Loveness Wesa and members of Kgotso African Cultural Arts perform during the Rhythms for Life, Fifth Annual World Aids Day Dinner and Auction on Nov. 30. The event raised thousands of dollars toward the continuing support of a grassroots AIDS efforts in Mutare, Zimbabwe.

A new study reveals a frightening trend among small businesses and their employees. Access to affordable, effective health care insurance is becoming increasingly unaffordable, leading to a gap between high-wage earners and those who qualify for public health assistance.
The study, by the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations and Oregon Action, surveyed 388 businesses with 50 or fewer employees from May to August 2006 and found that an increasing number of individuals employed by small businesses are underinsured or have insurance with high deductibles, co-payments or other features that deter access to medical care.
Over 68 percent of responding companies said they do not currently offer health insurance plans to their employees, with an overwhelming majority citing cost as the reason it is not offered.

For Jesse Lambert, going back to college has been a long time coming. The 55-year-old metal worker has survived one plant layoff, raised two children and endured a lifetime of changing technology in the metal casting business.

This year's keynote speaker at The Skanner Foundation's 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast said he plans to speak about some controversial issues affecting American society.
"Dr. King worked on three broad areas: legal equality, voting rights and economic parity," said Luke Visconti, co-founder and publisher of DiversityInc magazine. "Only two of the three have been accomplished. Why?"
The celebration will begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 15, in the Red Lion Hotel, 909 N. Hayden Island Drive. It also will feature a few words from Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. Tickets for the annual event are available online by e-mailing [email protected], at The Skanner office, 415 N. Killingsworth St. or by calling 503-285-5555, ext. 511.

Posing in their African outfits at the annual Africa/Arkansas Night party sponsored by the Arkansas Club on Dec. 2 are, from left, Ida Miller, president of the Arkansas Club; Curley Fuller and Jo Camel. 

State Rep. Chip Shields, D-Portland, is seeking ideas for improving minority business in Oregon.
Shields is developing a minority business agenda in conjunction with several local minority chambers of commerce and the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs.

Two state advisory boards have received awards for their efforts to curb methamphetamine abuse in Oregon.
The awards commemorated National Methamphetamine Awareness Day on Nov. 30. The Governor's Meth Task Force and the Oregon Board of Pharmacy received awards from the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is diving into a debate over schools' racial diversity this week, hearing arguments on lawsuits by parents who are challenging policies that use race to help determine where children go to school.
At a time of rising de facto segregation in public schools, the top U.S. court is to hear arguments Monday on lawsuits by parents in Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle who are challenging policies designed to keep schools from segregating along the same lines as neighborhoods.

LOS ANGELES — Fifteen years after disclosing he was HIV-positive, wide-smiling former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson marked World AIDS day Friday by unveiling a campaign to end the disease within the Black community. "I Stand with Magic: Campaign to End Black AIDS" is a joint effort between the Magic Johnson Foundation and Illinois-based HIV research leader Abbott Laboratories, Inc. that aims to help reduce new HIV infections in the Black community by 50 percent over five years.

Lai'lani Blanchard, 2, makes a snowman out of a sock at Winterfest Dec. 2 at the NewHolly Gathering Hall. Winterfest features multicultural make- and take-gifts.