Safeway officials and state lawmakers were on hand in Troutdale to announce a frequent shopper card program at Safeway to help people cope with fuel prices. Safeway gave $10,000 to Loaves and Fishes to help the organization offset fuel costs. Left to right, Steve Frisby, president of Safeway; State Senator Laurie Monnes-Anderson; Joan Smith, director of Loaves & Fishes; and Safeway spokesman Dan Floyd.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats bent on showing they can govern and Republicans anxious about a sour re-election climate are pushing a pared-down summer agenda in Congress. Lawmakers want to try to save homeowners from foreclosure, avert Medicare cuts and give the government power to spy on suspected terrorists.
Gasoline prices have emerged as a chief concern among voters. But lawmakers probably will not put aside their partisan blame-fest and compromise on an energy measure that could offer some relief, either immediately or down the road.
The Senate planned to return Monday and the House on Tuesday. Their abbreviated election-year calendar leaves little time to cut deals. Lawmakers will scatter again in August for their annual month-long break and the two parties' presidential conventions.
With their attention turning increasingly to re-election campaigns, not to mention the White House race, members of Congress will be away from Washington much of the ...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ Jesse Helms forever changed North Carolina politics and the conservative movement. The former senator did it without ever changing much about himself.
There is perhaps no better example of Helms' unwavering commitment to his beliefs than on the issue of race. Helms was a staunch opponent of the nation's civil rights movement, where he joined the likes of Alabama Gov. George Wallace and South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond in a fight to keep outsiders from meddling in what he called "the Southern way ...

Some say it looks like a space ship, others a Rose festival parade float under construction, but S.S.H. Bell calls it a "transportation revolution." He is building a 24 ft. electric boat, at Jantzen Beach. The zero emissions boat framework is constructed of commercial grade polyfoam, which makes it about less than 1/3 of the weight of its traditional fiberglass counterpart. Bell says that he designed the craft with family safety in mind. It has two pontoons that will house bedrooms and a salon with a kitchen. He projects the boat will get its "skin" and be seaworthy in a few short weeks. Bell says the boat, when completed, will be able to travel in the open ocean. He plans to take it from Jantzen Beach to Europe to prove just that.

A former imam in London has lost a decisive legal appeal to avoid extradition to the United States on charges of setting up a terrorist training camp in Oregon.
Abu Hamza al Masri, 51, has already been convicted of inciting his Muslim followers to kill "nonbelievers," and counted among his flock the convicted shoe-bomber Richard Reid, convicted 9-11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and several of the now-deceased suicide bombers who blew up London's underground transportation system on July 21, 2005.
The Abu Hamza extradition is the latest chapter in the controversial legal saga of Seattle native James Ujaama, whose arrest as a material witness against alleged terrorist activity was spotlighted as unconstitutional by free speech and civil liberty activists after 9-11 – years after the activities he was ultimately charged with ceased.
The issue, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is whether Ujaama's initial arrest and interrogations in 2002 were a violation of his rights as a U.S. citizen – or whether they amounted to a fishing expedition to capture "bigger" suspects....

Two of the five African American teenagers arrested in connection with the June 9 Prescott Station MAX assault will be tried as adults.
Angela Dow and Ti'yana Clay, both 15, were indicted by a grand jury on second-degree robbery charges – Measure 11 crimes that can only be tried in adult court.
The two are also facing charges of third-degree assault, second-degree assault, interfering with public transportation, recklessly endangering another person and first-degree intimidation. They pleaded not guilty.
Four of the teens were arrested shortly after an altercation took place between them and a 28-year-old White woman from Vancouver....

Even as Anita Smith proceeds to close her popular restaurant, Hannah Bea's Poundcake and More, the Portland Development Commission is reviving its Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Updated Action Plan.
The PDC's updated plan includes six strategies that encompass dozens of detailed projects including storefront improvements, more on-street parking, wider sidewalks and plantings of native trees and other greenery.
"Obviously she has her perspective on this," said PDC business finance manager Fred Atiemo. "In terms of what we've done – we've gone beyond what we've ever done for anyone else."
"This city does not support Black people," Smith says. "If you are Black, you'd better get ready to move to Gresham, because that's what's happening."...

For nearly 30 years, Cornell McBride has left an undeniably profound mark on Black culture. His upstart company, M&M Enterprises, brought the world Sta Sof Fro, a line of hair care products that made a large, manageable afro possible for men and women.
"We provided something to make it bigger," he told The Skanner during a visit this week to Portland. "No products worked to (be able to comb it)."
During college in the late '60s, McBride started his company with $500. He is now running a multi-million dollar company – Design Essentials — that distributes hair care products to salons across the world....

What's happening for you in your City 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.

Pastor Carl L. Livingston asks a question about public engagement with the city at the Seattle/King County African American Legislative Day June 20 at Seattle City Hall and the King County Council Chambers.  The event gave the African American community an opportunity to get information about local politics and ask questions of their elected officials.