Minority contractors are up in arms over the Port of Seattle's $1.39 million investigation into allegedly fraudulent contracting practices by Port employees and managers.
Ten separate instances of civil fraud were cited by an investigator hired by the Port, including that of a staff member who changed contracting rules to ensure that all minority contracts would go to only one company – a company identified by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1996 as a "sham minority business."
Port officials refused last week to fire the staff responsible for the fraud, or to file any criminal charges against them.
An FBI investigation is reportedly still pending ...

Attorneys general for Washington and 38 other states this week announced that they reached a $12 million settlement with Mattel, Inc., and its subsidiary, Fisher-Price, Inc., resolving a 16-month investigation into the events that resulted in the voluntary nationwide recall of nearly 2 million toys for excessive lead paint in 2007 ...

Flexing his solo strength for the first time, rapper/poet/activist Mic Crenshaw is showing that he's more than just a piece of the puzzle. After nearly 15 years of recording and playing with a number of different acts ... Crenshaw took the last year to produce his first solo project, "Thinking Out Loud." He is holding a CD release party in Seattle on Jan. 7 at the Nectar Lounge ...

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.…

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.…

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• Food Baskets
• Book Reading
• Smoke Free
• Housing Groups

The Bethel AME Church hosts a musical tribute to Edgar (Ed) Mitchell, who will be the guest of honor. Performers include the Bethel Cathedral Choir, the Men's Choir, and the De La Salle Choir. Mitchell is the much-loved former vocalist of many years for the Cathedral Choir who has recently fallen ill ...

Kevin Howard, Leroy Haynes, Norma Trimble and Mark Knutson, a group of leaders from Portland's faith-based community gathered around the Martin Luther King Jr. statue on the namesake boulevard to sign a commitment against tobacco.
Yugen Farad Rashad, of LifeWorks NW's African American Tobacco prevention program, organized the group of faith leaders as part of an ongoing campaign against smoking.

The racial gap in colon cancer death rates is widening, a new report says, and experts partly blame Blacks' lower screening rates and poor access to quality care.
Colon and rectal cancer death rates are now nearly 50 percent higher in Blacks than in Whites, according to American Cancer Society research being released Monday ...