10-04-2024  9:21 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Companies Back Away From Oregon Floating Offshore Wind Project as Opposition Grows

The federal government finalized two areas for floating offshore wind farms along the Oregon coast in February. But opposition from tribes, fishermen and coastal residents highlights some of the challenges the plan faces.

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Mid-year enrollment to allow greater flexibility for providers, families.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden Demands Answers From Emergency Rooms That Denied Care to Pregnant Patients

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Governor Kotek Uses New Land Use Law to Propose Rural Land for Semiconductor Facility

Oregon is competing against other states to host multibillion-dollar microchip factories. A 2023 state law created an exemption to the state's hallmark land use policy aimed at preventing urban sprawl and protecting nature and agriculture.

NEWS BRIEFS

Oregon’s 2024-25 Teacher of the Year is Bryan Butcher Jr. of Beaumont Middle School

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Midland Library to Reopen in October

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U.S. Congressman Al Green Commends Biden Administration on Launching Investigation into 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre; Mulls Congressional Action

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Governor Kotek, Oregon Housing and Community Services Announce Current and Projected Homelessness Initiative Outcomes

The announcement is accompanied by a data dashboard that shows the progress for the goals set within the...

Senators ask Justice Department to take tougher action against Boeing executives over safety issues

Two U.S. senators have asked the Department of Justice to take tougher action against Boeing executives by holding them criminally accountable for safety issues that have impacted its airplanes. In a letter dated Wednesday and sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Democratic...

Taxpayers in 24 states will be able to file their returns directly with the IRS in 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS is expanding its program that allows people to file their taxes directly with the agency for free. The federal tax collector’s Direct File program, which allows taxpayers to calculate and submit their returns to the government directly without using...

No 9 Missouri faces stiff road test in visit to No. 25 Texas A&M

No. 9 Missouri hits the road for the first time this season, facing arguably its toughest challenge so far. The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) know the trip to No. 25 Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0) on Saturday will be tough for several reasons if they want to extend their...

No. 9 Missouri looks to improve to 5-0 in visit to No. 25 Texas A&M

No. 9 Missouri (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) at No. 25 Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0), Saturday, 12 p.m. ET (ABC). BetMGM College Football Odds: Texas A&M by 2 1/2. Series record: Texas A&M leads 9-7. WHAT’S AT STAKE? The winner will...

OPINION

The Skanner News: 2024 City Government Endorsements

In the lead-up to a massive transformation of city government, the mayor’s office and 12 city council seats are open. These are our endorsements for candidates we find to be most aligned with the values of equity and progress in Portland, and who we feel...

No Cheek Left to Turn: Standing Up for Albina Head Start and the Low-Income Families it Serves is the Only Option

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DOJ and State Attorneys General File Joint Consumer Lawsuit

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America Needs Kamala Harris to Win

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AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

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For Pittsburgh Jews, attack anniversary adds to an already grim October

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Civilization 7 makers work with Shawnee to bring sincere representation of the tribe to the game

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ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: 'The Last Dream,' short stories scattered with the seeds of Pedro Almodovar films

The seeds of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar's later cinematic work are scattered throughout the pages of “The Last Dream,” his newly published collection of short writings. The stories and essays were gathered together by Almodóvar's longtime assistant, including many pieces...

Book Review: Louise Erdrich writes about love and loss in North Dakota in ’The Mighty Red’

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Book Review: 'Revenge of the Tipping Point' is fan service for readers of Gladwell's 2000 book

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U.S. & WORLD NEWS

A year later, Israeli survivors reflect on the lingering toll of Oct. 7

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Cousins throws for 509 yards, hits Hodge in OT to give Falcons 36-30 win over Bucs

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Tunisia votes Sunday in its third presidential election since the Arab Spring

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Clashes in Kenya as people discuss the deputy president's impeachment motion

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Ben Brumfield and Saima Mohsin CNN

ISLAMABAD (CNN) -- Osama bin Laden typically wore a cowboy hat while tending his garden.

Its broad brim obscured his features from the view of pesky eyes or satellite cameras that might blow his cover while he was hiding out in Pakistan, according to a report published widely in Pakistani media.

The 337-page leaked report details the domestic life of one of the world's most wanted men as a grandfather in his final days of life.

It also scathes Pakistani authorities for failing to keep him out of the country, and for failing to prevent the U.S. raid by Navy SEALs that killed bin Laden in May 2011.

CNN is working to confirm the authenticity of the report, which bears the names of a former top diplomat, a supreme court justice and former officers of the military and police.

Veggie growing contest

The famous terrorist's life was speckled with quirky measures designed to keep him under the radar, the report said.

Al Qaeda's No. 1 spent lots of time doting on his some dozen children and grandchildren in the six years he spent in his walled compound in the city of Abbottabad, said terror expert Peter Bergen, commenting on the report.

They could not pass time watching TV or surfing online, because bin Laden had no Internet connection and no satellite television hook-up. He also didn't have a phone line, all measures to avoid detection.

For the same reason, the children were not allowed to play with other kids in the neighborhood. They spent the bulk of their lives within the compound's walls.

When bin Laden was not personally giving them religious instruction, he took them out into the yard.

He would award them prizes if they grew particularly good vegetables in the garden.

Faking deafness

Bin Laden fled to Pakistan a month after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, moving from the south to the north then hopping from town to town before landing in Abbottabad in 2005.

While he was on the run, one of his wives gave birth four times and had to be taken to local hospitals, but it was obvious that she was not from the region. She spoke Arabic instead of Urdu, Pakistan's official language.

Bin Laden's family feared this might raise suspicions. So, they told doctors she was deaf and mute.

While on the run in the restive tribal region of the Swat Valley, bin Laden shaved off his recognizable beard, according to the report. Men helping him told others not to ask any questions about the tall stranger, who spoke Arabic.

While in Swat, police once pulled bin Laden's driver over, but he quickly settled the matter, before the officer had a chance to get a closer look at the clean-shaven man riding with him.

After arriving in Abottabad, a woman living in the same building with bin Laden recognized him from his image shown on cable TV. Her husband, who was helping bin Laden, went into a panic, the report said.

He told her to mind her own business and forbade her and all other women in the house from watching TV anymore.

The assassination raid

The measures kept bin Laden from being recognized for years in a city known for being the home to one of Pakistan's largest military complexes.

The CIA eventually suspected he was there and recruited a Pakistani doctor to run a vaccination program in Abbottabad in an attempt to find bin Laden by locating his children through their DNA.

Eventually the United States did find bin Laden and assassinated him during a special forces raid on his compound. He was later buried at sea, the U.S. military said.

Although the SEALs were within Pakistan's borders for three hours, its military did not detect them.

"The radar systems were not looking for that kind of intrusion from the Afghan side of the border," terror expert Peter Bergen said. He feels sure that will change now.

The report also dedicated 22 pages to fighting terrorism and keeping people like bin Laden from taking refuge in the country again.

The report's authors blast Pakistani authorities at every level of government, intelligence and the military for not stopping the U.S. mission, calling it "a story of complacency, ignorance, negligence, incompetence, irresponsibility, and possibly worse at various levels inside and outside the government."

Pakistan's government considers the assassination operation a violation of its sovereignty, basically an act of war.

CNN's Melissa Grey contributed to this report.