12-14-2024  12:05 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Oregon Lawmakers Approve $218M in Emergency Wildfire Funding in Special Session

According to Gov. Tina Kotek's office, fighting the fires cost the state over 0 million, making it the most expensive wildfire season in Oregon history. 

Rosemont Court Among Affordable Housing Projects to Receive State Funding

The historic property housed more than 100 low-income seniors until a Legionnaire’s outbreak forced residents out in 2021.

Proposed Merger of Supermarket Giants Kroger and Albertsons Is Halted by Federal, State Judges

A federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked the proposed merger until an in-house administrative judge at the Federal Trade Commission considers it. 

1803 Fund Will Invest $8 million in 11 Community Partners to Strengthen Black Portland

The 1803 Fund has announced it will invest million in 11 community-based partners aimed at strengthening Black Portland. Founded in 2020, the investment fund aims to grow shared prosperity, through a mix of financial investments and investments in community-based organizations.

NEWS BRIEFS

Congress Honors Shirley Chisholm with Congressional Gold Medal for Trailblazing Legacy

In 1972, she made history as the first Black candidate and the first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. ...

House Votes to Rename Post Office in Honor of Elijah Cummings

Elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1982, Cummings became the youngest chair of the Legislative Black Caucus and the first...

House Passes Bonamici Bill to Rename Post Office in Honor of Former Rep. Elizabeth Furse

Furse represented Oregon’s First Congressional District for three terms from 1993-1999 and established her legacy as a champion for...

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 ...

Mysterious googly eyes go viral after appearing on public art in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Googly eyes have been appearing on sculptures around the central Oregon city of Bend, delighting many residents and sparking a viral sensation covered widely by news outlets and featured on a popular late-night talk show. On social media, the city shared photos...

Travis Hunter and Ashton Jeanty give this year's Heisman Trophy ceremony a different vibe

NEW YORK (AP) — Same iconic statue, very different race. With two-way star Travis Hunter of Colorado and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty leading the field, these certainly aren't your typical Heisman Trophy contenders. Sure, veteran quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel...

LIU visits Bates and Missouri

Long Island Sharks (4-8) at Missouri Tigers (8-1) Columbia, Missouri; Saturday, 12 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Missouri plays LIU after Tamar Bates scored 29 points in Missouri's 76-67 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks. The Tigers are 8-0 in home games. Missouri...

No. 23 Missouri and Iowa meet for the Music City Bowl

Music City Bowl: Iowa (8-4) vs. No. 23 Missouri (9-3), Dec. 30 at 2:30 p.m. EST. BetMGM College Football Odds: Missouri by 2.5. KEY MATCHUP The Tigers' offense ranks 60th in the FBS at 29.1 points per game. The Hawkeyes allow 17.1 per game (ninth in college...

OPINION

My Head Start Story: A Lifetime Connection

NNPA NEWSWIRE — When it was time to move on from Head Start, my literacy and numeracy skills were advanced. Head Start taught my mother how to advocate for what was in my best interest educationally. ...

OP-ED: The Future of American Education: A Call to Action

“Education is a non-negotiable priority. Parents and community leaders must work to safeguard the education system. The future of our children—and the fabric of our society—depends on advocating for policies that give every student the chance to...

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. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Benin grants citizenship to slave descendants as it faces its own role in the trade

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — When Nadege Anelka first came to the West African country of Benin from her home island of Martinique, a French overseas territory in the Caribbean, the 57-year-old travel agent said she had a feeling of deja vu. “A lot of the people reminded me of my...

Leader of California white supremacist group gets two years in prison

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The leader of a Southern California white supremacist group was sentenced Friday to two years in federal prison for inciting violence at California political rallies in 2017. Robert Paul Rundo, 34, pleaded guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to violate...

NY police force strip searched nearly everyone it arrested, DOJ says

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. (AP) — A suburban New York police department routinely violated residents' civil rights, including making illegal arrests and using unnecessary strip and cavity searches, according to a new U.S. Department of Justice report. The report on a pattern and practice of...

ENTERTAINMENT

Lauren Mayberry steps out of the band Chvrches for a solo album that shows her influences

NEW YORK (AP) — The birth of Lauren Mayberry as a solo artist should be marked by something like a wolf cry. And that's exactly what it sounds like. The vocalist and percussionist from the Scottish pop band Chvrches has punctuated her debut album with a playful howl while telling...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 15-21

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 15-21: Dec. 15: Singer Cindy Birdsong of The Supremes is 85. Drummer Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five is 82. Drummer Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge is 78. Actor Don Johnson is 75. Actor Melanie Chartoff (“Rugrats,” ″Parker Lewis...

Kate Hamill delivers a 'feminist primal scream' with her new play 'The Light and the Dark'

NEW YORK (AP) — The inspiration for Kate Hamill's latest play came from across centuries and the planet. The actor-playwright was honeymooning in Italy in 2020 when she walked into the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and spotted a painting by pioneering Baroque painter Artemisia...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Yankees get closer Devin Williams from Brewers for Nestor Cortes, Caleb Durbin

NEW YORK (AP) — After acquiring Juan Soto for a one-year rental and failing to keep him as a free agent, the New...

Some in seafood industry see Trump as fishermen's friend, but tariffs could make for pricier fish

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is likely to bring big...

Syrians cheer end of 50 years of Assad rule at first Friday prayers since government fell

DAMASCUS (AP) — Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad,...

EU nations agree a crackdown on migrant smugglers. Some fear it may target people trying to help

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries agreed on Friday a draft law aimed at preventing and countering migrant...

American pilgrim imprisoned in Assad's Syria calls his release from prison a 'blessing'

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An American who disappeared seven months ago into former Syrian President Bashar...

Hearings are done: Now the wait begins for verdict on closely-watched climate case at UN’s top court

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A lawyer for a small South Pacific island nation told the world’s highest court...

Anthony Mccartney AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Whitney Houston's life of glorious song and unnerving self-destruction apparently ended in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Grammy weekend, but it could be weeks before investigators know exactly why she died.

Coroner's officials said they will not release any information on an autopsy performed Sunday at the request of police detectives investigating the singer's death. Houston was found in the bathtub of her room, but Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter declined to say anything more about the room's condition or any evidence investigators recovered.

There were no indications of foul play and no obvious signs of trauma on Houston's body, but officials were not ruling out any causes of death until they have toxicology results, which will likely take weeks to obtain.

"We do not know yet and when we find out we will be in contact with be Beverly Hills PD," Winter said Monday. "But first we'll be in contact with the family and give them our findings."

Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen said that his agency may release more details Monday about Houston's death, but it will depend on whether detectives feel comfortable releasing any information.

Security holds on autopsy results are used in some high-profile Los Angeles cases, with Michael Jackson's results being withheld for weeks while detectives pieced together the circumstances of his death in June 2009. Toxicology results are frequently necessary before the coroner will release an official cause of death.

The body, meanwhile, remained at the coroner's office Monday.

"The family is making arrangements," Winter said. "I don't know when the family is going to have her body picked up. But they are making arrangements and sometimes it takes a couple days."

A member of Houston's entourage found the 48-year-old singer unresponsive in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, just hours before she was supposed to appear at a pre-Grammy gala.

The Grammys themselves were in part a memorial to Houston, a six-time winner. LL Cool J introduced a clip near the start of the show of a glowing Houston singing her signature ballad, a cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You."

Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder were among other performers who praised Houston and Jennifer Hudson capped the tributes with an emotional version of "I Will Always Love You" that ended with a personal note: "Whitney, we love you." Houston's most famous song was the most downloaded single for much of Sunday on iTunes.

Meanwhile, Houston's daughter was transported by ambulance to a Los Angeles hospital Sunday morning and later released. A source close to the family who did not want to speak given the sensitivity of the matter said she was treated and released for stress and anxiety. Bobbi Kristina Brown, 18, who is Houston's daughter from her marriage to singer Bobby Brown, had accompanied her mother to several pre-Grammy Awards events last week.

"At this time, we ask for privacy, especially for my daughter, Bobbi Kristina," Bobby Brown wrote in a statement released about an hour after she was transported from the hotel. "I appreciate all of the condolences that have been directed towards my family and I at this most difficult time."

A sensation from her very first album, Houston was one of the world's best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. She awed millions with soaring, but disciplined vocals rooted in gospel and polished for the masses, a bridge between the earthy passion of her godmother, Aretha Franklin, and the bouncy pop of her cousin, Dionne Warwick.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she became a rare black actress with box office appeal, starring in such hits as "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."

Bishop T.D. Jakes, a Texas minister and producer on Houston's final film project, a re-make of the 1970s release "Sparkle," said he saw no signs she was having any substance issues. He said Houston was a complete professional and moved the cast and crew to tears two months ago when she sang the gospel hymn "Her Eyes on the Sparrow" for a scene shot in Detroit.

"There was no evidence in working with her on `Sparkle' that there was any struggle in her life," Jakes said Sunday. "She just left a deep impression on everybody."

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Associated Press writers Nekesa Mumbi Moody and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles, Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tenn.; Bruce Shipkowski in Newark, N.J.; and Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this report.

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