04-23-2024  10:14 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

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

Don’t Shoot Portland, University of Oregon Team Up for Black Narratives, Memory

The yearly Memory Work for Black Lives Plenary shows the power of preservation.

Grants Pass Anti-Camping Laws Head to Supreme Court

Grants Pass in southern Oregon has become the unlikely face of the nation’s homelessness crisis as its case over anti-camping laws goes to the U.S. Supreme Court scheduled for April 22. The case has broad implications for cities, including whether they can fine or jail people for camping in public. Since 2020, court orders have barred Grants Pass from enforcing its anti-camping laws. Now, the city is asking the justices to review lower court rulings it says has prevented it from addressing the city's homelessness crisis. Rights groups say people shouldn’t be punished for lacking housing.

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 ...

A conservative quest to limit diversity programs gains momentum in states

A conservative quest to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is gaining momentum in state capitals and college governing boards, with officials in about one-third of the states now taking some sort of action against it. Tennessee became the latest when the Republican...

Ex-police officer wanted in 2 killings and kidnapping shoots, kills self in Oregon, police say

SEATTLE (AP) — A former Washington state police officer wanted after killing two people, including his ex-wife, was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a chase in Oregon, authorities said Tuesday. His 1-year-old baby, who was with him, was taken safely into custody by Oregon...

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

Pro-Palestinian student protests target colleges' financial ties with Israel

Students at a growing number of U.S. colleges are gathering in protest encampments with a unified demand of their schools: Stop doing business with Israel — or any companies that empower its ongoing war in Gaza. The demand has its roots in a decades-old campaign against Israel's...

Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi is 'tickled pink' to inspire a Barbie doll

Like many little girls, a young Kristi Yamaguchi loved playing with Barbie. With a schedule packed with ice skating practices, her Barbie dolls became her “best friends.” So, it's surreal for the decorated Olympian figure skater to now be a Barbie girl herself. ...

A conservative quest to limit diversity programs gains momentum in states

A conservative quest to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is gaining momentum in state capitals and college governing boards, with officials in about one-third of the states now taking some sort of action against it. Tennessee became the latest when the Republican...

ENTERTAINMENT

What to stream this weekend: Conan O’Brien travels, 'Migration' soars and Taylor Swift reigns

Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver” landing on Netflix and Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” album are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as...

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....

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok’s China-based parent company...

Supreme Court to consider when doctors can provide emergency abortions in states with bans

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will consider Wednesday when doctors can provide abortions during medical...

Villagers in Mexico organize to take back their water as drought, avocados dry up lakes and rivers

VILLA MADERO, Mexico (AP) — As a drought in Mexico drags on, angry subsistence farmers have begun taking direct...

Haiti health system nears collapse as medicine dwindles, gangs attack hospitals and ports stay shut

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — On a recent morning at a hospital in the heart of gang territory in Haiti’s...

Modi is accused of using hate speech for calling Muslims 'infiltrators' at an Indian election rally

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's main opposition party accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using hate speech after...

5 migrants die while crossing the English Channel hours after the UK approved a deportation bill

PARIS (AP) — Five people, including a child, died while trying to cross the English Channel from France to the...

By Ed Payne Greg Botelho and Casey Wian





A handwritten note, handcuff box, camping equipment and a DNA swab kit were among the items found by San Diego deputies in the burned home and garage of James DiMaggio. DiMaggio was shot and killed by FBI agents in Idaho after allegedly kidnapping Hannah Anderson,16, this month.
The list of items is included in a search warrant and affidavits CNN affiliate KFMB obtained. It detailed what authorities found in the aftermath of the August 4 fire at DiMaggio's home, about 45 miles east of San Diego in the community of Boulevard, and how investigators believe the fire was started.
Other items found on the nine-page list of things seized from the home and the adjacent garage include incendiary devices, a gas can, rolls of duct tape, used condoms, ammunition, an arson wire and letters from Hannah.
Contents of the letters and the handwritten note were not revealed in the affidavit. When specifically asked about the note by KFMB, the sheriff's department deferred.
"Many portions of this investigation cannot be discussed," said spokesperson Jan Caldwell. "Sorry this is one if them."
Also recovered was a map of Yosemite -- a possible clue as to where DiMaggio intended to take Hannah. The list also contained seemingly benign items such as balloons, a fly swatter and a Popsicle box. The court documents did not specifically tie any of the items to DiMaggio's alleged crimes.
DiMaggio flees with Hannah
Hannah went missing after cheerleading practice in San Diego County on August 3. The next day, the bodies of her mother, Christina Anderson, 42, and brother, Ethan, 8, were found at the DiMaggio property. That horror spurred a manhunt, which zeroed in on central Idaho after two critical clues: the discovery of DiMaggio's blue Nissan Versa outside the city of Cascade, and a sighting of the pair by horseback riders. One of the horsemen recalled noticing multiple "red flags" during their brief interaction with the pair, including their brand-new camping equipment and the pajama-like bottoms Hannah was wearing.
Father Brett Anderson said Thursday that he'd been able to offer "our thanks and our love" to the horseback riders in a phone conversation. "It was a chance encounter, but it did save my daughter's life," he said Thursday.
The ordeal ended August 10 after authorities spotted DiMaggio and his teenage captive's campsite near Morehead Lake. Hostage rescue teams had to hike more than two hours to get to the scene, local sheriffs' departments said. Eventually, they got close enough, and an FBI tactical agent fatally shot DiMaggio, before whisking Hannah away.
Family fundraiser Days after being rescued in the Idaho wilderness Hannah attended a fundraiser on Thursday for her and her family near their Southern California home. The teenager could be seen entering the Boll Weevil restaurant in Lakeside, a community of about 20,000 people located 20 miles northeast of San Diego.
Hannah didn't speak publicly before entering the building, though her father later did talk to reporters. The media were invited to the fundraiser at the family-friendly restaurant, but were not allowed inside.
"This is a small community that we are a part of, and the community came together putting on this great fundraiser for Hannah and hopefully for her future and healing," Brett Anderson said, before he thanked local residents, family and friends, the media and law enforcement. "This is how Lakeside rolls."
Speaking Thursday about her condition, Brett Anderson said "she's just happy to be here." "Hannah sends her love," her father said. "She's doing good day by day, and we'll keep moving forward from here." One of her friends, Alyssa Haugum, said from outside Thursday's fundraiser that she was looking forward to seeing Hannah and giving her a hug. They had communicated via Facebook, she said. Haugum described Hannah, whom she knows from school and dance, as strong, funny and "usually really bubbly."
"It takes a lot to make her upset," she said of her friend. The entire ordeal was surreal and scary, as it hit so close to home, Haugum said. "It just felt like it was untrue: One day somebody could be with you, and the next day they are missing and you don't know where they're at," Haugum said. Then, alluding to her friend Hannah, she added, "But I knew she was strong. I knew she would come back." CNN's Casey Wian reported from Lakeside, and CNN's Ed Payne and Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Amanda Watts contributed to this report.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast