A crowd of people wearing hoodies gathered in Peninsula Park in North Portland early Saturday to express support for the family of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen who was shot dead Feb. 26 on a trip to the store to buy candy and an iced tea.

This spring in North and Northeast Portland, a handful of new activist movements against racism, homelessness and foreclosure have been joined by Decolonize PDX -- which is placing the prison industrial complex front and center.

Portland holds events to support for Trayvon Martin and his family, plus latest Trayvon News from around the web

An Oregon resident -- who has requested anonymity because she hasn't yet told her family that a $400 loan turned into a $1,000 nightmare -- has helped touch off a national effort by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) to regulate the billion-dollar offshore payday lending industry.

Longtime Washington State political figure Charles Rolland died yesterday at age 61.

Oregon Public Broadcasting today confirmed that the GOP presidential debate planned at their studios March 19 has been cancelled.

A suburban law enforcement SWAT team serving a search warrant at New Columbia shot a young father Tuesday night who thought intruders were in his yard.

Homeowners are not the only ones facing foreclosure. The crash has claimed 270 churches, including The International Fellowship Family, one of Portland's foremost multicultural churches.

The Skanner News has selected Chabre Vickers as its Newsmaker of the Year 2012, in recognition of her exceptional work with Portland's 11:45 Movement to link at-risk youth with adult mentors.