05-08-2024  4:30 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Safety Lapses Contributed to Patient Assaults at Oregon State Hospital

A federal report says safety lapses at the Oregon State Hospital contributed to recent patient-on-patient assaults. The report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services investigated a recent choking attack and sexual assault, among other incidents. It found that staff didn't always adequately supervise their patients, and that the hospital didn't fully investigate the incidents. In a statement, the hospital said it was dedicated to its patients and working to improve conditions. It has 10 days from receiving the report to submit a plan of correction. The hospital is Oregon's most secure inpatient psychiatric facility

Police Detain Driver Who Accelerated Toward Protesters at Portland State University in Oregon

The Portland Police Bureau said in a written statement late Thursday afternoon that the man was taken to a hospital on a police mental health hold. They did not release his name. The vehicle appeared to accelerate from a stop toward the crowd but braked before it reached anyone. 

Portland Government Will Change On Jan. 1. The City’s Transition Team Explains What We Can Expect.

‘It’s a learning curve that everyone has to be intentional about‘

What Marijuana Reclassification Means for the United States

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The Justice Department proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis but wouldn’t legalize it for recreational use. Some advocates for legalized weed say the move doesn't go far enough, while opponents say it goes too far.

NEWS BRIEFS

Legislature Makes Major Investments to Increase Housing Affordability and Expand Treatment in Multnomah County

Over million in new funding will help build a behavioral health drop in center, expand violence prevention programs, and...

Poor People’s Campaign and National Partners Announce, “Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C. and to the Polls” Ahead of 2024 Elections

Scheduled for June 29th, the “Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C.: A Call to...

Legendary Civil Rights Leader Medgar Wiley Evers Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

Evers family overwhelmed with gratitude after Biden announces highest civilian honor. ...

April 30 is the Registration Deadline for the May Primary Election

Voters can register or update their registration online at OregonVotes.gov until 11:59 p.m. on April 30. ...

Chair Jessica Vega Pederson Releases $3.96 Billion Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025

Investments will boost shelter and homeless services, tackle the fentanyl crisis, strengthen the safety net and support a...

The FAA investigates after Boeing says workers in South Carolina falsified 787 inspection records

SEATTLE (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has opened an investigation into Boeing after the beleaguered company reported that workers at a South Carolina plant falsified inspection records on certain 787 planes. Boeing said its engineers have determined that misconduct did...

Want to show teachers appreciation? This top school gives them more freedom

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — When teachers at A.D. Henderson School, one of the top-performing schools in Florida, are asked how they succeed, one answer is universal: They have autonomy. Nationally, most teachers report feeling stressed and overwhelmed at work, according to a Pew...

Defending national champion LSU boosts its postseason hopes with series win against Texas A&M

With two weeks left in the regular season, LSU is scrambling to avoid becoming the third straight defending national champion to miss the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers (31-18, 9-15) won two of three against then-No. 1 Texas A&M to take a giant step over the weekend, but they...

The Bo Nix era begins in Denver, and the Broncos also drafted his top target at Oregon

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — For the first time in his 17 seasons as a coach, Sean Payton has a rookie quarterback to nurture. Payton's Denver Broncos took Bo Nix in the first round of the NFL draft. The coach then helped out both himself and Nix by moving up to draft his new QB's top...

OPINION

New White House Plan Could Reduce or Eliminate Accumulated Interest for 30 Million Student Loan Borrowers

Multiple recent announcements from the Biden administration offer new hope for the 43.2 million borrowers hoping to get relief from the onerous burden of a collective

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...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Civil suit settled in shooting of Native American activist at protest of Spanish conquistador statue

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A settlement has been reached in a civil lawsuit seeking damages from three relatives in the shooting of a Native American activist in northern New Mexico amid confrontations about a statue of a Spanish conquistador and aborted plans to reinstall it in public, according to...

Future of MLB's Tampa Bay Rays to come into focus with key meetings on jumi.3B stadium project

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The future of the Tampa Bay Rays is about to come into clearer focus as local officials begin public discussions over a planned jumi.3 billion ballpark that would be the anchor of a much larger project to transform downtown St. Petersburg with affordable housing, a Black...

Judges say they'll draw new Louisiana election map if lawmakers don't by June 3

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A panel of federal judges who recently threw out a congressional election map giving Louisiana a second mostly Black district said Tuesday the state Legislature must pass a new map by June 3 or face having the panel impose one on the state. However, voting rights...

ENTERTAINMENT

Movie Review: Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are great fun in ‘The Fall Guy’

One of the worst movie sins is when a comedy fails to at least match the natural charisma of its stars. Not all actors are capable of being effortlessly witty without a tightly crafted script and some excellent direction and editing. But Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt seem, at least from afar, adept...

Asian American Literature Festival that was canceled by the Smithsonian in 2023 to be revived

NEW YORK (AP) — A festival celebrating Asian American literary works that was suddenly canceled last year by the Smithsonian Institution is getting resurrected, organizers announced Thursday. The Asian American Literature Festival is making a return, the Asian American Literature...

Paul Auster, prolific and experimental man of letters and filmmaker, dies at 77

NEW YORK (AP) — Paul Auster, a prolific, prize-winning man of letters and filmmaker known for such inventive narratives and meta-narratives as “The New York Trilogy” and “4 3 2 1,” has died at age 77. Auster's death was confirmed by his wife and fellow author, Siri Hustvedt,...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Biden heads to Wisconsin to laud a new Microsoft facility, meet voters — and troll Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is racing into yet another battleground state Wednesday, continuing to...

Grit, humor, grief and gloom mix as Ukrainians face a dangerous new phase in the war

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Paintbrush in hand, Anastasiya Sereda is working on a painting of a chubby-faced panda in...

Has Israel followed the law in its war in Gaza? The US is due to render a first-of-its-kind verdict

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing heat over its military support for Israel's war, the Biden administration is due to...

The Latest | Blasts, gunfire heard near Rafah crossing as it remains closed under Israeli control

Gaza’s vital Rafah crossing remained closed Wednesday after Israeli forces seized it the day before. Associated...

Too much water, and not enough: Brazil's flooded south struggles to access basic goods

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (AP) — The mayor of a major city in southern Brazil on Tuesday pleaded with residents to...

The Olympic torch is being welcomed in French port city of Marseille with fanfare and high security

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Paris Games organizers have promised “fantastic" celebrations as the arrival of a...

Diana Magnay CNN

BERLIN (CNN) -- Luka Rocco Magnotta, the Canadian porn actor accused of killing and dismembering a man and mailing body parts to politicians, will not fight extradition following his arrest in Germany, a Berlin police official said Tuesday.

Magnotta told a Berlin magistrate that he will return voluntarily to face charges in the death of university student Jun Lin, Chief Supt. Stefan Redlich of the Berlin police said.

The 29-year-old did not make any comment regarding the accusations against him, Redlich said.

Magnotta faces first-degree murder and other charges in the killing last month of Lin, a 33-year-old Concordia University student from China.

Authorities accuse Magnotta of dismembering the student, mailing parts of his body to Canadian politicians and taunting authorities by posting a video of the grisly act on the Internet.

Berlin police arrested Magnotta on Monday at an Internet cafe where he was browsing articles about himself. The arrest ended an international manhunt that began when the body parts were found in the mail.

If Magnotta does not fight the request, he will be back in Montreal quickly to face the charges, a legal expert said. Otherwise, it could take months.

"If he wanted to delay the proceedings, it could take as much as a year or more," Daniel Brown, a Toronto defense attorney, told CNN affiliate CBC.

But he said that costs money: "You have to have the resources to be able to sustain those types of appeals and things of that nature. I'm not sure Mr. Magnotta does."

The manhunt began last week when a package containing a severed foot addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived at his majority Conservative Party headquarters. A hand was later found at a post office addressed to the minority Liberal Party, authorities said.

Authorities quickly traced the address on the packages to Magnotta's Montreal apartment, where they searched a trash bin and discovered Lin's torso in a suitcase.

Lin's death and dismemberment were allegedly captured on a graphic video posted to the Internet, according to Montreal police. It features a man -- whom authorities believe is Magnotta -- killing another man, dismembering the corpse and performing sexual acts. Many of Lin's body parts are still missing, according to authorities.

Authorities say they believe Magnotta killed Lin on May 24 or May 25, posted the video, then took a flight to France on May 26.

He boarded a bus to Berlin on June 1, while police were searching for him in Paris, the Berlin state prosecutor's office said Tuesday.

In the end, it was the keen eye of an employee at the Internet cafe in Berlin that helped police nab Magnotta.

The employee, Kadir Anlayisli, said he recognized the slight man who walked into the nondescript Helin Spatkauf Internet Cafe on Monday, but he couldn't quite figure out why he did.

But as Magnotta surfed the Web, poring over news accounts of the case in which he himself was the suspect, the realization dawned on Anlayisli.

"I looked in the papers and said, 'That's him who they're looking for, the porno killer,' " Anlayisli told reporters.

He flagged down a carload of German police trainees.

Magnotta initially denied his identity, police said. Then he gave up without a fight, stating simply, "OK, you got me."

Magnotta, a gay porn actor, stripper and escort, was well known to animal rights activists online, who accused him of killing kittens and using the carcasses in sexual acts.

Several Canadian newspapers also reported that Magnotta had dated notorious Canadian killer Karla Homolka, who years before was arrested for the rapes and murders of three Ontario girls, including her own sister. As part of a plea bargain, Homolka served 12 years in prison.

Montreal Police Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere said he could not confirm any links and said Homolka is not part of the investigation.

Investigators will now begin look to see if Magnotta is linked to other crimes as they continue their investigation into Lin's death and work toward Magnotta's extradition, Lafreniere said Monday.

"This is far from being over," he said.

CNN's Lateef Mungin contributed to this report.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast