10-01-2024  12:40 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Companies Back Away From Oregon Floating Offshore Wind Project as Opposition Grows

The federal government finalized two areas for floating offshore wind farms along the Oregon coast in February. But opposition from tribes, fishermen and coastal residents highlights some of the challenges the plan faces.

Preschool for All Growth Outpaces Enrollment Projections

Mid-year enrollment to allow greater flexibility for providers, families.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden Demands Answers From Emergency Rooms That Denied Care to Pregnant Patients

Wyden is part of a Democratic effort to focus the nation’s attention on the stories of women who have faced horrible realities since some states tightened a patchwork of abortion laws.

Governor Kotek Uses New Land Use Law to Propose Rural Land for Semiconductor Facility

Oregon is competing against other states to host multibillion-dollar microchip factories. A 2023 state law created an exemption to the state's hallmark land use policy aimed at preventing urban sprawl and protecting nature and agriculture.

NEWS BRIEFS

Celebrate Portland Arbor Day at Glenfair Park

Portland Parks & Recreation’s Urban Forestry team presents Portland Arbor Day 2024, Saturday, Oct. 12, 10 a.m. - 2...

Dr. Pauli Murray’s Childhood Home Opens as Center to Honor Activist’s Inspiring Work

Dr. Pauli Murray was an attorney, activist, and pioneer in the LGBTQ+ community. An extraordinary scholar, much of Murray’s...

Portland-Based Artist Selected for NFL’s 2024 Artist Replay Initiative Spotlighting Diverse and Emerging Artists

Inspired by the world of football, Julian V.L. Gaines has created a one-of-a-kind piece that will be on display at Miami Art Week. ...

University of Portland Ranked #1 Private School in the West by U.S. News & World Report

UP ranks as a top institution among ‘Best Regional Universities – West’ for the sixth consecutive year ...

Portland Diamond Project Signs Letter of Intent to Purchase Zidell Yards for a Future MLB Baseball Park

Founder of Portland Diamond Project said signing the letter of intent is more than just a land purchase, it’s a chance to transform...

A tiny tribe is getting pushback for betting big on a 0M casino in California's wine country

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — For decades a small, landless tribe in Northern California has been on a mission to get land, open a casino and tap into the gaming market enjoyed by so many other tribes that earn millions of dollars annually. The Koi Nation's chances of owning a Las...

Who are the 2024 MacArthur ‘genius grant’ fellows?

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced Tuesday its 2024 class of fellows, often known as recipients of the “genius grant." The 22 fellows will each receive a grant of 0,000 over five years to spend however they want. They were selected from nominations in a...

No. 7 Mizzou overcomes mistakes once again, escapes with a 30-27 double-OT win over Vandy

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — There are two very different ways to look at seventh-ranked Missouri's last two wins, a pair of come-from-behind affairs against Boston College and a double-overtime 30-27 victory over Vanderbilt in its SEC opener on Saturday night. The Tigers were good enough...

Blake Craig overcomes 3 FG misses, hits in 2OT to deliver No. 7 Missouri 30-27 win over Vanderbilt

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Blake Craig made up for three missed field goals in regulation by hitting from 37 yards in the second overtime, and Vanderbilt kicker Brock Taylor missed a 31-yarder to keep the game going to allow No. 7 Missouri to escape with a 30-27 win in double-overtime Saturday night. ...

OPINION

No Cheek Left to Turn: Standing Up for Albina Head Start and the Low-Income Families it Serves is the Only Option

This month, Albina Head Start filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to defend itself against a misapplied rule that could force the program – and all the children it serves – to lose federal funding. ...

DOJ and State Attorneys General File Joint Consumer Lawsuit

In August, the Department of Justice and eight state Attorneys Generals filed a lawsuit charging RealPage Inc., a commercial revenue management software firm with providing apartment managers with illegal price fixing software data that violates...

America Needs Kamala Harris to Win

Because a 'House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand' ...

Student Loan Debt Drops $10 Billion Due to Biden Administration Forgiveness; New Education Department Rules Hold Hope for 30 Million More Borrowers

As consumers struggle to cope with mounting debt, a new economic report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York includes an unprecedented glimmer of hope. Although debt for mortgages, credit cards, auto loans and more increased by billions of...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Wilmer Valderrama. Rosario Dawson. America Ferrera. Star-led drive aims to get Latinos to vote

With a star-studded cast of celebrities and influencers, the Voto Latino Foundation launched a million initiative Tuesday to encourage Latinos to vote in the upcoming election. The “Vota Con Ganas” (’Vote with Enthusiasm”) campaign will feature personal stories and messages...

Justice Department finds Georgia is 'deliberately indifferent' to unchecked abuses at its prisons

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia prison officials are “deliberately indifferent” to unchecked deadly violence, widespread drug use, extortion and sexual abuse at state lockups, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday, threatening to sue the state if it doesn’t quickly take steps to curb rampant...

Chanel show wrestles with designer void as actor Lupita Nyong'o talks diversity in fashion

PARIS (AP) — A giant empty cage greeted Chanel’s guests at its return to the Grand Palais venue on Tuesday. Though perhaps not intentionally symbolic, the décor seemed to capture the current state of the house itself: a majestic structure empty of creative direction. With Virginie Viard’s...

ENTERTAINMENT

Music Review: Sophie's posthumous, self-titled final album still sounds like the future of pop

NEW YORK (AP) — Where were you when you first heard the visionary producer and musician Sophie? Was it 2013's minimalist “Bipp,” the club banger with pitched-up vocals that hit the Internet with such peculiar ferocity as if it crash-landed from outer space? Or was it her...

Q&A: Kate Winslet on bringing WWII photographer Lee Miller’s story to the big screen

When Kate Winslet stumbled upon the extraordinary story of Lee Miller she didn’t want to let go. Miller was an American photographer who became a correspondent for British Vogue during World War II, shooting everything from London after the Blitz to the liberation of Dachau. In...

Book Review: 'The Last Dream,' short stories scattered with the seeds of Pedro Almodovar films

The seeds of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar's later cinematic work are scattered throughout the pages of “The Last Dream,” his newly published collection of short writings. The stories and essays were gathered together by Almodóvar's longtime assistant, including many pieces...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Trump heads to Wisconsin's critical Democratic stronghold ahead of the vice presidential debate

WAUNAKEE, Wis. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump planned to spend the hours ahead of Tuesday night's...

China marks 75 years of Communist Party rule as economic challenges and security threats linger

BEIJING (AP) — China is marking the 75th year of Communist Party rule as economic challenges and security...

More than 20 are feared dead after a school bus catches fire in suburban Bangkok

BANGKOK (AP) — A bus carrying young students and their teachers on a school trip caught fire in suburban Bangkok...

More than 20 are feared dead after a school bus catches fire in suburban Bangkok

BANGKOK (AP) — A bus carrying young students and their teachers on a school trip caught fire in suburban Bangkok...

Yemen's Houthi rebels are looking to gain from continuing conflict in the Middle East

CAIRO (AP) — In the days since Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, including the...

A likely Russian artillery strike kills at least 6 at a Ukrainian market

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An apparent Russian artillery strike hit a market in the southern Ukraine city of Kherson...

Andrew Taylor the Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's allies in the Senate on Friday unveiled the next piece of his failed $447 billion jobs measure to get a vote in the Senate: a $60 billion investment in infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges.

Like its two predecessors, however, the infrastructure package figures to be unanimously opposed by Republicans and a handful of Democrats over its stimulus-style spending and tax surcharge on the very wealthy. A test vote on the measure will come after the Senate returns from vacation next month.

The legislation would provide an immediate $50 billion investment in America's roads, bridges and airports, and transit systems and establish a $10 billion national infrastructure bank to leverage private and public capital for longer-term infrastructure projects.

"This legislation will create hundreds of thousands of construction jobs rebuilding our roads, bridges and infrastructure," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The measure would be financed by a 0.7 percentage point surcharge on income over $1 million.

The announcement by Senate Democrats came the day after Republicans scuttled a pared-back jobs measure designed to boost hiring of teachers and first responders.

That plan failed on a 50-50 test vote that fell well short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster. Two Democrats abandoned Obama on the vote and two more who voted with the president said they couldn't support the underlying Obama plan unless it's changed.

Thursday's $35 billion measure combined $30 billion for state and local governments to hire teachers and other school workers with $5 billion to help pay the salaries of police officers, firefighters and other first responders. The White House says the measure would "support" almost 400,000 education jobs for one year. Republicans call that a temporary "sugar high" for the economy and say it's a taxpayer-funded bailout of state and local governments.

Obama and his Democratic allies are acting like they've found a winning issue in repeatedly pressing popular ideas such as infrastructure spending and boosting hiring of police officers and firefighters. The sluggish economy and lower tax revenues have caused many teachers' jobs to be cut over the past several years.

"For the second time in two weeks, every single Republican in the United States Senate has chosen to obstruct a bill that would create jobs and get our economy going again," Obama said in a statement after the vote. "Every American deserves an explanation as to why Republicans refuse to step up to the plate and do what's necessary to create jobs and grow the economy right now."

"We cannot afford to be bailing out local governments, and we can't afford stimulus 2.0," countered Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Democrats haven't said which piece they'll resurrect next as an individual bill, but there's widespread support among party members for spending on highway and bridge projects, as well as for a poll-tested financing mechanism - a surcharge on income exceeding $1 million.

An AP-GfK poll taken Oct. 13-17 found 62 percent of respondents favoring the surcharge as a way to pay for jobs initiatives. Just 26 percent opposed the idea.

More ominously for Democrats, the poll shows that Obama's party has lost the faith of the public on handling the economy. In it, only 38 percent said they trust Democrats to do a better job than Republicans in handling the economy, the first time Democrats have fallen below 40 percent in the poll. Some 43 percent trust the Republicans more.

"The fact is we're not going to get this economy going again by growing the government. It's the private sector that's ultimately going to drive this recovery," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. "Look, if big government were the key to economic growth, then countries like Greece would be booming right now."

Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Democratic-leaning Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut broke with Obama on Thursday's vote. Two Democrats who voted with the president, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, said they couldn't support the underlying Obama plan unless it's changed.

"This bill fails to give taxpayers any guarantee that this money would actually be used to hire teachers and invest in our schools," Tester said. "States would get loads of money with little guidance that they spend the money on teachers."

Immediately after the vote on Obama's plan, Democrats turned the tables and filibustered Republican-backed legislation that would prevent the government from withholding 3 percent of payments to government contractors. The legislation failed to get the 60 votes needed to end the filibuster on a 57-43 vote, even though 10 Democrats voted to advance it.

Many Democrats and Obama support the idea but opposed it Thursday because it would be paid for with $30 billion in cuts from domestic agency spending. Advocates of repealing the withholding requirement say it will help create jobs, especially from contractors on large projects with smaller profit margins.

The withholding law was passed in 2006 by a GOP-controlled Congress. Then, the idea then was to make sure contractors couldn't duck their taxes and was imposed after government investigators found that thousands of federal contractors owed taxes.

The GOP-controlled House is likely to pass the measure next week and Reid promised that the Senate would revisit the issue, though there's likely to be a split between the House and Senate over how to pay for the cost of repealing the withholding rule.

After voting on the competing jobs measures, the Senate worked past midnight on a $128 billion spending bill covering five Cabinet departments.

Early Friday, the Senate voted 84-15 to end direct payments to farmers whose annual incomes exceed $1 million.

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