11-19-2024  5:03 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

More Logging Is Proposed to Help Curb Wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest

Officials say worsening wildfires due to climate change mean that forests must be more actively managed to increase their resiliency.

Democrat Janelle Bynum Flips Oregon’s 5th District, Will Be State’s First Black Member of Congress

The U.S. House race was one of the country’s most competitive and viewed by The Cook Political Report as a toss up, meaning either party had a good chance of winning.

Trump Was Elected; What Now? Black Community Organizers on What’s Next

The Skanner spoke with two seasoned community leaders about how local activism can counter national panic. 

Family of Security Guard Shot and Killed at Portland Hospital Sues Facility for $35M

The family of Bobby Smallwood argue that Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center failed to enforce its policies against violence and weapons in the workplace by not responding to staff reports of threats in the days before the shooting.

NEWS BRIEFS

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Oregon Announces New State Director and Community Engagement Coordinator

“This is an exciting milestone for Oregon,” said DELC Director Alyssa Chatterjee. “These positions will play critical roles in...

Multnomah County Library Breaks Ground on Expanded St. Johns Library

Groundbreaking marks milestone in library transformations ...

Janelle Bynum Statement on Her Victory in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District

"I am proud to be the first – but not the last – Black Member of Congress from Oregon" ...

Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11: Honoring a Legacy of Loyalty and Service and Expanding Benefits for Washington Veterans

Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) is pleased to share the Veterans Day Proclamation and highlight the various...

Northern California and Pacific Northwest brace for atmospheric river

SEATTLE (AP) — Northern California and the Pacific Northwest are bracing for what is expected to be a powerful storm, with heavy rain and winds set to pummel the region and potentially cause power outages and flash floods. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall...

More logging is proposed to help curb wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest

U.S. officials would allow increased logging on federal lands across the Pacific Northwest in the name of fighting wildfires and boosting rural economies under proposed changes to a sweeping forest management plan that’s been in place for three decades. The U.S. Forest Service...

Cal Poly visits Eastern Washington after Cook's 24-point game

Cal Poly Mustangs (2-2) at Eastern Washington Eagles (1-2) Cheney, Washington; Sunday, 7 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Eagles -6.5; over/under is 157.5 BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Washington hosts Cal Poly after Andrew Cook scored 24 points in Eastern...

Sellers throws career-high 5 TD passes, No. 23 South Carolina beats No. 24 Missouri 34-30

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Shane Beamer got a text recently from an SEC rival coach impressed with freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers. “You've got ‘Superman’ back there,” the message read, Beamer said. Sellers may not be the “Man of...

OPINION

A Loan Shark in Your Pocket: Cellphone Cash Advance Apps

Fast-growing app usage leaves many consumers worse off. ...

America’s Healing Can Start with Family Around the Holidays

With the holiday season approaching, it seems that our country could not be more divided. That division has been perhaps the main overarching topic of our national conversation in recent years. And it has taken root within many of our own families. ...

Donald Trump Rides Patriarchy Back to the White House

White male supremacy, which Trump ran on, continues to play an outsized role in exacerbating the divide that afflicts our nation. ...

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. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Tens of thousands crowd New Zealand's Parliament grounds in support of Māori rights

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — As tens of thousands crowded the streets in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, on Tuesday, the throng of people, flags aloft, had the air of a festival or a parade rather than a protest. They were marching to oppose a law that would reshape the...

New Zealand's founding treaty is at a flashpoint. Why are thousands protesting for Māori rights?

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A proposed law that would redefine New Zealand’s founding treaty between the British Crown and Māori chiefs has triggered political turmoil and prompted tens of thousands of people to show up in protest at the country's Parliament on Tuesday. The...

Trump says he is naming former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy to be transportation secretary

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he is naming former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy as his nominee for transportation secretary, as he continues to roll out picks for his Cabinet. Duffy is a former reality TV star who was one of Trump’s most visible...

ENTERTAINMENT

Meet the woman behind some of your favorite casts, from ‘The Exorcist’ to ‘Sleepless in Seattle’

Juliet Taylor does not give herself credit for Meryl Streep. In her over 40 years as top casting director behind so many classics, “Annie Hall,” “Heartburn” and “Sleepless in Seattle” to name just a few, she did, technically give Streep her first film role. She gave many...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 24-30

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 24-30: Nov. 24: Country singer Johnny Carver is 84. Former Beatles drummer Pete Best is 83. Actor-comedian Billy Connolly is 82. Singer Lee Michaels is 79. Actor Dwight Schultz (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “The A-Team”) is 77. Actor Stanley...

Music Review: Linkin Park returns on 'From Zero,' their first album since Chester Bennington's death

Linkin Park, the inventive American rap-rock band who wove electronica into its heavy, melodic compositions, return with their first new album in seven years, “From Zero.” It's a reference to their earliest days — when the band was known as Xero — a reclamation of their angry and ascendant...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Middle East latest: US envoy arrives in Lebanon to meet with officials about possible cease-fire

A U.S. envoy has arrived in Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials about a possible cease-fire in the...

At UN climate talks, farmers argue for a share of money dedicated to fighting climate change

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Extreme heat ruined the pineapples on Esther Penunia's small farm in the Philippines...

Arthur Frommer, travel guide innovator, has died at 95

NEW YORK (AP) — Arthur Frommer, whose "Europe on 5 Dollars a Day" guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel by...

US defense chief says alliance with Philippines will transcend administrations

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday condemned China's dangerous actions...

Police in Georgia's capital break up a tent camp set up by protesters demanding a new election

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Police in Georgia's capital early on Tuesday moved in to break up a tent camp that...

Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik seeks parole for a second time

Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage in 2011,...

From Staff and Wire Reports

A chart at the top of the facebook developers website Thursday tracked response time for repairs to the social network Wednesday and Thursday.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Untold millions of Facebook users scrambled desperately to access Bejeweled, Mafia Wars and Farmville today as the mega-social network crashed and stayed down for hours.
Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg, the 26-year-old wunderkind behind Facebook is making a move to become a player in philanthropy just before the opening of a film that portrays him as less than charitable.
The site's heavy crash sent waves of panic around much of the world, demonstrating how the tentacles of its applications. The Associated Press quoted TechCrunch's analysis: "This is a problem not just because the site is down, but Facebook's omnipresent Like button is also completely down, and so is Connect, and Platform — in other words, the entire Internet (or a good percentage of it) is feeling this pain."
Normal service was restored just after 5 p.m. Eastern standard time.
Zuckerberg no doubts eyes will return to his $100 million donation — thought to be the biggest of his young life — to the Newark public schools, a long-struggling district that could use the money to become a laboratory for reforms.

 

Facebook tycoon Mark Zuckerberg
The donation is being announced Friday on Oprah Winfrey's TV show in an arrangement that brings together the young Internet tycoon, Newark's celebrated Democratic mayor and a governor who has quickly become a star of the Republican party.
The unusual coalition is more evidence of the growing cache of the cause of remaking urban public schools, an issue that has long confounded educators and advocates.
"What you're seeing is for the under-40 set, education reform is what feeding kids in Africa was in 1980," said Derrell Bradford, the executive director of the Newark-based education reform group Excellent Education for Everyone. "Newark public schools are like the new Live Aid."
Zuckerberg is not the first person to get rich on technology and then donate some of his wealth to urban schools.
Last year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced $290 million in education grants, along with $45 million for research into effective teaching. The grants included $100 million to Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Fla., and $90 million to Memphis City Schools. The Gates Foundation also has given than $150 million to New York City schools over the past eight years, primarily for a project to transform its high schools into small schools.
An official familiar with the Newark plan confirmed it to The Associated Press on Thursday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the parties have been told not to usurp the announcement on Winfrey's show. The donation was first reported by The Star-Ledger of Newark.
The state Education Department, Facebook and the Newark mayor's office have been mum on the donation, but that hasn't stopped Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker from hinting about it on their Twitter accounts.
Booker tweeted: "Looking forward to Oprah on Friday! Please tune in to learn more about what's going on in Newark." Christie replied: "See you in Chicago," then added: "Great things to come for education in Newark."
The deal also sets the stage for Christie's announcement next week on his plans to reform the state's schools.
Some suggested that altruism was not the only thing driving the gift.
The announcement comes a week before the film "The Social Network" opens widely. The movie, whose tagline is "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies," portrays Zuckerberg as taking the idea for Facebook from other Harvard students. It is to debut at the New York Film Festival on Friday.
"I hate to be cynical and there are few districts in the nation that couldn't use an infusion of cash more than Newark," wrote blogger Christopher Dawson on ZDNet. "However, the timing of the announcement, coinciding with a high-profile return of district control from the state of New Jersey to the municipality of Newark, on Oprah no less, feels a little too staged."
Forbes.com on Thursday was asking readers: "Was the gift heartfelt or cunning PR?"
Zuckerberg is worth $6.9 billion, good enough to make him the 35th wealthiest American, according to Forbes magazine rankings out this week. His massive donation establishes him as a major player in philanthropy, placing him alongside others made wealthy by technology innovations, including Microsoft Corp. co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
Details have not been disclosed on how the money may be spent in Newark, where the school district budget this year is $940 million, but it will likely give Booker some control over his city's school district.
The schools have been state-run since 1995 but consistently have some of the state's lowest scores on standardized tests and worst graduation rates. The problems have continued to mount despite major infusions of funds from the state government, which has been under court order to improve schools in Newark and other impoverished New Jersey cities.
According to the official with knowledge of the plans, Christie won't give up state control of Newark schools as part of the deal, but will authorize Booker to implement the education plan. Christie will still have ultimate control and can veto any moves.
Christie, like Booker, is an advocate of more publicly funded charter schools, using public money to send children to private schools and paying teachers partly based on how well students perform. The ideas from both often make teachers unions bristle, though union officials in Newark declined to comment.
For Christie, the deal may be a way to recover from the biggest misstep of his administration so far: Last month, the state missed out on a $400 million federal education grant because of a simple error on its application. Former state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler was fired in the aftermath.
Education scholars and advocates will be watching closely.
Newark and other impoverished New Jersey districts have received infusions of state funding over the last two decades, but they've still lagged far behind schools in the suburbs. Advocates are hoping the effort brings reform, not just money.
"Just throwing a lot of money at a problem doesn't necessarily solve anything, and I think past history demonstrates this," said Joseph DePeirro, dean of education at Seton Hall University.
Bradford, of the Newark-based education reform group, said: "If you are enormously successful, then you really have outlined a model of how you can use private philanthropy to break the status quo. And if you fail, you've given everybody a billion reasons never to try again."
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Mulvihill reported from Trenton. Associated Press writer Beth DeFalco in Trenton contributed to this report.

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