During more than two years in state prison, Genarlow Wilson was confident that he would find justice and be set free. On Friday, the hopes of the young man who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with another teenager finally became reality: The state's highest court ruled that his sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment ....

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign held a hurriedly put together conference call Thursday night with gay and lesbian leaders in South Carolina to discuss the candidate's gospel tour, which includes a singer who says homosexuality is a choice.
Obama campaign spokesman Kevin Griffis refused to talk about what was discussed on the call with Steve Hildebrand, Obama's early voting state strategist, and Joshua DuBois, who runs faith programs for the campaign ...

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Former Dallas Cowboy Hall-of-Famer and Jefferson High School alumnus Mel Renfro was acclaimed during the homecoming game on Friday, Oct. 12, where Renfro's #37 jersey was retired. Jefferson High School defeated Cleveland High School 58-0 in a resounding win for the Demos.

Oregon's Children are faring worse than at any time in the last 16 years. That's according to the annual report card from Children First for Oregon, that rates the state's progress in five benchmark areas that impact children's lives: Family Financial Stability, Youth Development and Education, Health, Early Care and Education and Child Welfare. This year the data added up to an overall D.
"D is not a good grade, it's true," said Robin Christian, executive director of Children First for Oregon. "But hope is on the way."
The figures highlight problems such as: a sharp, 10 percent, rise in the rate of abuse and neglect; 12 percent of Oregon's children lack health insurance and 20 percent of babies are born to mothers who received no prenatal care.
Still, Christian said, other problems look set to improve. The state legislature already has allocated $130 million over the next two years for programs that will help children, she said, including:

University of Washington associate professor Carolyn West Ph.D. is calling African Americans to action to combat domestic violence in communities of color. Church leaders, men's groups, parents, educators, children's advocates and policy makers all have a role to play in combating the crisis of violence within Black communities ....

One step forward, two steps back. That's the picture with higher education in Oregon in 2007. So what's going wrong? For a start, fewer first generation students are attending college. Then, colleges say, high schools are not properly preparing students for higher-level courses......

Ajany Tifa, 3 and his father, Amani Hall attended a fatherhood symposium titled "SOS: Dad Where Are You" which included Male/Female dialogue, a panel discussion and smaller group discussions about the importance of fatherhood. The event was sponsored by the First AME Church, Richard Allen Brotherhood, FAME Church School, VIBE, and FAME Fresh Start, Rev. Carey G. Anderson, Sr. Pastor, and was held on Oct. 13 at First AME Church.

Local child care provider Grace Alams was honored at a luncheon Oct. 10 at "The First Child Care Providers Awards Ceremony," held in Washington, D.C.
Alams and 17 others were recognized for their commitment to providing quality child care. Their work has been featured on the award-winning PBS television series "A Place of Our Own."
Alams, the owner of Grace's Kiddie Korner, has been a child care provider in Seattle for 12 years.  At the suggestion of a friend who had her own child care business, she decided to open her own after a divorce left her as a single mother of four children.
Alams, who is originally from eastern Nigeria, didn't realize she was being honored until she arrived at the awards luncheon. Alams was profiled on the PBS program as part of "Child Care Provider of the Week" which aired in March.
"To be honored just blew me away," Alams said ...

Random drug and alcohol testing does not reliably keep student-athletes from using. In fact, the mere presence of drug testing increases some risk factors for future substance use, Oregon Health & Science University researchers report. The findings are published in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, the journal of the Society for Adolescent Medicine ....