06-16-2024  9:03 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

‘Feeling Our Age’: Oregon Artist Explores Aging Through Portraiture

64 women were painted and asked to reflect on lives well lived.

Off-Duty Guard Charged With Killing Seattle-Area Teen After Mistaking Toy for Gun, Authorities Say

Prosecutors charged 51-year-old Aaron Brown Myers on Monday in connection with the death of Hazrat Ali Rohani. Myers was also charged with assault after authorities say he held another teen at gunpoint. His attorney says Myers sincerely believed he was stopping a violent crime.

James Beard Finalists Include an East African Restaurant in Detroit and Seattle Pho Shops

The James Beards Awards are the culinary world's equivalent of the Oscars. For restaurants, even being named a finalist can bring wide recognition and boost business.

Ranked-Choice Voting Expert Grace Ramsey on What Portland Voters Can Expect in November

Ramsey has worked in several other states and cities to educate voters on new system of voting. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Montavilla Pool to Reopen in July After Mandatory Maintenance

The pool will open later this summer due to an upgrade to the pool’s plumbing that required a more complex solution to achieve...

Coalition of 43 AGs Reach $700 Million Nationwide Settlement With Johnson and Johnson Over Deceptive Marketing; Oregon to Receive $15 Million

Today, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and 42 other attorneys general announced they have reached a 0 million nationwide...

Juneteenth 2024 Events in Portland and Seattle

View events celebrating Juneteenth in the Portland and Seattle area ...

Kobi Flowers Crowned 2024 Rose Festival Queen

Flowers has been active in her school community as member of the leadership team at Self Enhancement, Inc., Varsity Cheer...

Summer Events are Shining Through at Multnomah County Library

Start your June by honoring Juneteenth, celebrating Pride and playing the Summer Reading game. ...

Judge could soon set trial date for man charged in killings of 4 University of Idaho students

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A judge could soon decide on a trial date for a man charged in the deaths of four University of Idaho students who were killed more than a year and a half ago. Bryan Kohberger was arrested roughly six weeks after the bodies of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle,...

Crews rescue 28 people trapped upside down high on Oregon amusement park ride

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Emergency crews in Oregon rescued 28 people Friday after they were stuck for about half an hour dangling upside down high on a ride at a century-old amusement park. Portland Fire and Rescue said on the social platform X that firefighters worked with engineers...

Kansas lawmakers poised to lure Kansas City Chiefs from Missouri, despite economists' concerns

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 170-year-old rivalry is flaring up as Kansas lawmakers try to snatch the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs away from Missouri even though economists long ago concluded subsidizing pro sports isn't worth the cost. The Kansas Legislature's top leaders...

Josh Sargent out for Colombia friendly, could miss Copa America

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — United States forward Josh Sargent could miss Saturday's friendly against Colombia and could be dropped from the Copa America roster. A 24-year-old from O'Fallon, Missouri, Sargent scored 16 goals in 26 league games with Norwich in England's second-tier League...

OPINION

Supreme Court Says 'Yes” to Consumer Protection, "No" to Payday Lenders 7-2 Decision Upholds CFPB’s Funding

A recent 7-2 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court gave consumers a long-sought victory that ended more than a decade of challenges over the constitutionality of the agency created to be the nation’s financial cop on the beat. ...

The Skanner News May 2024 Primary Endorsements

Read The Skanner News endorsements and vote today. Candidates for mayor and city council will appear on the November general election ballot. ...

Nation’s Growing Racial and Gender Wealth Gaps Need Policy Reform

Never-married Black women have 8 cents in wealth for every dollar held by while males. ...

New White House Plan Could Reduce or Eliminate Accumulated Interest for 30 Million Student Loan Borrowers

Multiple recent announcements from the Biden administration offer new hope for the 43.2 million borrowers hoping to get relief from the onerous burden of a collective

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Many voters in swing-state North Carolina are disengaged. Party activists hope to fire them up

OXFORD, N.C. (AP) — She opens the door wearing a gray tank top, Hello Kitty pajama pants and pink fuzzy slippers. With her 6-year-old son standing quietly beside her, she listens patiently as Liz Purvis begins discussing what's at stake in the election this November. The woman,...

Trump visits a Black church, addresses a MAGA activist gathering amid swing through pivotal Michigan

DETROIT (AP) — Donald Trump used back-to-back stops Saturday to court Black voters and a conservative group that has been accused of attracting white supremacists as the Republican presidential candidate works to stitch together a coalition of historically divergent interests in battleground...

South Africa's President Ramaphosa is reelected for second term after a dramatic late coalition deal

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was reelected by lawmakers for a second term on Friday, after his party struck a dramatic late coalition deal with a former political foe just hours before the vote. Ramaphosa, the leader of the African National...

ENTERTAINMENT

Roger Daltrey talks new tour, thoughts on Broadway’s ‘Tommy’ and future of The Who

NEW YORK (AP) — As Roger Daltrey hits the road on a short solo tour this June, he’s unsure if fans will ever see another tour from The Who. “I don’t see it. I don’t know whether The Who’ll ever will go out again,” he told The Associated Press over Zoom. The...

Book Review: Yume Kitasei explores space in a heist-driven action adventure novel

Grad student Maya Hoshimoto is having a hard time settling down on Earth after a thrilling career as an art thief, stealing looted objects and returning them to their people. So when her best friend Auncle — an octopus-like being from another solar system — offers one last job, of course she...

Griffin Dunne finds balance between madcap Hollywood adventures and family tragedy in new memoir

NEW YORK (AP) — Griffin Dunne says he’s grateful his parents raised him with what he affectionately calls “benign neglect" in 1970s and '80s Los Angeles because it encouraged creativity and risk-taking that led to some wild experiences he chronicles in his new memoir. “The...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

German police intervene to stem clashes between England and Serbia fans before Euro 2024 match

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — Riot police in Germany intervened to stop brawling soccer fans before Sunday’s...

Stores are more subdued in observing Pride Month. Some LGBTQ+ people see a silver lining in that

NEW YORK (AP) — With Pride Month in full gear, U.S. shoppers can find the usual merchandise many stores stock...

List of winners at the 2024 Tony Awards

NEW YORK (AP) — Winners at the 2024 Tony Awards, announced Sunday. Best Musical: “The...

Fight for control of Yemen's banks between rebels, government threatens to further wreck economy

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels and its internationally recognized government are locked in a fight...

Candidates race to register for French election but one convicted of spousal assault withdraws

PARIS (AP) — Candidates were racing to register for an early parliamentary election before a Sunday evening...

New Caledonia reopening its international airport and shortening curfew as unrest continues to ebb

PARIS (AP) — The French Pacific territory of New Caledonia is shortening its overnight curfew and reopening its...

Pluria Marshall
Pluria Marshall, Jr.

Federal regulators on Thursday approved the sale of two FOX TV affiliates to longtime media executive Pluria Marshall Jr., president and CEO of Houston-based Marshall Broadcasting Group (MBG).

Marshall, also publisher of Wave Publications Group in Los Angeles, will acquire Fox affiliates KPEJ-TV in Odessa, Texas and KMSS-TV in Shreveport, La., officials from the Federal Communications Commission announced.

FCC officials approved the sale of KLJB in Quad Cities/Davenport, Iowa to Marshall Broadcasting last month. The three stations are part of a $58.5 million purchase agreement between Marshall Broadcasting and Nexstar.

The license transfer to Marshall Broadcasting was one of several approved transactions that will result in 10 new minority- and women-owned stations, FCC officials said. Thursday’s approval makes Marshall Broadcasting one of the largest minority owners of full-power, commercial TV stations in the nation.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said the license transfers announced Thursday represent an important step in fulfilling the FCC’s commitment to incubate broadcast station ownership by minority-owned companies.

“Increasing minority ownership of television broadcast stations has been an often-stated, but elusive goal,” they said in a statement released Thursday. “While there is widespread agreement on the need for progress, there has been very little by way of new ideas to solve the twin problems of access and opportunity.

“With the Media Bureau’s approval of several transactions today, however, we see the emergence of new ownership models that will not only bring more independent voices to the station ownership ranks in a manner that promotes diversity, competition, and localism,” the statement read.

Perry A. Sook, chairman, president and Chief Executive Officer of Nexstar Broadcasting Group, has said that the transactions complements Nexstar’s strategic focus on localism, including expanded local news, sports and other programming.

He said, “The MBG transaction serves as a model to increase media ownership diversity while extending Nexstar’s long-term, well-documented initiatives to serve the public interests and needs of local viewers, hometown businesses, and organizations in the markets where we operate.

“As a result of this approval, Nexstar will lead the industry in incubating a new, minority-controlled entrant to broadcasting and bringing additional news, information and specialized programming to markets where MBG will operate.”

Marshall, president and CEO of MBG, said he is “delighted to secure the approval from the FCC and the support of Nexstar” as the two companies seek to diversify the ownership of media assets among minority operators.

“We applaud the FCC for its forward-thinking approach to providing appropriate guidelines and structure that enable new entrants to own, operate and program television stations,” Marshall has said.

The Texas native also said he looks forward to playing an active role in the three communities his stations serves while “developing minority-oriented public affairs programming that will air on MBG stations and be syndicated to other television stations nationwide.”

The three Marshall Broadcasting acquisitions have been endorsed by several media monitors and by members of the Congressional Black Caucus because they would significantly boost the number of Black-owned TV stations in America, provide broader career options for Blacks in television and create an opportunity for more diverse and increased local programming in broadcasting.

Wheeler said Thursday’s approvals represent “clear-eyed market-based solutions to the longstanding challenge of low minority broadcast ownership.”

“We look forward to the continued expansion of minority ownership of broadcast stations and invite the participation of all stakeholders in working toward this goal,” the statement said.

Before the recent approvals, only a handful of the nation’s 1,300-plus full-power, commercial TV stations were Black-owned, officials say. The other transactions approved Thursday include:

  • WEVV-TV, Evansville, Indiana to DuJuan McCoy, CEO of Bayou City Broadcasting Evansville, Inc.
  • WMMP(TV), Charleston, South Carolina, WCFT(TV), Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and WJSU-TV, Anniston, Alabama to Howard Stirk Holdings, LCC, which is owned and controlled by Armstrong Williams.
  • KJCT(TV), Grand Junction, CO, KXJB(TV), Valley City, ND, KAQY(TV), Columbia, LA, and KNHL(TV), Hastings, NE to MMTC Media and Telecom Brokers, the brokerage arm of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast