09-12-2024  1:55 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

With Drug Recriminalization, Addiction Recovery Advocates Warn of ‘Inequitable Patchwork’ of Services – And Greater Burden to Black Oregonians

Possession of small amounts of hard drugs is again a misdemeanor crime, as of last Sunday. Critics warn this will have a disproportionate impact on Black Oregonians. 

Police in Washington City Banned From Personalizing Equipment in Settlement Over Shooting Black Man

The city of Olympia, Washington, will pay 0,000 to the family of Timothy Green, a Black man shot and killed by police, in a settlement that also stipulates that officers will be barred from personalizing any work equipment.The settlement stops the display of symbols on equipment like the thin blue line on an American flag, which were displayed when Green was killed. The agreement also requires that members of the police department complete state training “on the historical intersection between race and policing.”

City Elections Officials Explain Ranked-Choice Voting

Portland voters will still vote by mail, but have a chance to vote on more candidates. 

PCC Celebrates Black Business Month

Streetwear brand Stackin Kickz and restaurant Norma Jean’s Soul Cuisine showcase the impact that PCC alums have in the North Portland community and beyond

NEWS BRIEFS

Attorneys General Call for Congress to Require Surgeon General Warnings on Social Media Platforms

In a letter sent yesterday to Congress, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who is also president of the National Association of...

Washington State Library Set to Re-Open on Mondays

The Washington State Library will return to normal public operating hours Monday after remaining partially closed for the past 11...

Candidates to Appear on Nov. 5 Ballot Certified

The list of candidates is organized by position for mayor, auditor, and city council. A total of 118 candidates...

Library Operations Center Wins Slot in 2024 Library Design Showcase

Located in East Portland, the building services are focused on patron support and sustainability ...

$12M in Grants for Five Communities to Make Local Roads Safer in Oregon

As students head back to school, new round of funding from President Biden’s infrastructure law will make America’s roads safer...

Boeing factory workers are voting whether to strike and shut down aircraft production

Boeing is preparing to learn Thursday whether 33,000 aircraft assembly workers, most of them in the Seattle area, are going on strike and shutting down production of the company's best-selling planes. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers plan to...

Wildfires in Southern California torch dozens of homes and force thousands to evacuate

WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Three major wildfires in Southern California's mountains east of Los Angeles torched dozens of homes and forced thousands of people to evacuate, officials said Wednesday. At least a dozen people, mainly firefighters, were treated for injuries that were...

AP Top 25 Reality Check: SEC takeover could last a while with few nonconference challenges left

The Southeastern Conference has taken over The Associated Press college football poll, grabbing six of the first seven spots. The 16-team SEC set a new standard for hoarding high AP Top 25 rankings, with Georgia at No. 1, No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Mississippi, No. 6 Missouri...

Cook runs for 2 TDs, Burden scores before leaving with illness as No. 9 Mizzou blanks Buffalo 38-0

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Most of the talk about Missouri in the offseason centered around quarterback Brady Cook and All-American wide receiver Luther Burden III, and the way the ninth-ranked Tigers' high-octane offense could put them in the College Football Playoff mix. It's been their...

OPINION

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...

Carolyn Leonard - Community Leader Until The End, But How Do We Remember Her?

That was Carolyn. Always thinking about what else she could do for the community, even as she herself lay dying in bed. A celebration of Carolyn Leonard’s life will be held on August 17. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

A plan to extract gold from mining waste splits a Colorado town with a legacy of pollution

LEADVILLE, Colo. (AP) — Rust-colored piles of mine waste and sun-bleached wooden derricks loom above the historic Colorado mountain town of Leadville — a legacy of gold and silver mines polluting the Arkansas River basin more than a century after the city's boom days. Enter a...

Two Black women could make US Senate history this election. But they strive to make a difference

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has the potential for history-making this fall, with not one, but two, Black women possibly elected to the chamber, a situation never seen in America since Congress was created more than 200 years ago. Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester marks the...

How a traveling 'health train' has become an essential source of free care in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Thethiwe Mahlangu woke early on a chilly morning and walked through her busy South African township, where minibuses hooted to pick up commuters and smoke from sidewalk breakfast stalls hung in the air. Her eyes had been troubling her. But instead of going to her...

ENTERTAINMENT

Music Review: On 'Cowboys and Dreamers,' George Strait's traditional country is still a heart warmer

George Strait's 31st studio album, the feel-good “Cowboys and Dreamers,” marks five decades of record releases; a titanic career for a Texas troubadour whose greatest ambition seems to have always been the same: Make pretty, plain-spoken songs about life's true pains and pleasures, and...

Paris Hilton waited 18 years to drop a new album. On 'Infinite Icon,' she's here to 'save pop music'

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly two decades ago, Paris Hilton released her debut album, 2006's eponymous “Paris,” at one height of her powers — an album of breezy pop music that offered a soundtrack to her cheery and decadent public-facing lifestyle, anchored by the reggae-lite sugar rush of...

Book Review: Elizabeth Strout brings all her favorite Mainers together in 'Tell Me Everything'

Full disclosure: Other than a few clips of Frances McDormand as the titular Olive Kitteridge in the 2014 HBO show, “Tell Me Everything” was this reviewer’s first trip to Crosby, Maine. It’s unlikely to be my last. “Tell Me Everything” reads like the stories that Lucy...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Boeing factory workers are voting whether to strike and shut down aircraft production

Boeing is preparing to learn Thursday whether 33,000 aircraft assembly workers, most of them in the Seattle area,...

Most Americans don't trust AI-powered election information: AP-NORC/USAFacts survey

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jim Duggan uses ChatGPT almost daily to draft marketing emails for his carbon removal credit...

Debate was an 'eye opener' in suburban Philadelphia and Harris got a closer look

BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) — The presidential debate this week was the final affront to Rosie Torres' lifelong...

Private power companies in Puerto Rico are under scrutiny as officials demand fewer outages

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Two private power companies came under scrutiny Wednesday while they presented...

How a traveling 'health train' has become an essential source of free care in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Thethiwe Mahlangu woke early on a chilly morning and walked through her busy South African...

Hundreds gather on Seattle beach to remember American activist killed by Israeli military

SEATTLE (AP) — For her 26th birthday in July, human rights activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi gathered friends for a...

George Howell CNN


SLIDELL, Louisiana (CNN) -- Nearly a week after Hurricane Isaac slammed into the Gulf Coast, the effects of the storm were still being felt Monday: From the thousands forced into shelters by flooding to the tens of thousands still living without power in sweltering conditions.



 



Evacuation orders, most voluntary, remained in place in a number of parishes as authorities grappled with new threats posed by rain swollen rivers and lakes.



In St. Tammany Parish, north of Lake Ponchartrain, authorities were grappling with two potential threats -- one from a weakened lock on a canal and the other from the rain swollen Pearl River.



Parish officials warned people to stay away from the area, even as a mandatory evacuation was lifted after authorities opened the lock to relieve pressure.



"As there is still a potential threat, even though reduced, a voluntary evacuation remains in place until the Army Corps of Engineers deems the lock stable and safe," Pat Brister, the president and sheriff of St. Tammany Parish, said Sunday. "Please stay vigilant."



Forecasters, meanwhile, predict the Pearl River will crest Monday at 19.5 feet, more than five feet about flood stage, posing a potential threat to up to several thousand homes in St. Tammany.



President Barack Obama was set to visit the state on Monday to get a first-hand look at recovery efforts, which will include a tour of St. John the Baptist Parish where thousands were forced from their home after Isaac's storm surge pushed water over the banks of Lake Ponchatrain.



The storm posed the first real test to New Orleans following a $14.5 billion federal effort to reconstruct the city's flood control system after it failed during Katrina in 2005. Katrina killed nearly 1,800 people, most when the storm overwhelmed the levee system and flooded the city.



Though much weaker than Katrina when it came ashore, Isaac moved slowly and dumped enormous amounts of rain on Louisiana and Mississippi.



A flood warning was issued for Mississippi's rain swollen Wolf River, north of Gulfport, where it was expected to crest Tuesday more than eight feet about flood stage, the weather service said.



More than 3, 500 people were in shelters across the state on Sunday, according to Gov. Bobby Jindal's office. In Mississippi, roughly 100 people remained in shelters, state officials said.



In St. James Parish, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, a dusk to dawn curfew was imposed after the Blind River crested at flood stage, flooding nearly two dozen homes. National Guard troops were deployed to the area to help with security and possible evacuations, Jindal's office said.



Most of the areas hit hard by Isaac were outside the new federal levee system that was reconstructed at a price of $14.5 billion following Hurricane Katrina.



Crews in Lafitte, on the outskirts of New Orleans, were considering intentionally breaching two spots in a levee along Bayou Barataria on Monday to help drain up to five feet of flood waters brought by the storm surge, officials said.



State officials have promised that money garnered from fines paid by BP over the Gulf oil spill will be used to reinforce the area levees, Lafitte Mayor Tim Kerner said.



But so far, he says, that hasn't happened.



"Yeah, it's frustrating," Kerner told CNN affiliate WWL-TV. "It makes you feel like you're not doing your doggone job. But I can't help it if the corps actually looks me in the face and promises that we're going to get things and we don't."



As many in Louisiana entered their sixth day without power, frustration with the pace of restoration efforts also grew.



At the height of the storm, more than 850,000 customers were reportedly without power in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Arkansas. By Monday, there were roughly 129,000 customers without power in Louisiana, according to Entergy Louisiana.



"Some areas are delayed due to high water conditions," the power company said on its website.



But for Tyrone Wilson, who relies on an electric scooter for transportation, the return of power means the return of his mobility.



"I got to go put I up because I got no power," Wilson told WWL. "I have no way to get around. I have to medicine and go to the doctor. I have no way to get there."



CNN's Greg Botelho, Chelsea J. Carter, Matt Smith and David Ariosto contributed to this report.