Seattle City Light recently held public meetings on July 8 and 15 to discuss the future of its Integrated Resource Development Plan. The city had a rigorous media and marketing campaign, hoping for a large turnout and energetic public discussion, but the meetings did little to provide for greater public insight....

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

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

When John Wolfe googled "African American psychologists" in Portland and couldn't find one, he knew the problem was more than just perception.
Wolfe is now trying to bridge the gap between the need for therapy in the community and the available supply of professionals.
Just like his father before him, John Wolfe had always been drawn to the career of social work.

The first fundraiser for the 2009 Youth Summit features local artists, Madgesdiq, right, Blacque Butterfly, Ro Deezy, X, Mic Crenshaw and Yonasda Lonewolf-Muhammad of the Lakota tribe, in a program this Saturday, Aug. 9 from 1 to 8:30 p.m. at the M.A.C.E. Center, 126 NE Alberta St. Organizers are calling for "a DAY of FUN and Entertainment for a Positive Purpose of Peace and Unity for our Community." Tickets are $10 adults, $5 for youths, $3 for anyone with 5 cans of food....

Valeria Gil, 12, takes a turn on the miter saw cutting a long piece of painted lumber while her instructor and other campers watch at the Oregon Tradeswomen Inc.'s Building Girls Summer Camp held on the campus on University of Portland. The cut lumber will become part of the finish work on one of two separate garden sheds that will be donated to community gardens at the end of the camp. Left to right, Paula Pacheco, 12, Hannah Campbell, 13, Valeria Gil, 12, and Katie Hughes, Building Girls Summer Camp lead instructor.
Photo by Shanda Tice

As part of National Night Out, Mississippi Avenue's fifth annual Ice Cream Social saw local businesses dip free ice cream— courtesy of Sunshine Dairy — until the ice cream melted or ran out.  Hundreds of neighbors strolled the avenue where gallons of ice cream were cheerfully served by local business owners — who personally scooped the ice cream. Left to right, Israel Clark Brown, 14; Ebony Jenkins, 16; Sierra Williams, 17; and Isaac Clark Brown, 14 relaxed with cool treats.
PHOTO BY Julie Keefe

A player on The Klique (in black shirts) attacks the basket against the Hot Shots (in red shirts) during the Heal The Hood AAU Basketball Tournament last weekend.  The event featured top high school players and was modeled after the legendary Rucker Tournament based in Harlem, New York, designed to encourage alternatives to violence.  The tournament was part of the Umoja Festival....
Photo by Susan Fried

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Most accounts of the Revolutionary War give the impression that America's independence from Britain was won by brave white men.
Maurice Barboza wants to tell the rest of the story.
He's trying to revive an effort to build the first monument on the National Mall honoring Black colonial soldiers -- perhaps the most forgotten heroes from the nation's birth.
The project would recognize such people as Crispus Attucks, the first patriot killed in the Boston Massacre, and James Lafayette, a Virginia slave who risked his life to spy on the British and was granted freedom in return.
"They were Americans, and they should be honored," Barboza says. "They were founders of the country." ...