11-05-2024  10:05 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

NORTHWEST NEWS

African American Alliance On Homeownership Turns 25, Honors The Skanner Cofounder Bernie Foster

AAAH's executive director Cheryl Roberts recalls how the efforts of Bernie Foster led to an organization that now offers one-on-one counseling for prospective home buyers, homebuyer education, foreclosure prevention services, estate planning, assistance with down payments and more.

Police Say Fires Set at Ballot Boxes in Oregon and Washington Are Connected; ‘Suspect Vehicle’ ID'd

Surveillance images captured a Volvo stopping at a drop box in Portland, just before security personnel nearby discovered a fire inside the box. That fire damaged three ballots inside, while officials say a fire at a drop box in nearby Vancouver, Washington, early Monday destroyed hundreds of ballots.

Two Major Affordable Housing Developments Reach Milestones in Portland

Both will provide culturally specific supportive services to residents. 

Washington State AG and Ex-Sheriff Face off in Governor's Race

Former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert is trying to become Washington’s first GOP governor in 40 years. But he faces a difficult hurdle in the Democratic stronghold against longtime Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a darling of liberals for his many lawsuits against the Trump administration. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Merkley Statement on the Passing of Bob Sallinger

“Bob was a trusted voice, advising me on ways to safeguard the state’s natural wonders and wildlife and fighting against climate...

Troutdale Library Now Renovation Complete

Library provides refreshed experience for patrons with new, comfortable seating and carpeting ...

AG Rosenblum Releases Election Guidance to Law Enforcement and Message to Registered Oregon Voters

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum: Haven’t received your ballot? Contact your county elections office! ...

Oregon Begins Rollout of New Housing Benefits for Eligible OHP Members With Health Conditions

The housing benefits include rent assistance for up to six months, utility set-up and payments for up to six months, home...

Oregon Department of Education Releases Cell Phone Policy Guidance

ODE recommends creating policies to limit or reduce cell phone use during the school day. ...

Democrat Suzanne Bonamici wins reelection to U.S. House in Oregon's 1st Congressional District

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Suzanne Bonamici wins reelection to U.S. House in Oregon's 1st Congressional District....

AP Race Call: Kamala Harris wins Oregon

Kamala Harris won Oregon on Tuesday, adding eight electoral votes to her tally. Oregon has one more electoral vote this cycle than it did in the previous presidential election after gaining a congressional seat following the 2020 census. The Democratic nominee for president has won Oregon since...

Haggerty scores 22 of 25 after break to rally Memphis past Missouri 83-75 in opener

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — PJ Haggerty scored 22 of his 25 points in the second half when Memphis took over en route to an 83-75 win over Missouri in the season opener for both teams on Monday night. The Tigers trailed by 10 at halftime but shot 58% in the second half, while going 17-20...

Memphis hosts Missouri to start season

Missouri Tigers at Memphis Tigers Memphis, Tennessee; Monday, 8 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -4.5; over/under is 154.5 BOTTOM LINE: Memphis opens the season at home against Missouri. Memphis went 22-10 overall with a 13-2 record at...

OPINION

Why Not Voting Could Deprioritize Black Communities

President Biden’s Justice40 initiative ensures that 40% of federal investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities, addressing deep-seated inequities. ...

The Skanner News 2024 Presidential Endorsement

It will come as no surprise that we strongly endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president. ...

Black Retirees Growing Older and Poorer: 2025 Social Security COLA lowest in 10 years

As Americans live longer, the ability to remain financially independent is an ongoing struggle. Especially for Black and other people of color whose lifetime incomes are often lower than that of other contemporaries, finding money to save for ‘old age’ is...

The Skanner Endorsements: Oregon State and Local Ballot Measures

Ballots are now being mailed out for this very important election. Election Day is November 5. Ballots must be received or mailed with a valid postmark by 8 p.m. Election Day. View The Skanner's ballot measure endorsements. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Figures wins Alabama’s redrawn 2nd Congressional District

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Shomari Figures, a former top aide to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, on Tuesday won election to Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, which was redrawn after a lengthy redistricting battle. Figures, a Democrat, defeated Republican Caroleene Dobson...

AP Race Call: Democrat Shomari Figures elected to US House in Alabama's 2nd Congressional District

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Shomari Figures won election to a U.S. House seat representing Alabama on Thursday. Republican Rep. Barry Moore, who currently represents the district, is running in the neighboring 1st District after a federal court ordered Alabama to draw a new congressional district...

AP Race Call: Democrat Jennifer McClellan wins reelection to U.S. House in Virginia's 4th Congressional District

Democratic Rep. Jennifer McClellan won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Virginia on Tuesday, defeating Republican challenger Bill Moher. McClellan became the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress in March 2023 when she won a special election for the seat held by Democratic...

ENTERTAINMENT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 3-9

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 3-9 Nov. 3: Actor Lois Smith is 94. Actor-radio personality Shadoe Stevens (“Dave’s World”) is 78. Singer Lulu is 76. Actor-comedian Roseanne Barr is 72. Actor Kate Capshaw (“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”) is 71. Actor Kathy...

Fourth Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland is set for release July 2026

Tom Holland is getting ready to don his Spidey suit again. The fourth installment of the blockbuster series has been set for a July 2026 release, Sony Pictures said Friday. Daniel Destin Cretton, best known for helming Marvel's “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," has also...

Teri Garr, the offbeat comic actor of 'Young Frankenstein' and 'Tootsie,' has died

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Teri Garr, the quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites as "Young Frankenstein" and "Tootsie," has died. She was 79. Garr died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis “surrounded by family and friends,”...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Don't count on a recount to change the winner in close elections this fall. They rarely do

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the American electorate so evenly divided, there will be elections in November close...

After months of buildup, news outlets finally have the chance to report on election results

The answer may or may not come on Tuesday, but news organizations that have spent months reporting on the...

What is the Electoral College and how does the US use it to elect presidents?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 because of the Electoral College. So did George W....

UK introduces a bill that would eventually make the purchase of cigarettes illegal

LONDON (AP) — Legislation intended to ban today’s British children from ever legally being able to smoke began...

A tiny village in India where Kamala Harris has ancestral roots is praying for her victory

THULASENDRAPURAM, India (AP) — The temple reverberated with rhythmic Sanskrit and Tamil hymns, as a Hindu priest...

Prince William walks nature trails near South Africa's Table Mountain to promote conservation

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Prince William went on an early-morning nature walk near South Africa's Table...

Amy Westfeldt the Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- How can a movement that claims to speak for everyone turn anyone away? Occupy Wall Street is struggling with how to police unwelcome elements as sex arrests, hate speech and activists pushing causes from the Chinese Communist Party to gas drilling threaten to muddle its message.

The fires and shattered windows at protests in Oakland, Calif., a sex assault arrest in New York's Zuccotti Park and complaints of drug use elsewhere have drawn blanket statements from demonstrators against violence and unsafe behavior.

But to a large degree, the movement that welcomes everyone with a gripe against the system - any system - is embracing its fringe, saying protesters with causes unrelated to Occupy Wall Street are helping spur the revival of grassroots activism.

"From the very beginning, there have been many issues," said Bill Dobbs, a press liaison for Occupy Wall Street in New York. "Folks who had never thought of carrying a sign are out there on Broadway with signs about an issue that's important to them."

That includes Jimmy Chen, a mail man standing on a ledge at Zuccotti Park, his ankle tethered to the edge of a huge banner reading, "Just say No, Chinese Communist Party." He says the party is as corrupt as Wall Street and claims it even gives it money.

Antiwar signs also circle the tents in the Financial District, along with pleas to pay health insurance to ground zero workers, and for Pennsylvania to ban hydraulic fracturing, the controversial technique of injecting water and chemicals into the earth to drill for natural gas.

Several protesters objected to a sign weeks ago reading "Zionists Control Wall St," prompting letters from the Anti-Defamation League, but the movement has made no mission statement banning hate speech or any kind of speech.

In Washington, an antiwar group that began camping in a park in early October became publicly confused with an Occupy Wall Street encampment, and the two have gotten into spats over whose right it is to use the name. The groups now say they coexist peacefully and speak for much the same thing.

In Portland, Ore., many protesters complained of drug use, the presence of homeless and mentally ill, and the mayor wrote a letter to the movement this week warning the camp to control its behavior.

Protesters of Occupy Portland recently proposed limiting the number of people in camp to those who contribute to committees, but the idea went nowhere. Many said it was antithetical to the movement.

The movement is "walking the walk" and espousing its message of inclusion by allowing in anyone, provided they are not violent or disruptive, Portland organizer Reid Parham said.

"We let in former criminals, people who have criminal records," he said. "There's no use in locking them out if they have served their due process and served any judgment against them."

There's precedent in most grassroots movements to attract hangers-on and demonstrators seeking to publicize other causes or alter the message, including the antiwar and civil rights movements, activists and experts say. But Occupy Wall Street, priding itself on being leaderless and not subscribing to one unified voice, will struggle more to define itself against that backdrop, experts say.

"There have been other movements that are more disparate," said Mary Frances Berry, a University of Pennsylvania history professor and former chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. "Most of them have specific goals. Most of them have identifiable leadership. ... Therefore, you didn't have this incoherence."

Berry, one of the founders of the Free South Africa movement in the 1980s, remembered a man who joined a protest with a sign protesting pedophilia by priests, while they lobbied for anti-apartheid measures.

"He would stand across the street with his sign," she said. "We didn't try to stop him. He was over there and he was doing his thing. People would show up with signs about poverty. ... We were clear because we had goals."

Dobbs, representing protesters in Zuccotti Park, said the movement espouses nonviolence and confrontations with police. The 1,000 or so arrests in New York have involved mainly trespassing charges. But "social change is never neat and pretty," and most of the movement continues to be focused on income inequality and anti-corporate greed, he said.

Zuccotti Park's encampment is relying largely on self-policing, with a self-styled security force that protesters can call when they're in trouble.

"Everybody's trying to take care of each other," said Rae Altman, 28, who came from Portland, Ore., to camp in New York. "If you don't know how to handle something, you can call out."

The protesters also call the police, resulting in last week's arrest of a 26-year-old man on charges he groped a teenager.

But demonstrators say the point of their protests is not unity of position, but in generating discussion. In Washington's Freedom Plaza, members of October2011 Stop the Machine held daily seminars on topics ranging from clean energy to food and water, transportation and the media.

The group initially began a protest to mark the 10th anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan but has since pledged allegiance to Occupy D.C., even directing its website to the same domain name. A member of Occupy D.C.'s liaison committee, Janelle Treibitz, said the group was asked to keep a separate name.

In New York, diverse opinions on any cause are welcome, said Altman and her husband, Aaron. They said they left their jobs as bakers and baristas to learn about America and rejoin a community that has stopped debating its problems.

"This is an open space," Aaron Altman said. "If you have a problem with this current system, you can come to this open space.

"It's just a big conversation."

---

Associated Press writers Nigel Duara in Portland, Ore., and Ben Nuckols in Washington contributed to this report.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

theskanner50yrs 250x300