On Friday, Feb. 13, Po'Shines Cafe De La Soul, North Portland's non-profit soul food cafe, will begin hosting Cornbred, a weekly spoken word and open mic night from 8 – 10 p.m. for youth readers and performers.  Focusing on youth in middle and high school, Cornbred will provide a much needed positive forum for youth to express themselves and create a community of young artists ...

Cornetta Smith, project director of "First Families of Vancouver's African-American Community," lectures on First Families/ Colors of Influence Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Clark County Historical Museum, 1511 Main Street, Vancouver. Smith is working to identify, locate, and interview African-American families who settled in Vancouver during the wartime shipyard era and stayed to build a strong community here....

Washington State Sen. Pam Roach (R-rural Auburn) has submitted Senate Bill 5653 requiring more detailed information on foster parents.
"We have many wonderful people who give of their time and resources to be foster parents for many troubled and fragile children," said Roach. "But sometimes the foster parent might not possess the skills, attitude, or background needed to appropriately care for our state's at-risk children." ...

What began in 1989 as a modest pilot program at Rainier Beach High School is now a model for an effective school-based health care system, serving 5,000 middle and high school students each year across the Seattle School District.
To honor this 20-year milestone in providing high-quality, comprehensive adolescent health care in schools, City of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson, Public Health – Seattle & King County Director and Health Officer Dr. David Fleming and community partners celebrated yesterday at West Seattle High School....

South Seattle Community College, in partnership with the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association, is offering a number of non-credit electric vehicle classes, including a six-day Electric Vehicle Conversion workshop. Team-taught by a group of experienced instructors who have converted over two dozen vehicles, the six-day workshop guides students through the complete process of converting a vehicle from a gasoline engine to electric power.  By the end of the workshop, the group will have completed one running electric car conversion capable of highway speeds, with a 30-60 mile range on one charge ...

• Eyes on the Prize
• Antonio Edwards and Brick City Krumpers
• Poets Mahogany Browne and Robert Lashley
• Bobby Seale appearance
• ALCAN
• Soul Food Lunch

Charlayne Hunter-Gault speaks Wednesday, Feb. 4 on  "Africa on the Edge," at the First Congregational Church, 1126 S.W. Park. Doors Open at 6:30 p.m. Program begins at 7:30 p.m.
This is an amazing opportunity to hear this global, award-winning ambassador, especially during Black History Month. Only about 50 tickets remain....

Unemployed workers in Washington and the rest of the country are targets for crooks posing as headhunters, the Attorney General's Office warned this week. Scams include bogus job offers and realistic-looking e-mail messages that contain links to computer viruses or phishing sites. "More people are looking for work and scammers are looking for them; it's despicable ... Threats targeting at-home workers include ...

OAKLAND (NNPA) - The arrest and filing of murder charges against the former transit officer, whose New Year's Day shooting of an unarmed Black man was captured on cell phone videos and spread around the world, brought a small measure of relief to a diverse, national group demanding his full prosecution....

DETROIT (AP -- Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick emerged from jail after serving a 99-day sentence. He was greeted in the cold by about two dozen reporters and a handful of onlookers.
Kilpatrick and his ex-chief of staff admitted to lying during a 2007 whistle-blowers' trial about a romantic relationship and their role in a police official's firing. Sexually explicit text messages contradicted their testimony .... He stood for a minute or two outside the jail amid swirling snowflakes, smiling occasionally to those in the crowd who called his name and shouted: "We love you, Kwame. Detroit loves you baby!".....