07-01-2024  3:45 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Summer Classes, Camps and Experiences for Portland Teens

Although registration for a number of local programs has closed, it’s not too late: We found an impressive list of no-cost and low-cost camps, classes and other experiences to fill your teen’s summer break.

Parts of Washington State Parental Rights Law Criticized as a ‘Forced Outing’ Placed on Hold

A provision outlining how and when schools must respond to records requests from parents was placed on hold, as well as a provision permitting a parent to access their student’s medical and mental health records. 

Seattle Police Officer Fired for off-Duty Racist Comments

The termination stemmed from an altercation with his neighbor, Zhen Jin, over the disposal of dog bones at the condominium complex where they lived in Kenmore. The Seattle Office of Police Accountability had recommended a range of disciplinary actions, from a 30-day suspension to termination of employment.

New Holgate Library to Open in July

Grand opening celebration begins July 13 with ribbon cutting, food, music, fun

NEWS BRIEFS

Governor Kotek Endorses Carmen Rubio for Portland Mayor

The campaign to elect Carmen Rubio as Portland’s next Mayor has announced that Governor Tina Kotek has thrown her support...

PCC’s Literary Art Magazines Reach New Heights

Two of PCC’s student-led periodicals hit impressive anniversaries, showcasing the college’s strong commitment to the literary...

Merkley Champions Legislation to Repeal the Comstock Act

The Stop Comstock Act would repeal the 1873 law that could be misused to ban abortion nationwide. ...

Art Exhibit 'Feeling Our Age-Sixty Over Sixty' Opens

The exhibition runs through mid-August, 1540 NW 13th Ave. at NW Quimby. ...

PCCEP Forum on Brain Injuries, Policing, and Public Safety

This Wednesday, June 26, 6-8:30 p.m. in person at The Melody Event Center ...

Arizona wildfire advances after forcing evacuations near Phoenix

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — More than 200 firefighters were battling a wildfire northeast of Phoenix on Saturday that threatened scores of homes and has forced dozens of residents to evacuate. No structures have been damaged as the wildfire traversed nearly 6 square miles (15 square...

Air tankers and helicopters attack Arizona wildfire that has forced evacuations near Phoenix

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Air tankers and helicopters helped douse flames from the sky as nearly 200 firefighters on the ground battled a wildfire northeast of Phoenix on Friday that threatened scores of homes and forced dozens of residents to evacuate. Authorities expanded the...

Missouri governor says new public aid plan in the works for Chiefs, Royals stadiums

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday that he expects the state to put together an aid plan by the end of the year to try to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals from being lured across state lines to new stadiums in Kansas. Missouri's renewed efforts...

Kansas governor signs bills enabling effort to entice Chiefs and Royals with new stadiums

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' governor signed legislation Friday enabling the state to lure the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Major League Baseball's Royals away from neighboring Missouri by helping the teams pay for new stadiums. Gov. Laura Kelly's action came three days...

OPINION

Minding the Debate: What’s Happening to Our Brains During Election Season

The June 27 presidential debate is the real start of the election season, when more Americans start to pay attention. It’s when partisan rhetoric runs hot and emotions run high. It’s also a chance for us, as members of a democratic republic. How? By...

State of the Nation’s Housing 2024: The Cost of the American Dream Jumped 47 Percent Since 2020

Only 1 in 7 renters can afford homeownership, homelessness at an all-time high ...

Juneteenth is a Sacred American Holiday

Today, when our history is threatened by erasure, our communities are being dismantled by systemic disinvestment, Juneteenth can serve as a rallying cry for communal healing and collective action. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Today in History: June 30, Night of the Long Knives

Today in History Today is Sunday, June 30, the 182nd day of 2024. There are 184 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On June 30, 1934, Adolf Hitler launched his “blood purge” of political and military rivals in Germany in what came...

Things to know about the case of Missouri prison guards charged with murder in death of a Black man

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Five prison guards have been charged in the December death of a Black man who was pepper sprayed, had his face covered with a mask and was left in a position that caused him to suffocate while in custody at a correctional facility. The charges, announced on...

The brutal killing of a Detroit man in 1982 inspires decades of Asian American activism nationwide

Two white autoworkers bludgeoned 27-year-old Chinese American Vincent Chin to death with a baseball bat during his bachelor party in Detroit in 1982, but his loved ones' cries for justice fell on deaf ears. Twelve days passed before any media outlets reported Chin's killing by men who...

ENTERTAINMENT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of June 30-July 6

Celebrity birthdays for the week of June 30-July 6: June 30: Actor Nancy Dussault (“Too Close For Comfort”) is 88. Singer Glenn Shorrock (Little River Band) is 80. Jazz bassist Stanley Clarke is 73. Actor David Garrison (“Married...with Children”) is 72. Guitarist Hal Lindes...

‘Hawaii Five-0’ fan favorite and former UFC fighter Taylor Wily dies at 56

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Taylor Wily, a former sumo wrestler who became known for his role as confidential informant Kamekona Tupuola on both “Hawaii Five-0” and “Magnum P.I,” has died, his friend and a “Hawaii Five-0” producer both said Friday. He was 56. “Hawaii Five-0”...

Lyles and Snoop help NBC post best track trials ratings in 12 years

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The combination of Noah Lyles, Snoop Dogg and 16-year-old Quincy Wilson running for a spot in the Olympics lifted NBC to its largest audience for the U.S. track trials since 2012, according to Nielsen. Viewership for the Sunday night presentation of the trials...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

In a proud and troubled UK town, voters wonder whether their election choice will make a difference

HARTLEPOOL, England (AP) — A lot of politicians have promised change to voters in Hartlepool, a wind-whipped...

Economic turmoil in Bolivia fuels distrust in government and its claim of a 'failed coup'

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Signs reading “I'm buying dollars” line the doors of Víctor Vargas’ shoe shop in...

Trump ally Steve Bannon will report to federal prison to serve 4-month sentence on contempt charges

WASHINGTON (AP) — Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon is scheduled to report to a federal prison in Connecticut on...

Israeli airstrike in the northern West Bank kills a Palestinian militant and wounds 5 other people

NUR SHAMS REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Israeli troops carried out an airstrike in the northern West Bank on...

North Korea test-launches 2 ballistic missiles, after end of new US-South Korea-Japan drill

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea test-fired two ballistic missile Monday but one of them possibly flew...

R. Sampanthan, face of the Tamil minority's campaign for autonomy after Sri Lanka's civil war, dies

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Rajavarothiyam Sampanthan, an ethnic Tamil leader and lawmaker who became the face of...

Andrew Taylor the Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats controlling the House are promising to freeze the budgets of most Cabinet departments while wrapping Congress' unfinished annual spending bills into a single catchall measure.

The 423-page measure, released in the wee hours Wednesday, would cap the agencies' operating budgets at $1.2 trillion, the level of the budget year that ended in September. That's about 4 percent less than President Barack Obama asked for.

There are many exceptions to the freeze. Health care programs for veterans and the military would get a boost, as would the Pell Grant program for low-income college students. People serving in the military would get a 1.4 percent pay raise, but civilian federal workers would have their salaries frozen, as requested by Obama last week.

The bill also would provide $159 billion to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A widely backed food safety bill is hitching a ride on the legislation. The measure passed the Senate by a 75-25 vote last week but got caught in a snag because it contained revenue provisions that, under the Constitution, must originate in the House.

Senate Democrats are working on a different approach that would provide slightly more money and would include thousands of pet projects sought by lawmakers. It's unclear whether that measure can get enough support from Republicans to pass. The House bill is free of such "earmarks."

The House could pass its measure as early as Wednesday - over Republican protests that it still spends too much money and that they won't have had enough time to review it. House Republicans want a short-term measure to punt the unfinished budget business into January, when they will assume the majority.

The bill combines the annual operating budgets for every federal department or agency. In an unprecedented collapse of the federal budget process, not a single one of the 12 annual spending bills has yet passed Congress.

The bill, combined with a massive measure to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, extend unemployment benefits and cut the payroll tax, represents the bulk of Congress' unfinished work as the lame-duck session approaches its close.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., said the legislation would "salvage some investments which over the long haul just might create more jobs than a tax break for millionaires."

Obey was able to find money for some Democratic priorities because accounts for the census and military bases closing are $11 billion below fiscal 2010 levels.

That allowed Obey to maintain increased federal air marshall presence on international flights, add money for the Indian health Service, and provide $550 million for Obama's signature "Race to the Top" program that provides grants to better-performing schools.

The budget for high-speed rail would take a cut as would Obama's budget for construction of new federal buildings. But housing subsidies for the poor would get an increase, as would grants to localities to shelter the homeless.

The underlying bill would provide the Pentagon $513 billion for core operations, which is a 1 percent increase to cover pay and health care, but $17 billion less than requested by Obama in February.

The Department of Homeland Security would see its budget frozen rather than rising almost 3 percent as Obama sought.

Foreign aid programs, however, would receive a $2.2 billion - more than 4 percent - increase to fund counterinsurgency programs by the Pakistani government, help stabilize Iraq and meet long-standing commitments to Israel and Egypt.

The bill also contains $624 million to implement the nuclear weapons treaty with Russia, known as New START, that's pending before the Senate.

In the Senate, Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, backed by Democratic leaders, has fashioned an "omnibus" spending measure - providing almost $20 billion more than the House bill - that he wants to substitute for the measure being passed across the Capitol.

Such omnibus measures have been a routine but oft-criticized way for Congress to wrap up its unfinished work. Only two spending bills have passed the House and not a single one has passed the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., opposes Inouye's move, but GOP members of the Appropriations Committee, such as Sens. Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, are open to the idea.

It's not clear how strongly McConnell will push against the omnibus measure, however, and key McConnell ally Robert Bennett, R-Utah, says he prefers an omnibus to Obey's approach of "locking in" most of last year's policies and funding levels. But he doesn't know if there are the 60 votes needed to defeat a filibuster by GOP conservatives.

Any move to pass Inouye's earmark-laced omnibus measure is sure to whip up howls of protest from anti-earmark lawmakers and tea party activists.