06-05-2023  7:04 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Permit-to-Purchase: Oregon's Tough New Gun Law Faces Federal Court Test

The trial, which will be held before a judge and not a jury, will determine whether the law violates the U.S. Constitution.

Local Hire: National Park Board Appoints First Native American Member

Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission executive director and Yakama Nation member Aja DeCoteau joins team of 15 new appointees during revival of defunct group

Portland Mulls Ban on Daytime Camping Amid Sharp Rise in Homelessness

The measure before the Portland City Council on Wednesday would prohibit camping between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. in city parks and near schools and day cares.

Truck Driver Indicted on Manslaughter Charges After Deadly Oregon Crash That Killed 7 Farmworkers

A grand jury in Marion County Court on Tuesday indicted Lincoln Smith, a 52-year-old truck driver from California, on 12 counts, including seven charges of manslaughter, reckless driving and driving under the influence of intoxicants.

NEWS BRIEFS

Jazz Singers Shirley Nanette, Nancy King, Rebecca Kilgore Perform June 10

The show benefits the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival 2023 ...

Albina Music Trust Special Event Free to the Public

Albina Music Trust announces a special collaboration between experimental video artists Spoiler Room and the band Greaterkind ft. Lo...

Portland Parks & Recreation’s Summer Free For All Returns for 2023

Full slate of free movies, concerts, Free Lunch + Play, and more ...

Kiasia Baggenstos Awarded Avel Louise Gordly Scholarship

Parkrose grad, UO sophomore is inaugural winner. Award ceremony to be held at The Soul Restoration Center, Sunday, June 4. ...

Oregon and Washington Memorial Day Events

Check out a listing of ceremonies and other community Memorial Day events in Oregon and Washington. A full list of all US events,...

Oregon is invested in Fox Corp. and is investigating its board over bogus election fraud claims

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's attorney general announced Monday she has begun investigating the board of directors of Fox Corp. for breaching its fiduciary duties by allowing Fox News to broadcast false claims about the 2020 presidential election — claims that cost the broadcaster almost 0...

California insurance market rattled by withdrawal of major companies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two insurance industry giants have pulled back from California's home insurance marketplace, saying that increasing wildfire risk and soaring construction costs have prompted them to stop writing new policies in the nation's most populous state. State Farm...

Foster, Ware homer, Auburn eliminates Mizzou 10-4 in SEC

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Cole Foster hit a three-run homer, Bryson Ware added a two-run shot and fifth-seeded Auburn wrapped up the first day of the SEC Tournament with a 10-4 win over ninth-seeded Missouri on Tuesday night. Auburn (34-9), which has won nine-straight, moved into the...

Small Missouri college adds football programs to boost enrollment

FULTON, Mo. (AP) — A small college in central Missouri has announced it will add football and women's flag football programs as part of its plan to grow enrollment. William Woods University will add about 140 students between the two new sports, athletic director Steve Wilson said...

OPINION

Significant Workforce Investments Needed to Stem Public Defense Crisis

We have a responsibility to ensure our state government is protecting the constitutional rights of all Oregonians, including people accused of a crime ...

Over 80 Groups Tell Federal Regulators Key Bank Broke $16.5 Billion Promise

Cross-country redlining aided wealthy white communities while excluding Black areas ...

Public Health 101: Guns

America: where all attempts to curb access to guns are shot down. Should we raise a glass to that? ...

Op-Ed: Ballot Measure Creates New Barriers to Success for Black-owned Businesses

Measure 26-238, a proposed local capital gains tax, is unfair and a burden on Black business owners in an already-challenging economic environment. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Federal monitor: Too many people in NYC are stopped, searched and frisked illegally

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City's reliance on the tactic known as “stop and frisk" as part of a new initiative to combat gun violence is harming communities of color and running afoul of the law, a court-appointed federal monitor reported Monday. Monitor Mylan Denerstein said the...

Hoskin wins another 4-year term as chief of Cherokee Nation, country's most populous tribe

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Cherokee Nation’s Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. won reelection to another four-year term as leader of the nation’s most populous tribe, according to results certified Monday by the tribe's Election Commission. Hoskin, a 38-year-old attorney, won nearly...

Breonna Taylor supporters launch campaign against GOP gubernatorial nominee in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Breonna Taylor’s mother endorsed a grassroots campaign Monday aimed at defeating Republican Daniel Cameron's bid for Kentucky governor, reviving anger over a criminal investigation he led that yielded no charges against any officers for the fatal shooting of the Black...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: ‘Mozart in Motion’ by Patrick Mackie seeks to bring composer to life in new ways

“Mozart in Motion: His Work and His World in Pieces” by Patrick Mackie (Macmillan Publishers). Writing a biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart nowadays is no easy task. The daunting list of predecessors, which spans centuries, who have already undertaken the assignment complicates...

Chuck Todd leaving NBC political panel show 'Meet the Press' and being replaced by Kristen Welker

NEW YORK (AP) — Chuck Todd said on Sunday that he'll be leaving “Meet the Press” after a tumultuous near-decade of moderating the NBC political panel show, to be replaced in the coming months by Kristen Welker. Todd, 51, told viewers that “I've watched too many friends and...

Book Review: 'George,' a memoir by Frieda Hughes, is about saving and being saved by a wild bird

“George: A Magpie Memoir,” by Frieda Hughes (Avid Reader Press) Frieda Hughes in an English poet and painter who has built a following on birding Instagram (@friedahughes) with her beguiling videos of owls. She has also written several children’s books and a weekly poetry column...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Permit-to-purchase: Oregon's tough new gun law faces federal court test

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal trial over Oregon’s voter-approved gun control measure opened Monday in...

Approval for Idaho phosphate mine reversed after judge rules US didn't assess prairie bird impact

A federal judge has yanked approval for a phosphate mining project in southeastern Idaho, saying federal land...

Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who was convicted of spying for Russia, dies in prison

WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who took more than jumi.4 million in cash and diamonds to...

Lawyer says 'nothing was out of bounds' for reporters seeking scoops on young Prince Harry

LONDON (AP) — A broken thumb, a back injury, dabbling with drugs and dating girls. No event in the...

Brazil's Lula lays out plan to halt Amazon deforestation, make country "global reference" on climate

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva unveiled a plan on Monday to end illegal...

France's spectacular abbey Mont-Saint-Michel celebrates 1,000th birthday

PARIS (AP) — France’s beloved abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel has reached a ripe old age. It's been 1,000 years...

Derek Kravitz AP Real Estate Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans bought slightly more new homes in October, a hopeful sign for the troubled housing market. But the median sales price fell to its lowest level of the year, and the overall sales pace is trailing last year's - the worst in half a century.

The report suggests housing continues to drag on the U.S. economy and is a long way from recovering.

New-home sales increased 1.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000, the Commerce Department said Monday. That's less than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold to sustain a healthy housing market.

September's figures were also revised down significantly to show a weaker pace than first estimated.

Last year's 323,000 new homes sold were the fewest since the government began keeping records in 1963. This year isn't faring much better.

While new homes sales represent a fraction of the housing market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Many builders have stopped working on new projects because they can't obtain financing. The number of new homes for sale in the United States fell in October to a record low of 162,000.

They are also struggling to compete against cheaper re-sales, even as they lower their own prices. The median sales price of a new home fell 0.4 percent in October from September, to $212,300.

Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics, said the small number of new homes for sale should help the housing market recover quicker when prices begin to rise. But he said: "A sustained rebound in new home sales appears unlikely."

For many Americans, buying a home is too big a risk more than four years after the housing bubble burst.

Home prices have tumbled, the job market remains weak and unemployment has been stuck near 9 percent for more two years. Some people who want to buy can't qualify for a loan or make the higher down payments that banks are demanding.

Sales are slumping even though mortgage rates are hovering above historic lows.

Yet sales of previously owned homes are also dismal. They rose slightly last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million units, the National Association of Realtors said last week. That's below the 6 million that economists say is consistent with sales in a healthy market and barely ahead of last year's totals, which were the fewest since 1997.

In October, sales were uneven across the country. They increased 22.2 percent in the Midwest and 14.9 percent in the West. But they were unchanged in the Northeast and fell 9.5 percent in the South.

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