04-25-2024  4:24 am   •   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 ...

Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge US to prosecute the company

Boeing said Wednesday that it lost 5 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers. ...

Authorities confirm 2nd victim of ex-Washington officer was 17-year-old with whom he had a baby

WEST RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — Authorities on Wednesday confirmed that a body found at the home of a former Washington state police officer who killed his ex-wife before fleeing to Oregon, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was that of a 17-year-old girl with whom he had a baby. ...

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

Bishop stabbed during Sydney church service backs X's legal case to share video of the attack

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A Sydney bishop who was stabbed repeatedly in an alleged extremist attack blamed on a teenager has backed X Corp. owner Elon Musk’s legal bid to overturn an Australian ban on sharing graphic video of the attack on social media. A live stream of the...

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...

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

The Latest | Israeli strikes in Rafah kill at least 5 as ship comes under attack in the Gulf of Aden

Palestinian hospital officials said Israeli airstrikes on the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip killed at...

Columbia's president, no stranger to complex challenges, walks tightrope on student protests

Columbia University president Minouche Shafik is no stranger to navigating complex international issues, having...

US growth likely slowed last quarter but still pointed to a solid economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Coming off a robust end to 2023, the U.S. economy is thought to have extended its surprisingly...

Ship comes under attack off coast of Yemen as Houthi rebel campaign appears to gain new speed

JERUSALEM (AP) — A ship traveling in the Gulf of Aden came under attack Thursday, officials said, the latest...

With war in Ukraine on its border, Poland wants to be among the countries setting Europe's agenda

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s foreign minister called on NATO to increase its defense preparedness on...

Biden meets 4-year-old Abigail Edan, an American who was held hostage by Hamas

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden met Wednesday with Abigail Edan, the 4-year-old American girl who was held...

By Helen Silvis of The Skanner News


Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith and Sen. Ron Wyden held a town hall meeting at Self Enhancement Inc. Aug. 19 to answer questions about the Affordable Care Act often called Obamacare.


Starting Oct. 1, state health exchanges will begin signing people up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith held a joint town hall in Portland, Monday, to answer questions about the new law.

Wyden said reducing costs by improving prevention and coordinating care is an important goal that will benefit the economy for the long term.

"This fall we'll see some dramatic changes so that health care isn't just for the healthy and wealthy," he said.

"Everything that goes on from the time the Affordable Care Act kicks in will be to put a new focus on prevention. It's not any longer just about sick care."


Wyden said he plans to push for a rule change that will allow Medicare to negotiate for lower medication costs. Right now, he said, the rules don't allow that.

"Medicare is 50 million people and we need to let those 50 million people have clout in the marketplace," he said.

If your family is living on 138 percent or less of the federal poverty level, you qualify for free care through the Oregon Health Plan. If you earn up to 400 percent of poverty you qualify for a tax credit to pay for your health insurance


Anyone already on Medicaid, Medicare or the Oregon Health Plan, won't have to do anything to continue getting their healthcare.  But about 200,000 more people across the state – families with incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level— will be eligible for free care through the Oregon Health Plan.

Another 400,000, families with incomes below 400 percent of the poverty level, will be able to get financial help through tax credits. The credits can be paid monthly to your insurer or taken at the end of the year.

Multnomah County serves 70,000 people in its community and school-based clinics, and expects to serve 50,000 more people who will qualify for the Oregon Health Plan under Obamacare.

 

You can find out if you qualify for help online at the Cover Oregon website, which includes a calculator. In Washington you will find the same information at the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. Both sites offer cost and plan comparisons and information about how to sign up.

For the first few weeks Oregonians can sign up through a community partner. The Urban League, the African American Health Coalition, Oregon Latino Health Coalition, are just three of a long list of partners who are trained to help.

Around mid-October, says Amy Fauver of Cover Oregon, those who want to sign up online will be able to do so.

"We're testing the systems now and we want to make sure our customers have the best experience possible," Fauver said. "Starting out by working with our partners to identify any technical issues is the best way we can achieve this."

The law says that next year everyone must buy health care or pay a penalty. In 2014 the penalty will be $95 or 1 percent of your income. The penalty will rise in 2015. 

Small businesses with fewer than 25 employees can use the exchanges to find affordable care, and to get tax credits that pay up to 50 percent of the premium. Employers with fewer than 50 employees don't have to provide healthcare. But by 2015 every business with more than 50 employees must offer health insurance.




Wyden said one of the most important advances in the new law is that it ended discrimination against people with an existing health problem.

"Probably the biggest ripoff was the discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions," Wyden said. "That's just plain old immoral to have a country as good strong and rich as ours to say it was legal for an insurance company to beat the stuffing out of you if you had a pre-existing condition. This law has made that illegal."

Commissioner Smith said she understands the importance of that change because she personally has benefited. A year ago Smith was treated for a brain tumor, she said.

"I f we did not have this, I would not be able to change employers and get insurance because I have a pre-existing condition,"

Wyden said he helped build a provision into the law will allow states to get a waiver to set up a single payor system by 2017.

"I'm trying to get that sped up, because I don't think all the wisdom is in Washington DC," he said.

Wyden also said he will advocate for all licensed health professionals, including alternative providers, to be part of the health care system.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast