A new report issued by the Oregon Department of Human Services concludes that employees of a former Portland-area vermiculate processing plant were exposed to asbestos.
The report, called a public health consultation, said employees working at Vermiculite Northwest from 1967 to 1994 were exposed to asbestos in vermiculite mined at Libby, Mont. The Portland plant at 2302 N. Harding St. processed more than 193,000 tons of the mineral, used in attic-insulation manufacture and as a soil additive.

Judge Adrienne Nelson, left, chats with Pauline Bradford, president of the Harriet Tubman Club, at a recent meeting of the Oregon Association of Colored Women's Clubs.

Seattle school officials are finding ways to accommodate the needs of a growing Muslim student population without compromising the separation of church and state.
Federal and state law prohibit teacher-led prayer in public schools, as well as student-led prayer at school events or religious programs. But students have a legal right to pray on their own in private or in groups.
The challenge comes in allowing students to pray without disrupting class.

The sixth annual Block Walk and Community Wellness Festival will be on June 24 at the Rainier Beach Community Center, 8825 Rainier Ave. S.

VANCOUVER, Wash.—Shareefah Abdullah, founder and president of the Vancouver-based Hot Ovations Communications Coaching & Training Co., has won a coveted Bronze Beacon award from the Oregon Columbia International Association of Business Communicators. 

Metro will work with a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to identify and inventory petroleum-based brownfield sites throughout the region.

Harold Lloyd Warren Sr. died on June 11 at the age of 59.

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon installed new officers to serve on the Board of Directors at its Annual Community Awards and Celebration Dinner

The last listening session focusing on racial profiling in Portland will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 22, in Emmanuel Temple Church, 1033 N. Sumner St.

For people experiencing difficulty in their lives, the power of words can have a transformative effect. Write Around Portland, a nonprofit group dedicated to aiding others through written language, helps to spread this power through the Portland community.