Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Inc. (PCRI) has been honored by Bank of America with this year's Neighborhood Builders Award. PCRI is a 15 year old non-profit, community development corporation specializing in the development and management of affordable housing, primarily single family homes ...

Adriene Cruz's "Quilt for Obama" will be shown in the nation's capitol from Sunday, Jan. 11 and continuing through Jan. 31. The work is included in a special celebratory exhibit at The Historical Society of Washington, DC, put on by The Historical Society, the Women of Color Quilters Network and The Group for Cultural Documentation ... Photos Courtesy of Art Alexander

Mattie A. Dyer died on Dec. 14, 2008. She was 92 ... her early childhood years were spent in Mississippi, where she attended school. At an early age she gave her life to the Lord, and was a member of Mt. Arrot Baptist Church ... She worked as a domestic engineer, caregiver to all in need and most of all nanny for all the grandkids. Ma's hotel was always open ...

Lorenzo Joe Carter has died. Fondly remembered as "Renzie," he was born to the parents of Joe Will Carter and Josephine Carter-Holmes on April 26, 1962 in Portland .... Lorenzo worked at the National Forestry Center along with a variety of other jobs ... He was known for his sense of humor and could bring laughter to any atmosphere. He was a man who loved nature and animals throughout his life.  He was an avid reader, self taught scholar and was highly intelligent ...

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- California's Attorney General said Saturday he would dispatch a state prosecutor to monitor Alameda County's investigation into the New Year's Day slaying of an unarmed man by a transit police officer.
Jerry Brown said an unnamed attorney from his office will act as independent observer over the investigation being conducted by Alameda County prosecutors.
Local prosecutors, Oakland police and Bay Area Rapid Transit investigators are trying to determine why BART police officer Johannes Mehserle fatally shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant. Anger has risen since the slaying as grainy video of the shooting has been played repeatedly on television and the Internet, while the officer has not been charged with any crime.
Brown made the announcement after meeting Saturday with state and local Black leaders in his Oakland office. Brown says he understands the frustration with the pace of the criminal investigation, but was hesitant to intervene in the inquiry.
"Just being here and listening brings home the powerful feelings based not only on this incident, but on many incidents in the past and that builds up," Brown said ...

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – The 41-member Congressional Black Caucus, which often describes itself as the "conscience of the Congress", is anticipating a power surge next week as one of its former members takes the oath of office as president of the United States. "As I stand here today, I can tell you with certainty that these 41 members of the Congressional Black Caucus recognizes that this is our moment," said U. S. Rep. Barbara Lee, the new chairwoman of the 40-year-old caucus at the group's ceremonial swearing in last week.  ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A staggering 2.6 million jobs disappeared in 2008, the most since World War II, and the pain is only getting worse with 11 million Americans out of work and searching. Unemployment hit a 16-year high of 7.2 percent in December and could be headed for 10 percent or even higher by year's end ...

BOISE, Idaho – Coeur d'Alene Paving, Inc. will pay $60,000 and furnish other corrective measures to settle a racial harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced last week.
The EEOC's suit argued that Shawn Fletcher, Richard Fletcher and Marcus Smith were subjected to ongoing racial slurs and jokes by a foreman, including references to the "N-word," "coons," and "coon food."  Both Shawn and Richard Fletcher complained to the owners of the company about the harassment, the EEOC said, but the racial jokes and abusive language continued ...

Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu tackles that question in his presentation The Education Gap: A Critical Response to Poverty in America (The Ruby Payne Theory) as part of The Bush School's third annual Diversity Speaker Series. Free and open to the public, the talk takes place on Thursday, January 15 from 7-9 p.m. at Mount Zion Baptist Church at 19^th Ave. and Madison St., Seattle.  
In his presentation, Dr. Kunjufu dissects and refutes Ruby Payne's "poverty theory ...

As the 2009 Legislative Session starts on Monday, WashingtonVotes.org rolls out its enhanced 2.0 website that increases user accessibility and function ... Free, with concise, plain-English, objective descriptions of every bill, amendment and votes ... Citizens interested in particular bills and issues can also register to receive daily e-mail alerts ...