With excavation of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church site already underway, Deacon Lee Magee says he can finally close a troubling chapter in his life.
After a month-long investigation into the fire that destroyed the 88-year-old church, officials announced last week that there were "no detectable signs of arson." They said the exact cause of the fire is "undetermined."
Magee said he's relieved by the investigation's results.
"I definitely did not want it to be arson. Now I can move on," Magee said.
Portland Fire Capt. Rich Stenhouse said he would like nothing more than to pinpoint the course of the fire's path through the 88-year-old church.
"But I can't do that," he said. "I find that immensely frustrating."

Selection for the 2007 Rose Festival princesses began March 5 at Central High School and wraps up March 23 at Wilson High. Pictured in this week's edition of The Portland Skanner are the princesses from Benson Polytechnic and Jefferson high schools. Look for winners from Roosevelt, Grant and Madison in upcoming issues of The Skanner.
After a performance by the Jefferson Dancers on Thursday, March 8, Mercedes Whitecalf was crowned as the Rose Festival Princess for Jefferson High School. Here, Mercedes is congratulated by her brother, LaCroix Johnson-Whitecalf, left, and her mother, Zoey Whitecalf.

Keeping with tradition, Lew Frederick, outgoing board member, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, receives a hat from the 2003 production of "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream," from Executive Director Paul Nicholson.

Incoming Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Bill Rauch recently unveiled his inaugural season. 
While continuing to maintain a strong commitment to Shakespeare and American classics, Rauch has also put his unique stamp on the playbill by including an epic text outside the Western canon, two new plays, a world premiere production that will head to Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center in July, and the first-ever 20th-century play to be produced on OSF's outdoor Elizabethan Stage.

Mount Zion Women's Chorus members Alice Thomas, left, and Dorothy Mungin sing at a special service titled "Celebrating Women in Ministry" on Sunday, March 11 at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.  The service honored the contributions of women in the church and included musical performances and a guest preacher, Dr. Flora Wilson Bridges.

NEW YORK — Bruce S. Gordon's recent decision to quit as NAACP president after clashing with the board over the group's mission highlights a stubborn problem for activists: how to do civil rights work in an era decades after the movement's peak.

Monday, March 19 marks the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. To remember the cost of this war, and to give the people of the Seattle metropolitan area a chance to take a few steps for peace, Peace Action of Washington will walk 655,000 steps — more than 230 miles – for five days, beginning Thursday, March 15 and ending Monday, March 19.

Eva Walker is not yet out of high school, but she's already dreaming big.
This year, for her senior project, Walker, 17, is doing her part to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
A musician who plays the guitar and drums, Walker is mixing her passion for music with her desire to help others. Her HIV/AIDS Benefit Concert will be held Friday, March 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Summit K-12 School, 11051 34th Ave. N.E.

This image of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is Larentae Sanders' winning entry for the 2007 Black History Heroes Challenge 

Larentae Sanders, a fifth-grader at Dunlap Elementary School, has won the grand prize at the elementary school level for his entry in the 2007 Black History Heroes Challenge.
More than 500 students participated in the challenge in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Black History Month. Students from across the state were encouraged to submit creative works describing their black history hero. The Seattle SuperSonics and the Museum of History and Industry sponsored the contest.
Larentae was recognized at the KeyArena center court on Feb. 26 at the Seattle Sonics vs. Portland Trailblazers game.

SAVELUGU, Ghana -- The little girl screams in pain and reaches for the hand slowly drawing a thin, white worm from her blistered foot.
"Stop it! Do stop it!" she begs.
Finally, the worm is out, and the veranda full of other infected children explodes in claps and shouts of congratulation.
It took six weeks to draw the worm out, and another is about to emerge from her other foot.
A 20-year fight to eradicate guinea worm disease, or dracunculiasis, is in the last and most difficult stages. It could be the first parasitic disease wiped out worldwide -- and only the second disease ever to be eliminated; the first was smallpox in 1979.
Ghana provides a glimpse of the serious obstacles that stand in the way of guinea worm being vanquished.
Enormous strides have been made since former President Jimmy Carter dedicated himself to the cause after seeing a worm emerging from a woman's breast in Ghana's remote north in 1988.
Carter, who rallied the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, the U.N. World Health Organization and the Japanese government to the effort, estimated it would be eradicated in 10 years. Now, at age 82, he hopes it will happen in his lifetime.

Drummer Obo Addy, left, leads a group of Ghanaian performers during the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Ghana's Independence at lunchtime Tuesday, March 6 in Pioneer Courthouse Square. The celebration began with a welcome to the crowd and a pouring of libations by Ghanaian Elder Kwaku Mensah, not pictured. The celebration continues with a dinner and a dance, beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 10 at the Holiday Inn Airport. For tickets, call James Tetteh at 503-282-9955.