Newly-minted Mayor Sam Adams hosted a giant party and open house Monday night in City Hall to celebrate his inauguration as the first openly-gay mayor in the city's history. Acrobats, jugglers, and the MarchFourth Marching Band entertained thousands of guests, while free beer, wine and snacks flowed. Adams, left, is congratulated by his former senior policy director, Jesse Beason, right, now the executive director of the Portland Land Trust. Adams' new executive assistant, Cevero Gonzalez, center, looks on.

Seattle was hard hit by the housing crisis last year, and the trouble isn't over, according to a company that monitors foreclosure data. King, Pierce and Snohomish counties saw foreclosure activity increase 62 percent, 62 percent and 71 percent, respectively. The data was gathered by Default Research, the provider of Seattle's pre-foreclosure data ...

As the nation waits for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first Black president, the Seattle Black Fire Fighter's Association is celebrating the year the color barrier was broken at the Seattle Fire Department.
On Jan. 17, the SPFFA will honor the 40^th anniversary of the local Black Firefighters Association chapter and the 50^th anniversary of Claude Harris' first day on the job.
"He showed great strength and fortitude to put up with the attitude of those times," said Reginald Ball, Northwest region director for the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters. "The type of resolve he showed to weather the storm was a great example of personal strength ...

Should antiquities be viewed as the property of the states where they are found or as global heritage? Given the history of national and imperialist conflicts, are countries right to demand the return of artifacts, many of which are being displayed for everyone to see at local museums? ...

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.…

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.…

A motorist drives through high water at the Rainier Manor trail park in Sumner, Wash., Wednesday morning. Sumner officials recommended park residents and nearly 400 others to seek higher ground. In King County, as well as Clark County, emergency officials warned motorists not to drive through flooded roads. Interstate 5 remained closed through Chehalis, the three main highways across the Cascade Range were closed and the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for a number of major rivers in western Washington. For information on emergency preparedness procedures, check out The Skanner's Prepare, Survive a Disaster webpage (AP Photo / Ingrid Barrentine)

Fewer people died in 2007 from traffic crashes and homicides, according to the annual King County Medical Examiner report, released last week.  The report includes statistics on causes of death, and county officials' plans on how to reduce the risk of such deaths in the future. It covers suspicious, sudden, unexpected, or violent deaths in King County for the previous year, as well as trends in homicides, traffic fatalities and drug overdose deaths ...

More public meetings are scheduled for input on Seattle Schools Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson's school closure proposal, which includes shuttering the respected African American Academy, and moving Van Asselt Elementary into thebuilding instead. Primary-grade African American Academy students would be absorbed into Van Asselt, with middle-schoolers from the Academy reassigned elsewhere ....

The Seattle Public Library will be hosting "Comixtravaganza," a series of events celebrating comics, manga, graphic novels and artists. Events will take place at several library branches in January, with the finale taking place at the Central Library. The events are free and open to the public ...