Maryland Native Jada Pinkett Smith studied dance and acting at the Baltimore School for the Arts and the North Carolina School of the Arts before getting her big break when she landed a role on the long-running NBC-series, "A Different World." The multi-talented actress, producer, director and philanthropist continually challenges herself in a variety of ways.
Now, not only is she playing her first lead role in a TV-series on "HawthoRNe," but she is also the show's executive producer. Pinkett Smith's recent work includes . . .

Portland's Junteenth celebrations are Saturday, June 20, with a Freedom Parade at 11 a.m. down Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, between NE Jarrett and NE Knott streets. . . .
In Seattle, the Juneteenth Celebration Parade features a doggie parade with judging in more than a dozen categories, Saturday June 20 at noon, kicking off at 25th & E. Alder. Judging of the marchers follows, at Pratt Park. . . .

Anything that Bennie Boggan gets this year from the federal government is bound to be better than what he's gotten over the last eight years.  Even so, the director of the Youth Employment Institute says the federal government, through its stimulus program, is funding merely 740 youth jobs this summer – for the entire Portland metropolitan area ...

Check here see what out new look website will . . . .

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Republican senators criticized President Barack Obama on Sunday for not taking a tougher public stand in support of Iranians protesting the outcome of the country's contested presidential election, with one saying the president had been "timid and passive.'' As thousands of Iranians have flooded city streets in the past week to demonstrate for a new election, Republicans have been turning up the heat on Obama. The president has sought to send a measured message to the Iranian leadership, with which he still hopes to open a dialogue over its nuclear program.

(NNPA) - Georgia Death Row inmate Troy Davis' 30-day stay of execution has expired and his defense team has filed a final appeal requesting that the U.S. Supreme Court send his case back to a lower court to allow a judge to review recanted testimonies by several critical witnesses who testified for the state in 1991.
If the Supreme Court rejects this appeal, a new execution date could be set in the months to come ...

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Growing up without a father left a hole in his heart, President Barack Obama told boys at the White House Friday in a remarkably personal Father's Day weekend message. He implored fathers everywhere -- and the kids when they're older -- to be involved in the lives of their own children. "This isn't an obligation,'' said the father of two in a message to millions of wayward dads. "This is a privilege to be a father.''

Mayor Sam Adams has been exonerated by Oregon Attorney General John Kroger's investigation into an alleged affair between Adams and a teenager in 2005. Department of Justice investigators, in a report released Monday morning, found that former state legislative teen intern Beau Breedlove's sex claims could not be substantiated and that he in fact was the source of the original "affair" rumors picked up and investigated by local weekly newspapers.

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger will be making several appearances in Portland this week. The author and former federal prosecutor will be reading from portions of his book "Convictions" and talking about his priorities as the top law enforcement officer of the state. Speaking to the City Club this Friday, Kroger will discuss his accomplishments, what he has learned, and how he hopes to reshape the role of attorney general in Oregon ...

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - A report released on June 16 by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund titled, "Confronting the New Face of Hate: Hate Crimes in America in 2009," says recent history that suggests America is on a more progressive path in terms of racial and ethnic relations is simply not true. To stem the tide of hate crimes in the country, a civil rights organization has joined forces with a prominent Jewish group to support fighting hate crimes.