SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Sheriffs around Oregon have been sending an unusual letter to holders of concealed weapons permits with this message: If you don't want the public to know you've got a permit, we'll try to help you out.
The letter from the sheriffs says newspapers and others are trying to get lists of people who have concealed handgun permits, sparking a legal challenge that's pending in the Oregon Court of Appeals. . . .

Amidst crisis, President Obama spoke to his first joint session of Congress Tuesday night. He is flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Credit: White House photo

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – In his first speech before Congress, filled with the soaring inspiration reminiscent of his campaign, President Barack Obama Tuesday night promised the nation, "We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."  [To see the video . . .

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama introduced former Washington Gov. Gary Locke as his nominee for Commerce secretary Wednesday, trying a third time to fill a key Cabinet post for a country in recession.
"I'm sure it's not lost on anyone that we've tried this a couple of times. But I'm a big believer in keeping at something until you get it right. And Gary is the right man for this job," Obama said, standing with the fellow Democrat in the Indian Treaty Room at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House.
The president's two top earlier choices for the post dropped out — one a Democrat facing questions about a donor and the other a Republican who had a change of heart about working for a president from the opposition party — well before the Senate had a chance to confirm them.
Obama praised Locke, a Chinese-American . . .

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- School districts throughout Oregon are concerned that teachers and other staff will have to be cut before the start of next school year, according to a pair of state education organizations.
The state faces an $850 million shortfall for the budget year that ends June 30, and the projected deficit for the following two years is nearly $3 billion. While the situation has led to expectations of a shortened school year, surveys compiled by the Oregon Education Association and Confederation of Oregon School Administrators show many of the 199 school districts fear jobs will have to go to make ends meet.
Portland Public Schools has yet to discuss staff cuts for next school year, though it might have to cut as much as $20 million for 2009-2010, depending on how the district fares with federal stimulus dollars and the state's budget, said Robb Cowie, district spokesman. . . .

SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. reiterated Tuesday its belief that the economic crisis will persist at least into the second half of 2009 but attempted to reassure analysts that it will continue to cut costs and spend wisely.
Microsoft shares fell 3 percent in midday trading.
Speaking at a meeting in New York, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said Microsoft is looking to the television maker RCA as a role model. RCA spent money on research and development through the Great Depression, then dominated its market, he said.
Ballmer pointed to areas of Microsoft's business that will be hit hardest by the downturn and sketched out the products and projects that will get the bulk of the company's $27.5 billion in annual operating expenses.
Microsoft, which recently resorted to its first mass layoffs ever, will feel the economic pain most acutely in its businesses that sell the Windows operating system and Office desktop software . . .

Evelyne Ello-Hart with her co-worker, Shariff Mohamed, the youth coordinator for the African Women's Coalition, strategize on how to improve access to community services for African immigrants.
... not only are immigrant families under-served by area health providers, but by lumping them together in statistical studies as "Black" and "African American," the immigrants' actual population isn't really counted by local government agencies ...

A 15-year-old shot in the chest just after noon on Sunday told police he had also been shot the day before.
The unidentified youth was found Feb. 8 in the 4600 block of Northeast Sumner Street. Police say he was shot near 42nd and Killingsworth ... Officials say he is recovering, but remains gravely injured – and refuses to cooperate with the investigation....

The Metro Council voted Feb. 5 to approve a resolution that required traffic reducing devices – such as tolls — be applied to any final bridge design, which has yet to be decided. Councilors – as well as many supporters and critics – have said they don't want the bridge to attract additional congestion, which would make the $4 billion investment nearly moot....

Nicole West, her father T. West and sisters (not in frame) Nichelle and Ashley West, members of Heaven Gift, perform at the third annual African Heritage Unity Celebration, Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Charles H. Mitchell Activity Center at Seattle Central Community College.  The event included dance, music, art and traditional food, celebrating African heritage.

President Barack Obama announced Monday that he will nominate King County Executive Ron Sims to be deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In other news, the Seattle P.I. reported that Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske might be named as the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy....