11-04-2024  3:37 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

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.

Police Say Fires Set at Ballot Boxes in Oregon and Washington Are Connected; ‘Suspect Vehicle’ ID'd

Surveillance images captured a Volvo stopping at a drop box in Portland, just before security personnel nearby discovered a fire inside the box. That fire damaged three ballots inside, while officials say a fire at a drop box in nearby Vancouver, Washington, early Monday destroyed hundreds of ballots.

Two Major Affordable Housing Developments Reach Milestones in Portland

Both will provide culturally specific supportive services to residents. 

Washington State AG and Ex-Sheriff Face off in Governor's Race

Former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert is trying to become Washington’s first GOP governor in 40 years. But he faces a difficult hurdle in the Democratic stronghold against longtime Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a darling of liberals for his many lawsuits against the Trump administration. 

NEWS BRIEFS

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 ...

AG Rosenblum Releases Election Guidance to Law Enforcement and Message to Registered Oregon Voters

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum: Haven’t received your ballot? Contact your county elections office! ...

Oregon Begins Rollout of New Housing Benefits for Eligible OHP Members With Health Conditions

The housing benefits include rent assistance for up to six months, utility set-up and payments for up to six months, home...

Oregon Department of Education Releases Cell Phone Policy Guidance

ODE recommends creating policies to limit or reduce cell phone use during the school day. ...

Nevada lithium mine will crush rare plant habitat US said is critical to its survival, lawsuit says

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Conservationists and an advocacy group for Native Americans are suing the U.S. to try to block a Nevada lithium mine they say will drive an endangered desert wildflower to extinction, disrupt groundwater flows and threaten cultural resources. The Center for...

AP Top 25: Oregon a unanimous No. 1 ahead of 1st CFP rankings, followed by Georgia, Ohio State

Oregon was the unanimous choice for No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, strengthening its bid for the top spot in the College Football Playoff selection committee's first rankings of the season. The Ducks are No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the third straight...

Memphis hosts Missouri to start season

Missouri Tigers at Memphis Tigers Memphis, Tennessee; Monday, 8 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -4.5; over/under is 154.5 BOTTOM LINE: Memphis opens the season at home against Missouri. Memphis went 22-10 overall with a 13-2 record at...

Memphis Tigers open season at home against the Missouri Tigers

Missouri Tigers at Memphis Tigers Memphis, Tennessee; Monday, 8 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -4.5; over/under is 152.5 BOTTOM LINE: Memphis opens the season at home against Missouri. Memphis finished 13-2 at home a season ago while...

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

Harris and Trump's final push before Election Day brings them to the same patch of Pennsylvania

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump made their final pitches to voters Monday in the same part of Pennsylvania, at roughly the same time, spending the last full day of the presidential campaign in a state that could make or break their chances. ...

Supreme Court will weigh in on new mostly Black Louisiana congressional district, after election

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it will take up a new redistricting case involving Louisiana's congressional map with two mostly Black districts. The court won't hear arguments until early next year and the 2024 elections are proceeding under the challenged map,...

Moldova's diaspora tipped the scales in a pivotal election. Critics question the vote's validity

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovans living abroad voted in record numbers in a presidential runoff that secured victory for pro-Western President Maia Sandu, in a pivotal race that pitted her against a Russia-friendly opponent amid ongoing claims of Russian interference, voter fraud, and...

ENTERTAINMENT

There's a ton of Hollywood stars on and off Broadway these days. Here's a game you can play

NEW YORK (AP) — There are so many Hollywood stars on New York theater stages or on the way that you might want to level up your stargazing game. Why not play some bingo? Sure, Robert Downey Jr., Daniel Dae Kim, Jim Parsons, Mia Farrow, and Katie Holmes are currently in New York, and...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 3-9

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 3-9 Nov. 3: Actor Lois Smith is 94. Actor-radio personality Shadoe Stevens (“Dave’s World”) is 78. Singer Lulu is 76. Actor-comedian Roseanne Barr is 72. Actor Kate Capshaw (“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”) is 71. Actor Kathy...

Fourth Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland is set for release July 2026

Tom Holland is getting ready to don his Spidey suit again. The fourth installment of the blockbuster series has been set for a July 2026 release, Sony Pictures said Friday. Daniel Destin Cretton, best known for helming Marvel's “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," has also...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Elon Musk’s jumi million-a-day voter sweepstakes can proceed, a Pennsylvania judge says

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The jumi million-a-day voter sweepstakes that Elon Musk 's political action committee is...

The death toll in Lebanon crosses 3,000 in the 13-month Israel-Hezbollah war, Health Ministry says

BEIRUT (AP) — The 13-month war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed more than 3,000 people in Lebanon, the...

Harris, Obamas and voting rights leaders work to turn out Black voters in run-up to Election Day

MIAMI (AP) — Concerts and carnivals hosted at polling precincts. “Souls to the Polls” mobilizations after...

South Korea and EU worry about Russia's technology transfer in return for North Korea troops

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea and the European Union on Monday strongly condemned North Korea’s...

Thousands rally again in Georgia to protest the parliamentary election they say was rigged

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Thousands of opposition supporters rallied outside Georgia's parliament for the second...

Mexico's National Guard kills 2 Colombians and wounds 4 on a migrant smuggling route near the US

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s National Guard fatally shot two Colombians and wounded four others in what the...

Samantha Gross the Associated Press


A view of ground zero in 2002
 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The plot of land known for a decade as "the pile," "the pit" and "ground zero" opened to the public Monday for the first time since that terrible morning in 2001, transformed into a memorial consisting of two serene reflecting pools ringed by the chiseled-in-bronze names of the nearly 3,000 souls lost.

The 9/11 memorial plaza opened its gates at 10 a.m. under tight, airport-style security. Visitors were allowed to walk among hundreds of white oak trees on the eight-acre site and gaze at the water on the exact spots where the World Trade Center's twin towers stood.

They will also be able to run their fingers over the names of the 2,977 people killed in the terrorist attacks in New York, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, as well as the six who died in the bombing of the trade center in 1993. Electronic directories with a "Find a Name" button will help people locate their loved ones.

One of the first members of the public to visit was Eileen Cristina, 64, of Lititz, Pa., who volunteered her services as a massage therapist to the landfill workers who handled the trade center debris. She was moved to tears by the moment Monday.

"For me, the water element is very important, because water is so cleansing. Water can cleanse the energy of the area," she said.

Julio Portalatin, of Jersey City, N.J., had a ticket for 10:30 a.m.

"I'm very, very drawn to this place," said Portalatin, who survived the attack on the north tower, where he worked for an insurance company. He added: "It's such a classy way to honor those who perished."

He and his wife got their tickets online three weeks ago "to pay tribute, to pay honor, to the eternal-ness of it all."

The memorial plaza opened to the families of the victims for the first time on Sunday.

Among the visitors on both Sunday and Monday was Jelena Watkins. Watkins' brother died at the trade center, and she came from London for Sunday's 10th anniversary of the attacks.

At the memorial, she and her husband held up their two children so that they could see their uncle's name. Luka, 5, ran his hands through the water that pools under the names.

"I love it. It was a huge relief to see that it's actually beautiful," Watkins said. "It's the right feel. It's just so right. It's so spacious."

Although thousands of construction workers have come and gone from the site over the years, Monday marked the first time that ordinary Americans without a badge, a press pass or a hard hat were able to walk the grounds where the victims were once entombed in a mountain of smoking rubble.

"For the vast majority of the world, the images that they remember from this site are very difficult. It's the recovery period, it's seeing those images of the towers falling. So when they come on now and see this place that's been transformed into a place of beauty, it's exciting," memorial president Joe Daniels said Monday before the memorial opened.

Admission is free, but access is tightly controlled. Visitors need to obtain passes in advance, allowing them to enter at a specified time. No more than about 1,500 at a time will be allowed in.

Visitors must empty their pockets, walk through a metal detector and send their handbags and backpacks through an X-ray machine.

About 7,000 people were issued tickets for opening day. Some 400,000 have reserved tickets for the coming months, Daniels said.

The museum portion of the memorial complex is still under construction. The museum pavilion, a tilting structure that evokes the sections of the trade center facade that remained standing after the towers fell, is scheduled to open on the 11th anniversary of the attacks.

Eventually visitors to the underground portion will be able to gaze at such sights as the giant slurry wall, built to keep the Hudson River from flooding the trade center's foundations, and the survivor's staircase that allowed so many people to flee to safety.

But seeing the names was enough for many of the 9/11 families.

"It breaks me up," said David Martinez, who watched the attacks from his office in Manhattan and later learned that he had lost a cousin and a brother, one in each tower.

Debra Burlingame, whose brother, Charles, was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, cried when she found his name, grouped with other crew members and passengers aboard the flight.

"These are all his crew," she said. "I know all their families. These passengers, I knew their families. These people are real people to me. It's very touching to see all these people here together."

The letters in the names have been entirely cut out of the bronze, with only emptiness beneath them.

The cost of the memorial and museum has been put at about $700 million, with an annual operating budget of $50 million to $60 million. The nonprofit organization that runs the project has raised about $400 million in private donations and is seeking federal funds so that the memorial and museum can be free of charge.

The centerpiece of the memorial is the two giant, square pits and reflecting pools that sit in the footprints of the two towers. The waterfalls cascading down the four walls of each fountain are the largest such fountains in North America.

Skyscrapers are now pushing upward all around the plaza, and the roar of construction will be a constant at the site for some time.

One World Trade Center, the spire once called the Freedom Tower, is now 1,000 feet high and well on its way to becoming the tallest building in the U.S. at 1,776 feet - higher even than the twin towers. The steel skeleton of the new 4 World Trade Center is 47 stories high and counting.

The memorial foundation has arranged for a separate entrance for relatives of the victims and plans to set aside certain days or hours where the plaza will be open only to firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers.

"People will have that very special feeling of stepping on ground that the public has not in the last 10 years," Daniels said last week.

As for the tight security, he said: "It's an inconvenience, but if you think about any site in the world, I think this is a place that people will expect to go through some security."

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Samantha Gross can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/samanthagross

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Associated Press writer Verena Dobnik contributed to this report.

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