07-04-2024  8:29 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

Pier Pool Closed Temporarily for Major Repairs

North Portland outdoor pool has a broken water line; crews looking into repairs ...

Music on Main Returns for Its 17th Year

Free outdoor concerts in downtown Portland Wednesdays, July 10–August 28 ...

Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care Marks One Year Anniversary

New agency reflects on progress and evolves strategies to meet early care needs ...

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...

1 shot at shopping mall food court in Seattle suburb

LYNNWOOD, Wash. (AP) — A person was shot in a shopping mall food court in a Seattle suburb on Wednesday evening, law enforcement officials said. The female of unknown age was shot at Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, said Lt. Glenn DeWitt of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. He was...

Flight to New Hampshire diverted after man exposes himself, federal officials say

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A flight to Manchester, New Hampshire, was diverted Wednesday after a man allegedly exposed himself and urinated in the aisle of the airplane, officials said. The 25-year-old Oregon man was arrested and charged with indecent exposure after the flight landed at...

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

As temperatures soar, judge tells Louisiana to help protect prisoners working in fields

Amid blistering summer temperatures, a federal judge ordered Louisiana to take steps to protect the health and safety of incarcerated workers toiling in the fields of a former slave plantation, saying they face “substantial risk of injury or death.” The state immediately appealed the decision. ...

California budgets up to million for reparations bills, a milestone in atoning for racist legacy

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California plans to spend up to million on reparations legislation under a budget signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, marking a milestone in the state's efforts to atone for a legacy of racism and discrimination against Black Californians. The...

Microsoft will pay M to settle allegations it discriminated against employees who took leave

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft Corp. has agreed to pay .4 million to settle allegations that the global software giant retaliated and discriminated against employees who took protected leave, including parental and disability, the California Civil Rights Department announced Wednesday. ...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: Iris Mwanza goes into 'The Lions' Den' with a zealous, timely debut novel for Pride

Grace Zulu clawed her way out of her village and into college to study law in the Zambian capital Lusaka. Now, at the end of 1990 and with AIDS running rampant, her first big case will test her personally and professionally: She must defend dancer Willbess “Bessy” Mulenga, who is accused of...

Book Review: What dangers does art hold? Writer Rachel Cusk explores it in 'Parade'

With her new novel “Parade,” the writer Rachel Cusk returns with a searching look at the pain artists can capture — and inflict. Never centered on a single person or place, the book ushers in a series of painters, sculptors, and other figures each grappling with a transformation in their life...

Veronika Slowikowska worked toward making it as an actor for years. Then she went viral

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Veronika Slowikowska graduated from college in 2015, she did what conventional wisdom says aspiring actors should do: Work odd jobs to pay the bills while auditioning for commercials and background roles, hoping you eventually make it. And although the...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

The Latest | The UK goes to the polls in a national election with results expected early Friday

Voters in the U.K. are casting their ballots in a national election to choose the 650 lawmakers who will sit in...

What to know about Venezuela's election as Maduro faces the toughest race of his decade in power

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's self-described socialist government is facing a serious electoral...

The questions about Biden's age and fitness are reminiscent of another campaign: Reagan's in 1984

The age question for presidential candidates is more than four decades old. President Ronald Reagan answered it...

Russian-linked cybercampaigns put a bull's-eye on France. Their focus? The Olympics and elections

PARIS (AP) — Photos of blood-red hands on a Holocaust memorial. Caskets at the Eiffel Tower. A fake French...

The suspect in the attempted assassination of Slovakia's prime minister now faces terror charges

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — The suspect in the attempted assassination in May of Slovakia's populist prime...

The Kremlin says India's Modi will visit Russia on July 8-9, hold talks with Putin

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin on Thursday said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8-9 and...

Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor

(CNN) -- A Catholic college in Ohio has apparently become the nation's first to drop its health care plan because it opposes parts of the federal health care law signed by President Barack Obama.

The Franciscan University of Steubenville posted on its website last week that it is discontinuing its health care plan.

"The Obama Administration has mandated that all health insurance plans must cover 'women's health services' including contraception, sterilization, and abortion-causing medications as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," the university says.

"We will not participate in a plan that requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life," the statement says.

The coverage includes emergency contraceptives such as Plan B, which can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg, but not drugs like RU-486, which can end an early pregnancy.

The school is also dropping its health insurance plan for students because the new health care law requires employers to provide more robust coverage, making it more expensive, said Tom Sofio, a spokesman for the Franciscan University of Steubenville.

"It was our own moral reasons and then the rising cost of health care because of the act," Sofio said, explaining the university's decision.

Sofio said school officials are not aware of another college that has dropped its health insurance plan out of disagreements with the federal health care law.

A spokeswoman for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing three religious schools that are challenging the health care law, said that she was also unaware of another college that had taken such action.

A spokeswoman with the Health and Human Services Department, charged with implementing the new health care law, said Wednesday that the department had no comment on the school's decision and that it does not keep track of changes to college health insurance plans.

The Obama administration faced a firestorm of controversy from many religious groups this year over a proposed rule that would require employers to provide no-cost contraception coverage to their employees.

In what it called a compromise, the White House revised the rule to require health insurance companies -- not employers -- to provide contraception coverage, mollifying some Catholic critics. Other Catholic groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, are not satisfied by the revised rule.

The Roman Catholic Church opposes the use of contraception.

"We're paying the health insurance company, and if they provide abortion-causing drugs, that's against our religious beliefs," Sofio said Wednesday.

About 200 of the Franciscan University of Steubenville's 2,500 students rely on the university health care plan, which costs about $50 a month, Sofio said. He said the school is retaining its health care plan for employees because it is hopeful that legal challenges to the health care law will prevent much of it from taking effect.

Sofio said that the school sent letters about its decision to students and parents in April and that it has received overwhelming support from both constituencies. Ninety-five percent of students at the university are Catholic, he said.

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