For years there have been charges that African Americans are under-represented in the U. S. Census counts conducted once every decade. ''It's very possible that some African Americans or Spanish speaking persons were under-counted in previous Census because there may have been some belief that making face-time with the government was not in their best interests,'' acknowledges Arnold Jackson, chief operating officer for the decennial Census. . . .

The president of Niger issued a decree on Tuesday dissolving the West African country's parliament after he lost a court battle to change the constitution so he could run for a third term in office. President Mamadou Tandja's decree was read on state-owned radio, and it gave no reason for his decision for the dissolution of the assembly. However, it came hours after Niger's constitutional court rejected Tandja's call to change the constitution so he can run for a third term as the country's leader. . . .

What's happening for you in your city this week? Read here a day-by-day diary of community events to fill your spare time. For a full calendar please click on "Read the complete article" below . . . .

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If you haven't yet heard of Errick Lewis, odds are you will soon. The 25-year-old bass player already has an impressive resume. . . .

The family of an Edmonds man says he hasn't regained consciousness since he suffered a head injury early Sunday as he was being arrested in Seattle. The family fears 29-year-old Chris Harris may not survive. He's in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The King County sheriff's office says he ran from deputies looking for a stabbing suspect. It turns out Harris was not a suspect. . . .

With Multnomah County facing a $36.5 million budget gap, every office is taking considerable losses – even public safety. The gap has been patched, at the expense of cost of living freezes, increasing both car rental taxes and the amount U.S. Marshalls pay to rent jail beds from the county, and reducing department programs across the board by $28.5 million. . . .

A jury convicted a Lebanese-born Swede on Tuesday of plotting to help al-Qaida recruit by trying to set up a weapons-training post in Oregon and distributing terrorist training manuals over the Internet.
The verdict against Oussama Kassir capped a three-week trial that featured the testimony of U.S.-born Muslim convert James Ujaama, a former Seattle resident who said he tried to create the training camp in Bly, Ore., in 1999. . . .

Maggie and John Anderson of Chicago vowed four months ago that for one year, they would try to patronize only Black-owned businesses. The "Empowerment Experiment'' is the reason John had to suffer for hours with a stomach ache and Maggie no longer gets that brand-name lather when she washes her hair. A grocery trip is a 14-mile odyssey. . . .

Despite an economy represented by high unemployment rates, a home foreclosure crisis and low consumer confidence, African American buying power is projected to reach $1.2 trillion in 2013, according to a report conducted by the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth. The report "The Multicultural Economy" published in late 2008, estimates that African American consumers' share of the nation's total buying power will increase from $913 billion, resulting in a contribution of almost nine cents out of every dollar that is spent nationwide.