04-24-2024  9:17 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

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.

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 ...

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...

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

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration is preparing to announce plans for a new five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production, with up to a dozen lease sales anticipated beginning this year and continuing through 2028. The plan was to be...

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

Ethnic Karen guerrillas in Myanmar leave a town that army lost 2 weeks ago as rival group holds sway

BANGKOK (AP) — Guerrilla fighters from the main ethnic Karen fighting force battling Myanmar’s military government have withdrawn from the eastern border town of Myawaddy two weeks after forcing the army to give up its defense, residents and members of the group said Wednesday. ...

Pro-Palestinian student protests target colleges' financial ties with 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...

Ancestry website to catalogue names of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The names of thousands of people held in Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II will be digitized and made available for free, genealogy company Ancestry announced Wednesday. The website, known as one of the largest global online resources of...

ENTERTAINMENT

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....

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

The Latest | Germany will resume working with UN relief agency for Palestinians after a review

Germany said Wednesday that it plans to follow several other countries in resuming cooperation with the U.N....

Pro-Palestinian student protests target colleges' financial ties with Israel

Students at a growing number of U.S. colleges are gathering in protest encampments with a unified demand of their...

Rush hour chaos in London as 5 military horses run amok after getting spooked during exercise

LONDON (AP) — Five military horses spooked by noise from a nearby building site bolted during routine exercises...

Moscow court rejects Evan Gershkovich's appeal, keeping him in jail until at least June 30

MOSCOW (AP) — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain jailed on espionage charges until at...

UK puts its defense industry on 'war footing' and gives Ukraine 0 million in new military aid

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The U.K. prime minister said Tuesday the country is putting its defense industry on a...

With public universities under threat, massive protests against austerity shake Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Raising their textbooks and diplomas and singing the national anthem, hundreds of...

The Space Between Us movie
By Kam Williams | The Skanner News

BIG BUDGET FILMS

Rings (PG-13 for violence, terror, mature themes, drug use and some sexuality) Supernatural prequel to The Ring, revolving around a young couple (Alex Roe and Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz) who, against their better judgment, decide to explore an urban legend about a videotape that kills its viewers a week after they watch it. Cast includes Aimee Teegarden, Johnny Galecki, Laura Wiggins and Vincent D'Onofrio.

The Space Between Us (PG-13 for profanity and brief sensuality) Futuristic sci-fi adventure about a boy born on Mars (Asa Butterfield) who travels to Earth to find the father he's never known and the street-smart girl (Britt Robertson) he met online. With Gary Oldman, Janet Montgomery, BD Wong and Carla Gugino.

 

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

American Violence (Unrated) Psychological thriller revolving around a shrink (Denise Richards) hired to determine whether or not an inmate (Kaiwi Lyman-Mersereau) on Death Row deserves a stay of execution. With Columbus Short, Bruce Dern and Michael Pare.

Chapter & Verse (Unrated) Unlikely-buddies drama about a gang leader-turned-Meals on Wheels deliveryman (Daniel Beaty) who forges a friendship with a 75 year-old, shut in (Loretta Devine) on his route. Featuring Omari Hardwick, Selenis Leyva and Khadim Diop.

 

The Comedian (R for pervasive profanity and crude sexual references) Robert De Niro handles the title role in this coarse comedy chronicling the effort of a former, TV star to mount a comeback doing standup. Ensemble cast includes Danny DeVito, Leslie Mann, Billy Crystal, Harvey Keitel, Jimmy Walker, Patti Lupone, Gilbert Gottfried, Hannibal Buress and Charles Grodin.

 

Confidential Assignment (Unrated) Action adventure about a North Korean detective (Hyun Bin) who joins forces with a South Korean cop (Hae-jin Yoo) to apprehend a refugee mob boss (Ju-hyuk Kim) on the lam. With Young-nam Jang, Dong-hwi Lee and Yoona. (In Korean with subtitles)

The Grace of Jake (Unrated) Musical dramedy about a just-paroled convict (Jake La Botz) who steals a car and drives from California to Arkansas in search of his long-lost dad (Michael Beck). With Jordin Sparks, Lew Temple and Ravi Kapoor.

Growing Up Smith (PG-13 for profanity and brief drug use) Coming-of-age comedy, set in 1979, about a 10 year-old Indian immigrant's (Roni Akurati) obsessive pursuit of his idea of the American Dream. With Jason Lee, Hilarie Burton and Anjul Nigam.

I Am Not Your Negro (PG-13 for profanity, mature themes, violent images and brief nudity) Civil rights documentary, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, examining James Baldwin's views on race in America as expressed in an unfinished manuscript entitled, "Remember This House." Featuring archival footage of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers. Read Kam's full review and watch the trailer of this film.

Midsummer in Newtown (Unrated) Bittersweet documentary highlighting how the citizens of a shattered Connecticut town turned to art to recover from the mass murder of 26 elementary school students and teachers.

Oklahoma City (Unrated) Domestic terror documentary revisiting the events leading up to the 1995 bombing of a federal office building which claimed 168 lives and injured 680 other people.

War on Everyone (R for violence, nudity, sexuality, drug use and pervasive profanity) Crime comedy about a couple of corrupt cops (Alexander Skarsgard and Michael Pena) who get more than they bargained for when they try to shakedown a strip club manager (Caleb Landry Jones). With Theo James, Tessa Thompson and Paul Reiser.

Youth in Oregon (Unrated) Road dramedy about an embittered 80 year-old (Frank Langella) who finds a new reason to live while being driven by his son-in-law (Billy Crudup) to Oregon where he's supposed to be euthanized. Support cast includes Mary Kay Place, Christina Applegate and Josh Lucas.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast