In May, Portlanders will have an opportunity to vote for City Council members, a new mayor, representatives, senators, a secretary of state and a state attorney general. And that's in addition to the presidential race where Democrats will have the chance to weigh in on the contest between Sens. Clinton and Obama.
Last week, The Skanner kicked off its elections coverage with questions and answers from candidates in two Portland City Commissioner races. This week we continue with coverage of the mayoral and City Commissioner 4 races.

One of the nation's leading civil rights attorneys, Fred Gray, will visit Portland to give the 2008 commencement speech at Cascade College on April 26. When Gray was just 24, he represented Rosa Parks in the historic case that led to the Montgomery, Ala. bus boycott in 1955. He also served as Martin Luther King Jr's. first civil rights lawyer. ...

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

May 21 2008, 5:30 to 9:00 p.m.
at Olea Restaurant, 1338 NW Hoyt, Portland OR 97209
Innovative Job Seeking for the Region's Professionals
Job seeking has never been so much fun.
Visit www.colorsnwcareers.com to sign up.
For further details contact [email protected]

University of California Berkeley and Stanford University Partner to Launch Second Tech Conference on Clean Solar Energy  
Menlo Park, California -UC Berkeley and Stanford University will again join hands to launch a second tech conference on clean solar power entitled "Big Solar." The symposium will bring together key solar energy policy makers, industry leaders, and academia to raise awareness, and solutions, to environmentally sound living.
Mr. Roy Kuga, Vice President of PG&E's Energy Supply Division, will be the featured key note speaker at the Big Solar  Berkeley-Stanford Clean Tech Conference.  Mr. Kuga is responsible for all commercial gas and electricity procurement. 
Symposium panels will include professionals from energy industry groups, utility specialists, legal firms, and independent business owners, featuring discussions on California's leadership in matters of energy policy, and technological innovation.  Big solar conference will conclude with a reception which will provide a forum for networking opportunities in the field of clean solar energy.....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama headed into the 17th week of their increasingly contentious struggle for the party's presidential nomination on Sunday under widening fissures over the race, gender and economic status of U.S. voters. ...

Seventy years after his death, Robert Johnson (l, circa 1935) is still considered "King of the Delta Blues." By others, Robert Johnson is considered to be the "Grand-father of "Rock-and-Roll." Younger and younger audiences are discovering the artistic merits of Johnson's blues lyrics and guitar.

Two revered spiritual leaders were in Seattle this week as part of the five-day Seeds of Compassion event, whose mission is to nurture kindness and compassion in the world, starting with children and all who touch their lives.
His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, the head of state and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, appeared together Tuesday to talk about inspiring compassion in youth....

WARRI, Nigeria — Four people from a Seattle-based film crew and a Nigerian man accompanying them who were arrested and accused of traveling illegally in restive southern Nigeria, have been released, according to a statement from Sen. Maria Cantwell's office.
Security forces fighting militants in the Niger Delta consider much of the vast wetland region a military zone and have barred outsiders from traveling there without express consent by authorities.
Nigerian Brig. Gen. Wuyep Rintip said the group was seized Saturday for flouting the ban and were to be flown to the capital, Abuja.  ...

This year Portland will be voting to elect four out of the city's five City Council members. .... The Skanner decided the fairest way to cover the races was to offer all candidates the chance to respond to two broadly framed questions:
1. What qualifies you as the best candidate for the job?
2. What would be your key priorities as council member/ mayor? ....