March 23-27, the Police Activities League of Portland will be hosting weeklong Safe Haven Spring Break activities at all its centers in the metro area for youth ages 8-17 in Portland/Gresham, Beaverton or Molalla. 
Activities will include basketball tournaments, sports clinics, art projects, field trips and a closing picnics.  Several sponsors are supporting the camps including the Trail Blazers, Portland . . .

The Delaware State University Concert Choir performs Sunday, March 15 at 6 p.m. at Augustana Lutheran Church, 2710 NE 14th Ave. Founded as an historically Black college in 1891. The show is free, for more information call 503-288-6174.

PassinArt Theatre presents "A Sunbeam," a play by John Henry Redwood about love, obsession and family at The Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center. Tickets are on sale now for performances that run from April 2 through April 25. A Sunbeam is about the struggles Cecilia (Shelley Matthews-Johnson) goes through when worrying who will take care of her disabled son Sol (Kenneth Dembo). For more information, visit www.ifccarts.org.

Verizon Wireless is teaming up with the Portland Trail Blazers for the sixth consecutive year to help curb domestic violence.
Fans attending the Trail Blazers game against the New Jersey Nets Friday, March 13 at 7 p.m., are being encouraged to donate used wireless phones and accessories to benefit victims of domestic violence through the Verizon Wireless HopeLine program. . . .

Attorney General John Kroger is warning consumers to avoid misleading and possibly illegal promotions for "free gas" and "free groceries."
The promotions are designed to get consumers to buy products they might not otherwise purchase. They typically offer hundreds of dollars of free groceries or gas if you buy certain products and mail in your receipts. There's often a $5 registration fee. . . .

The decision to bring Major League Soccer to Portland won the City Council's approval by a 3-2 vote Wednesday afternoon. The council voted on initial business plans to renovate PGE Park in order to accommodate professional soccer and build a new, smaller ballpark for the Beavers. The proposal was backed by Mayor Sam Adams and Councilmembers Dan Saltzman and Randy Leonard. Councilmembers Nick Fish and Amanda Fritz opposed the deal our of concerns that it could affect city services. . . .

Veteran producer and keyboardist George Duke will be performing for four nights at The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley. Duke is touring in support of his latest album "Dukey Treats." The album includes a number of diverse tracks, from the up tempo "Everyday Hero" – praising everyday people that make differences in everyone's lives – to the heartbreaking "Sudan (It's a Cryin' Shame)." . . .

BOSTON (AP) _ The street artist who created the famous "Hope'' poster of President Barack Obama expects to face new vandalism charges relating to the red, white and blue image, but his lawyer said Tuesday that the accusations would cover a period of time when the artist wasn't even in Boston.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ Accusing officials in a suburban New Orleans parish of trying to keep blacks from moving there after Hurricane Katrina, a housing advocacy group is asking a federal judge to strike down a parish limit on the construction of new multifamily homes.
The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center claims the St. Bernard Parish's September 2008 moratorium on building structures with more than five units is an end run around an earlier court settlement over a different housing regulation.
Last year, the predominantly white parish agreed to repeal an ordinance that barred residents from renting single-family homes to anyone other than a blood relative. ...

The head of the federal agency responsible for warning people about health effects of toxic pollution in their neighborhoods responded to complaints Thursday at a hearing in Washington by saying he's improving the agency's approach to investigating hazards and how the risks are explained.
Frumkin says the agency has found better ways to explain health risks to people wanting information about their neighborhoods' hazards. ...