10-02-2023  1:14 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

NORTHWEST NEWS

Tacoma Police Officers on Trial in Deadly Arrest of Manny Ellis

The trial for three Tacoma, Washington, officers charged in a Black man’s death begins this week. Manuel Ellis died — hogtied, handcuffed and pleading “Can’t breathe” — nearly three months before George Floyd’s murder sparked worldwide protests against police brutality. The trial is the first under a 5-year-old Washington state law designed to make it easier to prosecute police who wrongfully use deadly force

2 Lawsuits Blame Utility for Eastern Washington Fire That Killed Man and Burned Hundreds of Homes

The suit alleges the utility designed its power lines to be bare, uncovered and carry a high voltage. All of that increases the risk of ignition when coming into contact with grass or equipment.

Damian Lillard Traded From the Trail Blazers to the Bucks in 3-Team Deal

The deal ends Lillard's 11-year run with the Trail Blazers and a a three-month saga surrounding Lillard's wish to be moved elsewhere in hopes of winning an NBA title.

PPS Announces ‘Incremental Improvements’ in Student Test Scores. Black Education Advocates Are Less Impressed.

Portland Public Schools announced last week that the city's students were doing better than their counterparts elsewhere in the state. But those gains are not equally distributed. 

NEWS BRIEFS

20th Annual Conference Provides Support and Resources to Unpaid Caregivers

The free event will take place on Friday, October 27 in Hillsboro ...

New Joint Committee to Provide Oversight, Seek Solutions to the Drug and Addiction Crisis

The committee will serve as a legislative hub for addressing the national drug crisis in Oregon with public health and public safety...

Broadway Rose Theatre Names New Executive Director

Meredith Gordon will assume the role on October 2, 2023. ...

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. ...

Government sues Union Pacific over using flawed test to disqualify color blind railroad workers

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The federal government has joined several former workers in suing Union Pacific over the way it used a vision test to disqualify workers the railroad believed were color blind and might have trouble reading signals telling them to stop a train. The lawsuit...

In New York City, scuba divers' passion for the sport becomes a mission to collect undersea litter

NEW YORK (AP) — On a recent Sunday afternoon, the divers arrived on a thin strip of sand at the furthest, watery edge of New York City. Air tanks strapped to their backs, they waded into the sea and descended into an environment far different from their usual terrestrial surroundings of concrete,...

Brady Cook throws for career-high 395 yards, No. 23 Missouri beats Vandy 38-21

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brady Cook is a big reason that the Missouri Tigers are off to their best start since 2013. The 23rd-ranked Missouri Tigers quarterback set the Southeastern Conference record for most pass attempts without an interception Saturday as he threw for a...

No. 23 Missouri finally leaves state to open SEC slate at Vanderbilt, which has lost 3 straight

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz hasn't spent much time thinking about getting the Tigers back into the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2019. “Rankings only matter what you do this week, so our goal was not to be ranked in Week Four,” Drinkwitz said....

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

Black man's 1845 lynching in downtown Indianapolis recounted with historical marker

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The story of a Black man beaten to death in Indianapolis in a racist 1845 lynching is now part of the city’s cultural trail in the form of a historical marker. The marker describing John Tucker’s slaying was unveiled Saturday by state and local leaders and...

Few Americans say conservatives can speak freely on college campuses, an AP-NORC/UChicago poll shows

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans view college campuses as far friendlier to liberals than to conservatives when it comes to free speech, with adults across the political spectrum seeing less tolerance for those on the right, according to a new poll. Overall, 47% of adults say liberals...

Early voting begins in New Zealand's general election and in Australia for Indigenous 'Voice'

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Early voting began on Monday in New Zealand for the nation's Oct. 14 general election, with conservative contender Christopher Luxon casting his ballot. Early voting also began in some parts of Australia in a referendum that would enshrine in...

ENTERTAINMENT

James Dolan's sketch of the Sphere becomes reality as the venue opens with a U2 show in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — It started as a crude sketch — a circle with a stick person inside. Seven years later, that drawing has been made real: A [scripts/homepage/home.php].3 billion massive spherical venue, standing 366 feet (111 meters) high and lighting up the Las Vegas skyline. The drawing was initially...

Book Review: Jo Nesbø offers a fresh twist on a coming-of-age horror novel in ’The Night House'

Jo Nesbø, the Norwegian author best known for his 13-book crime series starring Harry Hole (“The Snowman” was made into a 2017 movie with Michael Fassbender), is out with something completely different. “The Night House” begins like something from the mind of H.P. Lovecraft,...

Book Review: Poet recalls stormy life growing up Rastafari in Jamaica and her struggle to break free

It’s not unusual for an autobiography to chart a person’s passage from rags to riches, ignorance to enlightenment, or bondage to freedom. It is unusual to find one as powerful and disturbing as Safiya Sinclair’s debut memoir, “How to Say Babylon,” which has already drawn comparisons to...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

jumi.04 billion Powerball jackpot tempts players to brave long odds

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) — An estimated jumi.04 billion Powerball jackpot will be up for grabs Monday night,...

California governor names Laphonza Butler, former Kamala Harris adviser, to Feinstein Senate seat

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has selected Laphonza Butler, a Democratic strategist and...

More than 100 search for 9-year-old girl who was camping with family in upstate New York

MOREAU, N.Y. (AP) — Drones, bloodhounds and an airboat were used in the search for a missing 9-year-old girl who...

Indonesian president launches Southeast Asia's first high-speed railway, funded by China

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated Southeast Asia’s first high-speed...

Cambodian court bars environmental activists from traveling to Sweden to receive 'Alternative Nobel'

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A court in Cambodia on Monday barred three environmental activists who are serving...

Work starts on turning Adolf Hitler's birthplace in Austria into a police station

BRAUNAU AM INN, Austria (AP) — Work started Monday on turning the house in Austria where Adolf Hitler was born...

Linda Deutsch and Anthony Mccartney the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An attorney for the promoter of Michael Jackson's final concerts said Wednesday the singer's personal physician asked the company for life-saving equipment just days before the pop superstar's death.

Kathy Jorrie, who works for concert giant AEG Live, testified at the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray that she questioned some of the doctor's requests, which also included the possibility of hiring a second doctor to assist him.

"Dr. Murray told me Michael Jackson was perfectly healthy, in excellent condition," Jorrie testified.

She said Murray told her not to worry about Jackson's condition.

"He's great," she recounted the doctor telling her in a conversation the day before Jackson's death.

Murray asked for a CPR machine in case one wasn't available at the concert venue at London's O2 arena, Jorrie explained.

Prosecutors allege Murray caused Jackson's death by providing him with a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol and other sedatives without the proper lifesaving equipment or skills.

Other testimony came from Jackson's former personal assistant, Michael Amir Williams, who recounted a 35-second phone conversation with Murray on the day Jackson died.

"He said `Get here right away, Mr. Jackson had a bad reaction. Get somebody up here immediately,'" Williams told the jury.

He said the doctor never told him to call 911 or described Jackson's condition.

Williams said he arrived at Jackson's mansion just as the singer was being loaded into an ambulance. He saw Murray, who he described as "frantic."

Earlier in the day, a promoter told jurors that Jackson appeared strong during one of the final rehearsals for the highly anticipated comeback concerts.

Paul Gongaware, an executive for AEG Live, said Jackson seemed engaged and energetic during the rehearsal just two days before he died.

Prosecutors called Gongaware to demonstrate the importance of the concerts and in an apparent attempt to show that both the singer and his physician were deeply engaged in preparations for the show before Jackson died on June 25, 2009.

Gongaware also testified that he saw Murray at one of Jackson's rehearsals after people affiliated with the planned concerts complained that the singer had been missing some of the sessions.

Prosecutors wrapped up their direct questioning of Gongaware before defense attorney Ed Chernoff briefly questioned the executive.

Under the cross-examination, Gongaware acknowledged AEG is being sued by Jackson's mother for negligent supervision of Murray when he worked with Jackson.

Jorrie also testified about drafting a contract for Murray to work as Jackson's personal physician.

At one point in negotiations, Murray requested his contract be modified to allow him to hire another physician in case he was tired or unavailable while Jackson was performing in London, she testified.

"He wanted to make sure that there was somebody else available to be of assistance," Jorrie said.

In opening statements Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said Murray delayed summoning emergency crews and lied to doctors and medics when he failed to reveal he had been giving Jackson the medications to try to help the entertainer sleep.

Chernoff claimed Jackson gave himself a fatal dose of medication in a desperate attempt to get some sleep.

He said Murray had been trying to wean Jackson off propofol, but the entertainer kept requesting it on the day he died.

"Michael Jackson started begging," Chernoff said. "When Michael Jackson told Dr. Murray, `I have to sleep. They will cancel my performance,' he meant it."

Prosecutors rejected Murray's version and told jurors the Houston-based cardiologist also had a tremendous stake in Jackson appearing in the concerts.

The doctor had initially asked to be paid $5 million a year for working with Jackson, but Gongaware said he immediately rejected the proposal. Instead, Murray accepted an offer to become Jackson's doctor for $150,000 a month - a sum he was never paid because his contract hadn't been signed before Jackson's death.

Murray has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison and have to relinquish his medical license.

---

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.