Members of Truck Stop Ministries take a pause from their labors. The group, made up of members of local churches, provide ministerial services to the many truck drivers who stop at the massive Jubitz Truck Stop in North Portland.

LifeWorks NW will conduct a series of fund-raising concerts throughout the school year to support the James John SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) Community School.
The first concert, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, will be a CD release party for the Portland-based band, "Lighten Up," which presents a variety of music from jazzy blues to Chuck Berry-style rock-n-roll.

VANCOUVER—Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, in the heart of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve, will host a Candlelight Tour on Sept. 15 and 16.
On both evenings the fort will reopen at 7 p.m.; entrance to the event is free. The tour will focus on two consecutive evenings in the fort's history almost exactly 160 years ago to the date. This "history in real time" will give visitors something different to see each evening.

LAST YEARS BREAKFAST:2006 Breakfast InformationFor tickets e-mail [email protected]…

Join State Representatives Diane Rosenbaum, Jackie Dingfelder, and Chip Shields for a discussion of energy issues in Oregon. We will cover several energy topicsand have a panel of experts to address your concerns. Plenty of time has been reserved for questions, so please plan to attend.

SEATTLE—As part of Macy's program to give back to its communities, Macy's will be involved in the Susan G. Komen Foundation's Race for the Cure in Portland on Sunday. As a presenting sponsor, Macy's has raised funds for breast cancer research with a fashion show in Seattle, a fund-raising campaign with Estee Lauder and employee volunteer activities with Race for the Cure in cities throughout the region. Macy's, the largest retail brand of Federated Department Stores, is the new name for the former Meier & Frank stores in the Portland area.

WASHINGTON--While many White Americans recognize that they enjoy certain privileges over other races, nearly half of them believe governmental institutions are color-blind and don't contribute to those privileges, according to a new "Whiteness" survey released by researchers at the University of Minnesota.

"The assumption has been that Whites didn't see or understand the privileges they might have that go along with race," said Doug Hartmann, an associate professor of sociology at the university and the study's co-author.

"And there we have pretty high numbers. Sixty percent or upwards of Whites see the way that prejudice and discrimination and family upbringing and access to schools creates advantages for them. That's surprising to a lot of left-leaning type scholars who assume that Whites didn't get that," Hartmann added.

During the first week of school, high school students have a lot of decisions to make: How they will pay for school supplies, what clothes they will wear on the first day, how they will remember the combination to their locker.
But one of the most important decisions a junior or senior can make is whether their personal information should be given to the federal government for use by military recruiters.
Students have until the end of September to decide whether they want to "opt out" of providing their names, addresses and telephone numbers to the military. But, say members of two local organizations — American Friends Service Committee and Recruiter Watch PDX — many students don't realize they have that choice.
That's why an "Opt Out" street party is planned near Madison and Jefferson high schools Thursday. Punctuated with an impromptu poetry competition by emcee Mic Crenshaw, of Suckapunch and Hungry Mob, the parties will include "street teams" who will talk to students about the "realities" of military recruiting and give them forms that students can sign denying recruiters access to their information.

Dallas, left, and Nicholas prepare for their first day of school at the brand-new Rosa Parks Elementary School in North Portland.

Despite years of progress in diagnosing and understanding the disease, breast cancer remains a major cause of death among women from all walks of life. And for African American women, breast cancer carries an especially compelling statistic: Although Black women are less likely to contract breast cancer than White women, they're more likely to die from it.