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Portland mayor seeks $2 million to stem rampant gun violence

(AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer, File)PORTLAND, Ore. – The mayor of Portland, Oregon, announced Thursday he would seek $2 million in one-time funding for police, other agencies and outreach programs to try to stem rampant gun violence in the city. The move by Mayor Ted Wheeler represents an about-face after city leaders in June voted to cut nearly $16 million from the police budget, reductions that included the elimination of a gun violence reduction unit. During an hour-long news conference Thursday, Wheeler, activists, faith leaders and community members reiterated that in order to solve the problem of gun violence, the community must work together. Wheeler said the tactic is not the same as the now-eliminated Gun Violence Reduction Team and would be more transparent. Wheeler said he supports the ideas, beginning with asking City Council to appropriate $2 million in one-time fiuds from the city’s reserve stability contingency account created last fall, to address gun violence.

Food fight: Meat-free school meals spark furor in France

FILE - In this Jan.18, 2019 file photo, French President Emmanuel Macron meets pupils as he visits a school canteen in Saint-Sozy, southwestern France. With a meatless four-course meal that Lyon City Hall says will be quicker and easier to serve to children who must be kept socially distanced while eating lunch to avoid coronavirus infections. With more local elections expected later this year, the arguing over Lyon's school meals offered a foretaste of broader political battles to come. Lyon City Hall said serving the same meal to all children, instead of offering them their usual meat and meat-free options, would shorten the time they take for lunch. City Hall said it also opted for meat-free meals because they suit all children, including those who habitually don't eat meats for religious, dietary or other reasons.

VIRUS TODAY: Health experts warn against holiday gatherings

With some Americans now paying the price for what they did over Thanksgiving, health officials are warning people begging them, even not to make the same mistake during the Christmas and New Year's season. Andrew Cuomo has ended indoor dining indefinitely in New York City as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations climb. As of Monday, only takeout orders and outdoor dining will be allowed in one of the world’s great cuisine capitals. THE NUMBERS: Deaths in the U.S. have climbed to almost 2,260 per day on average, about equal to the peak seen in mid-April. ___Find AP’s full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

Students return to NYC schools once more after virus closure

Public schools reopened for in-school learning Monday after being closed since mid-November. Public school doors reopened for preschool students and children in kindergarten through fifth grade whose parents chose a mix of in-school and remote learning. Overall, the city counts about 1 million public school students; most have opted to learn from home this fall. Masks and social distancing are required at all city schools. About 190,000 students were eligible to return to school buildings starting Monday.

Long wait for Hawaii vote spurs call for more voter centers

FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2020, file photo, a long line of people waiting to vote stretches around City Hall on Election Day, in Honolulu. Overall, the state’s vote-by-mail election appears to have been a big success, leading to record numbers of voters participating. The law also gives voters the option to vote in person at voter service centers, where people may also register to vote or get help with casting a ballot. Ma said people waited between two to four hours on Tuesday at the two voter centers on Oahu, an island with about 549,000 registered voters. Another factor was people who view voting in person on Election Day as sacrosanct and something they wanted to do.

New this week: 'This Is Us,' Baby Yoda, 'The Craft' redone

(NBC via AP)Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week. MOVIES— Many things will be different about Halloween this year, but the annual rush of horror films is much the same. It stars Sope Dirisu and Wunmi Mosaku as a Sudanese refugee couple finding new horrors in life in England. But Neon, the “Parasite” distributor, last week put a restored version into theaters and on Tuesday brings it to VOD. One is Natalie Margolin “The Party Hop,” which she wrote during quarantine in one week in early April.

Masked pope, faith leaders pray for peace and pandemic's end

Pope Francis lights a candle for peace during an inter-religious ceremony for peace in the square outside Rome's City Hall, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020 (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)ROME – A masked Pope Francis welcomed religious leaders to a socially-distanced interfaith peace prayer Tuesday, appealing for a unified international effort to work for peace and an end to the coronavirus pandemic. “The pandemic is reminding us that we are blood brothers and sisters,” they said in a joint appeal issued at the end of the service. For weeks, Francis has shunned facemasks in his public and private audiences despite a surge in COVID-19 cases across Italy and even inside Vatican City. The service was organized by the Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community, which each year organizes an interfaith peace prayer in the spirit of the first one of its kind, celebrated by St. John Paul II in Assisi in 1986. In the past week 11 Swiss Guards and a resident of the hotel where Francis lives have tested positive.

Alexie, Pilkey books among most 'challenged' of past decade

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2016 file photo, author and filmmaker Sherman Alexie appears at a celebration of Indigenous Peoples' Day at Seattle's City Hall. Alexie is included in a list of authors who wrote books that were among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association. All wrote books that were among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association. The association does not formally count the number of times books are actually removed from a library shelf or from a school reading list. “There are actually two lines of objections to the Anne Frank diary,” Caldwell-Stone says.

San Antonio’s historic City Hall building renovations are nearing the homestretch, but not without delays

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio city staff and the city council are expected to move into a renovated historic City Hall building by December 2020. The city council approved a budget of $38 million for the project. “We’re going to spend another $950,000 in upgrading the security to the building to make it safe for everybody,” Sanchez said. “There’s gonna be a grand staircase from the second floor going way to the fourth floor,” Sanchez said. The third and fourth floors will be occupied by the city council and staff members.

City of Boerne adjusts operations after employee tests positive for COVID-19

BOERNE, Texas The City of Boerne is adjusting operations at City Hall and its Utilities Building after an employee tested positive for COVID-19, according to city officials. Glass partitions are also utilized between residents and customer representatives during transactions, which is another reason why city officials believe the exposure risk is low. City Hall offices will be disinfected beginning Monday, but will not impact services, as it is a holiday, officials said in a release. We will be scaling down operations at City Hall until our contact tracing is complete, City Manager Ben Thatcher said in a statement. City officials say payments can still be made online, over the phone or at a drop box in the City Hall parking lot.

Archbishop García-Siller to deliver blessings from above by flying over San Antonio parishes, universities on Monday

SAN ANTONIO – Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller will take to the skies Monday to deliver blessings above parishes, City Hall, universities and other establishments around San Antonio. San Antonio archbishop announces when local parishes can reopenDuring the “Mission: Hope” operation, the 1942 SNJ “Ole’ Yeller” plane will fly over the city at 1,000 feet, according to a news release. Before takeoff, García-Siller announced the reopening of Catholic parishes in the San Antonio area, which have remained closed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Explained: How Abbott plans to reopen Texas and differences from San Antonio, Bexar County orders“Mission: Hope” is one of two flyovers expected in San Antonio this week: the Thunderbirds will stop here and in Austin on May 13. Here are the flyover times for the Catholic parishes and other establishments that García-Siller will fly over on Monday.