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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

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OHCS, BuildUp Oregon Launch Program to Expand Early Childhood Education Access Statewide

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Governor Kotek Announces Chief of Staff, New Office Leadership

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Governor Kotek Announces Investment in New CHIPS Child Care Fund

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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

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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. ...

Ancestry website cataloguing 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 have been digitized and made available for free, genealogy company Ancestry announced Wednesday. The website, known as one of the largest global online resources of...

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

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

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A Russian deputy defense minister is ordered jailed pending trial on bribery charges

A Russian deputy defense minister in charge of military construction projects and accused of living a lavish...

Poland's prosecutor general says previous government used spyware against hundreds of people

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's prosecutor general told the parliament on Wednesday that powerful Pegasus spyware...

China blasts US military aid to Taiwan, saying the island is entering a 'dangerous situation'

BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday blasted the latest package of U.S. military assistance to Taiwan on Wednesday,...

Eastern Washington basketball fans react during the NCAA college basketball selection show Sunday
Antonio Gonzalez, AP Basketball Writer

Eastern Washington basketball fans react during the NCAA college basketball selection show Sunday, March 15, 2015, in Cheney, Wash. Eastern Washington will play Georgetown. (AP Photo/The Spokesman-Review, Kathy Plonka)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Say this for Eastern Washington coach Jim Hayford: he's confident about his Eagles heading into the NCAA Tournament against Georgetown.

So confident, in fact, that Hayford predicted on a national radio show Wednesday that his team would win. He told listeners of The Jim Rome Show on CBS Sports Radio they could advance the Eagles in their brackets and ended the interview by telling the host: "We're gonna win. Talk again, Jim."

Of course, the idea isn't that farfetched.

Since 2009, the Hoyas are just 1-4 in the tournament. All four losses came against teams seeded 10th or worse, and three of those losses came by double digits.

Eastern Washington, seeded 13th in the South Region, will try to be the next overachieving underdog to down Georgetown when they face the fourth-seeded Hoyas on Thursday night in Portland.

And if Hayford has his way, his team won't have a happy-to-be-here mentality.

"It did exactly what I wanted because I knew the 15 guys on the bus were listening to that," Hayford said of his prediction before the Eagles' evening practice. "I want my team confident. My team understands the difference between confidence and a lack of confidence. I want our guys to enjoy the moment. They've lived their whole life to play in the NCAA Tournament.

"I want them to know that their coach believes in them, is confident in them, and is sending them out on the court to be fearless. It was great that I got to talk to several million people while I was talking to the 15 guys on my bus."

The Hoyas (21-10) are well aware of all the chatter.

Georgetown coach John Thompson III said his players told him of Hayford's headline-grabbing interview, and they're as eager as anybody to show — not talk about — what they can do.

"We all know what's at stake," said Hoyas guard Jabril Trawick. "We're all Division I basketball players. We're all playing for something. We don't feed into it that much. We're just happy that we're here. We're just ready to play."

Eastern Washington (26-8) is a popular pick to be one of those surprise teams that pop up every spring for more reasons than Georgetown's recent resume.

The Eagles are a guard-oriented group led by national scoring leader Tyler Harvey (22.9 points per game). They shoot a ton of 3-pointers, and they played a nonconference schedule that included a win at Indiana and close losses at SMU, Washington and California.

Eastern Washington has shown some fight already this March, too. The Eagles rallied to beat Montana in the Big Sky championship for the program's second NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2004, when they lost to Oklahoma State.

For Georgetown, March has been filled with a lot of letdowns lately.

The Hoyas last made it out of the round of 32 in 2007, when they advanced to the Final Four. Georgetown, which plays in the more difficult Big East, settled for an NIT invitation last year after getting bounced as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament by No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast in 2013.

"The facts are the facts. That being said, this is a different team than we have here now. This is a different year," Thompson said. "So we're ready for this group to play."

Here are some things to watch in Thursday's game:

JACKING IT UP: Eastern Washington isn't afraid to shoot from long distance. And the Eagles are pretty good at it, too. They rank in the top 10 nationally in 3-point percentage (40.3) and 3-point attempts (832). If the Eagles can get hot, look out.

SIZE ADVANTAGE: Georgetown will try to counter Eastern Washington's outside attack with a powerful inside game led by 6-foot-10, 350-pound center Josh Smith. The Eagles start a three-guard lineup alongside 6-foot-7 forwards Venky Jois and Ognjen Miljkovic.

GUARDING GEORGETOWN: For all the talk about its high-scoring offense, Eastern Washington's defense is downright dreadful. The Eagles rank 324th in the country in points allowed, giving up an average of 73.6 points. They're also 269th in opponents' field-goal percentage (44.9).

THE OTHER STAR: Harvey will receive all the attention for leading the country in scoring, but Georgetown fans might argue he's not the best player on the floor. Hoyas guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera is averaging 16.2 points and 4.2 rebounds and can take over games, as he did during key stretches of a 78-58 win over second-ranked Villanova (32-2) in January.

PACE OF PLAY: The Eagles will try to speed things up and spread things out, while the Hoyas want to slow things down and pack things in. Both teams have the personnel to accomplish their goal. Which one wins the pace-and-space game could be the key to which one wins on the scoreboard.

 

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The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast