Anyone who's ever stepped inside a nail salon knows the smell of fumes and chemicals can be overwhelming. But thanks to a new Environmental Protection Agency program, local salons may be able to reduce their level of toxins.
The EPA has awarded two local nonprofit groups a $100,000 grant to help reduce toxin exposure in their salons. The Environmental Coalition of South Seattle and Community Coalition for Environmental Justice will research chemicals that are safer to use inside salons.
In low-income and communities of color in and around South Seattle, the "Toxic Beauty" Project will work with more than 70 Vietnamese-owned and operated nail salons to reduce exposure of toxins to workers and their patrons.
"It is an interesting environmental justice issue because.........

PORTLAND  JULY 12, 2007
EDUCATION RECEPTION. Come help the community welcome Connie Van Brunt, the new executive director of the Portland Schools Foundation. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Legacy Emmanuel Atrium, 2801 N. Gantenbein Ave.
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CREATIVE MOVEMENT. Have a moving and grooving good time, Iris Nason provides creative ways for children to learn body awareness. For children 1 1/2 - 3 1/2 years with parent. 10:30-11:15 a.m. St. Johns Library, 7510 N. Charleston Ave....

SEATTLE JULY 12 2007
TOWN HALL MEETING on impeachment and driving out the Bush regime with speakers and a film showing. 6:30-8 p.m. University Heights Community Center, 5031 University Way NE.
CANCER PREVENTION COOKING class: "Antioxidants and Phytochemicals." 10 a.m.-noon and 6-8 p.m. Whole Foods, 888 116th Ave. in Bellevue. Call 425-462-1400 for more information. ......

Portland Parks and Recreation's annual Summer Concerts in the Parks concert series is already underway. Sponsored by dozens of neighborhood and citywide groups, the unique concert series brings free music to your neighborhood all summer long. Following is a schedule of upcoming concerts in North and Northeast Portland parks:
Fernhill Park, Northeast 37th Avenue, south of Ainsworth Street.
Concerts begin at 6:30 p.m.
July 13: Dirty Martini Trio (singer/songwriters)
July 20: Northwest Community Gospel Chorus (ensemble)
July 27: Intervision (R&B/rock fusion).....

Cuba has sent about 60 doctors to Angola to reinforce the African nation's crumbling health system and strengthen ties between the two Cold War allies, Angola's state-run news agency said last week.
The medical personnel include surgeons, pediatricians and other specialists and are expected to begin work at public hospitals in and around the Angolan capital this week, Angop reported.....

Mayor Tom Potter, left, honors Oregon Sen. Avel Gordly, I-inner N/NE Portland, on Wednesday, July 11. Gordly, Oregon's first elected Black woman senator, announced last week that she will not run for re-election in 2009, but will instead take a position as an adjunct assistant professor in Portland State University's Black Studies department.

NEW YORK -- Democrat Dennis Kucinich responded angrily Friday to a conversation overheard between Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards, in which the two spoke of limiting the number of candidates invited to participate in presidential forums.
"Candidates, no matter how important or influential they perceive themselves to be, do not have and should not have the power to determine who is allowed to speak to the American public and who is not...

The Bush administration said Saturday that senior advisers would recommend the president veto Senate legislation that would substantially increase funds for children's health insurance.
The legislation calls for a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes. The revenue would be used to subsidize health insurance for children and some adults with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford insurance on their own. Members of the Senate Finance Committee brokered a bipartisan agreement Friday that would add $35 billion to the program over the next five years. The Bush administration had instead recommend $5 billion.
The Senate legislation expands the State Children's Health Insurance Program beyond the original intent of the program, said White House Spokesman Tony Fratto.
"It's clear that it will have the effect of encouraging many to drop private coverage -- purchased either through their employer or with their own resources -- to go on the government-subsidized program," Fratto said. "Tax increases are neither necessary nor advisable....

Step One. Delay. If there is one word that sums up the way to destroy an African American city after a disaster, that word is DELAY. If you are in doubt about any of the following steps – just remember to delay and you will probably be doing the right thing. (Multnomah County, are you reading this?)

Step Two. When a disaster is coming, do not arrange a public evacuation. Rely only on individual resources. People with cars and money for hotels will leave. The elderly, the disabled and the poor will not be able to leave. Most of those without cars – 25 percent of households in New Orleans, overwhelmingly African Americans – will not be able to leave. Most of the working poor, overwhelmingly African American, will not be able to leave. Many will then permanently accuse the victims who were left behind of creating their own human disaster because of their own poor planning. It is critical to start by having people blame the victims for their own problems. (It is imperative that trusting relationships be cultivated and established before a disaster occurs. Create a community emergency exercise.)

Like a picture perfect painting of American life, evenings at McCoy Park in New Columbia have been a gathering spot for the neighborhood's residents. Mothers and fathers are out congregating at the covered picnic areas; residents are tending their community garden; and children are everywhere – on bikes, on the playground, on the basketball court and on the climbing wall.