05-29-2023  6:52 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Former Senator Margaret Carter Receives Honorary Doctorate of Public Service

Margaret Carter was the commencement speaker for Willamette University's Salem undergraduate commencement ceremony

Ex-Seattle Man Gets 8 Years for Stealing $1M in Pandemic Benefits

Bryan Sparks, 42, was indicted for the fraud scheme in November 2021 and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in January. He was also ordered on Tuesday to pay more than jumi million in restitution.

Boycotting Oregon GOP Senators Vow to Stay Away Until Last Day of Session

The walkout, which began on May 3 ostensibly because bill summaries weren't written at an eighth grade level as required by a long-forgotten law, has derailed progress on hundreds of bills

NEWS BRIEFS

Oregon and Washington Memorial Day Events

Check out a listing of ceremonies and other community Memorial Day events in Oregon and Washington. A full list of all US events,...

Communities Invited to Interstate Bridge Replacement Neighborhood Forums in Vancouver and Portland

May 31 and June 6 forums allow community members to learn about the program’s environmental review process ...

Bonamici, Salinas Introduce Bill to Prevent Senior Hunger

Senior Hunger Prevention Act will address challenges older adults, grandparent and kinship caregivers, and adults with disabilities...

This is Our Lane - Too: Joint Statement on the Maternal Health Crisis from the Association of Black Cardiologists, American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association

Urgent action is needed to combat the maternal health crisis in America and cardiologists have a vital role to play. ...

New Skateboarding Area Planned for Southeast Portland’s Creston Park

Area has largest number of overall youth and of people of color out of locations studied ...

4 of 7 teens who escaped a juvenile detention center remain at large

SEATTLE (AP) — Law enforcement officials continued their search Monday for four of seven teens who escaped from a juvenile detention center after assaulting a staff member and stealing her car. The seven teens, ages 15 to 17, escaped from the Echo Glen Children’s Center campus in...

Historic acquittal in Louisiana fuels fight to review 'Jim Crow' verdicts

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Evangelisto Ramos walked out of a New Orleans courthouse and away from a life sentence accompanying a 10-2 jury conviction, thanks in large part to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision bearing his name. Ramos v. Louisiana outlawed nonunanimous jury...

Foster, Ware homer, Auburn eliminates Mizzou 10-4 in SEC

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Cole Foster hit a three-run homer, Bryson Ware added a two-run shot and fifth-seeded Auburn wrapped up the first day of the SEC Tournament with a 10-4 win over ninth-seeded Missouri on Tuesday night. Auburn (34-9), which has won nine-straight, moved into the...

Small Missouri college adds football programs to boost enrollment

FULTON, Mo. (AP) — A small college in central Missouri has announced it will add football and women's flag football programs as part of its plan to grow enrollment. William Woods University will add about 140 students between the two new sports, athletic director Steve Wilson said...

OPINION

Significant Workforce Investments Needed to Stem Public Defense Crisis

We have a responsibility to ensure our state government is protecting the constitutional rights of all Oregonians, including people accused of a crime ...

Over 80 Groups Tell Federal Regulators Key Bank Broke $16.5 Billion Promise

Cross-country redlining aided wealthy white communities while excluding Black areas ...

Public Health 101: Guns

America: where all attempts to curb access to guns are shot down. Should we raise a glass to that? ...

Op-Ed: Ballot Measure Creates New Barriers to Success for Black-owned Businesses

Measure 26-238, a proposed local capital gains tax, is unfair and a burden on Black business owners in an already-challenging economic environment. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Impeachment trial of Texas’ Ken Paxton to begin no later than August 28

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A historic impeachment trial in Texas to determine whether Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton should be permanently removed from office will begin no later than August in the state Senate, where the jury that would determine his future could include his wife, Sen. Angela...

Teenager walks at brain injury event weeks after getting shot in head for knocking on wrong door

Ralph Yarl — a Black teenager who was shot in the head and arm last month after mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell — walked at a brain injury awareness event Monday in his first major public appearance since the shooting. The 17-year-old suffered a traumatic brain injury when...

Why do Kosovo-Serbia tensions persist?

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared anew this weekend after Kosovo’s police raided Serb-dominated areas in the region’s north and seized local municipality buildings. There have been violent clashes between Kosovo’s police and NATO-led...

ENTERTAINMENT

CBS is television's most popular network for 15th straight year

NEW YORK (AP) — CBS claimed the distinction of most-watched television network for the 15th straight year, even as those bragging rights don't mean what they used to. The network averaged just under 6 million viewers on a typical moment in prime time for the season that just...

Country singer Tyler Hubbard's growth expands beyond Florida Georgia Line

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Singer-songwriter Tyler Hubbard was fully prepared to hang up his boots so to speak when his duo partner in Florida Georgia Line, Brian Kelley, said he wanted to go solo. The pair had been together more than a decade, and whether you were a fan of their bro...

Movie review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus reteams with Nicole Holofcener in 'You Hurt My Feelings'

If I didn’t like Nicole Holofcener’s latest film, would I tell her? OK, sure, it wouldn’t be so odd for a critic to give an unvarnished opinion. But what about a sibling? Or a spouse? If they didn’t care for Holofcener’s movie, what’s more important: Being honest or making...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Trump's welcome of Scott into 2024 race shows his calculus: The more GOP rivals, the better for him

NEW YORK (AP) — When Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina launched his campaign for the White House last...

No fatalities reported in Iowa as officials plan to demolish partially collapsed building

Officials in Iowa are making plans to demolish a six-story apartment building a day after it partially collapsed,...

Police fire tear gas and protestors burn vehicles near home of Senegal's main opposition leader

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Police fired tear gas and demonstrators burned cars Monday near the home of Senegal's main...

China plans to land astronauts on moon before 2030, expand space station, bring on foreign partners

BEIJING (AP) — China’s burgeoning space program plans to place astronauts on the moon before 2030 and expand...

UAE announces groundbreaking mission to asteroid belt, seeking clues to life's origins

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates unveiled plans Monday to send a spaceship to explore...

Poland imposes sanctions on 365 Belarusians over 'draconian' verdict against journalist

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland imposed sanctions Monday on 365 Belarusian citizens and froze the financial assets...

Jennifer Agiesta the Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- If polls show one thing with certainty, it's that Republicans aren't sold on Mitt Romney and they've been looking for other presidential candidates.

At least eight other Republicans have seen their standings soar in GOP primary surveys since the beginning of the year.

Sarah Palin, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani didn't run. Nor did Donald Trump. And among those who actually got in the race, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and now, Herman Cain all have sat near- or at - the top of national polls, at least briefly.

The indecisiveness is a reflection on Romney, who hasn't been able to lock up the GOP's support even though he's essentially been running for president since losing his 2008 bid.

Many Republicans know him. They just don't love him.

A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that 64 percent of conservative Republicans viewed Romney favorably but only 20 percent had deeply positive opinions about him.

"The GOP is in a rebellious and ultraconservative mood," said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center. "And," he added, "Mitt Romney is not rebellious."

Or, for that matter, ultraconservative.

Consider that in a Tuesday debate, Romney defended the 2008-2009 Wall Street bailout that irks the tea party and declared that he could work with "good" Democrats. He also gave one of his most spirited defenses of his health care initiative when he was Massachusetts governor, legislation that President Barack Obama has called a partial blueprint for his own national overhaul.

While those positions may make him appealing to a wider swath of Americans in next fall's election, they greatly disturb conservatives who dominate the GOP primary electorate.

And that helps explain why some Republicans have been itching for someone else.

Generally, Republicans say that Romney has more experience and a better chance to beat Obama next fall than anyone else in the field. But those on the party's right flank doubt whether he - more so than other candidates - shares their values.

Conservatives in the potential Republican electorate were deeply divided on that question in a CBS News/New York Times poll early this month. Only 12 percent chose Romney, while nearly half picked Cain (20 percent), Bachmann (18 percent) or Perry (11 percent).

Such divisions have been the most defining factor of the race so far.

It's not just Romney who has failed to solidify his support with the Republican primary electorate. None of the other candidates who have risen in polls has been able to, either.

Until now, Republicans have been bouncing from candidate to candidate - and even some noncandidates - in search of the perfect nominee.

But with the GOP field set and no more people flirting with bids, it's entirely possible that Republicans will rally behind one candidate - perhaps even Romney - between now and January when the first votes are cast.

Indeed, a host of Republicans - 76 percent in a recent CBS-New York Times poll - said it was too early to say who they would support when voting begins in January. Just 19 percent said they had firmly chosen a candidate.

The volatile race is taking place in a dramatically different Republican Party than the one that nominated John McCain - and for much of the 2008 race strongly favored the thrice-married Giuliani.

The GOP fell out of public favor following McCain's loss to Obama. It then rebounded with the growth of the tea party movement, which helped Republicans win control of the House and boost its ranks in the Senate last year.

Today's Republican Party is more conservative.

"The most visible shift in the political landscape since ... 2005 is the emergence of a single bloc of across-the-board conservatives," the Pew Center said earlier this year.

And those conservatives - at least at this point - seem reluctant to continue a trend that's been the hallmark of Republican presidential primaries in recent decades.

The Republican Party usually has chosen a nominee who has been the perceived next in line.

Ronald Reagan lost once before winning the 1980 nomination. George H.W. Bush got beat that year, became Reagan's vice president and won the GOP nod in 1988. Bob Dole lost twice before becoming the party favorite in 1996. And McCain made a strong run at the nomination in 2000 before clinching it eight years later.

This year, it's Romney who is making his second bid.

And, if history is a guide, he's the most likely to end up winning the nomination - even if the all-over-the-map polls don't show it.

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Agiesta is deputy polling director for The Associated Press. Follow her at http://twitter.com/JennAgiesta

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