This year The Skanner's Black History edition takes a look at the history of African Americans in politics. Did you know that after the Civil War hundreds of Black men were elected to state legislatures across the South? Or that five African Americans have stood as presidential candidates? In this issue we profile a few of the personalities who became public figures nationally and in the Northwest. Click Here to read it.

1788
Marcus Lopez, cabin boy of Captain Robert Gray, becomes the first person of African descent known to have set foot on Oregon soil.
1805
York, William Clark's slave, comes west with Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery.
1844
Slavery is declared illegal in the Oregon Country. The infamous "Lash Law," requiring that Blacks in Oregon — be they free or slave — be whipped twice a year "until he or she shall quit the territory," is passed in June. It is soon deemed too harsh and its provisions for punishment are reduced to forced labor in December.....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Democratic presidential race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has not only coaxed far more people to vote than in the past, it's also changed the mix of those showing up.
Democratic voters are typically younger, likelier to be female and more racially diverse this year than they were in 2004, according to exit polls of voters from both campaigns. The historic matchup features Clinton vying to become the first female president, Obama the first black.
Part of the difference could be because some 2004 primaries were held after Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., had already clinched his party's nomination, reducing the incentive for many voters to participate. This year's race is still raging, though Obama has emerged as the front-runner. Some of the difference could also reflect changes in the country's population.
Here are some ways the composition of Democrats voting has changed. Data from combined exit polls from 15 states that have held competitive Democratic primaries this year are compared with data from those same states four years ago.
RACE: In 2004, 70 percent of Democratic voters in these states were white, 17 percent black and 8 percent Hispanic. This year 63 percent have been white, 19 percent black and 13 percent Hispanic. Clinton has led in contests so far among whites, chiefly white women, but has faded in recent primaries. She has won strong support from Hispanics, while Obama has had huge margins among blacks. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A White House official who served as President Bush's middleman with conservatives and Christian groups resigned Friday after admitting to plagiarism. Twenty columns he wrote for an Indiana newspaper were determined to have material copied from other sources without attribution.
Timothy Goeglein, who has worked for Bush since 2001, acknowledged that he lifted material from a Dartmouth College publication and presented it as his own work in a column about education for The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne. The newspaper took a closer look at his other columns and found many more instances of plagiarism. ....

Willamette Week's Murmurs column reported on a story in The Skanner about a group of business…

Charles Jordan
The first African American Portland city commissioner, Jordan was instrumental in creating "Portland's Living Room" – Pioneer Courthouse Square. But he is best known as the director of Portland Parks and Recreation, and is also a nationally recognized visionary for promoting parks. During ....

Rep. Chip Shields and Sen. Margaret Carter will host a town-hall forum on education from 10:30 a.m. to noon, Saturday March 8 at PCC's Cascade Campus Student services cafeteria, 705 N. Killingsworth Street. Special guests will include James Sager, Senior Policy Advisor on Education for Governor Kulongoski; Dana Hepper, Statewide Advocacy Coordinator for Stand For Children, and Algie Gatewood, President of Portland Community College Cascade Campus. The meeting will help set the agenda for Pre-K, K-12 and higher education for the 2009 legislative session. For more information, call Rep. Shields office at 503- 231-2564

Should state Sen. Margaret Carter move from state government to city government? According to the buzz, that's a question being asked around town in everywhere from boardrooms to basketball courts. The Skanner can't reveal our sources on this, but it seems a group of business leaders have asked Sen. Carter to ditch her job in Salem and make a bid for the seat Commissioner Sam Adams is vacating in City Hall.

This summer, the first group of students to attend St. Andrew Nativity Middle School will graduate from high school — and all but one plan to continue their education, with most headed to a university.
Perhaps it isn't news that graduates from a private Catholic school make it into higher education, but St Andrew graduates are not typical private school students....

Dan Shea, a muralist and veteran with Vets for Peace chapter 72, shakes hands with a volunteer named Bucket at the 2007 People of Color Against the War workshop. Mic Crenshaw, an MC and founder of Global Fam stands in the background.

Mireaya Medina has noticed a shift in the way the Iraq War is treated in the media. Suddenly, now that election season is in full swing, coverage has tilted to the weak state of the U.S. economy. ...