LOS ANGELES—More than half a million immigration advocates marched though downtown Los Angeles Saturday in one of the largest demonstrations for any cause in recent U.S. history.

The march — duplicated in communities across the country — was one act in a national drama centering on the issue of illegal immigration that has unfolded over the past week.

OLYMPIA—A group has filed an initiative to deny illegal immigrants public benefits, like free prenatal care for poor women or subsidized child care for seasonal workers.

Protect Washington Now, headed by Mercer Island resident Bob Baker, needs to collect nearly 225,000 valid voter signatures by July 7 for the measure to make the November ballot.

It would require state employees to verify the immigration status of anyone seeking benefits not mandated by federal law, such as emergency medical care, and to report suspected illegal immigrants to federal authorities.

The state has an estimated 136,000 illegal immigrants, though officials say they don't know how many use the handful of programs administered by the Department of Social and Health Services.

Urban planning and a politicaldebate between two candidates running for  chair of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners are on the City Club's agenda for the next two Friday luncheons.

There are a few more opportunities for residents to discuss the Portland Public Schools budget, which may call for the closure of some schools and the re-creation of kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools.

A new local television show is taking the issues that impact today's youth — at home, in school, on the streets and in the media — and bringing them into your living room. And it's doing it in real time — live, without a net.

Portland residents who want a say in how their taxes are spent can attend a community budget forum on Saturday, April 8.

CORVALLIS—Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of America's best-known civil rights leader, will visit Oregon next month.

VisionPDX, the community vision project launched by Mayor Tom Potter in 2005, will host an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at City Hall.

ABUJA,Nigeria—Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who vanished in Nigeria after authoritie reluctantly agreed to transfer him to a war crimes tribunal, was arrested trying to cross the border into Cameroon, Nigerian police said Wednesday.

NEW ORLEANS—New Orleans residents living in Houston, Atlanta and other cities are still waiting for the absentee ballots they applied for weeks ago. No one knows how many people will come back to the city to vote, and the polling places have yet to be selected.