A coalition of 42 states today announced a settlement with Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company after the company violated the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement by distributing decorative tin signs to consumers that featured its "Natural American Spirit" cigarettes brand name.  "We will continue to hold accountable any tobacco company that skirts the rules," McKenna said. "The agreement the states reached with the tobacco companies ten years ago is clear: pro-cigarette promotional products aren't allowed ...

The Washington Employment Security Department took in a record number of new unemployment claims in December.
Some 90,331 people applied for regular unemployment benefits in December, an increase of about 75 percent over December 2007. The previous record was set in December 2001, when 72,942 people filed initial claims.
The week of Dec. 21-27, 2008, which included the Christmas holiday, also set a one-week record, taking in 25,687 new unemployment claims, nearly twice as many as the same week in 2007 ...

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon want police and prosecutors in Portland to stop using a secret list to determine whether a defendant is prosecuted more harshly. A hearing in Judge Dale Koch's courtroom last week questioned the constitutionality of a program that police say successfully gives repeat offenders treatment while also prosecuting them more harshly.
Law enforcement in Multnomah County use a lot of lists. There are those people who are included on the Project 57 list. There are those on the "Frequently Booked Report" from Multnomah County. There are those on gang members and affiliates lists. Even Ashland, Ore. had a secret list of downtown panhandlers they considered "nuisances" which were used to conduct "sweeps" ...

Imani Muhammad, founder of the Youth Summit, scheduled for Feb. 7 at PSU's Smith Memorial Center. Here Muhammad stands at the corner of North Albina and Killingsworth Streets, near the spot where Davonte Lightfoot was shot to death on Jan. 7, 2007. His death was Muhammad's impetus for founding the youth summit ...

Clinical depression affects Black women at a rate that is 50 percent higher than White women.
But the year-old clinic is experiencing another issue in the very community it was designed to serve: Black people don't often seek medical help to ease their mental health symptoms.
For almost 18 years, people would almost daily invade Sen. Avel Louise Gordly's personal space while she was in the grocery store, at the mall or in a restaurant.
The state's first Black woman to serve in the senate, Gordly is known for her collaborative spirit, compassionate smile and unrelenting patience. So, naturally, people often expected Gordly to listen to their personal problems. And she did, typically ending the conversation with a kind word ...

BALTIMORE (NNPA) – Then First Lady-to-be Michelle Obama, standing behind a little boy inside the Baltimore War Memorial, placed her hands on the child's shoulders and guided him toward her husband.
"I want you to meet my new friend," she gleefully told then President-elect Barack Obama. Looking down at the approximately 7-year-old, Obama broke into his trademark broad smile. His hands replaced hers on the boy's shoulders.
"Yes, I know," he said, looking down into his face. "And, he's got ears just like mine."
The child beamed with pride. Returning the broad smile, he boldly asked for an autograph.
"Children are really drawn to him," whispered Jen Psaki, an Obama aid ...

Speaking to a crowd that extended beyond the eye could see, the first African American President of the United States told America today that he would usher in a new era. An era of responsibility, respect and common understanding. "In reaffirming the greatness of our nation," said President Barack Obama. "We understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned ...

The Skanner's own Bobbie Dore Foster was in Washington, D.C. Tuesday to witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama. While it wasn't exactly what she expected to happen, she says it was an experience that she's glad she didn't miss ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stepping into history as America's first Black president, Barack Hussein Obama said in his inaugural address Tuesday that the nation must choose "hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord'' to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression ...

More than 1.5 Million gathered to celebrate the inaugural swearing in of President Barack Obama. Photo Credit: The Houston Defender

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Barack Hussein Obama - a Black man - was inaugurated the 44th President of the United States ... The first African-American to hold the office, considered the most powerful in the world, his inaugural address and overall ceremony included strong and specific references to the historic and modern-day struggles of Black people; including the "lash of the whip." ...