The House today passed Senate Bill 519, the Worker Freedom Act, by a vote of 34 to 24. 
The bill protects workers in "captive audience meetings" who do not wish to listen to their employer's non-work-related opinions on religion, politics or unions...

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 . . . .

Thelma Altha Unthank Brown died on May 29 after an extended illness. She was 69.
Thelma was born in Portland on March 16, 1940 to Dr. DeNorval Unthank and Thelma Unthank.
She graduated from Grant High School in 1958 and attended Spelman College in Atlanta, Oregon State University and Portland State University, finishing with a Masters of Administrative Education degree...

The King of Pop is dead. The greatest entertainer of his era, and perhaps of all time, Michael Jackson was pronounced dead Thursday at UCLA Medical Center after going into cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles. He was 50 years old. . . .

Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

Harmless comic characters or racist robots? The buzz over the summer blockbuster ``Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' only grew this week as some said two jive-talking Chevy characters were racial caricatures.

Low-income young adults, ages 18-24, are still needed to fill summer jobs in Clark County organizations for work between July 6, and Aug. 14. Positions are for 30 hours per week over the six week period. Workers will be paid minimum wage and will also receive training to help build their work readiness skills.

Connect with other working-class women. Hear what Grassroots Women has been up to in the past year. Share ideas of what we can do together to further the struggle for genuine women's liberation! Sunday, July 26, 1 – 4 pm. Grassroots Women is an anti-imperialist women's organization formed in Vancouver in 1995. We stand and fight for the following: Our democratic right to expose and oppose the negative impacts of imperialist globalization in Canada and internationally, particularly its impacts on working class and other marginalized women. . . . 

Oregon lawmakers completed action Saturday on a measure to suspend most provisions of a voter-approved measure requiring longer sentences for repeat property and drug offenders. The Senate's 22-8 vote to send the bill to Gov. Ted Kulongoski came as lawmakers continued their push to wrap up the 2009 Legislature by Tuesday's adjournment deadline. In a rare Saturday gathering, the Senate acted on dozens of other measures . . .

The Jena Six case, which once prompted a massive civil rights demonstration and drew international attention, saw the final chapter played out quietly. Five neatly dressed young men answered "Yes Sir,'' on Friday as state District Judge Tom Yeager asked them if they accepted the terms of a deal that included pleading no contest to misdemeanor simple battery. The charges against the five. . . .