Civil rights leaders, Black Democrats and Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele went ballistic when they…

Sarah Stein, left, visits the Switch Ups booth — owned by Paulette Hague, right, with the help of her son, Andreas Akins, center — at the recent Alberta Street Fair. Hague makes all kinds of creative light switch plates, including personalized plates with photos.

Although the city of Portland is appealing a lawsuit brought against the city by two African American women, Commissioner Randy Leonard says procedures already are in place that should prevent future complaints.
"I honestly believe if the events had happened now, I would have found some way to intervene and they would have been resolved," said Leonard, who last week voted with Mayor Tom Potter and three other commissioners — all of them White — to appeal the lawsuit to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Leonard oversees the Bureau of Development Services, where the women still work.
Although the women, who won the racial discrimination suit in U.S. District Court, asked the council not to appeal it, the council said the issue could set a precedent for future cases. The council wants the 9th Circuit Court to determine if the same case can be litigated twice — once by the state Workers Compensation Board and once by the U.S. District Court.
"It's a big deal," Leonard said. "It's not small at all."

Oregon's minimum wage workers will receive a 30-cents-per-hour raise beginning next Jan. 1, bringing it to $7.80 per hour.
Oregon's minimum wage currently is the second highest in the nation, behind Washington's $7.63 per hour. Washington is expected to adjust the rate for inflation at the end of September.
"The rising cost of living makes a serious dent in many workers' paychecks, but it hits the lowest paid in the worst way," said Oregon Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner, who announced the wage hike.

The legacy of the civil rights movement and its push toward equality for all will be celebrated next month when the Urban League of Portland hosts its annual Equal Opportunity Day Dinner.
The dinner, which features keynote speaker Janice Bryant Howroyd, founder and CEO of Act*1 Group and the presentation of this year's Equal Opportunity Awards, takes place at 6:45 p.m. Oct. 3 in the Grand Ballroom of the Portland Hilton Hotel, 921 S.W. Sixth Ave. A no-host reception begins at 5:45 p.m. KOIN TV anchor and reporter Ken Boddie will emcee the evening's festivities.

Felicia Allender-Brant, right, executive director of the Sabin Community Development Corp., and Craig Fondren, its economic empowerment manager, place their bids at the group's recent 15th Anniversary Celebration and Silent Auction.

Anthony P. Armstrong, of Allstate Insurance, addresses the crowd Sept. 14 at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new playground at James John Elementary School in St. Johns. The Allstate Foundation sponsored the playground along with the James John Parent-Teacher Association.

After four years of planning and renovation, Portland Center Stage welcomes Portlanders to a community celebration of its new home, The Gerding Theater at the Armory.
To commemorate the rebirth of this 115-year-old Portland fixture, Portland Center Stage and Portland Family of Funds are hosting a street party from noon to 5 p.m. Oct. 1 on Northwest Davis Street between Ninth and 11th avenues. Admission is free; food and beverages will be available at modest prices.

The Rev. Ellis H. Casson, left, has a word with James Kelly, CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Urban League, at the seventh annual Tabor 100 Captains of Industry Gala, held Sept. 16 at the  Washington Trade and Convention Center. Kelly was one of six people presented with the Crystal Eagle Leadership Award by the Tabor 100.

OLYMPIA—Many of the roughly 9,000 inmates released from the state's prisons each year re-offend and get locked up again. Though it's not a problem unique to Washington, the state's secretary of corrections says he plans to push for reforms designed to reduce the number of repeat offenders.
"We know how to lock people up, know how to incapacitate," said Harold Clarke. "But for me, the true measure of public protection is what the individual does after release. Because then the public becomes vulnerable."
Clarke's wish list includes revamping prison psychological assessments, education, job-training and treatment programs. "If we can help prop them up — prepare them — I think most of these folks will choose law-abiding lives," he said.