03-22-2023  1:30 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
  • Oregon Bill on Abortion, Gender-Affirming Care Sparks Debate

    Oregon Bill on Abortion, Gender-Affirming Care Sparks Debate

    An Oregon bill that would expand access to reproductive health and gender-affirming care drew emotional testimony, mirroring the culture war debates over abortion, gender identity and parents' rights that are playing out in state legislatures across the U.S. Read More
  • Detective Cookie Boulden, Seattle City Council member Tammy Morales and community members dig up a shovel full of dirt during the official ground breaking ceremony for the Detective Cookie Chess Park on the Rainier Avenue South and 51st on June 14, 2022. Detective Cookie's chess club has been helping southend kids learn the game of chess for more than a decade. (Photo/Susan Fried)

    Detective Files Discrimination Claim Against Seattle Police

    Detective Denise “Cookie” Bouldin filed the tort claim Friday. It alleges she has faced daily discrimination during her 43 years with the department. Read More
  • Family friend Tony McDavid walks through the wreckage of the beachfront home of Nina Lavigna, as friends help recover salvageable belongings after half of her house collapsed following beach erosion from Hurricane Nicole, Nov. 12, 2022, in Wilbur-By-The-Sea, Fla. A major new United Nations report being released Monday, March 20, 2023, is expected to provide a sobering reminder that time is running out if humanity wants to avoid passing a dangerous global warming threshold. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

    United Nations Report will Give Stark Climate Warning

    A major new United Nations report being released Monday will  provide a sobering reminder that time is running out if humanity wants to avoid passing a dangerous global warming threshold. The report by hundreds of the world’s top scientists is the first to summarize the research on global warming compiled since the Paris climate accord was sealed in 2015 Read More
  • House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., speaks during a Friends of Ireland Caucus St. Patrick's Day luncheon at the U.S. Capitol, March 17, 2023, in Washington. Top Republicans, including some of former President Donald Trump’s potential rivals for the party’s nomination, rushed to his defense on Saturday after Trump said he is bracing for possible arrest. McCarthy said a possible indictment would be “an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance

    Some Top Republicans Rally to Trump as Possible Charges Loom

    Top Republicans, including some of Donald Trump’s potential rivals for the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination, are rushing to his defense after Trump said he's bracing for possible arrest.in a case that the Manhattan district attorney is investigating over hush money payments made to women who alleged Trump had sexual encounters with them Read More
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Oregon Bill on Abortion, Gender-Affirming Care Sparks Debate

An Oregon bill that would expand access to reproductive health and gender-affirming care drew emotional testimony, mirroring the culture war debates over abortion, gender identity and parents' rights that are playing out in state legislatures across the U.S.

The Big Problem for Endangered Orcas? Inbreeding

People have taken many steps in recent decades to help the Pacific Northwest's endangered killer whales, which have long suffered from starvation, pollution and the legacy of having many of their number captured for display in marine parks.

Amazon Cuts 9,000 More Jobs, Bringing 2023 Total to 27,000

The job cuts would mark the second largest round of layoffs in the company's history

Starbucks New CEO Laxman Narasimhan Takes His Seat

Narasimhan succeeds longtime Starbucks leader Howard Schultz, who came out of retirement last spring to serve as interim CEO while the company searched for a new chief executive.

NEWS BRIEFS

Tiffani Penson Announces Campaign for PCC Board, Zone 2

Penson is proud of the accomplishments of PCC ...

Black Bag Speaker Series: Oregon Black Pioneers Historic Photograph Collection

OBP will present the history and context of a photo album, found in a house located in historically Black North Portland, that was...

The Making of American Whiteness Book Presentation and Signing to be Held at OHS

The Making of American Whiteness book will be presented by Dr. Carmen P. Thompson, in conversation with Dr. Darrell Millner on...

Support for Survivors of Child Sex Trafficking Unanimously Passes Oregon Senate

SB 745 will require juvenile departments to screen for survivors of sex trafficking, connect identified survivors with critical...

Reusable Food Container Bill Passes Oregon Senate

SB 545 will allow restaurants to fill consumer-owned containers with food ...

Oregon lawmakers approve 0M for housing, homelessness

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon lawmakers passed a sweeping 0 million housing and homelessness package on Tuesday, displaying a bipartisan will to tackle two of the state's most pressing crises. The vast majority of the funding — about 7 million — is aimed at boosting...

Names released of deputy shot in Seattle, resident who died

SEATTLE (AP) — Law enforcement officials have released the name of a King County Sheriff’s deputy who was shot in Seattle Monday while serving an eviction notice as well as the person found dead inside the Ballard neighborhood residence. Detective David Easterly was shot and...

The maddest March ever? Underdogs head to the Sweet 16

We know you're upset. Underdogs have blown up every bracket in the country. An upside of the upsets: perhaps the maddest March ever. Defending national champion Kansas and fellow No. 1 seed Purdue are gone — the Boilermakers with a slice of unwanted history. The Sweet...

March Madness betting guide: Upsets shuffle favorites' odds

LAS VEGAS (AP) — March Madness isn't just about filling out — and later trashing — brackets. There are more ways to bet the field in the NCAA Tournament, an event that will consume basketball fans over the next three weeks. Here's a look at the favorites, underdogs and long shots. ...

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

2nd officer in inmate's fatal beating gets same 20-year term

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The second of three former correctional officers sentenced in the fatal beating of a state inmate received a 20-year prison term Monday, the same as a co-conspirator despite a judge's declaration he could have stopped the attack as the senior officer. U.S....

Montana senator wants to block mandatory diversity training

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Republican lawmaker in Montana wants to prohibit mandatory diversity training for state employees with a bill whose language matches a Florida law that is temporarily blocked by the courts. The proposed “Montana Individual Freedom Act,” would prohibit...

Silicon Valley Bank collapse concerns founders of color

In the hours after some of Silicon Valley Bank’s biggest customers started pulling out their money, a WhatsApp group of startup founders who are immigrants of color ballooned to more than 1,000 members. Questions flowed as the bank’s financial status worsened. Some desperately...

ENTERTAINMENT

Itching to start spring garden cleanup? Not so fast!

When the blare of the year’s first leaf blower awakened me one morning last week, I realized spring cleanup had commenced -- no matter that March could still roar like a lion here in my Long Island, New York, neighborhood. It stands to reason that professional landscapers cannot...

Tom Hanks named Harvard's 2023 commencement speaker

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Two-time Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks was named the principal speaker at Harvard's commencement on May 25, the Ivy League university announced Tuesday. Hanks, 66, has appeared in almost 100 films. Nominated for an Oscar six times, he won best actor...

'Succession' star Sarah Snook pregnant with 1st child

NEW YORK (AP) — “Succession” star Sarah Snook had a surprise reveal at the show’s season four premiere — she is pregnant with her first child. Snook proudly showed off her baby bump in New York at Monday's premiere, which was attended by fellow stars Brian Cox, Jeremy...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

AP PHOTOS: World's water in focus as clean supplies squeezed

It's one of the world's most vital resources. In Paraguay, a man displaced by a rising river hauls heavy buckets...

Fox, Dominion face off over airing of false election claims

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Fox News and a voting machine company that claims the conservative network defamed it by...

Asian shares advance on back of Wall Street rally

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares advanced Wednesday after a Wall Street rally led by the banks most beaten down by...

AP PHOTOS: World's water in focus as clean supplies squeezed

It's one of the world's most vital resources. In Paraguay, a man displaced by a rising river hauls heavy buckets...

UN: 26% of world lacks clean drinking water, 46% sanitation

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A new report launched Tuesday on the eve of the first major U.N. conference on water in...

Marcos defends US military presence, which China opposes

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday defended his decision to allow a larger...

Kevin Liptak CNN

(CNN) -- One of Hollywood's most recognizable voices has been put to use narrating a spot marking Election Day achievements for proponents of same-sex marriage.

Morgan Freeman narrates the spot for the Human Rights Campaign, which asserts the ballot box victories in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota and Washington State have provided a nationwide "mandate for full equality."

"America stands at the dawn of a new day," Freeman says in the ad, which the group said would air nationwide beginning Sunday. "Freedom, justice and human dignity have always guided our journey toward a more perfect union. Now across our country, we are standing together for the right of gay and lesbian Americans to marry the person they love."

Voters in Washington, Maine and Maryland passed ballot measures on November 6 affirming the legality of same-sex marriage, while in Minnesota voters rejected a ban on those unions.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide soon whether to hear oral arguments on cases challenging the legality of the Defense of Marriage Act, which passed with overwhelming support in 1996 and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The act defines marriage as the legal union between one man and one woman.


"This year proved to be a pivotal turning point in the movement for marriage equality and now we press onward with renewed vigor and public opinion squarely on our side," HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement. "As we continue the march toward full equality in legislatures and the courts, it is crystal clear that the prospect of an equal future is no longer up for debate; the question now is how soon it will arrive."

Freeman is no stranger to narrating ads for politicians and causes -- the Oscar winner narrated a spot for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign in October that detailed the incumbent's first-term accomplishments. It ran heavily in battleground states.

Freeman also donated $1 million to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA, writing in part that the president "has led our nation to be more tolerant and placed impressive, accomplished women on the Supreme Court."

CNN's Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.

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MLK Breakfast 2023

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