Sen. Margaret Carter (D-Portland) and Rep. Peter Buckley (D-Ashland) will serve as co-chairs of the Joint Ways and Means Committee in the 75th Oregon Legislative Assembly and will be responsible for leading the work to craft the 2009-2011 biennial budget ....

Only a handful of Oregonians are subject to the federal estate tax, and their ranks will shrink further next year, according to a study released today. Just four out of every 1,000 deaths in Oregon triggered the federal estate tax. The ratio was 13 per 1,000 in 2000, before cuts to the tax were enacted under the Bush Administration ...

Would you like to make a difference?  The World Arts Foundation needs people like you to volunteer energy, skill, and experience to the 24th tribute to Dr. King.   Volunteer jobs will include people management, giving directions and assist in preparation and breakdown of program materials ...

As ceremonies marked World AIDS Day around the world, the top U.N. official dealing with the disease joined South African political leaders and hundreds of activists to show his support for a government that has broken with the discredited policies of former President Thabo Mbeki ...

NEW YORK — Two years since marking the death of Sean Bell, family members and those still aggravated by the outcome continue to stay focused in the quest for justice. In the second year since the death of the 23-year-old killed by police in November 2006, the Sean Bell case has seen it share of extreme disappointment. But with a new presidential administration and news of an investigation by the U.S. attorney's office, a new hope has been established ...

In order to help consumers make better-informed decisions on where to spend their hard-earned dollars, Better Business Bureau this week announced it will now assign letter grades to local businesses ranging from A+ to F.
The letter grade system -- which replaces a less-detailed scale of "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" -- represents the bureau's degree of confidence that the business is operating in a trustworthy manner and will make a good faith effort to resolve customer concerns  ...

The monthly Stage Fright is MC'ed by youth writer-in-residence Ari Bergman, a senior at Lakeside School, and regularly highlights a different reader each month before opening the mic to the crowd.
Richard Hugo House presents a special edition of "Stage Fright," a monthly open mic for teens featuring work created in Hugo Classes for Teens, a new series of workshops launched this fall ...
Photo courtesy of Richard Hugo House

Some of the over 12,000 runners and walkers who participated in the 38th Seattle Marathon and Half Marathon on Sunday Nov. 30 run up the last hill before finishing the race at Memorial Stadium.

On Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m., audiences are invited to join Seattle Symphony Chorale in a Holiday Sing-Along in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium in Benaroya Hall ... From "Angels We Have Heard on High" to "Joy to the World," audience members can celebrate the best of holiday music by singing along ...

The dance number "Push Da Button" features Grasan Kingsberry and Sumayah McRae, part of the original Broadway cast tour of "The Color Purple," opening next week in Seattle. Jeannette Bayardelle plays Celie and LaToya London is Nettie. It plays from Dec. 16 to 28 at The Paramount Theatre. For ticket information call ...