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Nick Fish Portland City Commissioner; Mitch Lambley of Home Street; Annie Diffenauer of Rose COC; Fernando Velez of DCBS

This year about 250 people attended the African American Homeownership Fair. It was the lowest turnout we have seen in the 10 years of the fair's existence – including the first year when more than 400 showed up. The low turnout is a sad indication of these financially insecure times....

Despite the clear mandate that America's new president prioritize the reparation of the economy, jobs and tax-related issues, many other issues deserve top billing, say Black political observers. Judicial appointments, voting rights, international relations and education are among other issues on a wish list for African Americans and civil rights advocates....

All over the Northwest volunteers made the effort to get people to register to vote, and what a difference they made.
In Oregon more than 98,000 new voters registered for the May primary. "I think it's a reasonable prediction for us that we will have in excess of 200,000 new registrants since January 1," said John Lindback, state elections director. Democrats accounted for the bulk of that increase.
Washington State officials report similar statistics.

The Rev. Joshua D. Phillips, once an orphan who spent his life parenting those in need of unconditional love, including some of Portland's most prominent ministers and community leaders - died Nov. 3, 2008. He was 84.
Funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008 at Life Change Christian Center, 3635 N Williams Ave, Portland. Burial will follow at Skyline Memorial Gardens, 4101 NW Skyline Blvd. in Beaverton....

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services this week ordered a life insurance company to change the way it sells annuities after finding that the company sold policies to seniors who couldn't afford them....

Carollynn Smith discusses her case with attorney Gino Pieretti

Judge Nan Waller says her hands are tied. On Oct. 30, Grandmother Carollynn Smith was hoping to get a bit of a reprieve in her four year battle for custody of her two youngest grandchildren. But her latest efforts turned out to be too little, too late – at least by government standards....

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 While you were fixated on the election campaign and on the collapsing economy and your vanishing retirement investments, stuff happened.
Iraq stood tough -- against the U.S.; Afghanistan bled; Guantanamo refused to close, all pledges to the contrary notwithstanding; At home, the deficit swelled. So did the national debt. It is now twice as big as it was when President Bush took over from Bill Clinton.
The Big Three automakers raised the possibility of becoming the not-so-big two.
The Bush administration tried to relax rules intended to protect animals and plants in danger of extinction.
You no doubt noticed that a funny thing happened at the gasoline station -- prices dropped. But that made alternative energy sources less attainable.
From Associated Press reporters covering these developments, a rundown of some things that happened while you may not have been watching:
The Big Three automakers raised the possibility of becoming the not-so-big two.
The Bush administration tried to relax rules intended to protect animals and plants in danger of extinction.
You no doubt noticed that a funny thing happened at the gasoline station -- prices dropped. But that made alternative energy sources less attainable.
From Associated Press reporters covering these developments, a rundown of some things that happened while you may not have been watching....

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Longtime Birmingham civil rights leader Abraham Woods, who stood behind Martin Luther King during his "I Have a Dream" speech, has died after a long illness. He was 80.
He was pronounced dead Friday in the emergency department of Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham, hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Dodd said. He had been battling cancer for several years.
Woods helped coordinate the March on Washington and stood behind King in 1963, looking out over a crowd of 250,000 as King gave his famous speech.
Woods served as longtime president of the Birmingham chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He often led community marches in Birmingham to protest police shootings, slumlords and neighborhood violence.
The Rev. Woods had been pastor of St. Joseph Baptist Church since 1967 and was pastor of the First Metropolitan Baptist Church in the early 1960s...