MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A special grand jury convenes Wednesday in Marion to review the fatal shooting of a Black Vietnam War veteran by a state trooper during the height of civil rights tension in Alabama in 1965.
"There is no question about who did the shooting. The question is whether this was a murder or it was something else," District Attorney Michael Jackson said.
Former State Trooper James Bonard Fowler has insisted for years that he shot Jimmie Lee Jackson in self defense when Jackson grabbed his pistol during a melee in a Marion cafe.

WASHINGTON -- In his 15 months on the Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito has been everything his conservative supporters expected and his liberal detractors feared. The newest justice has been a reliable vote in favor of the death penalty, expanded police powers and restrictions on abortion. Alito has yet to write an opinion on a major constitutional issue, not uncommon for someone so new to the court. And he has been more measured than Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, declining to join their call to overturn the court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion, for instance.

Your voted ballot must be received at an official drop site or an elections office by 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 15. A postmark does not count. 24-hour ballot drop boxes will be set up at the following North/Northeast locations: Goodwill store, 3134 N. Lombard St. U.S. Bank, Northeast 39^th Avenue and Northeast Tillamook Street. Voted ballots may also be delivered to any Multnomah County library through 8 p.m. May 15.

Read here a day-by-day diary of free community events to fill your week...

Young community activist Adonis "AJ" Douglas Walker, 9, left, helps Asa and Jermain Atherton, right, both of P.O. Soul Entertainment, clean-up a section of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Killingsworth Street on April 28.

It's taken one year and $6 million, but students and staff at De La Salle North Catholic High School hope a new location will raise the private school's visibility and give De La Salle ample room to grow.
"I'm hoping we're there for the next 100 years," said Tim Hennessy, De La Salle's vice president of advancement.
Enduring rain and hale, De La Salle staff hosted a groundbreaking ceremony May 2 to celebrate their move into the old Kenton Elementary School at the corner of North Interstate Avenue and North Lombard Street.

After a long period of inactivity, the Portland chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has elected a new leader.
Named president this week, Charlene McGee, 25, will lead the chapter after attending only a handful of meetings.
"I definitely didn't think I was going to walk out as president," said McGee.

The city of Portland voted Wednesday to approve a settlement in a civil rights case against the Bureau of Development Services. Employees Lisa Washington and Roxie Granville, both African American women, say they were unfairly targeted for being seen together outside of the office.
The women's attorney, Portland civil rights lawyer Dan Snyder, said what bureau administrators called an "incident" amounted to nothing more than two co-workers meeting for lunch. At the time of the alleged discrimination, in February of 1997, the women were the only Black inspectors in the bureau, Snyder said. He contends the women were victims of veiled racial bias.

Playing on the detective theme at the 49th annual Ebony Fashion Fair, "Stylishly Hot," held April 20 at the Oregon Convention Center, a male model is blown over when he discovers the sexy dress revealed under his partner's trench coat.

If it passes, an Oregon House bill would be the first of its kind to require lawmakers to think about how a law might contribute to Oregon's disproportionate minority prison population.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Chip Shields, D-Northeast Portland, said the bill would keep imprisoned minorities in the spotlight.
"There's no doubt minorities are disproportionately impacted by sentencing and criminal justice policies," Shields said.