12-03-2024  10:25 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Q & A With Sen. Kayse Jama, New Oregon Senate Majority Leader

Jama becomes first Somali-American to lead the Oregon Senate Democrats.

Oregon Tribe Has Hunting and Fishing Rights Restored Under a Long-Sought Court Ruling

The tribe was among the dozens that lost federal recognition in the 1950s and ‘60s under a policy of assimilation known as “termination.” Congress voted to re-recognize the tribe in 1977. But to have their land restored, the tribe had to agree to a federal court order that limited their hunting, fishing and gathering rights. 

Forecasts Warn of Possible Winter Storms Across US During Thanksgiving Week

Two people died in the Pacific Northwest after a rapidly intensifying “bomb cyclone” hit the West Coast last Tuesday, bringing fierce winds that toppled trees and power lines and damaged homes and cars. Fewer than 25,000 people in the Seattle area were still without power Sunday evening.

Huge Number Of Illegal Guns In Portland Come From Licensed Dealers, New Report Shows

Local gun safety advocacy group argues for state-level licensing and regulation of firearm retailers.

NEWS BRIEFS

Portland Parks & Recreation Wedding Reservations For Dates in 2025

In-person applications have priority starting Monday, January 6, at 8 a.m. ...

Grants up to $120,000 Educate About Local Environmental Projects

Application period for WA nonprofits open Jan. 7 ...

Literary Arts Opens New Building on SE Grand Ave

The largest literary center in the Western U.S. includes a new independent bookstore and café, event space, classrooms, staff offices...

Allen Temple CME Church Women’s Day Celebration

The Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes, senior pastor/presiding elder, and First Lady Doris Mays Haynes are inviting the public to attend the...

Vote By Mail Tracking Act Passes House with Broad Support

The bill co-led by Congressman Mfume would make it easier for Americans to track their mail-in ballots; it advanced in the U.S. House...

Idaho’s ‘abortion trafficking’ law mostly can be enforced as lawsuit proceeds, court rules

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that most of Idaho's first-in-the-nation law that makes it illegal to help minors get an abortion without the consent of their parents can take effect while a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality continues. The...

Alaska Airlines tech issue briefly grounds planes in Seattle, disrupts bookings on Cyber Monday

SEATTLE (AP) — A technology issue at Alaska Airlines resulted in the temporary grounding of flights in Seattle on Monday morning and problems into the afternoon for people trying to book flights on its website, the airline said. The Seattle-based company said in a statement the...

There's no rest for the well-traveled in the week's AP Top 25 schedule filled with marquee matchups

It wasn't long after Duke had pushed through Friday's win against Seattle that coach Jon Scheyer lamented a missing piece of the Blue Devils' recent schedule. “We need practice time,” Scheyer said. It's a plight facing a lot of ranked teams that criss-crossed the...

Cal visits Missouri after Wilkinson's 25-point game

California Golden Bears (6-1) at Missouri Tigers (6-1) Columbia, Missouri; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -8.5; over/under is 150.5 BOTTOM LINE: Cal visits Missouri after Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 25 points in Cal's 81-55 victory...

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

2024 in pop culture: In a bruising year, we sought out fantasy, escapism — and cute little animals

NEW YORK (AP) — I’ll get you, my pretty! And your little pygmy hippo, too! Forgive us the shameless attempt to link the fantasy hit “Wicked” to the delightful Moo Deng. But, hear us out — there’s something the two have in common as the year draws to a close. Escapism....

These Native tribes are working with schools to boost attendance

WATONGA, Okla. (AP) — As the Watonga school system's Indian education director, Hollie Youngbear works to help Native American students succeed — a job that begins with getting them to school. She makes sure students have clothes and school supplies. She connects them with federal...

Native American students miss school at higher rates. It only got worse during the pandemic

SAN CARLOS, Ariz. (AP) — After missing 40 days of school last year, Tommy Betom, 10, is on track this year for much better attendance. The importance of showing up has been stressed repeatedly at school — and at home. When he went to school last year, he often came home saying the...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: British novelist Naomi Wood is out with an astonishingly good short story collection

Naomi Wood, an English author not yet well known in the U.S., has written three historical novels, including the well-regarded “Mrs. Hemingway,” about the four wives of Ernest Hemingway. During the Covid lockdowns, when her kids were confined at home and she had less time to herself, she turned...

Book Review: 'Dead Air' tells history of night Orson Welles unleashed fake Martian invasion

Long before Donald Trump used the term “fake news” to complain about coverage he didn't like, Orson Welles mastered the art of actual fake news. Welles' 1938 radio adaptation of H.G. Wells' “The War of the Worlds” is the focus of William Elliott Hazelgrove's “Dead Air: The...

Drake will open his Australia tour the same day rival Kendrick Lamar performs at the Super Bowl

TORONTO (AP) — Drake has announced that his first tour of Australia in eight years will begin on the same date as rival Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance. The Toronto rapper announced the tour during a livestream Sunday night with Félix Lengyel, a Quebec streamer....

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Biden says the US is 'all in' on Africa during his Angola visit meant to counter China

LUANDA, Angola (AP) — Speaking of “our nation's original sin,” President Joe Biden on Tuesday toured a...

They fled war in Sudan. But they haven't been able to flee the hunger

ADRE, Chad (AP) — For months, Aziza Abrahim fled from one village in Sudan to the next as people were...

Hunter Biden gun case dismissed after President Joe Biden's sweeping pardon

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge dismissed the gun case against Hunter Biden on Tuesday after President Joe...

Key players in Syria's long-running civil war, reignited by a shock rebel offensive

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s long civil war has reclaimed global attention after insurgents seized most of its...

Venezuelan migrants keep arriving in Colombia. These faith leaders offer them a home away from home

PALMIRA, Colombia (AP) — It’s been three years since Douarleyka Velásquez abandoned her career in human...

NATO's chief avoids talk of Ukraine's membership. He says the priority is helping Kyiv defend itself

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday sidestepped questions about Ukraine’s possible...

Linda Deutsch AP Special Correspondent

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A jury reached a verdict Monday in the involuntary manslaughter case against Michael Jackson's doctor. Court officials said it would be read at 1 p.m. PST.

During the six-week trial, prosecutors depicted Dr. Conrad Murray as a reckless physician who abandoned Jackson while he was under the effects of the powerful anesthetic propofol on June 25, 2009.

Attorneys for the Houston-based cardiologist countered that Jackson was addicted to the drug and self-administered the fatal dose when Murray left his bedroom.

Murray agreed to become Jackson's personal physician as the singer prepared for a series of comeback concerts in 2009.

Murray did not testify during the trial but previously acknowledged to police that he gave Jackson propofol and other sedatives on the morning the singer died.

The seven men and five women who hold the fate of Murray in their hands are a diverse cross-section of Los Angeles, people of varying ethnicities from different towns who might never have met if they had not been thrown together in the jury pool.

They are white, black and Hispanic, mostly middle-aged and live in an assortment of suburbs in the Los Angeles urban sprawl. Most have children and some have grandchildren.

They include a professor, postman, bus driver, actor and movie animation supervisor.

The panel was in its second day of deliberations when it reached the verdict.

Murray has pleaded not guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors accused him of administering a fatal dose of propofol to the King of Pop.

The jurors, who were engaged by all the details of the case, were likely methodical in their deliberations.

Nine of them have prior jury experience and one woman, a native of Spain, has served on five juries, all of which reached verdicts. She was once a jury forewoman.

A woman who has worked as a paralegal for 30 years is serving on her first jury and appeared enthralled.

They knew about the involuntary manslaughter charge against Murray before they came to court and most of them know Jackson's music. A few said they were fans and one, the video animation specialist, said he had some interaction with Jackson when the singer was making the video, "Captain EO."

Details about their lives were culled from lengthy written questionnaires obtained by The Associated Press. Their identities have been kept secret and even lawyers in the case know them only by their jury numbers.

In six weeks together the jurors have displayed uncommon attentiveness to the task at hand. Several, including alternates, have taken notes and kept lists of evidence. Once, when the judge was at a loss to find the number of an exhibit, a member of the jury spoke up and told him.

There were no drooping eyelids or distracted glances. When a scientific expert was conducting experiments on the floor of the courtroom, panelists stood up in the jury box to get a better view.

Their attention to evidence and witnesses has impressed Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, who commended them for their commitment, punctuality in getting to court and willingness to give up their personal lives to serve.

When the trial went longer than Pastor had predicted, he apologized, but the jurors seemed unperturbed.

Every night, when he gave them an admonition to avoid the news, the Internet and other sources of information about the trial, they listened as if it was the first time they had heard it and they nodded in agreement.

Many of the panelists have a familiarity with prescription drugs; most of them said they trust their doctors and several believe that celebrities receive a different kind of justice than average people.

Some have learned about the justice system from TV, watching such shows as "Law and Order" and "CSI." Others watched broadcasts of real-life, high-profile trials including the Casey Anthony case and the O.J. Simpson trial.

One woman, an accounting manager, remembered that during the Simpson trial, "a TV was brought to the office for everyone to follow it." A man in his 30s said he followed that trial in school as an educational experience.

While not sequestered, the jurors have had a rare opportunity to bond because they were kept together for lunch and transported together between a secret parking lot and the courthouse. In order to avoid exposure to events outside the courtroom, the judge had lunch catered for them every day.

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