05-07-2024  4:59 pm   •   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

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...

Luis Miranda Jr. reflects on giving, the arts and his son Lin-Manuel in the new memoir 'Relentless'

Luis A. Miranda Jr. was just 19 years old when he arrived in New York City from a small town in Puerto Rico, a broke doctoral student badly needing a job. It was 1974 — decades before “Hamilton,” the Tony Award-winning musical created by his son Lin-Manuel, became a sensation...

Congressman partly backtracks his praise of a campus conflict that included racist gestures

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Republican congressman on Monday backtracked on some of his praise for a campus conflict that included a man who made monkey noises and gestures at a Black student who was protesting the Israel-Hamas war. Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia said he understands and...

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

Putin begins his fifth term as president, more in control of Russia than ever

President Vladimir Putin began his fifth term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration Tuesday, embarking on another...

Israeli tanks have rolled into Rafah. What does this mean for the Palestinians sheltering there?

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli tanks that entered the periphery of Rafah early Tuesday stoked global fears that an...

More and faster: Electricity from clean sources reaches 30% of global total

Billions of people are using different kinds of energy each day and 2023 was a record-breaking year for renewable...

Arrested US soldier to be held for two months in Russia on theft charges

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Army soldier arrested in Russia last week was being held in a pretrial detention...

Anguish as Kenya's government demolishes houses in flood-prone areas and offers in aid

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's government has begun bulldozing homes built in flood-prone areas and promising...

Rescuers bring out survivors from the rubble a day after a deadly building collapse in South Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Rescue teams searching for dozens of construction workers missing after an...

By The Skanner News | The Skanner News










Stevie Marie Vigil is accused of buying weapon for Evan ebel, the former prisoner accused of killing Colorado Department of Corrections director Tom Clements


CENTENNIAL, Colorado (CNN) -- A parolee believed responsible for killing Colorado's prison chief racked up more than two dozen disciplinary charges behind bars, including threatening to kill a guard and make her "beg for her life," according to prison records released Thursday by the state Department of Corrections.

The documents paint a portrait of 28-year-old Evan Ebel as a volatile and, at times, dangerous inmate, who threatened guards, fought with other inmates and disobeyed orders.

The release of the records came the same day that a Colorado law enforcement official told CNN that Ebel left prison after serving the entirety of his sentence wearing tracking ankle monitor.

The official, who examined Ebel's prison file, spoke on condition of anonymity.

It is not immediately clear from the official's statement how long Ebel was supposed to wear the monitoring device or whether he was wearing it when authorities say he killed Colorado Department of Corrections director Tom Clements.

Clements was shot to death at his home outside Colorado Springs on March 19. Ebel was killed two days later in northern Texas in a gun battle with authorities that left a sheriff's deputy wounded.

Prison records show that almost from the moment Ebel was locked up he proved to be a problem.

He was written up at least 28 times on disciplinary charges that resulted in additional days on his original seven-year sentence for robbery and menacing -- infractions that saw him serve more than five years in maximum administrative segregation.

Among his more serious offenses was on September 17, 2005, when he threatened to kill a female guard, saying he would "kill her if he saw her on the streets and that he would make her beg for her life," according to the records.

As punishment, he was put in lockdown for 59 days and stripped of visitor privileges.

Over a two-year period also beginning in 2005, he threatened to kill two other prison guards as well as an inmate.

Ebel's prison sentence was extended by four year after he attacked a correctional officer. He was released from prison on mandatory parole, meaning he served his entire sentence, in January.

Investigators have said they are looking into whether Ebel might have conspired with other inmates to kill Clements. The corrections chief earned widespread recognition not only for prison reforms but also for a crackdown on prison gangs, including the white supremacist 211 Crew, who once counted Ebel among their ranks.

On Thursday, a 22-year-old woman appeared in court to answer charges that she purchased the gun that Ebel used in the killing of Clement and pizza deliveryman Nathan Leon.

Stevie Marie Vigil of Commerce City is accused of buying the gun from a weapons dealer and giving it to Ebel, who could not purchase his own gun because he was a convicted felon, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

Vigil was charged with one count of unlawful purchase of a firearm. If convicted, she faces up to a maximum of 16 years in prison.

It is unclear how Vigil knew Ebel, and authorities have declined to detail how the two knew each other.

The gun was bought at High Plains Arms in Englewood, Colorado, the shop owner told CNN. Authorities said that the business apparently followed all Colorado laws in the sale.

Authorities have said the bullets that killed Clements came from a gun that was found with Ebel, who had handwritten directions to the prison chief's house in his car.

Investigators also found a pizza box and a pizza delivery uniform jacket that they believe links Ebel to the death of Leon, who worked as pizza delivery driver.

Authorities have speculated that Ebel may have killed Leon for his uniform -- to use it as a disguise in the killing of Clements, who was gunned down after he opened his front door.

In Texas, Ebel was driving a black Cadillac, a car which matches a description that witnesses in Clements neighborhood said they saw idling near Clements' home the night of his slaying. Authorities have told CNN that the Cadillac was legally purchased, and they are interviewing individuals who accompanied Ebel at the time of the purchase to learn more.

CNN's Jim Spellman reported from Centennial, Colorado, and Chelsea J. Carter reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Carma Hassan, Dana Ford and Holly Yan contributed to this report

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast