06-12-2025  11:56 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Juneteenth 2025 Celebrations in Portland and Seattle

Juneteenth is a young federal holiday, but the Black day of independence has been observed since June 19, 1865.

City Council Approves and Increases Central Albina Settlement

Black residents who were forcibly relocated for Emanuel Hospital expansion that never happened, and their descendants, sued over loss of property, wealth and community.

VanPort Mosaic Festival Fights Cultural Amnesia

Two-week event honors survivors of VanPort flood, their descendants and survivors of Japanese Internment in annual festival.

Prosper Portland Fights For Continued City Funding

Two city councilors suggest ending city’s funding to wide-reaching economic development agency. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Oregon in Multi-State Legal Fight to Protect Genetic Information in 23andMe Bankruptcy Case

AG Rayfield: People did not submit their personal data to 23andMe thinking their genetic blueprint would be sold off to the highest...

Volunteers Needed: “Beautifying MLK” Black-Led Community Clean-Up Day of Service Set for This Saturday

Led by: The Coalition of Black Men in partnership with Soul District Business Association and fueled by Reimagine Oregon grant funds...

Parklane Park Grand Reopening Event On June 12 - Free for Everyone

Food, face painting, basketball, arts activities, music, and more ...

Class of 2025: Panthers Star Headed to University After Back-to-Back Titles

Hillsboro’s Edy Essien was on PCC’s men’s basketball team that repeated as NWAC regional basketball titles and excelled in...

WA Launches Police Use-of-Force Database

The exchange is a publicly available, cloud-based platform to help the public see and analyze police use-of-force data. ...

OPINION

Policymakers Should Support Patients With Chronic Conditions

As it exists today, 340B too often serves institutional financial gain rather than directly benefiting patients, leaving patients to ask “What about me?” ...

The Skanner News: Half a Century of Reporting on How Black Lives Matter

Publishing in one of the whitest cities in America – long before George Floyd ...

Cuts to Minority Business Development Agency Leaves 3 Staff

6B CDFI affordable capital for local investment also at risk ...

The Courage of Rep. Al Green: A Mandate for the People, Not the Powerful

If his colleagues truly believed in the cause, they would have risen in protest beside him, marched out of that chamber arm in arm with him, and defended him from censure rather than allowing Republicans to frame the narrative. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

ENTERTAINMENT

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

By The Skanner News | The Skanner News

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- Best-selling author John Grisham lauded a commission in North Carolina that evaluates prisoners claims of innocence, and said Tuesday that it would be duplicated across the country.
Grisham, known for his courtroom thrillers, has lended his celebrity and skills as a lawyer to national efforts to re-examine convictions where doubt exists.
"It's so far-sighted and progressive, it's almost a dream," Grisham said of North Carolina's Innocence Commission.
The commission earlier this year held hearings that led to the release of Greg Taylor, who spent 17 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit.
Grisham, 55, has been involved in what he called the innocence movement ever since researching and writing a nonfiction book, "The Innocent Man," about an Oklahoma man wrongly sentenced to death row.
Even as a former public defender in Mississippi, Grisham said he wasn't fully aware of how widespread wrongful convictions are until he began his research.
"I realized there are a lot of innocent people in prison, and most Americans don't believe that, but it's true," he told reporters before addressing nearly 2,000 people at Wake Forest University.
Grisham, invited as part of the university law school's Innocence and Justice Clinic, also touched on recent revelations brought to light by the Taylor case.
During Taylor's hearings in February, a State Bureau of Investigation agent testified that analysts did not always include the complete results of blood tests on lab reports that were submitted to court.
The testimony led to a review of the lab's blood unit by two former federal law enforcement agents. The scathing report found that eight analysts omitted, overstated or falsely reported blood evidence in dozens of cases, including three that ended in executions and another where two men were imprisoned for killing Michael Jordan's father.
The report did not conclude that any innocent people were convicted. In some cases, there was additional evidence or admissions of guilt.
But the state's attorney general has ordered prosecutors and defense lawyers to check whether tainted lab reports helped lead to confessions or guilty pleas.
"That's got people scared to death," Grisham said, particularly the possibility that innocent people may have been executed.
"We're going to wake up one day with the clear knowledge, clear proof, that we've executed the wrong person," he said.
Taylor attended the talk and said he hopes Grisham's message sticks with the law students in the crowd.
"I'd hope they'll be influenced by him, and especially by what he's saying about how important the innocence project is," Taylor said.

 


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