On Wednesday Mayor Tom Potter and City Council appointed 15 members to the City of Portland's new Human Rights Commission and 11 members to its Honorary Advisory Board....

Commissioner Nick Fish last week appointed Carmen Caballero Rubio as his senior policy advisor. She will serve as policy advisor, communications manager, and as a bureau liaison. For over three years Rubio served as the community affairs director for Portland Mayor Tom Potter, where she acted as lead contact on community partnerships, outreach and recruitment, and civil and human rights issues...

President Robert Mugabe ceded some power in Zimbabwe for the first time in 28 years, signing a power-sharing deal Monday with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai amid questions on how the fierce enemies will work together to fix the collapsing economy....

A lawsuit has been filed to challenge what Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign says is an attempt to keep people facing foreclosure from voting. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal district court in Detroit by Obama for America, the Democratic National Committee and several Macomb County voters....

Albina Community Bank has been selected to receive a CDFI Fund Bank Enterprise Award of $675,000 for their 2007 community development work. The bank's award is for its support of Portland's local businesses through small business loans, home improvement loans and commercial real estate loans to underserved areas of the city....

There were fewer jobs in Oregon this August than during the same month last year, an indication that the state may have slipped into a recession, according to the Oregon Center for Public Policy....

Over 3200 people walked 20 miles a day for 3 days through Bellevue, Kirkland and Seattle to raise money to fight breast cancer. The walkers raised $8.6 million this year. A thousand more people participated in this year's event than last year.

Los Angeles sketch comedy troupe "Slow Children Crossing" present their comedy at SketchFest Seattle ... They are described as Kids in the Hall meets In Living Color. For ticket information go to...

Women of War & Destiny Ministries presents the 2008 Empowerment Conference Saturday, Sept. 20 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Westin Seattle,1900 Fifth Avenue. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Sunday that U.S. credit markets remain frozen and Congress must move quickly to pass a $700 billion bailout package for financial firms. But key Democrats said the legislation needs changes to provide better protections for taxpayers and homeowners in danger of losing their homes...