07-27-2024  2:12 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

NORTHWEST NEWS

People Flee Idaho Town Through a Tunnel of Fire and Smoke as Western Wildfires Spread

Multiple communities in Idaho have been evacuated after lightning strikes sparked fast-moving wildfires.  As that and other blazes scorch the Pacific Northwest, authorities say California's largest wildfire is zero-percent contained after destroying 134 structures and threatening 4,200 more. A sheriff says it was started by a man who pushed a burning car into a gully. Officials say they have arrested a 42-year-old man who will be arraigned Monday.

Word is Bond Takes Young Black Leaders to Ghana

“Transformative” trip lets young travelers visit painful slave history, celebrate heritage.

Wildfires Threaten Communities in the West as Oregon Fire Closes Interstate, Creates Its Own Weather

Firefighters in the West are scrambling as wildfires threaten communities in Oregon, California and Washington. A stretch of Interstate 84 connecting Oregon and Idaho in the area of one of the fires was closed indefinitely Tuesday. New lightning-sparked wildfires in the Sierra near the California-Nevada border forced the evacuation of a recreation area, closed a state highway and were threatening structures Tuesday.

In Washington State, Inslee's Final Months Aimed at Staving off Repeal of Landmark Climate Law

Voters in Washington state will decide this fall whether to keep one of the country's more aggressive laws aimed at stemming carbon pollution. The repeal vote imperils the most significant climate policy passed during outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee's three terms, and Inslee — who made climate action a centerpiece of his short-lived presidential campaign in the 2020 cycle — is fighting hard against it. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Iconic Elm Tree in Downtown Celebrated Before Emergency Removal

The approximately 154-year-old tree has significant damage and declining health following recent storms ...

Hawthorne Bridge Westbound Closes Thursday for Repairs

Westbound traffic lanes will close 2 p.m. Thursday, July 25, through 5 a.m. Friday, July 26 ...

Oregon Senate Democrats Unanimously Endorse Kamala Harris for President

Today, in unified support for Kamala Harris as president of the United States, all 17 Oregon Senate Democrats officially...

Dr. Vinson Eugene Allen and Dusk to Dawn Urgent Care Make a Historical Mark as the First African American Owned Chain of Urgent Care Facilities in the United States

Dusk to Dawn Urgent Care validated as the First African American Owned Urgent Care in the nation with chain locations ...

Washington State Black Legislators Endorse Kamala Harris for President

Members of the Washington State Legislative Black Caucus (LBC) are proud to announce their enthusiastic endorsement of Vice President...

California's largest wildfire explodes in size as fires rage across US West

California's largest active fire exploded in size on Friday evening, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to meet the danger. The Park Fire's intensity and dramatic spread led fire officials to make unwelcome comparisons to...

California's largest wildfire explodes in size as fires rage across US West

California's largest active fire exploded in size on Friday evening, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to meet the danger. The Park Fire's intensity and rapid spread led fire officials to make unwelcome comparisons to the...

Chiefs set deadline of 6 months to decide whether to renovate Arrowhead or build new — and where

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs have set a deadline of six months from now to decide on a plan for the future of Arrowhead Stadium, whether that means renovating their iconic home or building an entirely new stadium in Kansas or Missouri. After a joint ballot initiative with the...

Missouri governor says new public aid plan in the works for Chiefs, Royals stadiums

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday that he expects the state to put together an aid plan by the end of the year to try to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals from being lured across state lines to new stadiums in Kansas. Missouri's renewed efforts...

OPINION

The 900-Page Guide to Snuffing Out American Democracy

What if there was a blueprint for a future presidential administration to unilaterally lay waste to our constitutional order and turn America from a democracy into an autocracy in one fell swoop? That is what one far-right think tank and its contributors...

SCOTUS Decision Seizes Power to Decide Federal Regulations: Hard-Fought Consumer Victories Now at Risk

For Black and Latino Americans, this power-grab by the court throws into doubt and potentially weakens current agency rules that sought to bring us closer to the nation’s promises of freedom and justice for all. In two particular areas – fair housing and...

Minding the Debate: What’s Happening to Our Brains During Election Season

The June 27 presidential debate is the real start of the election season, when more Americans start to pay attention. It’s when partisan rhetoric runs hot and emotions run high. It’s also a chance for us, as members of a democratic republic. How? By...

State of the Nation’s Housing 2024: The Cost of the American Dream Jumped 47 Percent Since 2020

Only 1 in 7 renters can afford homeownership, homelessness at an all-time high ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Japan's Sado gold mine gains UNESCO status after Tokyo pledges to exhibit dark WWII history

TOKYO (AP) — The UNESCO World Heritage committee on Saturday decided to register Japan’s controversial Sado gold mine as a cultural heritage site after the country agreed to include it in an exhibit of its dark history of abusing Korean laborers during World War II. The decision...

California date palm ranches reap not only fruit, but a permit to host weddings and quinceañeras

COACHELLA, Calif. (AP) — Claudia Lua Alvarado has staked her future on the rows of towering date palms behind the home where she lives with her husband and two children in a desert community east of Los Angeles. It’s not solely due to the fleshy, sweet fruit they give each year....

A federal court approves new Michigan state Senate seats for Detroit-area districts

Lansing (AP) — Federal judges gave final approval to a new map of Michigan state Legislature boundaries, concluding a case in which the court previously found that several Detroit-area districts' maps were illegally influenced by race. In December, the court ordered a redistricting...

ENTERTAINMENT

Educators wonder how to teach the writings of Alice Munro in wake of daughter's revelations

NEW YORK (AP) — For decades, Robert Lecker has read, taught and written about Alice Munro, the Nobel laureate from Canada renowned for her short stories. A professor of English at McGill University in Montreal, and author of numerous critical studies of Canadian fiction, he has thought of Munro...

Adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s ‘Nickel Boys’ to open New York Film Festival this fall

“Nickel Boys,” an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will open the 62nd New York Film Festival in September, organizers said Monday. Filmmaker RaMell Ross directed the drama based on the 2019 novel about two Black teenagers in an abusive reform school...

Hikers and cyclists can now cross Vermont on New England's longest rail trail, a year after floods

HARDWICK, Vt. (AP) — A year after epic summer flooding delayed the official opening of New England’s longest rail trail, the 93-mile route across northern Vermont is finally delivering on the promise made years ago of a cross-state recreation trail. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Homeless people say they will likely return to sites if California clears them under Newsom's order

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three years ago, Joel Hernandez built a small wooden shack under the 405 freeway cutting...

A look at 'El Mayo' Zambada, the kingpin of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel who is now in US custody

PHOENIX (AP) — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the top leader and co-founder of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, eluded...

Philippine forces sail to hotly disputed shoal without incident for first time since deal with China

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine government personnel transported food and other supplies Saturday to a...

Museum pulls wax figure of Sinead O'Connor after complaints it does not compare to the real thing

LONDON (AP) — A wax figure of Sinéad O’Connor that did not compare to how the late singer looked caused a...

Typhoon Gaemi weakens to a tropical storm as it moves inland carrying rain toward central China

BEIJING (AP) — Tropical storm Gaemi brought rain to central China on Saturday as it moved inland after making...

With Palestinian deal and Ukrainian foreign minister's visit, China shows its rising influence

In consecutive days this week, China brokered a deal between rival Palestinian factions and hosted Ukraine's...

CNN



English Premier League grounds are noted for their passionate atmosphere and fans sometimes overstep the boundaries of public decency.

In the task of adjudicating just what is and isn't acceptable to say at a football game, leading English Premier League club Liverpool has issued a list of banned words to its employees in its efforts to rid football of discriminatory behavior.

The list of offensive words relates to race and religion, sexual orientation, gender and disability and was circulated to members of Liverpool's staff as part of a longer presentation, one page of which was leaked on the internet.

"The club wishes to eradicate any form of discrimination or discriminatory behavior both on and off the football pitch," reads the leaked document, which Liverpool confirmed was accurate.

"It's important to understand the context of what's being said, but here are examples of words worth listening out for which are usually offensive and the club consider unacceptable."

The list included terms such as "n****r", "queen", "don't be a woman," "cripple" as well as "princess"and "man up".

The guidelines have has not been reportedly issued to Liverpool players because they receive separate instructions from the Football Association.

The document prompted much discussion on social networking site Twitter with Guardian journalist Barney Ronay writing: "Catching up with this Liverpool story. I see "lady-boy" appears under both Gender and Sexual Orientation but "she-man" is only under Gender. Typical anti-she man bias."

English football has been blighted by a series of racism scandals in recent years.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 in 2011 after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

The club was heavily criticized for its defense of Suarez, with the team and then manager Kenny Dalglish wearing t-shirts in support of the Uruguayan before a Premier League match against Wigan Athletic.

In September 2012 former England captain John Terry was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 for a racist slur aimed at Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand.

Terry also faced a criminal trial over the allegations, after which he was found not guilty.

Meanwhile, English anti-racism organization Kick It Out, which this year marks 20 years of battling discrimination, has launched a smart phone app which allows fans to report incidents of racism at matches.

"It gives football fans the opportunity to report a racist incident if someone is causing a nuisance in their vicinity or trying to spoil their entertainment," former England and Tottenham Hotspur winger and Kick It Out trustee Garth Crooks told CNN.

"For the first time, certainly as long as I've been in football, a football fan can actually complain anonymously about someone being a racial nuisance.

"Now we're not saying that person is a racist, but they're using racist language and it deserves to be reported. The app allows you to do that. It's the perfect tool."

Crooks also hailed the work done by Kick It Out over the last two decades.

"I think it's been very successful," he added. "We've moved from the days where abuse was common place in football and it was embarrassing for all concerned, to a place where the fans have pretty much taken control of the situation.

"They are much more determined to not be sitting in a controlled environment listening to their heroes being abused.

"We have CCTV monitoring areas of the football grounds to make sure that people behave. Managers and players are also involved to try and ensure that, when people play football, it's a comfortable working environment."