NEW YORK—President George W. Bush has declared part of the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan, where an estimated 20,000 slaves and free Blacks were buried in the 18th century, a national monument.

King County Executive Ron Sims this week joined with health care leaders to launch a Health Care Coalition for emergency preparedness.

The coalition includes 20 organizations that together encompass a broad swath of the area's public and private health care system.

As its initial charge, the coalition is coordinating an effort to prepare for the severe impacts that a pandemic flu could have on the local health care system.

Octavia E. Butler, considered the first Black woman to gain national prominence as a science fiction writer, died after falling and striking her head on the cobbled walkway outside her home, a close friend said. She was 58.

Tyson, left, and his human friend Diana C. sign up to participate in the Puget Sound Pi Beta Phi Collegiate and Alumnae Chapters Walk for Literacy Feb. 25 at Greenlake.

Local African American pastors will join several groups on March 2 to launch the Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS.

The campaign kicks off at 11:30 a.m. in First AME Church, 1522 14th Ave.

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Taylor Branch, left, greets Urban Enterprise Center Executive Director Herman McKinney at the recent Forum on Race Breakfast, held Feb. 22 at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. Branch, author of a series of acclaimed biographies of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was the keynote speaker at the center's 24th "It's Time to Talk" Forum on Race.

MINNEAPOLIS—Martin Luther King III expressed hope that the dispute over the future of the nonprofit center that bears his father's name can be resolved soon.

As the Oregon Department of Transportation prepares to deliver its largest construction program to date, we continue to look for opportunities to position the agency for success.

VeriLAN Inc. this week announced that it has secured private placement investment to bolster its efforts to provide wireless services to cities nationwide. With this new financial backing, VeriLAN, under its Digital Cities initiative, submitted a request for proposal to the city of Long Beach, Calif., to deploy, operate, maintain and own a citywide Wireless Fidelity Network.

Members of Sisters in Action for Power take to the streets Wednesday to protest the negative effect of the federal No Child Left Behind Act on educational funding.