CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) -- Hundreds of people gathered at West Virginia's Capitol on Saturday to urge prosecutors to add hate crime charges against six White people charged in the beating, torture and sexual assault of a 20-year-old Black woman. Authorities say the accused, three men and three women, held Megan Williams captive for days .....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michael Mukasey drew closer to becoming attorney general Friday after two key Senate Democrats said they would vote for him despite his refusal to say whether waterboarding is torture.
The decision by Sens. Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein to back President Bush's nominee came shortly after the chairman of the committee, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., announced he would vote against Mukasey .....

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Fewer Black and American Indian students are attending the University of Michigan's main campus this fall in the wake of the passage of an anti-affirmative action ballot proposal.
Total enrollment increased by 1,017 students, or 2.5 percent, to more than 41,000 this fall, a record. But the school said Thursday that Black student enrollment dropped 3.3 percent and the number of American Indians decreased 1.2 percent.
Hispanic student enrollment was up 1 percent, while the number of White students increased 2.1 percent.
The University of Michigan and other public colleges in the state were forced last  .....

Meet a select group of African women who embrace high fashion, art and philanthropy. These women award scholarships to college bound students. They organize gala dinners and wine tastings, parties and presentations. But don't be fooled. They also take HIV/AIDS prevention programs into their local churches and work with high school students from low-income families. Welcome to the Portland Chapter of Links Inc., the service and friendship group that will celebrate 50 years of service to Portland's African American community Nov. 2. ...

If the economy has been booming as the President and some economists maintain, the Oregon Food Bank somehow has missed out. With its shelves nearly barren, the food bank is handing out food almost as soon as it receives it. Not only are food reserves nearly non-existent, the frozen food inventory — historically the food bank's "safety net" – has been depleted.
How has this happened? .....

Since the passage of Measure 37 two years ago, the confusion surrounding land use and property rights has only intensified. An overburdened court system received about 3,400 claims in one three-week period at the end of 2006, according to the Department of Land Conservation and Development. And thousands of claims for previously restricted property developments have been held up by .....

Two years after Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the vast emptiness of the Crescent City shocks the senses.
The loneliness of its forgotten people, the stress of restarting lives is written on every face, and the truth is that we have mostly moved on to other things ....

Seattle actress Stephanie Hatley plays Dinah Washington in Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center's annual play, "Dinah Was: What a Difference a Day Makes" which runs through Nov. 18. It was directed by Jacqueline Moscou and features a talented Seattle cast.

Some of Seattle's most notable African Americans are being interviewed this week to be included in a national archival collection of African American video oral histories.
The HistoryMakers is the nation's largest African American video oral history archive dedicated to recording and preserving the personal histories of well-known and unsung African Americans. Based in Chicago, the nonprofit institution is committed to preserving, developing and providing easy access to thousands of African American video oral histories.
"We haven't been to the Northwest and there are African Americans who have accomplished a great deal there," said Julieanna L. Richardson, founder and executive director of The HistoryMakers.
A video crew from The HistoryMakers are in town interviewing local residents such as Seattle's first and only African American mayor, Norm Rice; Metropolitan King County Council Chair Larry Gossett, retired Washington State Judge Charles Smith, former Seattle Poet Laureate Mona Lake Jones, activist Aaron Dixon, University of Washington professor William Bradford, Professor Emeritus at Western Washington University Violet Malone, resident Gary Gayton, renowned educator Maxine Mimms and president of Jazz Inc., Gloria Burgess.
Richardson said they select individuals by doing research, talking to local ....

Many journalism students in Seattle are accustomed to brushing their teeth while watching Joyce Taylor anchor the KING-5 Morning News, or eating breakfast while reading a column by Jerry Large in The Seattle Times. But until this past weekend, few had been fortunate enough to hear them speak about their experience as minorities in the newsroom.
More than 200 aspiring and professional Black journalists gathered in the auditorium ...