11-07-2024  8:07 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

In Portland, Political Outsider Keith Wilson Elected Mayor After Homelessness-focused Race

Wilson, a Portland native and CEO of a trucking company, ran on an ambitious pledge to end unsheltered homelessness within a year of taking office.

‘Black Friday’ Screening Honors Black Portlanders, Encourages Sense of Belonging

The second annual event will be held Nov. 8 at the Hollywood Theatre.

Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson Wins Governor’s Race in Washington

Ferguson came to national prominence by repeatedly suing the administration of former President Donald Trump, including bringing the lawsuit that blocked Trump’s initial travel ban on citizens of several majority Muslim nations. 

African American Alliance On Homeownership Turns 25, Honors The Skanner Cofounder Bernie Foster

AAAH's executive director Cheryl Roberts recalls how the efforts of Bernie Foster led to an organization that now offers one-on-one counseling for prospective home buyers, homebuyer education, foreclosure prevention services, estate planning, assistance with down payments and more.

NEWS BRIEFS

Maxine Dexter Elected to Fill Earl Blumenauer's Seat

Blumenauer: “I can think of no person I would rather have take my place” ...

Dan Rayfield Elected Oregon’s Next Attorney General

Rayfield thanks AG Ellen Rosenblum and is honored "to follow her footsteps." ...

Elizabeth Steiner Statement on State Treasurer Victory

Treasurer-elect Steiner makes history as the first woman ever elected Oregon State Treasurer. ...

Merkley Statement on the Passing of Bob Sallinger

“Bob was a trusted voice, advising me on ways to safeguard the state’s natural wonders and wildlife and fighting against climate...

Troutdale Library Now Renovation Complete

Library provides refreshed experience for patrons with new, comfortable seating and carpeting ...

In Portland, Oregon, political outsider Keith Wilson elected mayor after homelessness-focused race

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Voters in Portland, Oregon, have elected political outsider Keith Wilson as their new mayor, following a campaign in which he capitalized on years of growing frustration over homeless encampments, open drug use and quality of life concerns to outperform three City Council...

Freshman Democrat Val Hoyle wins reelection to US House in Oregon’s 4th Congressional District

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle has won reelection in Oregon’s 4th Congressional District. The freshman incumbent defeated Republican Monique DeSpain, an Air Force veteran who has never held elected office and pitched herself as an “outsider” candidate. ...

Oklahoma visits Missouri for the first matchup of old Big 12 rivals in the Southeastern Conference

Oklahoma (5-4, 1-4 SEC) at Missouri (6-2, 2-2), Saturday, 7:45 p.m. EST (SEC Network) BetMGM College Football Odds: Missouri by 2 1/2. Series record: Oklahoma leads 67-24-5. What’s at stake? Oklahoma and Missouri, who first played each other...

Missouri Tigers host the Howard Bison in cross-conference contest

Howard Bison (0-1) at Missouri Tigers (0-1) Columbia, Missouri; Friday, 8 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Missouri hosts Howard in out-of-conference play. Missouri finished 8-24 overall with a 6-11 record at home during the 2023-24 season. The Tigers shot 43.9% from...

OPINION

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. ...

The Skanner News 2024 Presidential Endorsement

It will come as no surprise that we strongly endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president. ...

Black Retirees Growing Older and Poorer: 2025 Social Security COLA lowest in 10 years

As Americans live longer, the ability to remain financially independent is an ongoing struggle. Especially for Black and other people of color whose lifetime incomes are often lower than that of other contemporaries, finding money to save for ‘old age’ is...

The Skanner Endorsements: Oregon State and Local Ballot Measures

Ballots are now being mailed out for this very important election. Election Day is November 5. Ballots must be received or mailed with a valid postmark by 8 p.m. Election Day. View The Skanner's ballot measure endorsements. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Racist text messages referencing slavery raise alarms in multiple states and prompt investigations

WASHINGTON (AP) — Racist text messages invoking slavery raised alarm across the country this week after they were sent to Black men, women and students, including middle schoolers, prompting inquiries by the FBI and other agencies. The messages, sent anonymously, were reported in...

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument in New Mexico is set to reopen

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument in New Mexico, which closed in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is reopening later this month. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Cochiti Pueblo announced Thursday the monument will reopen Nov. 21....

A new law allows Israel to deport the relatives of attackers. Experts expect it to be struck down

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament passed a law early Thursday that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers, including the country’s own citizens, to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations. The law, which was championed by members of Prime...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: A man searches for meaning in Mike Fu's unnerving debut novel, 'Masquerade'

Meadow is coming up on 10 years living in New York, and he’s still adrift. His boyfriend ghosted him, his current residence is actually a housesitting gig, and his bartending job isn’t exactly filling his parents with pride. But this summer, strange things keep happening that will make or break...

Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade will feature Ariana Madix, T-Pain, 'Gabby’s Dollhouse' and pasta

NEW YORK (AP) — A eclectic group of stars — including reality TV's Ariana Madix, Broadway belter Idina Menzel, hip-hop's T-Pain, members of the WNBA champions New York Liberty and country duo Dan + Shay — will feature in this year's Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Music...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 10-16

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 10-16: Nov. 10: Blues singer Bobby Rush is 90. Actor Albert Hall (“Ally McBeal,” ″Beloved”) is 87. Country singer Donna Fargo is 83. Lyricist Tim Rice is 80. Actor Jack Scalia is 74. Director Roland Emmerich (“The Patriot,”...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

White evangelical voters show steadfast support for Donald Trump's presidency

After former President Donald Trump gave his victory speech early Wednesday, at the Palm Beach Convention Center,...

Fans flood @Pontifex account after it inadvertantly cites New Orleans Saints amid dreadful season

ROME (AP) — The New Orleans Saints may be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season, but at least they can...

Cuba left reeling after Category 3 hurricane ravages island and knocks out power grid

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island,...

For many Iranians, Trump’s return intensifies worries about war. Yet some see reasons for hope

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranians, like many around the world, are divided on what Donald Trump's next presidency...

Notre Dame marks arrival of Paris Olympics’ iconic trackside bell as cathedral reopening nears

PARIS (AP) — Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral, whose historic bells were silenced following 2019’s devastating...

Middle East latest: Large airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs as Israel expands northern Gaza operations

Several large airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Thursday, including one on a site adjacent to...

Lisa Loving and Brian Stimson of The Skanner News

Grand Jury transcripts in the shooting death of Keaton Dupree Otis may be released as early as today, Multnomah County District Attorney spokesman Norm Frink said.
The May 12 shooting is the third fatal incident involving police interacting with men in mental health crisis so far this year. City leaders have made it clear they support release of Grand Jury transcripts -- which have previously been kept secret -- as a police accountability measure.

Officer Chris Burley, center, flanked by Sgt. Don Livingstone, left, and Officer Ryan Foote, right, describes his shooting May 12. All the officers were on the scene of Otis' shooting; none of the three fired their weapons.

A court reporter has been ill, which delayed the expected release of documents, Schrunk said Friday. A Grand Jury cleared Portland Police officers of wrongdoing in the case.

Among the questions which may be answered by the Grand Jury transcripts is the mystery of why no bullet casings were found on the scene from Otis' gun. Police say Officer Chris Burley was shot twice by Otis, but a roster of items recovered at the crime scene indicated Otis' gun would have discharged "gold-colored" casings, none of which are listed on the evidence log.

However some 30 "silver-colored" casings are listed, all apparently from police weapons. In the course of the shooting, the police investigation showed that Officer Jim Defrain had fired 15 rounds; Officer Andrew Polas had fired six rounds; and Officer Cody Berne fired 11 rounds. All used the same make and model service weapon, a 9 mm Glock.

The police documents indicate Otis was carrying a Taurus Millenium 111 PT semi-automatic handgun, a model made in Brazil and designed for concealed carrying, according to the company's website.

 

In documents released by the police bureau, Officer Brian Dale reports that he "later saw a silver semi-auto handgun on the driver's seat of the suspect's car," but nothing else is noted about its condition. Otis' dead body was reportedly half in, half out of the Toyota Corolla, as officers had tried to physicallly drag him out of the driver's seat.

Burley confirmed at a press conference Thursday morning that he was one of the officers trying to drag Otis out of the car, and that he had his hands on Otis' shoulders just before the shots were fired. He is shown in the diagram as being well away from Otis' vehicle, on the driver's side, during the shooting.

Burley spoke surrounded by middle school graduates of the Gang Resistance Outreach and Training group he leads.
The GREAT kids faced a bank of television, radio and newspaper reporters to recount their feelings of sadness and fear upon learning their teacher was shot in a traffic stop.
Afterward, Burley told his emotional story about how the incident affected him, and described the counseling and support services he's getting to recover from the shooting. Burley did not fire his weapon in the incident.

A television reporter pressed him on the issue of whether he knew Otis was planning to shoot. Burley twice said he had no idea what was going to happen.


Police records indicate the officers, all members of the HEAT gang enforcement squad, pulled Otis over for what appears to be a pretext stop.

Officer Burley's GREAT students showed their support for his recovery at a press conference at the East Precinct June 3

Officers testified in the bureau's internal investigation that Otis failed to signal lane changes, was wearing a hoodie up, and stared at one police car through his rear-view mirror, all of which gained the attention of officers who pulled him over near Lloyd Center.
The nearly 700-page collection of reports released by the Portland Police Department this week raises a number of questions, which may be answered by the Grand Jury transcripts, including motivation for the stop in the first place, as well as what may be questionable actions at the scene.

A police bureau diagram shows that one officer actually ran through the trajectory of gunfire unleashed by three other police officers to get out of the line of fire.

Police Chief Reese and Mayor Sam Adams today released to the media the results of the bureau's investigations into the May 12 incident, which ended in Otis' death from multiple shotgun wounds, and an officer hospitalized, also with gunshot wounds.
The transcripts from the Grand Jury investigation, which found no wrongdoing by the police officers, may be released this week, pending a judge's order.

 
Police Chief Mike Reese

Police report that Otis was armed with a semi-automatic handgun, and that the situation went out of control as he reached for the gun in a car's glove box.
They say Otis was hit by "less lethal" weapons three times before the gunshots were fired, and that he was treated at the scene by paramedics before being pronounced dead.
Burley has since been released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
The police documents indicate Otis was carrying a Taurus Millenium 111 PT semi-automatic handgun, a model made in Brazil and designed for concealed carrying, according to the company's website.
The official police bureau diagram of the Otis shooting shows Officers Defrain, Berne and Polas on the left side of the car firing at the driver, while Murphy is on the right side of the car.
Murphy apparently ran from a position just behind the passenger side window, forward in a trajectory parallel to the line of fire.
Also this year, Murphy was involved in a Jan.28 incident in which a Portland Community College women's basketball team member was stopped by police, cuffed, and released, triggering an investigation by the Independent Police Review Board.
Records showed Murphy held Delease Carter's legs as another officer cuffed her. Carter, whose coach at PCC pulled her from a basketball game the next morning because of fears she had a concussion, and who was treated at Emanuel Hospital for injuries sustained in the encounter, has filed a tort claim against the city.
The records in the May 12 Otis shooting show that a bicyclist who stopped on a nearby street corner, as well as a nearby resident who recorded the stop on an iphone, were key witnesses able to describe the entire scene as it unfolded.
However their testimony – and the rest of the witness testimony – was contradictory, the police reports show. All witness names were blanked out from the police records released Tuesday morning.
The police report quotes the bike witness describing the three-minute stop as "routine," but adding that it progressively "got tense." By the times shots were fired, he said, the scene had become one of "controlled hysteria."
Within minutes four patrol cars boxed Otis' car in near the corner of Northeast Halsey and 6th Avenues, with seven officers on the scene at the time the gunshots rang out, police reports show.
The bike witness says Otis appeared to start arguing with the police after refusing to get out of his car.
One officer then fetched a Taser, while others tried to pull Otis out by the arms as he sat in the driver's seat.
"(Blanked out) said the officer with the taser fired it at the person in the car, and the person responded by leaning or slumping over. He said very quickly afterward, there were shots fired by the officers at the person inside the car. (Blanked out) said he could not see well enough to determine if the person inside the car had a weapon to fire back."
According to the police report, this witness described himself as "neutral to the police," and said he did not think officers "provoked" Otis until he refused to step out of the car.
The iphone witness said the officers started screaming at Otis from the very beginning of the stop because he would not raise his hands as he was ordered to do. She decided to video the traffic stop because she "figured things were not going to go well," according to a detective's report on the interview.
A third witness, who is described in other testimony as an "elderly African American woman," told officers that Otis promptly put his hands up when commanded to do so, and that when Otis' hands were raised an officer "started to hit him."
The African American witness told officers she was going to pick up her granddaughter from elementary school for a trip to McDonald's with when she saw the unmarked police car pull in front of Otis' Toyota.
She said a "bald headed officer" yelled at Otis and hit him, then a second officer Tased him through the open back passenger window before the bald officer Tased Otis again through the front drivers' side window.
"She stated shortly after OTIS was tazed the second time, he looked at her and asked her not to leave him because the police were going to kill him," the police report says.
In her interview with officers after the incident, the woman – who was described elsewhere in the report as "convulsing" and in shock after Otis' death – says she could "see the front of OTIS from his belt to the top of his head and she knew he didn't have a gun."

Otis' family, in a statement to the media, declared that the budding artist had been diagnosed with a "mood disorder," which made it difficult for him to get along in the larger society.

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