have forced the city to ramp up its climate goals failed...

Travel disruption hits Germany on eve of transport strike

BERLIN (AP) — An increased number of travelers in Germany boarded trains and planes on Sunday, a day before a...

Eyes on abstention as Cubans vote for National Assembly

HAVANA (AP) — Cubans voted Sunday in National Assembly elections with attention focused on voter turnout amid a...

Russell Contreras Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) -- The widening wealth gap between whites and minorities has wiped out gains made over that last 30 years and could foreshadow even more inequality if something isn't done to address it, National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Speaking a day before the National Urban League begins its annual convention, Morial said new census data analyzed by the Pew Research Center shows that blacks and Latinos have especially been hit hard by the economic meltdown. He said the report is a "wake-up call" that those communities need more investments for long-term job creation.

"A paramount issue for this nation for the 21st century is to ensure the narrowing and closing of the racial wealth gap," said Morial, a former mayor of New Orleans. "It has deep social implications. It has deep political implications."

According to an analysis of new census data, wealth gaps between whites and minorities have grown to their widest levels in a quarter-century, leaving whites on average with 20 times the net worth of blacks and 18 times that of Latinos.

In addition, the wealth of Latino households declined by 66 percent from 2005 to 2009 largely because of housing bust, the study showed. Black household wealth fell 53 percent.

The study comes as the National Urban League readies to begin its four-day convention, which this year will focus on jobs. Among the scheduled speakers are Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates.

The Urban League also is set to release its own study Wednesday on the erosion of the black middle class.

The civil rights group comes to Boston after last holdings its national convention in the city 35 years ago. During the group's last visit, Boston was erupting with busing riots and racial violence over court-ordered school desegregation. Boston's City Hall plaza was the site where black businessman Ted Landsmark was photographed during what appeared to be a beating by a white teen holding an American flag.

Even Boston Celtic great Bill Russell called the city a "flea market of racism," and blacks remember Boston as a city where its baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, was the last to integrate.

But today, Boston is a city where the majority of residents are people of color. Most students in its school district are Latino. And city officials recently announced that City Hall Plaza will be the site of a planned Bill Russell statue.

Massachusetts also has a black governor, Deval Patrick, who is entering his second term.

"Boston is definitely a different city than it was the last time the Urban League was here," Morial said. "That's a major reason why we are back."

Morial said Patrick personally called him around four years ago to invite the National Urban League to hold a future convention in Boston. Organizers say the convention already has 3,000 registrants.

But while some are praising Boston for evolving and bringing out the welcoming mat for the Urban League, others see it as an opportunity to highlight some of the city's persistent disparities.

For example, the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement has appealed to the Urban League to address the lack of high-ranking Latinos and blacks in the command staff of the Boston Police Department while the city continues to experience violence in largely minority neighborhoods. The law enforcement group has reached an impasse with Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Police Commissioner Edward Davis on ways to diversify the department's command staff.

"Police departments should reflect the ethnic makeup of the communities that they serve," said Morial, who has known Menino for years.

However, he said one of the goals of the convention is to strengthen the Eastern Massachusetts affiliate of the Urban League so it could address local concern like those posed by the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement.

Morial said that despite the myriad issues the Urban League can address, the group remains focused on jobs and job creation since it is the source of most inequality. "We hope that we can be seen that we have research, we have proposals and that we are an organization that goes beyond rhetoric," he said.

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MLK Breakfast 2023

Photos from The Skanner Foundation's 37th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast.