04-18-2024  3:23 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

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.

Four Ballot Measures for Portland Voters to Consider

Proposals from the city, PPS, Metro and Urban Flood Safety & Water Quality District.

Washington Gun Store Sold Hundreds of High-Capacity Ammunition Magazines in 90 Minutes Without Ban

KGW-TV reports Wally Wentz, owner of Gator’s Custom Guns in Kelso, described Monday as “magazine day” at his store. Wentz is behind the court challenge to Washington’s high-capacity magazine ban, with the help of the Silent Majority Foundation in eastern Washington.

NEWS BRIEFS

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 ...

Bank Announces 14th Annual “I Got Bank” Contest for Youth in Celebration of National Financial Literacy Month

The nation’s largest Black-owned bank will choose ten winners and award each a jumi,000 savings account ...

Literary Arts Transforms Historic Central Eastside Building Into New Headquarters

The new 14,000-square-foot literary center will serve as a community and cultural hub with a bookstore, café, classroom, and event...

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Announces New Partnership with the University of Oxford

Tony Bishop initiated the CBCF Alumni Scholarship to empower young Black scholars and dismantle financial barriers ...

Mt. Hood Jazz Festival Returns to Mt. Hood Community College with Acclaimed Artists

Performing at the festival are acclaimed artists Joshua Redman, Hailey Niswanger, Etienne Charles and Creole Soul, Camille Thurman,...

Idaho's ban on youth gender-affirming care has families desperately scrambling for solutions

Forced to hide her true self, Joe Horras’ transgender daughter struggled with depression and anxiety until three years ago, when she began to take medication to block the onset of puberty. The gender-affirming treatment helped the now-16-year-old find happiness again, her father said. ...

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down airport highways and key bridges in major US cities

CHICAGO (AP) — Pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked roadways in Illinois, California, New York and the Pacific Northwest on Monday, temporarily shutting down travel into some of the nation's most heavily used airports, onto the Golden Gate and Brooklyn bridges and on a busy West Coast highway. ...

The sons of several former NFL stars are ready to carve their path into the league through the draft

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. wears his dad’s No. 54, plays the same position and celebrates sacks and big tackles with the same signature axe swing. Now, he’s ready to make a name for himself in the NFL. So are several top prospects who play the same positions their fathers played in the...

Caleb Williams among 13 confirmed prospects for opening night of the NFL draft

NEW YORK (AP) — Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams, the popular pick to be the No. 1 selection overall, will be among 13 prospects attending the first round of the NFL draft in Detroit on April 25. The NFL announced the 13 prospects confirmed as of Thursday night, and...

OPINION

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. ...

COMMENTARY: Is a Cultural Shift on the Horizon?

As with all traditions in all cultures, it is up to the elders to pass down the rituals, food, language, and customs that identify a group. So, if your auntie, uncle, mom, and so on didn’t teach you how to play Spades, well, that’s a recipe lost. But...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Convenience store chain with hundreds of outlets in 6 states hit with discrimination lawsuit

The Sheetz convenience store chain has been hit with a lawsuit by federal officials who allege the company discriminated against minority job applicants. Sheetz Inc., which operates more than 700 stores in six states, discriminated against Black, Native American and multiracial job...

Choctaw artist Jeffrey Gibson confronts history at US pavilion as its first solo Indigenous artist

VENICE. Italy (AP) — Jeffrey Gibson’s takeover of the U.S. pavilion for this year’s Venice Biennale contemporary art show is a celebration of color, pattern and craft, which is immediately evident on approaching the bright red facade decorated by a colorful clash of geometry and a foreground...

Armenian victims group asks International Criminal Court to investigate genocide claim

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A human rights organization representing ethnic Armenians submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court on Thursday, arguing that Azerbaijan is committing an ongoing genocide against them. Azerbaijan’s government didn't immediately comment...

ENTERTAINMENT

Robert MacNeil, creator and first anchor of PBS 'NewsHour' nightly newscast, dies at 93

NEW YORK (AP) — Robert MacNeil, who created the even-handed, no-frills PBS newscast “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” in the 1970s and co-anchored the show with his late partner, Jim Lehrer, for two decades, died on Friday. He was 93. MacNeil died of natural causes at New...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 21-27

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 21-27: April 21: Actor Elaine May is 92. Singer Iggy Pop is 77. Actor Patti LuPone is 75. Actor Tony Danza is 73. Actor James Morrison (“24”) is 70. Actor Andie MacDowell is 66. Singer Robert Smith of The Cure is 65. Guitarist Michael...

What to stream this week: Conan O’Brien travels, 'Migration' soars and Taylor Swift will reign

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...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

NFL draft has potential to set a record for most players on offense selected in the first round

The NFL draft will be offensive. We’re not talking about hurt feelings. This draft has the...

Israelis grapple with how to celebrate Passover, a holiday about freedom, while many remain captive

JERUSALEM (AP) — Every year, Alon Gat’s mother led the family's Passover celebration of the liberation of the...

Coyotes officially leaving Arizona for Salt Lake City following approval of sale to Utah Jazz owners

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Coyotes are officially headed to Salt Lake City. The NHL Board of...

A man who served 17 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit dismisses apology from UK review body

LONDON (AP) — A British man who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit dismissed an “unreserved...

Zimbabwe frees prisoners, including those sentenced to death, in an independence day amnesty

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa granted clemency to more than 4,000 prisoners,...

Thousands of Bosnian Serbs attend rally denying genocide was committed in Srebrenica in 1995

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Thousands of Bosnian Serbs rallied on Thursday denying that genocide was...

Lisa Loving of The Skanner News

UPDATE: The man who was fatally shot by Portland Police Monday was 58-year-old Jack Dale Collins, who also went by the name Jackie.

Details are slowly coming out in the fatal Portland police shooting yesterday afternoon of an allegedly drunken transient, bleeding from self-inflicted wounds and threatening passersby at Hoyt Arboretum near the Oregon Zoo.
The man was fatally shot by Officer Jason L. Walters after the man brandished a six-inch razor-edged knife at the officer, according to Chief Rosie Sizer.
The dead man has been identified by the state medical examiner but his name is not being made public until his family is notified, police said.
Medical Examiner Karen Gunson said the man likely died from excessive bleeding from a gunshot to the leg which hit a major artery. He was shot four times in the arms and hip, in what the police log indicates was two bursts of gunfire about 30 seconds apart.
While the log describes the man as a "drunk" transient, Gunson told reporters she found no obvious evidence of alcohol on the remains, and that toxicology tests will take four to six weeks.
Walters, a respected 13-year veteran of the bureau, still has not been interviewed on what happened, and an expected grand jury investigation will be wrapped up in a couple of weeks, Chief Sizer said.

Spontaneous Protest
A group of demonstrators spontaneously marched on the Traffic Division on SE Burnside Street last night in protest against the Hoyt Arboretum shooting, mistakenly believing it is still the East Precinct.
Chief Sizer said she was disappointed that the protestors caused property damage, although none were arrested.
Oregon Public Broadcasting is reporting that a citizens meeting to discuss responses to the shooting at Hoyt Arboretum is at 6 p.m. tonight at Col. Summers Park.
On Sunday, the citizens group (I'm) Everyday People plans a Palm Sunday Prayer Vigil at sites where unarmed people have been fatally shot by police officers.
Starting at 3 p.m. on March 28, mourners will travel to six different sites to commemorate the lives of Deontae Keller, Kendra James, James Jahar Perez, Dickie Dow, and James Chasse.
The group is asking participants to bring candles. For more information, email everydaypeople2008@live.com, or call 503-962-9607.

Police Log
The transcript of the computer-generated incident log released this morning to the public described the man as intoxicated, White, 5' 8" tall, apparently in his 50s, wearing a green jacket over a tan hoodie and jeans, and carrying a plastic bag.
He was bleeding from self-inflicted cuts to his face and neck.
Chief Sizer said witnesses at the scene who pointed out the man to officers have not yet been located, and they are urging members of the public who saw what happened to come forward and call Mark Slater at 503-823-9319.
Police were called to the scene by a park ranger, Sizer said.
"I understand that Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman again will ask Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Shrunk to transcribe the Grand Jury review of this matter and ask that those transcripts be released," Mayor Sam Adams said today in a statement. "Since 2005, serving in an elected capacity, I have supported such efforts to maximize police accountability and transparency."
Adams continued, "Based on the details and circumstances in my briefing, this event reflects a very sad situation. However, until we have gathered all of the facts, I will reserve judgment."

Officer Attacked, Bureau Says
Sizer said a park ranger called 9-1-1 yesterday reporting that a blood-covered man armed with a "razor knife" was threatening bystanders at Hoyt Arboretum.
The bureau says Officer Jason Walters arrived at the Arboretum at 3:24 p.m. and confronted the man in the bathroom near the facility's office.
The scene played out as follows, according to a spokesperson:
"The officer retreated and gave repeated commands to the subject to drop the razor knife, but the subject refused to do so. The officer and the subject began moving out of the bathroom area, with the subject still approaching the officer with the razor knife. At this point, the officer fired shots at the subject. The officer immediately requested medical assistance and the subject was pronounced dead upon Medical's arrival."
Investigators are looking for more witnesses to the scene to flesh out the complete story of what happened, they said.
Anyone who saw the incident is asked to call Detective Mark Slater at 503-823-9319.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast