During his lifetime, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked to bring people from all walks of life together to address important community issues.
Working alongside individuals of all ages, races and backgrounds, Dr. King encouraged Americans to come together to strengthen communities, alleviate poverty and acknowledge dignity and respect for all human beings. Service, he realized, was the great equalizer.
On the weekend of Jan. 15, as we celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, Hands On Greater Portland will provide a variety of service activities ....

 The Federal Communications Commission today announced further details of its previously announced Seattle, Washington field hearing regarding media ownership

Town Hall Seattle, Great Hall, 1119 Eighth Avenue (at Seneca Street), Seattle, WA 98101
 http://www.townhallseattle.org/greatHall.cfm
The purpose of the hearing is to fully involve the public in the process of the 2006 Quadrennial Broadcast Media Ownership Review that the Commission is currently conducting.  This hearing is the sixth and final media ownership hearing the Commission intends to hold across the country.  Previous FCC public hearings in the current review of media ownership issues were held in Los Angeles, CA, on October 3, 2006; Nashville, TN, on December 11, 2006; and Harrisburg, PA, on February 23, 2007; Tampa Bay, FL, on April 30, 2007; and Chicago, IL, on September 20, 2007.

The hearing is open to the public, and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.  The hearing format will enable members of the public to participate via "open microphone." 

A group of Oregon State University students and staff joined community members outside Reser Stadium just before a game against Washington on Saturday night to protest concerns about racism on campus.
Davis said she and others felt compelled to speak out after a "Black Out Reser" event to show school spirit at a previous football game included some students wearing black face paint and Afro wigs ....

 With a two- to three-minute ceremony Friday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey formally brought an end to the Gonzales era at the Justice Department.
The retired federal judge took the oath as the nation's 81st attorney general -- and the Bush administration's third. He replaces Alberto Gonzales, who resigned in September after a months-long scandal that exposed White House political meddling at the fiercely independent Justice Department.
Mukasey, 66, now inherits a department struggling to restore its credibility with more than a dozen vacant leadership jobs and little time to make many changes before another president takes office.
At the closed-door ceremony Friday, Mukasey was joined by family members and a handful of Justice Department staff members who applauded when he took the oath, said agency spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.
Afterward, Mukasey headed immediately into meetings with senior Justice Department officials, including a briefing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Mukasey "got right to work," Roehrkasse said.
As a federal district judge in Manhattan, Mukasey oversaw

A report by the Federal Communications Commission will show that cable TV companies have met a subscriber saturation point that may lead to the agency exerting greater regulatory authority over the industry.
The finding is contained in an annual report that assesses competition in the pay-television market, according to an FCC official who asked not to be named

CarlosAlexis Cruz in "La Carpa del Ausente," Miracle Theatre Group's 13th annual Day of the Dead celebration will play through Nov. 11 at Milagro Theatre, 525 S.E. Stark Street. Tickets for this bilingual production are available online at www.milagro.org or by calling 503-236-7253.

The future is looking grim for Oregon's poorest residents, according to several reports by think tanks and nonprofits who advocate for working families. A story in the Oct. 24 edition of the Skanner told how the Oregon Food Bank is struggling to meet demand for emergency food aid.
Tough times. But wait – things could get worse. Two other reports released last week say that isn't the only problem with the state's safety net – especially if the economy slows down.
A report by the Oregon Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income Oregonians, warns that a recession, like the one that hit unexpectedly in 2001, would leave the state of Oregon with few resources to help cushion the blow for thousands of families. And a study for the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations reported that living expenses have been rising much faster than wages, leaving thousands of working Oregonians struggling to make ends meet....

Light streams through the skylights in De La Salle North Catholic High School's new premises and gleams from the pale hardwood floors. The private high school, which sends 100 percent of its – mostly low-income — students to college each year, has finally taken up residence in the former Kenton Elementary school.
The move is a huge change for students and staff after seven years ....

D'Norgia Price hands out journals to the four seniors in her writing class at the Multicultural Senior Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. She encourages them to write about their early lives, then listens intently as they share their memories: memories of running barefoot on Hawaiian sands; of a snowy Christmas on the Klamath reservation; of a time when a new dress was the best present in the world.
Director of Senior Programs at the Urban League of Portland for the last six years, Price treasures these stories the elders tell about the past. She also knows the value of keeping a journal ....

When Jennifer Nash began her studies at the University of Washington, majoring in Retail Management and American Ethnic studies, an athletic scholarship in track and field helped her pay for her education. But in her second and third year, she suffered serious injuries that brought her running career to a standstill. Without the scholarship money, Nash needed a job and the help of her Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters in order to continue her education.
Last Saturday, at the Bridging the Gap breakfast, organized by the university's ...