NEWVoters in Louisiana sent two Republicans to Congress on Saturday, ousting indicted Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson in one race and narrowly keeping a seat vacated by a retiring incumbent in the other. In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans, Republican attorney Anh ''Joseph'' Cao won 50 percent of the vote to Jefferson's 47 percent and will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress ...

A judge has ordered a White supremacist charged with threatening a Chicago juror to remain jailed after hearing how he used his computer to discuss killing Blacks and even aimed a veiled threat at President-elect Barack Obama. William White, 31, of Roanoke, Va. stood impassively Friday as U.S. District Judge William Hibbler said he was upholding a previous decision by a Virginia judge to jail him without bond to "ensure the safety of the community ...
An article was posted on White's blog that included a photograph of Obama, a swastika, and concluded with the words, "He should not be allowed to take office by any means necessary." ...

Blackwater Worldwide security guards opened machine gun fire on innocent, surrendering Iraqis and launched a grenade into a girls' school during a gruesome Baghdad shooting last year, prosecutors said Monday in announcing manslaughter charges against five guards ...

CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama's election as president.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired.
A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti ...

The head of Georgia's Senate Higher Education Committee is proposing a merger of two historically Black colleges with other schools to save money ... Savannah State University with Armstrong Atlantic University and Albany State with Darton College in Albany ...

Red Cross emergency dispatcher Clarence Harper, above; Reflections Coffeehouse owner Gloria McMurtrey; Loretta Young, manager of the City of Portland's Minority and Women Business program; and Pastor Fred Woods ...
Photo by Julie Keefe

After 52 percent of Californians passed Proposition 8, a law that took away the recently granted right for same sex couples to marry, Promise King decided to take a trip to the Golden State. King, the executive director of the Oregon League of Minority Voters and a heterosexual, says he was disturbed by some voters' willingness to vote for a proposition that restricts the rights of so many people ...

Taking a page from the anti-war movement among soldiers and veterans in the Vietnam era, the Coffee Strong Coffee House has opened its doors to enlisted men and women seeking counseling, resources – or just someone to talk to who's been through combat ...

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

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