FBI Director Robert Mueller last year announced with considerable fanfare a new partnership between the his agency and civil rights organizations. The goal: To bring justice in long-ignored murders from the civil rights era....

Jamarie Payton, 17, needs life-saving heart surgery at a specialty clinic in Minnesota – and his mother, Rhonda, seeks help in getting herself and her son across country....

Middle and high school students across Oregon aren't improving on state tests in math and reading, new data from the Oregon Department of Education show....

Next year, the Oregon Legislature may consider expanding a medical provider tax to pay for health insurance for children and 100,000 low-income adults....

This past weekend, the U.S. Treasury placed the two housing GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in conservatorship to stabilize and restore confidence in our mortgage markets. This is a historic step that will change the face of our financial system for generations to come.

Yesterday afternoon, I participated in a conference call held by senior Treasury officials and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director James Lockhart. They outlined the following steps taken by Treasury and FHFA:

Conservatorship: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into immediate conservatorship by FHFA. This morning, the GSEs are expected to resume normal business operations with FHFA assuming the power of their Boards and managements. Current Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd and Freddie Mac CEO Richard Styron are being replaced, but will stay on through a transition period. Herb Allison (for the last eight years chairman of TIAA-CREF and former vice chairman of Merrill Lynch) will be CEO at Fannie Mae, and David Moffett (former vice chairman and CFO of US Bancorp) will assume the CEO role at Freddie Mac. All lobbying and political activity of the GSEs will cease immediately...

Imagine the chaos if a tremendous earthquake...

The current unemployment rate for African-Amercians stands at 9.3 percent in Washington State, which is a little over double the overall unemployment rate of 4.5 percent...

Evidence is mounting that the agency charged with preparing Portland to cope with a disaster, Multnomah County's Office of Emergency Management, is now its own disaster area. Poor leadership, mismanagement...

What's happening for you in Portland this week? Read here a day-by-day diary of free community events to fill your spare time. For a full calendar please click on "Read the complete article" below.

What's happening for you in Seattle this week? Read here a day-by-day diary of free community events to fill your spare time. For a full calendar please click on "Read the complete article" below.