As gang-related shootings and criminal activity ramp up in the Portland metro area, outreach services to youth on the edge of trouble are strapped for resources.
Yet even when the area's dedicated cadre of youth advocates succeed in persuading individuals to leave the gang life, there are few avenues for those who want to go straight.
One recent success story in that area unfolded even as another tragedy played out in the news.
Trailed by a television crew with cameras rolling, Dion Weeks walked into the Multnomah County Courthouse at noon on Monday, March 9, right into a hive of armed sheriffs deputies. . . .

In a city where Black immigrants and Black natives are all too often divided by culture and language, a common problem is helping to unite them.
Members of the African Women's Coalition are mourning the loss of Nabintou Kelekele, a mother of five children who was brutally murdered on March 16. Her husband Namegabe Mushegero has been charged with murder for allegedly hitting her in the head with a hammer. The coalition is creating a domestic violence plan of action to prevent future tragedies from happening. . . .

Students at the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Public Charter School are agitating to keep Portland Public Schools from shutting them down.
A district subcommittee ruled that the school's finances are "not sufficiently stable to support renewal."
"This recommendation is not a reflection on the good work that is being done for the students of LEP by the school staff," said PPS Superintendent Carole Smith, in a statement March 12. "But we are concerned about LEP's financial viability and the risk the school's finances pose for LEP's students and families. . . .

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

• Family Support Around Mental Illness
• City and County Budget Input
• Red Cross Open House
• Free Mental Heath Lecture
• Educators' Video Contest
• Health Lectures at OHSU
• Columbia Crossing Protest Rally . . .

• Week of the Uninsured
• Whirligig! Returns to Seattle Center
• The film "Taking Root"
• Small Business Seminar
• Walter Mosley Reads from Newest Book
• Free Google Map Building Workshop . . .

A general consensus is that it was a deadly mix of panic, rage, and frustration that caused Lovelle Mixon to snap. His shocking murderous rampage left four Oakland police officers dead and a city and police agencies in deep soul search about what went so terribly wrong. Though Mixon's killing spree is a horrible aberration, his plight as an unemployed, ex-felon isn't. There are tens of thousands like him on America's streets. . . .

If Tanya Scarborough can't find a kidney donor, she'll die – possibly before her daughter graduates from high school in two years. As she struggles to persuade friends, family and church members to get their blood tested in the search for a potential match, and suffers through kidney dialysis three times a week, her time is running out.
"African Americans have among the highest rates of kidney disease, and yet when someone passes away they refuse to donate organs . . .

Mrs. Ruth C. Neal celebrated her 100th birthday at a celebration at the Calaroga Terrace auditorium on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Mrs. Neal was born on Feb. 24, 1909 in Nashville, Tenn., where she graduated from high school and attended business college. She soon met and married Richard Neal. They moved to Laurel, Miss. and had two beautiful children, Richard Jr. and Ruth Helen. Mr. Neal owned and operated a drug store there. . . .

Currently, prisoners are counted as residents of the correctional institution in which they are imprisoned, inflating population statistics and inaccurately skewing congressional and local representation in sparsely populated areas where offenders can't vote and rarely stay after they're released, says state Rep. Chip Shields, the bill's main sponsor.
During an introductory hearing last week, the Department of Corrections said it would be difficult to track the permanent addresses of offenders . . .