11-28-2024  8:06 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

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.

'Bomb Cyclone' Kills 1 and Knocks out Power to Over Half a Million Homes Across the Northwest US

A major storm was sweeping across the northwest U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect. 

NEWS BRIEFS

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...

OMSI Opens Indoor Ice Rink for the Holiday Season

This is the first year the unique synthetic ice rink is open. ...

Thanksgiving Safety Tips

Portland Fire & Rescue extends their wish to you for a happy and safe Thanksgiving Holiday. ...

Portland Art Museum’s Rental Sales Gallery Showcases Diverse Talent

New Member Artist Show will be open to the public Dec. 6 through Jan. 18, with all works available for both rental and purchase. ...

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Oregon Announces New State Director and Community Engagement Coordinator

“This is an exciting milestone for Oregon,” said DELC Director Alyssa Chatterjee. “These positions will play critical roles in...

Oregon tribe has hunting and fishing rights restored under a long-sought court ruling

LINCOLN CITY, Ore. (AP) — Drumming made the floor vibrate and singing filled the conference room of the Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City, on the Oregon coast, as hundreds in tribal regalia danced in a circle. For the last 47 years, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz...

Schools are bracing for upheaval over fear of mass deportations

Last time Donald Trump was president, rumors of immigration raids terrorized the Oregon community where Gustavo Balderas was the school superintendent. Word spread that immigration agents were going to try to enter schools. There was no truth to it, but school staff members had to...

Missouri tops Lindenwood 81-61 as Perkins nets 18, Warrick adds 17; Tigers' Grill taken to hospital

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Tony Perkins scored 18 points and Marques Warrick added 17 to lead Missouri to an 81-61 win over Lindenwood on Wednesday night but the victory was dampened by an injury to Caleb Grill. The Tigers said that Grill, a graduate guard, suffered a head and neck injury...

Arkansas heads to No. 23 Missouri for matchup of SEC teams trying to improve bowl destinations

Arkansas (6-5, 3-4 SEC) at No. 23 Missouri (8-3, 4-3, No. 21 CFP), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (SEC) BetMGM College Football Odds: Missouri by 3 1/2. Series record: Missouri leads 11-4. WHAT’S AT STAKE? Arkansas and Missouri know they are headed...

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

Trump promised federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe. Will he follow through?

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — When Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigned in North Carolina, both candidates courted a state-recognized tribe there whose 55,000 members could have helped tip the swing state. Trump in September promised that he would sign legislation to grant federal...

Illinois court orders pretrial release for deputy charged in Sonya Massey's killing

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois appellate court ruled Wednesday that a former deputy sheriff charged with the death of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman shot in her home after she called police for help, should be released from jail pending his first-degree murder trial. ...

Democrat Derek Tran defeats GOP Rep. Michelle Steel in Southern California swing House district

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Democrat Derek Tran ousted Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel in a Southern California House district Wednesday that was specifically drawn to give Asian Americans a stronger voice on Capitol Hill. Steel said in a statement that “like all journeys, this one is...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: 'How to Think Like Socrates' leaves readers with questions

The lessons of Socrates have never really gone out of style, but if there’s ever a perfect time to revisit the ancient philosopher, now is it. In “How to Think Like Socrates: Ancient Philosophy as a Way of Life in the Modern World,” Donald J. Robertson describes Socrates' Athens...

Music Review: The Breeders' Kim Deal soars on solo debut, a reunion with the late Steve Albini

When the Pixies set out to make their 1988 debut studio album, they enlisted Steve Albini to engineer “Surfer Rosa,” the seminal alternative record which includes the enduring hit, “Where Is My Mind?” That experience was mutually beneficial to both parties — and was the beginning of a...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 1-7

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 1-7: Dec. 1: Actor-director Woody Allen is 89. Singer Dianne Lennon of the Lennon Sisters is 85. Bassist Casey Van Beek of The Tractors is 82. Singer-guitarist Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult is 80. Drummer John Densmore of The Doors is 80....

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Thousands of displaced Lebanese return from Syria as ceasefire with Israel holds

QUSAIR, Syria (AP) — Thousands of people made the crossing back into Lebanon from Syria on the second day of a...

'It's a bird! It's a plane!' In Alaska, it's both, with a pilot tossing turkeys to rural homes

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — In the remotest reaches of Alaska, there’s no relying on DoorDash to have...

'AI Jesus' avatar tests man's faith in machines and the divine

LUCERNE, Switzerland (AP) — Would you trust an “AI Jesus” with your innermost thoughts and troubles? ...

Israeli airstrikes leave massive trail of destruction across Lebanon

For more than 60 days, Lebanese have watched stunned as Israeli strikes smashed into buildings, raising giant...

Thousands of displaced Lebanese return from Syria as ceasefire with Israel holds

QUSAIR, Syria (AP) — Thousands of people made the crossing back into Lebanon from Syria on the second day of a...

Romanian court orders recount of the 1st round of the presidential vote, won by a far-right outsider

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A top Romanian court on Thursday asked the official electoral authority to recount and...

By Ed Payne CNN




Authorities expect to file charges Wednesday against the three men arrested following the dramatic discovery of a trio of missing women who police say had been held captive for close to a decade.


An administrative judge granted police an extension of the city's usual 36-hour window to charge suspects, giving them until Wednesday evening to charge Ariel Castro, 52, who lived in the home where the women were found, and his brothers, 54-year-old Pedro Castro and 50-year-old Onil Castro, police Det. Jennifer Ciaccia said Tuesday.



Police arrested the three brothers Monday night after one of the women, 27-year-old Amanda Berry, staged a daring escape with the aid of a neighbor. In addition to Berry and a 6-year-old daughter apparently born to her during her captivity, police say Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, also were freed.



The three women disappeared from the same Cleveland street -- Lorain Avenue -- between 2002 and 2004.



The Castro brothers had not been questioned by police as of Tuesday night, Ciaccia said.



Meanwhile, the women were reuniting with family members they had not seen in nearly 10 years.



"I love you honey, thank God," Berry's tearful grandmother Fern Gentry could be heard telling the young woman in a telephone call recorded by CNN affiliate WJHL. "... I've thought about you all this time. I never forgot about you."



Berry sounded upbeat -- telling Gentry that she felt "fine" and that the 6-year-old girl also rescued Monday from the Cleveland home is indeed her own.



At the home of 23-year-old Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, balloons dotted the front yard. Also present: a sign that was first hung on a fence outside the home when Gina was first reported missing nine years ago.



Her 32-year-old sister, Mayra DeJesus, told CNN's Poppy Harlow Tuesday that Gina -- for all the hell she's gone through -- is in "good spirits."



DeJesus spent the day with family, who didn't focus on what she'd gone through but more on lifting her up, her sister said.



Fewer details have emerged about Knight.



Her mother, Barbara Knight, told NBC Wednesday that she had not yet spoken to her daughter, but believed that her sons -- Michelle's brothers -- had.



"She's probably angry at the world because she thought she would never be found but thank God that somebody did," Knight told NBC.



When asked what she would say to her daughter, she said, "I love you and I missed you all this time."



Police say Berry, Knight and DeJesus were being held in a home just three miles from the area where they were abducted.



They escaped after Berry broke out the bottom of a screen door and called for help Monday evening, startling neighbor Charles Ramsey, who came over and helped kick in the door.



"I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years," the 27-year-old woman said in a frantic 911 call. "And I'm here. I'm free now."



Some neighbors of Ariel Castro spent Tuesday second-guessing themselves, questioning why they hadn't noticed signs earlier and if they could have prevented the horrors.



"This is a heartbreaking moment for us, because I'm always out there (and) I've heard nothing," said Daniel Marti, who's known Ariel Castro since junior high school and lived near him for some 22 years.



"... To us, it was like nothing was happening. But yet it was happening, right in front of our face and we didn't even know."



'He didn't want nobody back there'



The predominantly Latino neighborhood, made up mostly of two-story frame homes, sits within sight of downtown. The gentrification that has spiffed up districts on either end hasn't extended to the blocks around Castro's home, where a number of houses are boarded up. But the churches in the neighborhood still ring the bells in their steeples, and the neighbors say they look out for one another.



Authorities and several neighbors say they had no prior indication anything suspicious was going on at the nondescript home on Seymour Avenue, where a Puerto Rican flag hung from the porch.



But after Monday's discovery, they reflected back and noticed things that, in retrospect, might have signaled something awry.



Marti, for one, asked himself why he didn't question why Castro -- who, he thought, lived alone -- would return each day with bags of McDonald's food, or who would watch the little girl he occasionally took outside. He also recalled how Castro seemed to steer him away from the house when they talked: "Now that I think of it, he didn't want nobody back there."



Another neighbor, Israel Lugo, said he saw Castro at the park Sunday with a little girl and asked who she was: "He said it was his girlfriend's daughter."



Lugo said his sister got a bad vibe from the house and asked him not to let the children play unsupervised nearby. He said he heard yelling in the house in November 2011 and called police to investigate, but they left after no one answered the door.



And Nina Samoylicz, who lives nearby, said she called police about two years ago after spotting a naked woman in the backyard of Castro's house. Samoylicz said when she called out to the woman, a man told the woman to get in the house, then ran in himself.



"She was just walking around and naked," Samoylicz said. "We thought that was weird. We thought it was funny at first, and then we thought that was weird, so we called the cops. They thought we was playing, joking, they didn't believe us."



She said she had also seen tarps covering the backyard.



But Sgt. Sammy Morris, a Cleveland police spokesman, told CNN that the department had no record of a 911 call reporting a naked woman at Castro's address.



In fact, authorities never had any indications that the women were being held in the home or that anything suspicious was going on there, Cleveland Public Safety Director Martin Flask said. Neighbors had not provided any tips, he added.



Police had visited the home twice, authorities said Tuesday, once after Castro called about a fight in the street and another time to investigate Castro -- a former school bus driver -- on an unrelated incident involving a child who had been left on a bus.



The 2004 incident was the first of four exhibitions of "bad judgment" that led to Castro's November firing by Cleveland's school district, according to records released Tuesday night.



"He previously had been suspended for 60 days for leaving a child on a bus; 60 days for making an illegal U-turn in rush hour traffic with a bus load of students, and last school year for using the bus to do his grocery shopping," the letter recommending his dismissal states. His firing came after he had left his bus unattended outside a school after his preschool routes had been canceled, without notifying his dispatcher or depot.



Tito DeJesus, a bandmate of Castro's, said he had been inside the bass player's home once, about two years ago, to help deliver a washer and dryer he'd sold to the suspect and saw "a normal environment." DeJesus said he isn't related to the rescued Gina DeJesus but had known the family for years.



"It didn't seem to be a place where women were being held against their will," he said. "Of course, mind you, I didn't go throughout the entire house. I was just at the beginning of the house, in the living room, but it seemed normal."



 



Finally free



Berry was last seen after finishing her shift at a Burger King in Cleveland on April 21, 2003. It was the eve of her 17th birthday. DeJesus disappeared nearly a year later, on April 2, 2004. She was 14.



Knight vanished on August 22, 2002. She never returned after going to a neighborhood store to use a pay phone, cousin Brenda Dinickle told CNN's Zoraida Sambolin.



The family reported her missing the next day, Flask said. She was 21.



Dinickle described her cousin as mentally challenged.



"She had a mind of a child. She was slow," Dinickle said.



Nicknamed "Shorty," because of her diminutive 4-foot, 7-inch stature, the family thought Knight might be with the brother of a brother-in-law, but had no phone number to contact him.



News of her discovery came as a shock to brother Freddie Knight, who didn't know she was missing until he saw the story on TV.



"I was freaking happy as hell, because I didn't know my sister was kidnapped," he said. "My mom never tells me anything."



Knight said their mom, who now lives in Naples, Florida, kicked him out of the house when he was 14 and they remain estranged.



CNN not could immediately confirm the details of Knight's account.



Knight said he met with his sister at the hospital and gave her a hug, saying the ordeal had left her traumatized.



"I hugged her because she wanted a hug," he said. "My sister is going to move on, forget the past ... , leave it behind, start anew."



The three women and the child were released Tuesday from the hospital where they had been taken for evaluations, a spokeswoman said. Cleveland's Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba said all four appeared to be in good condition, if in need of a good meal.



'We're hoping for a miracle'



Investigators had previously speculated that the disappearances of Berry, DeJesus and another girl, 14-year-old Ashley Summers, may have been connected. Summers' family last saw her in July 2007, when she was 14.



"We did in fact believe there was an association between the Berry case and the DeJesus case as well as the Summers case," said former FBI agent Jennifer Eakin. Eakin is now a case manager at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which in 2008 held a comprehensive review of the cases with the FBI and Cleveland police.



Now the Summers family is hoping that the Cleveland investigation will yield information about Ashley, her aunt, Debra Summers, said.



"We're hoping for a miracle," she said.



Vicki Anderson, the spokeswoman for the Cleveland FBI office, said investigators will question the three women found Monday in the hope that they know something about Summers' disappearance.



 



CNN's Zoraida Sambolin reported from Cleveland and Ed Payne reported and wrote in Atlanta. Matt Smith, Greg Botelho, Michael Pearson, Tory Dunnan, Martin Savidge, Jason Hanna, Josh Levs, Steve Almasy, Laura Ly and Rande Iaboni also contributed to this report.

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