04-24-2024  3:21 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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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 ...

Biden administration announces plans for up to 12 lease sales for offshore wind energy

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A new five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production was announced Wednesday by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, with up to a dozen lease sales anticipated beginning this year and continuing through 2028. Haaland...

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...

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...

Students protesting on campuses across US ask colleges to cut investments supporting 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 support its ongoing war in Gaza. The demand has its roots in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions...

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. ...

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

Biden says the US is rushing weaponry to Ukraine as he signs a billion war aid measure into law

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he was immediately rushing badly needed weaponry to...

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...

New Jersey is motivating telecommuters to appeal their New York tax bills. Connecticut may be next

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Telecommuting, a pandemic-era novelty that has become a permanent alternative for many...

Teenage girl arrested after a student and 2 teachers were stabbed at a school in Wales

LONDON (AP) — A teenage girl was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Wednesday after stabbing a student...

Australian police arrest 7 alleged teen extremists linked to stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian police arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in...

European leaders laud tougher migration policies but more people die on treacherous sea crossings

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Children dead in the English Channel. Morgues full of migrants reaching capacity in...

Kam Williams Special to The Skanner News

BIG BUDGET FILMS
30 Minutes or Less (Unrated) Crime comedy loosely based on a real-life incident which transpired in Pennsylvania in 2003 when a couple of crooks (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) strapped a time bomb around the neck of a pizza delivery man (Jesse Eisenberg) to force him to rob a bank on their behalf. With Fred Ward, Aziz Ansari and Michael Pena. 

Final Destination 5 (R for profanity and gruesome violence) Harrowing, high body-count horror flick revolving around a motley group of co-workers' struggle to survive in the wake of a suspension bridge collapse en route to a corporate retreat. Cast includes Emma Bell, Tony Todd, David Koechner and Courtney B. Vance.

Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie (Unrated) Musical documentary including both onstage and behind-the-scenes footage of the cast of Glee during its recent sold-out tour, featuring performances of hit songs from the Emmy-winning TV series' first two seasons. With Jane Lynch and Gwyneth Paltrow.   

The Help (PG-13 for mature themes, ethnic slurs and expletives) Screen adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's poignant best-seller, set in Mississippi in the early Sixties, contrasting the fortunes of privileged white females and their black housekeepers oppressed by Jim Crow segregation on the opposite side of the strictly-enforced color line. A-list ensemble includes Oscar-winners Sissy Spacek and Mary Steenburgen, nominees Viola Davis and Cicely Tyson, along with Emma Stone, Allison Janney, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard and Aunjanue Ellis.  

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS
Aarakshan (Unrated) Political potboiler questioning India's controversial practice of basing access to education and government jobs on the country's caste system. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone. (In Hindi with subtitles)

Bad Posture (Unrated) Romance drama, set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, about an awkward graffiti artist (Florian Brozek) who seeks to make amends with the beautiful woman (Tabatha Shaun) whose car and purse was stolen by his felonious-minded roommate (Trey Cole). Supporting cast includes Seth Mossman and Ryan Jason Cook. 

Littlerock (Unrated) Road flick about the adventures of a couple of young Japanese tourists (Rintaro Sawamoto and Atsuko Okatsuka) stranded in a California desert town after their rental car breaks down on the way to San Francisco. With Cory Zacharia, Roberto Sanchez and Lee Lynch. (In English and Japanese with subtitles)

Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story (Unrated) Female empowerment drama, set in Cairo, about a TV talk show host (Mona Zaki) whose controversial coverage of women's rights issues comes to imperil the career of her politically-connected husband (Hassan El Raddad). With Mahmoud Hemida, Nahed El Sebai and Sawsan Badr. (In Arabic with subtitles)

Senna (Unrated) Bittersweet bio-pic recounting the abbreviated career of Ayrton Senna, the Formula One race car champ from Brazil who died doing what he loved at the tender age of 34 in front of a television audience of 300 million. (In English and Portuguese with subtitles)

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast