11-21-2024  9:19 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

'Bomb Cyclone' Kills 1 and Knocks out Power to Over Half a Million Homes Across the Northwest US

A major storm was sweeping across the northwest U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect. 

'Bomb Cyclone' Threatens Northern California and Pacific Northwest

The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning Tuesday and lasting through Friday. Those come as the strongest atmospheric river  that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season bears down on the region. 

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.

NEWS BRIEFS

Portland Art Museum’s Rental Sales Gallery Showcases Diverse Talent

New Member Artist Show will be open to the public Dec. 6 through Jan. 18, with all works available for both rental and purchase. ...

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" ...

A growing number of Oregon cities vote to ban psychedelic mushroom compound psilocybin

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Drug reform advocates hailed Oregon as a progressive leader when it became the first in the nation to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin, the compound found in psychedelic mushrooms. But four years later, voters in a growing list of its cities have...

Storm dumps record rain and heavy snow on Northern California. Many in Seattle still without power

FORESTVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A major storm moving through Northern California on Thursday dropped heavy snow and record rain, flooding some areas, after killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands in the Pacific Northwest. Forecasters warned that the risk of...

Missouri aims to get back in win column at Mississippi State, which still seeks first SEC victory

Missouri (7-3, 3-3 SEC) at Mississippi State (2-8, 0-6), Saturday, 4:15 p.m. ET (SEC). BetMGM College Sports Odds: Missouri by 7.5. Series: Tied 2-2. What’s at stake? Missouri sits just outside the AP Top 25 and looks to rebound from last...

No. 19 South Carolina looks to keep its momentum and win its fifth straight when it faces Wofford

Wofford (5-6) at No. 19 South Carolina (7-3), Saturday, 4 p.m. EST (ESPN+/SECN+) BetMGM College Football Odds: No line. Series history: South Carolina leads 20-4. What’s at stake? South Carolina, which finished its SEC season at 5-3, wants...

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

Pathologist disputes finding that Marine veteran's chokehold caused subway rider's death

NEW YORK (AP) — For roughly six minutes, Jordan Neely was pinned to a subway floor in a chokehold that ended with him lying still. But that's not what killed him, a forensic pathologist testified Thursday in defense of the military-trained commuter charged with killing Neely. Dr....

New Zealand police begin arrests for gang symbol ban as new law takes effect

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A ban on New Zealanders wearing or displaying symbols of gang affiliation in public took effect on Thursday, with police officers making their first arrest for a breach of the law three minutes later. The man was driving with gang insignia displayed on...

New study shows voting for Native Americans is harder than ever

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (AP) — A new study has found that systemic barriers to voting on tribal lands contribute to substantial disparities in Native American turnout, particularly for presidential elections. The study, released Tuesday by the Brennan Center for Justice, looked at 21...

ENTERTAINMENT

From 'The Exorcist' to 'Heretic,' why holy horror can be a hit with moviegoers

In the new horror movie, “Heretic,” Hugh Grant plays a diabolical religious skeptic who traps two scared missionaries in his house and tries to violently shake their faith. What starts more as a religious studies lecture slowly morphs into a gory escape room for the two...

Book Review: Chris Myers looks back on his career in ’That Deserves a Wow'

There are few sports journalists working today with a resume as broad as Chris Myers. From a decade doing everything for ESPN (SportsCenter, play by play, and succeeding Roy Firestone as host of the interview show “Up Close”) to decades of involvement with nearly every league under contract...

Was it the Mouse King? ‘Nutcracker’ props stolen from a Michigan ballet company

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Did the Mouse King strike? A ballet group in suburban Detroit is scrambling after someone stole a trailer filled with props for upcoming performances of the beloved holiday classic “The Nutcracker.” The lost items include a grandfather...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Elon Musk's budget crusade could cause a constitutional clash in Trump's second term

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Elon Musk first suggested a new effort to cut the size of government, Donald Trump didn't...

Brazilian police indict former President Bolsonaro and aides over alleged 2022 coup attempt

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s federal police said Thursday they indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36...

What to know about a storm bringing high winds, heavy rain, snow to California and Pacific Northwest

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One of the strongest storms on the West Coast in decades knocked out power for thousands of...

The biggest remaining unsanctioned Russian bank hit with U.S. sanctions, nearly three years into war

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia's third largest bank, Gazprombank and its six foreign subsidiaries were hit with U.S....

Putin touts Russia's new missile and delivers a menacing warning to NATO

The new ballistic missile fired by Russia struck a military-industrial facility in the central Ukrainian city of...

The dizzying array of legal threats to Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has been a target for investigations since his early...

Bradley Klapper of the Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Huckabee's decision to forgo a shot at the U.S. presidency further muddies the field for a worthy Republican challenger to President Barack Obama, and leaves America's social conservatives without a clear candidate to throw their support behind.

Huckabee on Saturday night became the latest Republican to opt out of running, declaring that he would stick with his lucrative career as a television and radio personality over a race that promises to be both costly and caustic. By joining Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, South Dakota Sen. John Thune and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence on the sidelines, the former Arkansas governor underlined that for all of Obama's vulnerabilities on the economy, taking on his re-election machine and potential $1 billion treasure chest remains a daunting task.

The 55-year-old Baptist minister insisted that he could have captured the Republican nomination, citing polls that showed he could score strong even in the Northeast and among the less conservative rank-and-file party members. "All the factors say go, but my heart says no," Huckabee, the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses, said on his Fox News Channel show.

The announcement makes an already wide-open Republican field even more unpredictable.

Huckabee is a prominent conservative who would have been a serious contender for the party nod with instant support among Christian evangelicals who dominate the Iowa caucuses and the early South Carolina primary. And with him out of the race, there is no clear candidate out there to for them to rally around.

Onetime House Speaker Newt Gingrich has been making a concerted effort to reach out to the right. Although he's been noting his recent conversion to Catholicism, he's hampered by two divorces and an adulterous history. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney must explain his change of heart over the years on positions on guns, gay rights and abortion; health care also is a problem for him. Minnesota's ex-governor, Tim Pawlenty, has had to apologize for backing climate change legislation. Donald Trump? Highly unlikely.

With so many social conservatives looking for a home, the void could prompt 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin or Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann to get in the race. Palin has yet to say if she will run, while Bachmann is inching toward a bid. Several other possible candidates, including Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, are in waiting mode.

The lack of a clear Republican frontrunner reflects Obama's perceived strength as a candidate less than a year-and-a-half before the election. Despite uneven economic growth and continued sluggishness in the employment market, Obama will have the advantage of being an incumbent president with a seemingly unmatchable capacity to generate cash for his campaign. And while events could change dramatically between now and the presidential vote, polls show Obama in a stronger position now than he was before the mission that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Republican candidates were quick to praise Huckabee after his announcement, making obvious plays for his backers.

"Had Gov. Huckabee decided to run, there is no question he would have been a frontrunner in the 2012 campaign for president," Gingrich said. He said Huckabee "will remain a major force for conservatism and he will play a major role in shaping America's future."

Pawlenty said he'd work hard to gain the support of millions of Americans who have backed Huckabee, while former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum praised the TV host for praying before deciding not to run. Santorum added that he wanted to talk with Huckabee about fighting for traditional values even as some Republicans "seek to form a 'truce' on social issues."

That was a slap at Daniels, who is considering a run and has suggested that Republicans downplay their focus on cultural issues like abortion while the nation's economy is so fragile.

Huckabee said the past few months have been times of deep personal reflection, even as he noted that he was leading some national polls. He painted the decision as a spiritual one.

"Only when I was alone, in quiet and reflective moments, did I have not only clarity but an inexplicable inner peace," he said. "Being president is a job that takes one to the limit of his or her human capacity. For me, to do it apart from the inner confidence that I was undertaking it without God's full blessing is simply unthinkable."

Had he chosen to run, Huckabee would have been forced to give up the lucrative media career he's enjoyed since his unsuccessful presidential bid four years ago. In addition to his TV show, Huckabee hosts a nationally syndicated radio program, gives paid speeches around the country and has even launched a series of animated videos for children on American history.

The former governor said that raising the necessary cash to run for president wasn't an issue in his decision, though it may play a major part for others. One candidate who wouldn't have that problem is Trump, the billionaire real estate tycoon and reality TV star who's been toying with the idea of a Republican run.

"Mike, enjoy the show," Trump said in an on-air message on Fox, directly after Huckabee's announcement. "Your ratings are terrific. You're making a lot of money. You're building a beautiful house in Florida. Good luck."

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