For Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's wife, First Lady Mary Oberst, jobs in the arts and cultural preservation are the centerpiece of the CHAMP II Reinvestment Package. Oberst visited The Skanner's offices Friday to talk about the Culture, History, Art. Movies, Preservation program....

Jamie Lesser (David Rhein) is a nearsighted nerd with two left feet who has dreamt about salsa dancing since he was child, when he would watch the movie "Strictly Ballroom" numerous times a day. Although he is already a young adult, he has never acted upon that impulse and merely passes a lonely existence in New York City where he works as an accountant. . . .

The replacement of outgoing Supreme Court Justice David Souter may have little to no impact on the civil rights agenda, political and legal analysts and activists say.
"Really, until the conservative members begin to resign from the court you're not going to see much of a change," said University of Maryland law professor Sherrilyn Ifill. . . .

Residents of Orleans and Jefferson parishes seem generally well prepared to meet the upcoming hurricane season, but for some groups preparedness may be dangerously low, said Robert Sims, director of the University of New Orleans Survey Research Center commonly known as the UNO Poll.
Results of a recent UNO Poll survey reported at the National Hurricane Conference in Austin, Texas earlier in April indicate that 71 percent of area residents claim to have made plans about what to do if a hurricane threatens ... Less than 40 percent of residents with a ninth- grade education or less have made plans. . . .

Home prices fell in nearly nine out of every 10 U.S. cities in the first quarter of this year as first-time buyers looking for bargains dominated the market. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that median sales prices of existing homa."declined in 134 out of 152 metropolitan areas compared with the same period a year ago. Prices rose in the other 18 cities. Nationwide, sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties made up about half of the market. Overall, sales dipped 3.2 percent from the year-ago period. "I think we're near a bottom, but we're not there yet" . . .

Norval Broome wove through the maze of desks in classroom B 214 at King's Fork High School. The test on conic sections was minutes away and most of his two dozen algebra II students were using the review time to enter equations into graphing calculators. "Who needs a little help?" Broome asked. "I don't mind helping you." ... Almost 69, Broome is three years into in his third career -- one he admits is frustrating and harder than he expected. . . .

President Barack Obama touched on something very poignant in his proclamation when he authorized the month of May to serve as Older Americans Month. That is that many Americans who are of retirement age are remaining in the workforce instead of simply calling it quits. A 2008 survey from AARP, a non-profit membership organization for people over 50 years of age, found that seven out of 10 working adults between the ages of 45 and 74 plan to work during retirement or never retire at all. . . .

With a decades-long battle between the Bloods and the Crips, this film examines the conditions that have lead to the devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles. Pictured: Baron Davis (left), producer, and Stacy Peralta, producer/director. This heartrending expose' is set to debut this week on the PBS-TV series 'Independent Lens'.

In an America that elected Barack Obama its first African-American president who appointed Eric Holder as its first African-American Attorney General, is there still a need for civil rights protections?  All one has to do is look at the current docket of civil rights cases before the Supreme Court to realize the answer to that question is a resounding, ''Yes.''  In several important cases to be heard by the Court this month, we find civil rights under assault. . . .

The most important moment of the 2008 presidential debates was one that was little remarked upon at the time. It was in the second debate that the candidates were asked whether health care was "a privilege, a right or a responsibility." Senator McCain said it was a responsibility -- of government and business. But Sen. Obama said that it "should be a right for every American" and cited as "fundamentally wrong" his mother's experience of being denied payment for her treatments as she lay dying of cancer . . .