The Ritz Chamber Players, the nation's first chamber music ensemble comprised of musicians spanning the African Diaspora, made their Seattle debut performance at the University of Washington Tuesday night as part of the UW World Series program.
During their stay in Seattle, the RCP served as ensemble-in-residence went into several schools this week including T.T. Minor, Leschi, Thurgood Marshall and Brighton Elementary as well as the African American Academy teaching and exposing children to classical music. Their work includes educational activities, master classes, professional mentoring, coaching activities and discussion sessions....

It's official. Sen. John McCain is the Republican candidate for president of the United States of America. McCain clinched the nomination Tuesday night after winning all four primaries in Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont and emerging with more than the 1,192 delegates he needed to secure the nomination.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, bowed out of the race Tuesday night, vowing to support McCain's bid and offering "my commitment to him and to the party to do everything possible to unite our party but more importantly to unite our country." ...

Property crime is down in Oregon, the United States imprisons a greater percentage and number of its people than any other nation on earth (including China) and for every dollar Oregon spends on higher education, we spend $1.06 on corrections. That's almost 11 percent of the general fund.
But if Mannix and his co-sponsors on citizen's Initiative 40, Steve Beck and Duane Fletchall, have their way, we'll be spending a whole lot more – anything from $250 to $500 million more, depending whom you talk to. And the state will need three new prisons to house low-level drug dealers and perpetrators of certain property crimes.
"The dollars we're using to fund the prison system are dollars we used to use to educate our kids," said state Sen.

In conjunction with the Center for Multicultural Health and the Swedish Breast Care Express, Curves on Rainier will host a Heath Awareness Event, Saturday, March 8 from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Curves is located at 5508 Rainier Ave. S.
The free health Heath Fair is an opportunity for members of the community to come and gather information about many health subjects from a variety of practitioners. In addition, attendees have the opportunity to participate in a number of heath screenings including a mammogram and cervical cancer screenings.

The bold primary colors and geometric shapes in Jacob Lawrence's paintings tell the stories of the millions of African Americans who migrated north to seek new opportunities in urban centers like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. The multilayered graffitti-style paintings and collages that Jean-Michel Basquiat created were inspired by Black musicians, such as Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix. Faith Ringgold's paintings depict the African American people she saw around her every day and commemorate events such as the birth of the Black Power movement....

CHICAGO (AP) -- Barack Obama would not be leading the Democratic presidential race without the enthusiasm and high turnout of Black voters.
They spearheaded his comeback win in South Carolina, where Obama trounced Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards with the backing of four out of every five Black voters. They provided his margin of victory in many other states, and will play a key role in Tuesday's primary in Mississippi, where Clinton is the underdog.
But Obama's campaign saw the limits of Black support in last week's losses in Ohio and Texas....

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Democrats and human rights advocates criticized President Bush's veto Saturday of a bill that would have banned the CIA from using simulated drowning and other coercive interrogation methods to gain information from suspected terrorists.
Bush said such tactics have helped foil terrorist plots. His critics likened some methods to torture and said they sullied America's reputation around the world.
"This president had the chance to end the torture debate for good, yet he chose instead to leave the door open to use torture in the future," ...

NEW YORK (NNPA) - Many spectators at the trial in State Supreme Court in Queens of three officers charged in the killing of Sean Bell and the wounding of two others were concerned that the police witnesses for the prosecution may be backfiring.
Listening to the testimony of Detective Hispolito Sanchez March 3-4 may have done little to remove that uncertainty. Sanchez, who was working undercover at the Club Kalua on Nov. 25, 2006, when Bell was killed in a barrage of 50 shots, seemed to offer conflicting accounts, depending on who was asking the questions.
He told attorney James Cullenton, Detective Mike Oliver's counsel, that there was no interruption in the gunfire, which supports the defense's case. ...

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned Wednesday. New York Lt. Gov. David Paterson will succeed him as the first African American governor of New York. Here both men are pictured on the campaign trail in May 2006: Spitzer is at left, Paterson, who is legally blind, stands behind him at right.
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who built his career fighting corruption, resigned Wednesday, saying he was "deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me." He is facing allegations that he paid thousands of dollars to a prostitution ring, and paid for a woman to travel across state lines to meet him, which made the crime a federal offense....

The National Association for the Advancement Of Colored People's will hold its Alaska-Oregon-Washington State Area Conference Spring Convention this weekend: March 14 through March 16, at the airport Ramada Inn and Suites, 6221 N.E. 82^nd Ave. Call Todd Allen at 541-757-2390 immediately to reserve your place. For more information visit the Portland Branch of the NAACP's website at www.pdxnaacp.com or read the story in this week's The Skanner.