04-25-2024  1:51 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

NORTHWEST NEWS

A Conservative Quest to Limit Diversity Programs Gains Momentum in States

In support of DEI, Oregon and Washington have forged ahead with legislation to expand their emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion in government and education.

Epiphanny Prince Hired by Liberty in Front Office Job Day After Retiring

A day after announcing her retirement, Epiphanny Prince has a new job working with the New York Liberty as director of player and community engagement. Prince will serve on the basketball operations and business staffs, bringing her 14 years of WNBA experience to the franchise. 

The Drug War Devastated Black and Other Minority Communities. Is Marijuana Legalization Helping?

A major argument for legalizing the adult use of cannabis after 75 years of prohibition was to stop the harm caused by disproportionate enforcement of drug laws in Black, Latino and other minority communities. But efforts to help those most affected participate in the newly legal sector have been halting. 

Lessons for Cities from Seattle’s Racial and Social Justice Law 

 Seattle is marking the first anniversary of its landmark Race and Social Justice Initiative ordinance. Signed into law in April 2023, the ordinance highlights race and racism because of the pervasive inequities experienced by people of color

NEWS BRIEFS

Mt. Tabor Park Selected for National Initiative

Mt. Tabor Park is the only Oregon park and one of just 24 nationally to receive honor. ...

OHCS, BuildUp Oregon Launch Program to Expand Early Childhood Education Access Statewide

Funds include million for developing early care and education facilities co-located with affordable housing. ...

Governor Kotek Announces Chief of Staff, New Office Leadership

Governor expands executive team and names new Housing and Homelessness Initiative Director ...

Governor Kotek Announces Investment in New CHIPS Child Care Fund

5 Million dollars from Oregon CHIPS Act to be allocated to new Child Care Fund ...

Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge US to prosecute the company

Boeing said Wednesday that it lost 5 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers. ...

Authorities confirm 2nd victim of ex-Washington officer was 17-year-old with whom he had a baby

WEST RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — Authorities on Wednesday confirmed that a body found at the home of a former Washington state police officer who killed his ex-wife before fleeing to Oregon, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was that of a 17-year-old girl with whom he had a baby. ...

Missouri hires Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch for the same role with the Tigers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri hired longtime college administrator Laird Veatch to be its athletic director on Tuesday, bringing him back to campus 14 years after he departed for a series of other positions that culminated with five years spent as the AD at Memphis. Veatch...

KC Current owners announce plans for stadium district along the Kansas City riverfront

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The ownership group of the Kansas City Current announced plans Monday for the development of the Missouri River waterfront, where the club recently opened a purpose-built stadium for the National Women's Soccer League team. CPKC Stadium will serve as the hub...

OPINION

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...

OP-ED: Embracing Black Men’s Voices: Rebuilding Trust and Unity in the Democratic Party

The decision of many Black men to disengage from the Democratic Party is rooted in a complex interplay of historical disenchantment, unmet promises, and a sense of disillusionment with the political establishment. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Biden just signed a bill that could ban TikTok. His campaign plans to stay on the app anyway

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden showed off his putting during a campaign stop at a public golf course in Michigan last month, the moment was captured on TikTok. Forced inside by a rainstorm, he competed with 13-year-old Hurley “HJ” Coleman IV to make putts on a...

2021 death of young Black man at rural Missouri home was self-inflicted, FBI tells AP

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal investigation has concluded that a young Black man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a rural Missouri home, not at the hands of the white homeowner who had a history of racist social media postings, an FBI official told The Associated Press Wednesday. ...

Sister of Mississippi man who died after police pulled him from car rejects lawsuit settlement

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A woman who sued Mississippi's capital city over the death of her brother has decided to reject a settlement after officials publicly disclosed how much the city would pay his survivors, her attorney said Wednesday. George Robinson, 62, died in January 2019,...

ENTERTAINMENT

Music Review: Jazz pianist Fred Hersch creates subdued, lovely colors on 'Silent, Listening'

Jazz pianist Fred Hersch fully embraces the freedom that comes with improvisation on his solo album “Silent, Listening,” spontaneously composing and performing tunes that are often without melody, meter or form. Listening to them can be challenging and rewarding. The many-time...

Book Review: 'Nothing But the Bones' is a compelling noir novel at a breakneck pace

Nelson “Nails” McKenna isn’t very bright, stumbles over his words and often says what he’s thinking without realizing it. We first meet him as a boy reading a superhero comic on the banks of a river in his backcountry hometown in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia....

Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots to headline the BET Experience concerts in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots will headline concerts to celebrate the return of the BET Experience in Los Angeles just days before the 2024 BET Awards. BET announced Monday the star-studded lineup of the concert series, which makes a return after a...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Climate change is bringing malaria to new areas. In Africa, it never left

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — When a small number of cases of locally transmitted malaria were found in the United...

US growth likely slowed last quarter but still pointed to a solid economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Coming off a robust end to 2023, the U.S. economy is thought to have extended its surprisingly...

The Latest | Israeli strikes in Rafah kill at least 5

Palestinian hospital officials say Israeli airstrikes on the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip have killed...

Hamas releases video showing well-known Israeli-American hostage

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas released a hostage video on Wednesday showing a well-known Israeli-American man who was...

The Latest | Germany will resume working with UN relief agency for Palestinians after a review

Germany said Wednesday that it plans to follow several other countries in resuming cooperation with the U.N....

UN report says 282 million people faced acute hunger in 2023, with the worst famine in Gaza

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nearly 282 million people in 59 countries suffered from acute hunger in 2023, with...

Reza Sayah, Michael Pearson and Holly Yan CNN

CAIRO (CNN) -- A day after ferocious clashes left more than 500 people dead in Egypt, four more people were killed in clashes in Alexandria, state media reported. Elsewhere, protesters stormed a government building in Giza and blocked a road near the nation's iconic pyramids.

State-run Nile TV reported the Alexandria deaths occurred in fighting between Muslim Brotherhood members and residents of the city.

Earlier Thursday, the Giza Governate building was evacuated after supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy stormed the building, Nile TV reported. Televised images later showed the building on fire. Nile TV also said protesters had blocked a road near the pyramids while others staged a sit-in at a mosque in Nasr City. It was unclear if anyone had been injured.

State-run TV also said Morsy supporters were attacking police stations, hospitals and government buildings in areas outside Cairo, despite a state of emergency declared Wednesday by the military-backed interim government which limits public gatherings and gives more power to security forces to make arrests.

In Cairo, meanwhile, an eerie and tense calm prevailed Thursday, one day after hundreds died in violence sparked when security forces moved in to clear two camps of Morsy supporters. Traffic on the city's normally teeming streets was light amid fears of further fighting.

The Muslim Brotherhood vowed Thursday that protests would go on, despite violence Wednesday that brought international criticism of Egypt's interim government.

"We will continue our sit-ins and demonstrations all over the country until democracy and the legitimate rule are restored in Egypt," said Essam Elerian, a senior member of the Islamist movement.

Egypt's short-lived experiment with democracy took a gruesome turn Wednesday, culminating in mass carnage and a return to the repressive state of emergency that had gripped the country for 30 years.

The Egyptian Health Ministry said at least 525 people died and more than 3,700 were injured Wednesday in clashes that began when security forces moved in to break up protesters demonstrating in support of Morsy. Among the dead were 43 police officers, the interior ministry said.

The death toll could rise. On Thursday, Muslim Brotherhood officials displayed at least 100 bodies, wrapped in white, blood-stained sheets, at the Emam Mosque in Cairo, some of the 500 people the group said were brought to the mosque after the violence.

The Muslim Brotherhood and other activists on the ground told CNN those bodies had not yet been registered with authorities.

While Egypt's interim government said the violence began after protesters violently resisted their peaceful efforts to disperse pro-Morsy sit-ins, demonstrators said security forces had staged a "full-on assault."

CNN journalists on the ground said many of those injured or killed were unarmed. It was Egypt's bloodiest day since the 2011 revolution to oust Morsy's predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.

The shocking violence brought criticism from countries around the world and threatened to further destabilize Egypt's already precarious economy and political situation.

On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama strongly condemned the bloodshed, saying the government chose violence and arbitrary arrests over an opportunity to resolve its crisis through peaceful dialogue.

"The United States strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by Egypt's interim government and security forces," Obama said in a statement from his summer vacation home. "We deplore violence against civilians."

He urged the government to lift the state of emergency imposed Wednesday and to launch a reconciliation process immediately.

He also canceled joint U.S.-Egyptian military training exercises scheduled next month, and warned that the traditional cooperation between the two nations "cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets."

His comments came a day after Secretary of State John Kerry said the crackdown was "a serious blow to reconciliation and the Egyptian people's hopes for a transition towards democracy and inclusion."

Denmark suspended economic aid to the country. China urged restraint. Germany, Italy, France and other nations summoned Egypt's ambassadors to their nations to express dismay over the violence.

The raid

Security forces raided the pro-Morsy camps Wednesday after weeks of simmering tension. Clashes and gunfire broke out, leaving pools of blood and bodies strewn all over the streets.

Authorities bulldozed tents and escorted hundreds of people away. Some mothers and fathers managed to whisk away their children, gas masks on their faces.

The dead included cameraman Mick Deane, who'd worked for UK-based news channel Sky News for 15 years and for CNN before that.

Morsy supporters also reportedly attacked a number of Christian churches. It's not clear how many were targeted, but Dalia Ziada, of the Ibn Khadun Center for Development Studies, said Thursday that the center had documented the burning of 29 churches and Coptic facilities across the country.

"This is horrible to happen in only one day," she said.

The Bible Society of Egypt said 15 churches and three Christian schools had been attacked, some set on fire.

At least 84 people, including Muslim Brotherhood members, have been referred to military prosecutors for charges including murder and the burning of churches, the state-run EGYNews site reported.

But protesters vowed to remain defiant until Morsy is reinstated.

Elerian, the senior Muslim Brotherhood member, said he's not deterred by calls for his arrest.

"They can arrest me and 100 of us, but they can't arrest every honorable citizen in Egypt," Elerian told CNN Thursday. "They can't stop this glorious revolution."

The government's state of emergency declaration mirrors the kind of stifling police state that the nation lived through under Mubarak, before the Egyptian people rose up in protests that resulted in Mubarak's overthrow in 2011 and eventually Morsy's rise to power as the country's first democratically elected president.

Morsy's rise, fall

But rather than uniting Egypt after Mubarak's fall, divisions intensified during Morsy's time as president.

Critics accused him of being authoritarian, trying to force the Muslim Brotherhood's Islamic agenda on the country and failing to deliver freedom and justice.

Morsy's supporters say the deposed president wasn't given a fair chance, and say his backers have been unfairly targeted for expressing their opinion.

Though Morsy has not appeared in public since he was taken into custody, his supporters have amassed on the streets nationwide to slam military leaders and demand his reinstatement.

More setback

Even Egypt's interim government suffered a major setback after the raid.

Mohammed ElBaradei -- a secular leader who was one of Morsy's biggest critics -- submitted his resignation Wednesday as vice president.

ElBaradei said he didn't agree with the decisions carried out by the ruling government and "cannot be responsible for a single (drop of) blood."

CNN's Reza Sayah reported from Cairo; Michael Pearson wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Ian Lee, Frederik Pleitgen, Laura Smith-Spark and Holly Yan also contributed to this report.

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast