"It happens," says Jimmy Mac, after watching BMXer TJ Ellis crash his bike on his first run. Ellis' second competition run – a successful trick run around the dirt course at the Wendy's Invitational AST Dew Tour – didn't earn him enough points to stay in the competition in Portland. Mac, who manages Ellis and owns the Bulldog Bike Company, says he's not worried....

Rainier Beach High School posted a 19 percent jump in the Washington State Assessment of Learning scores, released this week.
Seattle Public Schools results overall were higher than the state average, which officials said was remarkable because most large urban school districts score below state averages.
The trend in 10th grade achievement remains strong with gains in every area tested....

Umalali: The Garifuna Womens' Project featuring members of the Garifuna Collective plays The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 3. Descendents of enslaved Africans who were shipwrecked during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, eventually intermarrying with the Carib and Arawak Indians of the Caribbean, the Garifuna people live primarily in small towns and villages on the Caribbean coasts of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua...

Admission to the National African American Museum is free Sept. 4 for all volunteers. The show is the second half of its inaugural exhibit, "Making a Life, Creating a World: Jacob Lawrence and James W. Washington, Jr." Also at NAAM's NW Gallery, Sept. 18 is the NAAM Reading Series, presenting Jim Kershner's "Carl Maxey: A Fighting Life."...

New statistics released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate Oregonians are poorer and have less access to health insurance than other states. As the last economic expansion hit its peak, the typical Oregon household's income rose slightly in 2007 over the previous year. Yet Oregon was unable to reduce poverty or the percentage of Oregonians lacking health insurance...

Head Start parents are taking advantage of a new federal law that allows voter registration to take place at Head Start sites, allowing more individuals the opportunity to register...

The Housing Authority of Portland has appointed Shelli Romero and Jim Smith to its board of directors....

"Occurrence" invites innovative performers to play short sets — a kind of alternative talent show, as performers improvise pieces while sharing the stage with Watts' and Smith's self-produced comedy "DumbFilms"...

Portland Community Land Trust, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating permanently affordable homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income households, welcomed its 100th homeowner at an event on Aug. 20...

A memorial service is scheduled for Opal Ruth (Taylor) Roberts-Jordan on Aug. 28, 1p.m. at the Highland Christian Center, 7600 NE Glisan St. Roberts, 82, passed away Aug. 21, in her home surrounded by family...