A striking new study says almost 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds is obese, and the rate is alarmingly higher among American Indian children, with nearly a third of them obese. Researchers were surprised to see differences by race at so early an age. Overall, more than half a million 4-year-olds are obese, the study suggests. Obesity is more common in Hispanic and black youngsters, too, but the disparity is most startling in American Indians, whose rate is almost double that of whites. The lead author said that rate is worrisome among children so young, even in a population at higher risk for obesity because of other health problems and economic disadvantages.  . . .

It is a staple on the six o'clock news: A man shot. A girl raped. A boy stabbed. A woman abused. Violence is everywhere. But increasingly, experts said, the faces of these chilling tales - both victims and perpetrators, usually from minority communities - belong to the young. "Every two days we lose a classroom full of children from gun violence," said U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns. Yet, the powers-that-be seem not to care, said Kenneth Barnes Sr., founder and director of Reaching Out to Others Together (R.O.O.T.), a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group. . . .

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- The number of allegations of racial profiling connected with traffic stops doubled in 2008 over the previous year, but officers in all but a few cases were cleared of wrongdoing, according to a state report released Tuesday.
The state received 22 reports of allegations from three public agencies. Officers were exonerated in 19 of the cases. Three instances were said to have an unknown outcome. . . .

It's one of the most memorable moments in movie history: silent Chief Bromden smashes a heavy appliance through a barred window to escape from a cruel mental institution in the 1975 classic "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.'' As demolition begins on most of the 125-year-old building where the movie was filmed, workers plan to preserve one section and the marble hydrotherapy device Bromden used for a museum of mental health. "It's the thing that many people remember about the movie,'' said hospital spokeswoman Patricia Feeny. Workers on Monday used a trackhoe to begin tearing down the roof of the Oregon State Hospital's J Building to make way for a new 620-bed hospital complex that's to be finished by 2011. . . .

The Delaware State University choir, with musical director Dr. Curtis Everett Powell, performed Sunday March 15 at the Augustana Lutheran Church. Delaware State is one of the oldest historically Black colleges in the nation, operating continuously for the past 115 years. The choir tours to encourage more students to consider enrolling in HBCU's. . . .
Photo by Julie Keefe

As gang-related shootings and criminal activity ramp up in the Portland metro area, outreach services to youth on the edge of trouble are strapped for resources.
Yet even when the area's dedicated cadre of youth advocates succeed in persuading individuals to leave the gang life, there are few avenues for those who want to go straight.
One recent success story in that area unfolded even as another tragedy played out in the news.
Trailed by a television crew with cameras rolling, Dion Weeks walked into the Multnomah County Courthouse at noon on Monday, March 9, right into a hive of armed sheriffs deputies. . . .

In a city where Black immigrants and Black natives are all too often divided by culture and language, a common problem is helping to unite them.
Members of the African Women's Coalition are mourning the loss of Nabintou Kelekele, a mother of five children who was brutally murdered on March 16. Her husband Namegabe Mushegero has been charged with murder for allegedly hitting her in the head with a hammer. The coalition is creating a domestic violence plan of action to prevent future tragedies from happening. . . .

Students at the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Public Charter School are agitating to keep Portland Public Schools from shutting them down.
A district subcommittee ruled that the school's finances are "not sufficiently stable to support renewal."
"This recommendation is not a reflection on the good work that is being done for the students of LEP by the school staff," said PPS Superintendent Carole Smith, in a statement March 12. "But we are concerned about LEP's financial viability and the risk the school's finances pose for LEP's students and families. . . .

What's happening for you in your city this week? Read here a day-by-day diary of community events to fill your spare time. For a full calendar please click on "Read the complete article" below . . . .

• Family Support Around Mental Illness
• City and County Budget Input
• Red Cross Open House
• Free Mental Heath Lecture
• Educators' Video Contest
• Health Lectures at OHSU
• Columbia Crossing Protest Rally . . .