It's not easy for small business owners to tap the loans they need to fix problems or grow to the next level. Because the hard truth is: the less money you are making, the less you will be able to borrow from a bank.

No one really knows how big the human sex trafficking problem is in Portland.
But everyone involved agrees on one thing. Girls and women who want to leave the sex trade often have no safe place to go.

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -- If Scott Sloan felt any regret as he watched the last of two remaining Liberty Ships cut into scrap, he concealed it well.
The expression on his face looked more like pure relief.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Jails in rural Oregon have high numbers of female inmates, and the glut is presenting challenges for many sheriffs who don't have enough room to house them.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The state Education Department reports modest improvements for Oregon high schools and middle schools in measurements taken because of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law.

Former Portland Trail Blazer Brian Grant is concluding a two-day fund-raising event for Parkinson's research Monday, Aug. 2 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore.

The R.E.A.L. Prep Charter Academy – which recently changed their name from the High School of Recording Arts Portland – is set to open in the fall of 2011 and will be offering a public high school education with a curriculum centered on career training in the entertainment industry

Resonating booms, high wooden clacking and a smooth rattle filled the University of Washington dance studios last weekend. Dr. Monica Rojas and the artists of the DE CAJóN project taught Afro-Peruvian rhythms and movement in a workshop that highlighted the history behind the art.

One of Northeast Portland's most important institutions for empowering youth gears up this weekend with the Y.O.U.th (Youth Organized and United to Help) Peace & Unity Fest, Aug. 7 from 1 to 7 p.m. at the M.A.C.E. Center parking lot at 126 NE Alberta St.

In this at times contentious interview with The Skanner News staff, Dudley outlined an independent position on jobs, education, and the "economic time bomb" many observers predict will go off in our state during the next term of office.