Nearly a full year after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, thousands of survivors remain displaced and scattered throughout the United States. In Washington State alone, it is estimated that over 5,000 survivors, living at or below poverty level, are living here in isolation.
Many of these survivors long to return home, even temporarily, in hope of reuniting with lost family.
As one survivor said, "I would love to return to New Orleans and seek out my kinfolk."

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation says it will add $58 million to expand its $1 billion Millennium Scholars program to target low-income and minority students seeking a graduate degree in public health.
It's the first time the foundation has added money to the scholarship program since it was established in 1999.

The Dolls Drill Team performs for the crowd at the Lake City Pioneer Days Parade on Aug. 5. The annual summer festival includes a street fair, a vintage car show, live music and the Rotary Children's and Grand Performance parades.

A group of African American women from rural Alabama have created an art form that is causing a national sensation — and it has arisen out of something as traditional as apple pie — quilts.
The women of Gees Bend, Ala. Are showing their extraordinary quilts at the Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third St. S., through Sept. 2. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

SPOKANE—An 18-year-old Spokane man was arrested last week in connection with a July 15 cross burning in front of the apartment of a Black man in nearby Spirit Lake, Idaho. Nicholas J. Schmitt and Michael R. Simmons, 23, allegedly burned a cross fashioned from Tiki torches in front of the man's apartment.

Lesle Miller, left, and her son, Romeo Hendel, 18 months, talk with Seattle Police Officer C.J. McRae during the Seattle Night Out 2006 celebration on Tuesday, Aug. 1 Night Out is a national crime prevention event that helps unite neighbors and heighten crime prevention awareness.

Friday, Aug. 11, GreenStage will perform "Henry VI" at 7 p.m., in Volunteer Park, 1247 15th Ave. E., and again at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, in Volunteer Park. A repeat performance takes place at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, in Seward Park, 5902 Lake Washington Blvd.

Helping out your neighbor is an integral part of living in a healthy community. The congregation of Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church is doing its part to live up to this ideal with its first-ever "Be a Blessing" give-away.

The event will offer, free of charge, items that everyday people need to get through their busy lives -- everything from new or "gently" used furniture, clothing (including back packs for young people), and other miscellaneous household items. All of the items are provided by church members.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at the church, 3138 N. Vancouver Ave. --  just off the 405 Freeway from the Kerby Ave.

Save The Date!!2006 Breakfast InformationFor tickets e-mail [email protected] or…

LOS ANGELES--Alejandro "Bird" Martinez and a crew of fellow gangbangers were joyriding in a stolen van when they came upon a Black man parking his car -- and decided to kill him.

Three of them riddled Kenneth Kurry Wilson and his Cadillac with bullets from a .357-caliber revolver and a 9 mm semiautomatic and blasts from a 12-gauge shotgun.

This month, Martinez and three other members of the Avenues, a Hispanic gang entrenched in one Los Angeles neighborhood, were convicted of federal hate crimes usually tagged on white supremacists.

Although the slaying was seven years ago, the verdict this month was one in a series of reminders that racially motivated Black and Hispanic gang violence is still a Los Angeles reality.