The number of Oregon teens dropping out of high school has hit its lowest point in more than 15 years, but the dropout rate for minority students continues to climb.
"It is clear from today's report that we need to focus our efforts on reducing dropout rates and increasing graduation rates for poor and minority students," said Oregon Superintendent of Schools Susan Castillo on Tuesday, the day the dropout report was released. "Graduating from high school is fundamental to success in the workforce or in college."

U.S. government officials contacted by AP acknowledged questioning prisoners in Ethiopia. But they said American agents were following the law and were fully justified in their actions because they are investigating past attacks and current threats of terrorism.
The prisoners were never in American custody, said an FBI spokesman, Richard Kolko, who denied the agency would support or be party to illegal arrests. He said U.S. agents were allowed limited access by governments in the Horn of Africa to question prisoners as part of the FBI's counter-terrorism work.
Western security officials, who insisted on anonymity because the issue related to security matters, told AP that among those held were well-known suspects with strong links to al-Qaida.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — When Selena Allen's son was born a month premature in 2003 she faced a painful choice — spend her limited paid leave watching her son recover in the hospital or wait until he returned home.
Allen and her husband decided that she would return to work right away, and take the time once he was released.
"We decided it was more important to be with my son once he came home so we could establish our routine together and bond, rather than me sitting at the hospital," she said. "It was a very difficult decision."
Allen has joined with a coalition of mothers and their supporters to push for a proposal in Washington state, Senate Bill 5659, that would give workers five weeks of paid family leave — at $250 a week — to care for a new baby or a seriously ill relative.
The measure has drawn the ire of business groups, who call it unnecessary for businesses that already offer employees flexible leave options.

The Seattle School Board has narrowed its search for a superintendent from six semi-finalists to two contenders – and both are African American.
"We had a very qualified pool of semi-finalists from which to choose," said School Board President Cheryl Chow. "High-caliber candidates from across the nation were attracted and recruited, and the entire Board was very impressed by their leadership quality, educational experience, and personal enthusiasm."

African American performance artists in King County are getting some support from the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas and the National Endowment for the Arts. The two entities have funded a new program called The Creation Project to support the professional development of local Black performance artists.
The yearlong Creation Project will support distinctive African American voices in the performing arts community of King County.

The sixth annual Multicultural Family Fair will be held April 7 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Lynwood Convention Center, 3711 196th St. S.W.
Volunteers from South Snohomish County will set up more than 35 booths to share information about their culture though interactive displays of personal artifacts including traditional costumes, photos, flags, maps and artwork.
Arts and craft activities, such as Chinese calligraphy and quilting by the Northwest African American quilters, will give fair-goers the opportunity to try and create their very own piece of another culture, which they can take home with them. Students from Edmonds Community College's Culinary Arts program will demonstrate cooking techniques from around the world and provide free samples and recipes.

A stunning follow-up to a solid debut album, "V2" is the sophomore album from one of music's brightest rising stars. J. Moss is taking contemporary gospel music to new heights with his brilliant, staggering falsetto soaring over upbeat jams, reassuring ballads and introspective anthems on a disc of track-to-track hits.
"I've beefed up everything on 'V2'," says Moss. "My vocal chops, my dancing chops, my ministry chops; I wanted the intensity to be double what my last album was and definitely wanted to show growth, and I want people who listen to my music to be able to grow along with me."

NEW YORK -- The radio station that produces Don Imus' talk show pledged to keep tabs on its content after he apologized for calling the players on Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy headed hos."
"We are disappointed by Imus' actions earlier this week which we find completely inappropriate," WFAN-AM said in a statement Friday. "We fully agree that a sincere apology was called for and will continue to monitor the program's content going forward."
Imus apologized Friday for the comments made earlier this week on his nationally syndicated program.
The National Association of Black Journalists demanded the immediate firing of the "Imus in the Morning" host. Imus questioned the players' looks, describing them as tattooed "rough girls." His producer compared the team -- which has eight black members -- to the NBA's Toronto Raptors.
Near the start of Friday's show, Imus said he wanted to "apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team."
"It was completely inappropriate, and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry."

Astronaut and U.S. Navy Capt. Robert Curbeam Jr., pauses in front of a "final frontier" display at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry March 28, after a tour of OMSI and lunch with the museum's board of directors.
After serving as an officer with the U.S. Navy throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Curbeam joined NASA in 1994. He is a veteran of two space flights, has logged 593 hours in space and been on three spacewalks. Curbeam and fellow astronaut Mark Polansky met with Gov. Ted Kulongoski and discussed their flights at a Rotary Club luncheon in Portland earlier this week.

If it passes, a bill requiring cities to tie Drug Free Zone exclusions to a conviction could calm anger over the city's controversial policy to clean up major drug corridors.
"In this country you are innocent until proven guilty," said Rep. Chip Shields, D-N./N.E. Portland, a co-sponsor of the bill. "In the end we will be increasing public safety by encouraging convictions instead of simply excluding someone (from the zones)."
Under current rules, people arrested for a drug-related crime – and, in the past, even suspected of dealing drugs — can be excluded from large geographic areas known as "drug free zones." In Portland there are three such zones – the "north zone" covering a swath of land in inner North and Northeast Portland; the "central zone," which encompasses the bulk of downtown Portland; and another stretch along the entirety of 82nd Avenue.