12-02-2024  8:59 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Oregon Tribe Has Hunting and Fishing Rights Restored Under a Long-Sought Court Ruling

The tribe was among the dozens that lost federal recognition in the 1950s and ‘60s under a policy of assimilation known as “termination.” Congress voted to re-recognize the tribe in 1977. But to have their land restored, the tribe had to agree to a federal court order that limited their hunting, fishing and gathering rights. 

Forecasts Warn of Possible Winter Storms Across US During Thanksgiving Week

Two people died in the Pacific Northwest after a rapidly intensifying “bomb cyclone” hit the West Coast last Tuesday, bringing fierce winds that toppled trees and power lines and damaged homes and cars. Fewer than 25,000 people in the Seattle area were still without power Sunday evening.

Huge Number Of Illegal Guns In Portland Come From Licensed Dealers, New Report Shows

Local gun safety advocacy group argues for state-level licensing and regulation of firearm retailers.

'Bomb Cyclone' Kills 1 and Knocks out Power to Over Half a Million Homes Across the Northwest US

A major storm was sweeping across the northwest U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Grants up to $120,000 Educate About Local Environmental Projects

Application period for WA nonprofits open Jan. 7 ...

Literary Arts Opens New Building on SE Grand Ave

The largest literary center in the Western U.S. includes a new independent bookstore and café, event space, classrooms, staff offices...

Allen Temple CME Church Women’s Day Celebration

The Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes, senior pastor/presiding elder, and First Lady Doris Mays Haynes are inviting the public to attend the...

Vote By Mail Tracking Act Passes House with Broad Support

The bill co-led by Congressman Mfume would make it easier for Americans to track their mail-in ballots; it advanced in the U.S. House...

OMSI Opens Indoor Ice Rink for the Holiday Season

This is the first year the unique synthetic ice rink is open. ...

Idaho’s ‘abortion trafficking’ law mostly can be enforced as lawsuit proceeds, court rules

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that most of Idaho's first-in-the-nation law that makes it illegal to help minors get an abortion without the consent of their parents can take effect while a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality continues. The...

Alaska Airlines tech issue briefly grounds planes in Seattle, disrupts bookings on Cyber Monday

SEATTLE (AP) — A technology issue at Alaska Airlines resulted in the temporary grounding of flights in Seattle on Monday morning and problems into the afternoon for people trying to book flights on its website, the airline said. The Seattle-based company said in a statement the...

Missouri WR Luther Burden III declares for the NFL draft

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III on Monday declared for the NFL draft, where he is expected to be a first-round pick. Burden said he would skip the No. 22 Tigers' bowl game and begin preparing for the April draft. The decision was widely expected...

Cal visits Missouri after Wilkinson's 25-point game

California Golden Bears (6-1) at Missouri Tigers (6-1) Columbia, Missouri; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Cal faces Missouri after Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 25 points in Cal's 81-55 win over the Mercyhurst Lakers. The Tigers are 6-0 on their home court....

OPINION

A Loan Shark in Your Pocket: Cellphone Cash Advance Apps

Fast-growing app usage leaves many consumers worse off. ...

America’s Healing Can Start with Family Around the Holidays

With the holiday season approaching, it seems that our country could not be more divided. That division has been perhaps the main overarching topic of our national conversation in recent years. And it has taken root within many of our own families. ...

Donald Trump Rides Patriarchy Back to the White House

White male supremacy, which Trump ran on, continues to play an outsized role in exacerbating the divide that afflicts our nation. ...

Why Not Voting Could Deprioritize Black Communities

President Biden’s Justice40 initiative ensures that 40% of federal investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities, addressing deep-seated inequities. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Protests lay bare a clash of values and interests as Georgia navigates a Russia-West standoff

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia is convulsed by political upheaval again after its pro-Moscow government, fresh off parliamentary elections denounced as rigged by its critics, decided to suspend negotiations for the small former Soviet republic to join the European Union. The small...

California bill would allow public university admission priority for slaves' descendants

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California lawmaker introduced a bill Monday to allow admission priority to the descendants of slaves at the University of California and California State University, two of the largest public university systems in the nation. Assemblymember Isaac Bryan,...

An ex-detective accused of abusing women died in an apparent suicide as his trial was starting

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A white ex-police detective in Kansas died Monday in an apparent suicide just before the start of his criminal trial over allegations that he sexually assaulted Black women and terrorized those who tried fight back. Local police found Roger Golubski dead of a...

ENTERTAINMENT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 1-7

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 1-7: Dec. 1: Actor-director Woody Allen is 89. Singer Dianne Lennon of the Lennon Sisters is 85. Bassist Casey Van Beek of The Tractors is 82. Singer-guitarist Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult is 80. Drummer John Densmore of The Doors is 80....

Music Review: Father John Misty's 'Mahashmashana' offers cynical, theatrical take on life and death

The title of Father John Misty's sixth studio album, “Mahashmashana,” is a reference to cremation, and the first song proposes “a corpse dance.” Religious overtones mix with the undercurrent of a midlife crisis atop his folk chamber pop. And for those despairing recent events, some lyrics...

What will happen to CNBC and MSNBC when they no longer have a corporate connection to NBC News?

Comcast's corporate reorganization means that there will soon be two television networks with “NBC” in their name — CNBC and MSNBC — that will no longer have any corporate connection to NBC News. How that affects viewers of those networks, along with the people who work there,...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

The Coast Guard suspends its search for the crew of a capsized fishing boat in the Gulf of Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The search for five people believed to be aboard a fishing vessel that capsized in...

Florida woman sentenced to life for zipping boyfriend into suitcase, suffocating him

A Florida woman was sentenced Monday to life in prison for zipping her boyfriend into a suitcase and leaving him...

Trudeau told Trump Americans would also suffer if tariffs are imposed, a Canadian minister says

TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Donald Trump that Americans would also suffer if the...

PHOTOS OF THE YEAR: Through photographers' lenses, an epic catalog of humanity in 2024 emerges

In nearly 100 countries and all 50 U.S. states, visual journalists with The Associated Press are eyewitnesses to...

US will send Ukraine 5 million more in counter-drone systems, anti-personnel land mines

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is preparing to send Ukraine an additional 5 million in military assistance,...

A landmark climate change case opens at the top UN court as island nations fear rising seas

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court took up the largest case in its history on Monday,...

By Deirdre Walsh CNN Senior Congressional Producer



House Speaker John BoehnerWASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Republican leaders were forced on Thursday to delay rolling out their bill to raise nation's debt limit, after conservatives complained the package failed to include deep enough budget cuts and significant changes to entitlement programs.

The setback comes as Speaker John Boehner prepares to wrestle with his conference over how to ultimately handle short term spending and the prospect of a government shutdown beginning on Tuesday, if Congress does not act to refill federal coffers.

Boehner and his top lieutenants initially hoped to move ahead with their proposal to permit Washington to borrow more money to pay its bills while waiting for the Senate to vote on a plan -- called a continuing resolution -- to keep the government funded through mid-November.

The debt package includes a lengthy list of GOP priorities, including a one year delay of Obamacare, provisions to roll back regulations on businesses, tax reforms, and approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

But the added items have not garnered enough support from House Republicans.

"It definitely has a lot of goodies in it. Things that arguably would grow the economy and would arguably would generate more revenue," Alabama Republican Rep Mo Brooks told reporters, saying he was undecided on how he would vote on the plan.

But he added that the issue of government spending overall must be considered.

"Washington has a spending problem and this debt ceiling bill does not address the problem," Brooks said.

Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming told CNN that she was also undecided but wanted to see deeper budget cuts on the measure.

"I came here to cut spending and to reduce the size of the federal government so when those opportunities arise I want to take advantage of them," Lummis said.

Some House Republicans questioned the strategy of skipping ahead to the debt ceiling fight before Congress resolved the question on spending and the possible shutdown. They argued the GOP still had some leverage to force a change to Obamacare on that measure.

"I think we need to focus on the CR first. I think it's important that we complete that before we move onto the debt ceiling," Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann said outside the House floor.

The draft plan GOP leaders had been working on was really a collection of bills previously approved by the Republican-controlled House.

Leaders learned from the last bruising fight in 2011 over the debt limit that a bloc of conservatives would resist any legislation to authorize new borrowing by the Treasury, so they decided to attach sweeteners.

Kansas Republican Rep Tim Huelskamp complained the GOP plan fell short of Boehner's pledge to demand an equal amount of spending cuts for the amount of the increase in new borrowing authority.

He also said it contained "very little" in the way of changes to entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid for the elderly and poor.

When asked early on Thursday about the scope of cuts, Boehner told reporters that "in this bill, we have spending cuts and we have issues that will help spur more economic growth. We think the balance is correct."

House Republican leaders likely will need to modify the package.

They need a unified conference because House Democrats won't vote for it, insisting the House should pass an extension of the debt limit without any conditions. Senate Democrats mocked the proposal.

"The House is attaching the Republican Party platform to the debt ceiling. In a week full of absurdities, this takes the cake," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said in a written statement.

At an event in Maryland on Thursday, President Barack Obama reiterated that he would not negotiate over the debt ceiling.

As Boehner works to corral his own members on the debt limit vote he also needs to beat the clock to avoid a government shutdown.

Senate Democrats are scheduled to vote Friday on the House GOP passed spending bill and are expected to strip out the provision that defunds Obamacare.

Boehner indicated on Thursday that House Republicans will modify that bill and kick it back to the Senate as the clock ticks down toward the deadline.

The speaker dodged questions on what specifically House GOP would tack on, but he downplayed that this move - with so little time remaining - would increase the chances of a possible shutdown.

"We have no interest is seeing a government shutdown, but we've got to address the spending problems that we have in this town and so there will be options available to us. There's not going to be any speculation about what we're going to do or not do until the Senate passes their bill," Boehner told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Multiple House GOP aides and members have told CNN that there are no final decisions, but the House could add a one year delay of the Obamacare requirement that all individuals enroll in health care coverage.

The administration already allowed a one year delay for corporations to provide coverage.

Another possible option, one most GOP aides believe could be used, is to add a provision that repeals a tax imposed on medical device manufacturers that helps pay for part of the costs of the new health care law.

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called the medical device tax a "stupid tax," but told reporters he doesn't want to deal with it as part of the stopgap spending bill.

Later, a Reid spokesman clarified that the Nevada Democrat was referring not to the tax itself, but to the idea of attaching that provision to the spending bill, saying the House should pass a "clean" spending measure.

Another option under consideration is adding a provision to the spending bill that repeals federal support for health care premiums that the government covers for members of Congress and their aides.

Under the Affordable Care Act, which is set to take effect in the states on Tuesday, members and their aides would obtain coverage under the new health care exchanges and the government, as their employer, would cover a major portion of that premium.

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Charlie Dent told reporters he could support a so-called "clean" spending bill that continues funding, but warned "if there's going to be a relaunch it should be something that the Senate will accept before October 1st."

Boehner pushed back on the notion that continued back and forth over the measure only increases the chances of a shutdown. Though he said, "I do not expect that to happen."

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