Creating an environmentally sustainable economy will present many challenges to our community and nation in the coming years, but it will also lead to many new opportunities in manufacturing, construction, research and other fields.
That's the message from local officials as the Metropolitan King County Council holds a special Town Hall Meeting Monday, July 14 to discuss creating a sustainable, green economy and stimulating job growth in the new "green-collar" jobs sector.
The Town Hall will be held at the Seattle Aquarium at 1483 Alaskan Way, Pier 59. The public is invited to meet face-to-face with King County Councilmembers at an informal reception starting at 6:30 p.m. The Town Hall will begin at 7 p.m.
"Building a green economy will spur new investment, create living-wage jobs, and help make our communities healthier," said Councilmember Dow Constantine, chair of the Council's Committee of the Whole.
"King County is a world leader in both innovative technology and environmental stewardship, and we are prepared to embrace this great challenge and opportunity," said Councilmember Larry Phillips, who recently introduced legislation to encourage green-collar job training and...

Attention is often focused on how to narrow the racial achievement gap in public schools. The KnowHow2GO Campaign looks to narrow the racial gap in university attendance by showing middle schoolers and high school students teens how to plan for college.
The campaign is focused on students of color as well as youths who would be the first in their family to attend a university.
"There is a myth out there that colleges are literally going to show up at the student's door or send them invitations, and they will magically just go to college without realizing there are actual steps they can take now to prepare for it," said Carolyn Stanek, assistant director of national initiatives for the American Council on Education. 
College enrollment across the nation has risen by nearly 21 percent over the last decade ...

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Atlanta Parks Commissioner Dianne Harnell Cohen, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Portland Parks and Recreation Bureau Director Zari Santner celebrate Franklin's appearance in Portland as part of the Great Parks, Great Cities speaker series. Franklin sees parks investment as an economic driver for city development and jobs creation. For more on this issue, click on http://www.theskanner.com/index.php?action=artd&artid=6918

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Confronted by record foreclosures, the Federal Reserve is ready to give U.S. home buyers more protection from the types of shady lending practices that have contributed to the country's housing crisis.
Chairman Ben Bernanke and his central bank colleagues approved a plan Monday that would crack down on dubious lending practices that have hurt many of the riskiest "subprime" borrowers -- people with tarnished credit histories or low incomes.
Rules made public in December would:
• restrict lenders from penalizing risky borrowers who pay loans off early.
• require lenders to ensure those borrowers set aside money to pay for taxes and insurance.
• bar lenders from making loans without proof of a borrower's income.
• prohibit lenders from engaging in a pattern or practice of lending without considering a borrower's ability to repay a home loan from sources other than the homes value.
• curtail misleading ads for many types of mortgages.
• bolster financial disclosures to borrowers. ...

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) -- Robert Mugabe's brazen power grab in Zimbabwe's election saga has left cracks in one of African leaders' unspoken rules: Never turn on one of your own.
The fact that even several nations are refusing to recognize Zimbabwe's ruler of 28 years marks an unprecedented change in Africa that offers a glimmer of hope for a brighter, more democratic future.
A younger generation of African leaders appears willing to break from the clubbiness that has characterized the governing elites on this continent where authoritarian rule has long been the norm.
Among the most outspoken has been Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberian president who is the continent's only female leader.
On a visit to South Africa this week, she was the first African leader to support proposed U.N. sanctions against Zimbabwe's leaders, saying they send a "strong message" that the world will not tolerate violence to retain power....

The Forum results are in. Because of overwhelming response, NAACP couldn't limit themselves to just ten questions. So here are the fifteen questions that they sent to the campaign staffs of Senators McCain and Obama...

Register by July 19th for Washington Primary Elections on August 19th
July 19th is the registration deadline to vote in the Washington primary elections on August 19, 2008.
August 18th is the deadline to submit an application to have an Absentee Ballot mailed to you.
The official applications can be found at www.StateDemocracy.org. This completely FREE one-stop public service portal also offers a host of other voter tools, including ...

Six-year-old Niyah Brown's mouth drops open in surprise as face painter Roger Witter holds a mirror up to her for inspection of his work Saturday afternoon at the Good in the Neighborhood celebrations held at King Elementary School in Northeast Portland.

Since he was 10 years old, Garfield de Bardelaben knew he wanted to help people.
"I wanted to know what made people tick," he told The Skanner from his office at the new Avel Gordly Center for Healing. "I wanted to know why White people hated Black people … why Black people responded the way they did."
But right now, de Bardelaben isn't helping as many African Americans as he would like. Oregon's first Black psychologist and first Black elected as president of the Oregon Psychological Association, de Bardelaben says the center, which caters to the cultural needs of African Americans, isn't serving as many of the community as it could – and it's not because there isn't a need....