What would make someone want to become a police officer in Portland? There’s one kind of individual who looks for the security and the safety of coming into an organization that’s at the top. There are those who see an opportunity to be part of a changing, evolving organization that’s taking the steps necessary to lead the kind of changes that the public wants to see with regard to policing in the future.

The Calgary Police Association has sent a letter to its members stating that they need to collectively take a stand against a police commission direction that officers no longer wear the thin blue line patch.

Using the same legal authority that allows homeowners associations to punish people who fail to cut their grass, the Potters Glen board erected a hurdle for investors: a new rule required any new home buyer to wait two years before renting it out. Since the board adopted the rule in 2019, property records show the pace of investor purchases has dropped by more than half. “We didn’t want to become a renter’s paradise,” said Hamilton, a retired executive assistant from Ohio. “We want people who are going to plant flowers and trees because it’s their home.” As neighborhoods in several states have moved to adopt similar rules, advocates for rental home companies argue that the restrictions make housing less affordable. They say rental exclusions also can be discriminatory, echoing a past when real estate restrictions were used to keep out racial minorities, and have asked state legislatures in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as North Carolina, to protect them from such restrictions.

Jennifer Williams, a transgender woman who also chairs the Trenton Republican Committee in New Jersey, has tried to win over conservative hearts from within. As the first openly transgender delegate to the 2016 Republican Convention in Cleveland, she went out of her way to meet people, she said. In one conversation with a high-profile delegate from South Carolina, Williams first connected with the man through common issues – economic policy, her family’s military background and her admiration for South Carolina’s then-Gov. Nikki Haley. Then she turned the conversation to the anti-transgender legislation under discussion in that state. “I told him, ‘By hurting me, you’re hurting my family,’” Williams said. “We are the most likely to have violence committed against us, and these laws make it harder for every transgender person to get a job or buy a house. People start fearing us without knowing us.” As Republican lawmakers across the nation debate and pass legislation limiting the rights of LGBT people, gay and transgender conservatives like Williams said they are becoming increasingly concerned about whether the Republican Party is really the best fit for them and whether enough Republicans can band together to stop the measures.

A Congressional committee is expanding the scope of its investigation into the Washington Commanders and is primed to use its subpoena power to delve into the finances of the team and owner Dan Snyder. At least one person familiar with the team’s financial health was already interviewed by committee investigators, who are now exploring whether the Commanders used “two books” of financial information that paint different pictures of the team’s money situation, sources with knowledge of the investigation told Front Office Sports. The timing and number of subpoenas, as well as who specifically will be targeted, was not immediately known. FOS has learned some of what investigators are seeking through a series of interviews, most on the condition of anonymity, for fear of retaliation or because details of the investigation have not been made public. The debt load Snyder has undertaken could be impacting the team’s finances. Snyder received a debt waiver from the league’s owners at the NFL’s annual meeting a year ago in order to finance a large chunk of the nearly $1 billion used to purchase the 40% of the franchise he didn’t already own. The committee is seeking interviews and documents related to allegations that the Commanders used deceptive accounting practices. Per the NFL’s Constitution and Bylaws, clubs are required to submit a certified audit report annually. Investigators also received allegations of pay disparity between male and female employees, including bonuses. The investigation by the House Oversight Committee was launched in October amid numerous claims the team fostered a hostile work environment. “The Committee continues to investigate the hostile workplace and culture of impunity at the Washington Commanders as well as the National Football League’s inadequate response and lack of transparency,” a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee said in a statement to FOS. “The Committee will follow the facts wherever they may lead.”

When the Education Department told Congress last year it was revising a restrictive bankruptcy policy for federal student loans, some lawmakers assumed the agency would end its aggressive challenges in pending cases. Yet as recently as this month, the department is still contesting requests for bankruptcy discharges from people deep in debt and short on resources, according to court documents. Now the Biden administration is facing pressure from Senate Democrats to change how it handles those requests. Their concerns follow a case that sparked a public backlash after the department tried to fight the court-approved discharge of debt held by a man suffering from epilepsy, a case first reported by The Lever. The department dropped the appeal in February, but a group of senators say the case was an exception to the standard practice. A scan of recent bankruptcy cases involving student loans appears to support their conclusion. Justice Department attorneys representing the Education Department have opposed several discharge requests in March, including one involving a 77-year-old retired nurse struggling to repay about $42,000 in student loans.

You can hear it in your head: the grunt your character makes when hopping a fence or leaping into battle. Its sonic roots trace all the way back to 1973.

Lauren Handy and eight others were indicted this week on felony charges stemming from the 2020 invasion of an abortion clinic.

United Metro Energy employees out on strike say that management replaced them with workers who weren’t certified to operate the terminal, increasing the risk of an oil spill.

The Senate Wednesday turned back President Joe Biden’s nomination of David Weil as the U.S. Department of Labor’s top wage-hour regulator. The 47-53 vote on a motion to proceed blocked a final vote on Weil to be the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division administrator. Weil was Biden’s pick for the role since last June, but his nomination languished for much of last year. He had to be nominated again for the role in January. It would have Weil’s second time leading the Wage and Hour Division. He’s a dean at Brandeis University. He previously served in the Obama administration from 2014 to 2017. Weil came under criticism from business groups and Republicans over his scrutiny of gig-economy companies’ labor practices since that time. When Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) March 28 teed up a final vote to confirm Weil, his opponents quickly urged senators to vote against him. “Dr. Weil’s track record previously serving in this role and his ideological agenda leaves no doubt that his policies would harm the hundreds of thousands of local franchise businesses around the country and the 8.2 million workers they employ,” the International Franchise Association said in a March 29 written statement. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who expressed concerns about Weil’s nomination last year, voted ‘no’ in the procedural vote. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) also voted ‘no.’

Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah suggested that he'd favor cutting retirement benefits for younger Americans in a bid to stabilize safety net programs. "If we're ever going to get a handle on our debt, we're gonna have to find a way to either increase revenue, which I don't favor, or find a way to adjust our long-term benefits not for current retirees," he said at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on Wednesday, seemingly ruling out any tax hikes. "But for younger people coming along, we got to be able to find a way to balance these programs or we're gonna find ourselves in a heap of trouble," he said. He didn't specify which programs, but a pair of safety-net programs that provide benefits to retirees include Social Security and Medicare. Romney's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Some Indigenous leaders meeting with the Pope this week are requesting that he return these pieces of their history

Verizon is cracking down on a widespread outbreak of scam texts sent to its customers that appear to be coming from customers’ own numbers. The scam texts try to entice customers to click on a web link. One common version of the fake text said: “Free Msg: Your bill is paid for March. Thanks, here’s a little gift for you.” “Verizon is aware that bad actors are sending spam text messages to some customers which appear to come from the customers’ own number,” Verizon spokesman Rich Young said on Wednesday. “Our company has significantly curtailed this current activity, but virtually all wireless providers have faced similar fraudulent activity in recent months. We are actively working with others in our industry and with US Law Enforcement as part of an investigation aimed at identifying and stopping these fraudsters.”

Feuding among White's middle-aged women fans is getting ugly. Meanwhile, the influencer is raking in the cash.

The Chicago-based pop culture site moves to Los Angeles, leaving many worried about its fate.

Sir Jeremy Fleming, the head of GCHQ, is set to use a rare public speech to say it increasingly looks like Russia's President Vladimir Putin "has massively misjudged the situation" in Ukraine.

There is a terrifying and highly effective “method” that criminal hackers are now using to harvest sensitive customer data from Internet service providers, phone companies and social media firms. It involves compromising email accounts and websites tied to police departments and government agencies, and then sending unauthorized demands for subscriber data while claiming the information being requested can’t wait for a court order because it relates to an urgent matter of life and death.

A video posted by the Coastal Fisheries Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shows the fugitive flamingo wading into Cox Bay about 120 miles southwest of Houston.

Consumers are boycotting the popular prepared food company.

We agree, Congressman! Please name names immediately.