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
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.
Hundreds Gather at White House to Demand President Biden Let Youth Climate Case be Heard
‘We will not be silenced’ by the DOJ,' youth say ...
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 ...
Ex-Washington officer wanted in 2 killings found in Oregon with gunshot wound, police say
SEATTLE (AP) — A former Washington state police officer wanted in two killings has been found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a chase in Oregon, authorities said Tuesday. His 1-year-old baby was taken safely into custody by Oregon State Patrol troopers. The troopers...
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. ...
Transgender Tennessee woman sues over state's refusal to change the sex designation on her license
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A transgender Tennessee woman sued the state's Department of Safety and Homeland Security on Tuesday after officials refused to change the sex on her driver's license to match her gender identity. The lawsuit was filed in Davidson County Chancery Court in...
Biden's Morehouse graduation invitation is sparking backlash, complicating election-year appearance
ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden will be the commencement speaker at Morehouse College in Georgia, giving the Democrat a key spotlight on one of the nation’s preeminent historically Black campuses but potentially exposing him to uncomfortable protests as he seeks reelection against former...
New Fort Wayne, Indiana, mayor is sworn in a month after her predecessor's death
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Democrat Sharon Tucker was sworn in Tuesday as the new mayor of Indiana’s second-most populous city, nearly a month after her predecessor's death. Tucker, who had been a Fort Wayne City Council member, took the oath of office Tuesday morning at the Clyde...
What to stream this weekend: Conan O’Brien travels, 'Migration' soars and Taylor Swift reigns
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...
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....
After 4 decades in music and major vocal surgery, Jon Bon Jovi is optimistic and still rocking
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — When Jon Bon Jovi agreed to let director Gotham Chopra follow him with a documentary...
Modi is accused of using hate speech for calling Muslims 'infiltrators' at an Indian election rally
NEW DELHI (AP) — India's main opposition party accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using hate speech after...
Get better sleep with these 5 tips from experts
Spending too many nights trying to fall asleep — or worrying there aren’t enough ZZZs in your day? You’re...
Review of UN agency helping Palestinian refugees found Israel did not express concern about staff
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — An independent review of the neutrality of the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees...
United Methodists open first top-level conference since breakup over LGBTQ inclusion
Thousands of United Methodists are gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina, for their big denominational meeting,...
Abortion returns to the spotlight in Italy, 46 years after it was legalized
ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led government scored a victory Tuesday with the Senate...
If you only see one movie this year, you need to get out more. That being said, “La La Land” is the picture to catch. This nostalgic homage to the Golden Age of Hollywood is a panoramic masterpiece which makes very effective use of every inch of the big screen.
Written and directed by Oscar-nominee Damien Chazelle (for “Whiplash”), the picture was shot in CinemaScope, a supposedly-obsolete technology that fell out of favor with filmmakers in the late Sixties. Here, Chazelle resurrects the wide-angled lens for a last hurrah in service of an old-fashioned musical unfolding against a breathtaking array of L.A. backdrops. La La also features an enchanting original score composed by Justin Hurwitz who collaborated with college classmate Damien on Whiplash as well as his debut offering, the deceptively-unassuming Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench.
This relatively-ambitious romantic romp revolves around Sebastian Wilder and Mia Dolan, struggling artists played to perfection by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, respectively. Their talented supporting cast includes J.K. Simmons, John Legend and Rosemarie DeWitt.
After a showstopping opening staged on a gridlocked freeway where stuck motorists suddenly break into song and dance, we're introduced to the likable leads. We learn that jazz pianist Sebastian's a purist playing for tips in dingy dives while trying to save enough cash to open his own nightclub. Mia's an aspiring actress who divides her time between fruitless auditions and a thankless job as a barista at a coffee shop right on the Warner Brothers lot.
Seb and Mia are strangers who initially experience only aggravation whenever their paths serendipitiously cross. Eventually, sparks do finally fly, which inspires them to belt out mellifluous and melancholy tunes. More importantly, they fall in love and encourage each other to pursue their elusive dreams.
Since it would be unfair to spoil any of the ensuing plot developments, suffice to say that Gosling and Stone are pure delight, whether warbling or just generating screen chemistry. A charming crowd-pleaser that richly deserves all the superlatives it's undoubtedly about to receive over the course of the upcoming awards season!
Excellent ★★★★
Rated PG-13 for profanity
Running time: 128 minutes
Distributor: Summit Entertainment / Lionsgate Films
Director Damien Chazelle talks to Yahoo Movies about glamorizing L.A. traffic in the movie: