WASHINGTON (AP) -- There is only one anti-bias law -- the one against discrimination based on age -- that would cover all nine Supreme Court justices, if such laws applied to them.
The justices, ranging in age from 53 to 87, are the last people to worry about such things in their own lives. They have life tenure and no mandatory retirement age.
Yet the justices are confronted by allegations of age discrimination in five cases this term. While the sheer number of cases probably can be explained away as coincidence, the topic is one of growing importance as more people work longer because of economic necessity or by choice.
"The importance of protecting older workers as the work force ages is enormous," ...

Should state Sen. Margaret Carter move from state government to city government? According to the buzz, that's a question being asked around town in everywhere from boardrooms to basketball courts. The Skanner can't reveal our sources on this, but it seems a group of business leaders have asked Sen. Carter to ditch her job in Salem and make a bid for the seat Commissioner Sam Adams is vacating in City Hall....

This year, Washington state's Feb. 19 primary election seems destined to play a significant role in deciding the winner of the Democratic nomination. And even Oregon's primary in late May, could play a key role in deciding whether Sen. Hillary Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination...

When it comes to getting help for depression and other mental illnesses, far too many African Americans are falling through the cracks, says Dr. Norwood Knight Richardson, a psychiatrist and senior policy advisor at Oregon Health and Science University.
Far too often, sufferers – especially African Americans — end up in jails rather than hospitals, he said.
"In the city of Portland we are small number of the population, but we end up being overrepresented in the jail and the judicial system. That is true for children as well in the juvenile system."
About one in 10 African Americans will go through a major depression during their lifetime, according to statistics from the National Institutes of Mental Health. Yet just 45 percent will receive any treatment....

After a nearly two and a half hour closed-door meeting, Northeast Coalition of Neighborhood board members voted overwhelmingly to fire the executive director of their organization, Joseph Santos-Lyons effective Monday night. One member of the Board's Executive Committee abstained, 15 members voted for the firing and one voted against the firing.
Santos-Lyons, the first person who was not African American to lead the coalition...

Films will show at:
Hollywood Theater, 4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd.
McMenamins Kennedy School Theater, 5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.
PCC Cascade's Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth St. Moriarty Building 104 is on Albina Ave. 
All films are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit the Web site at www.africanfilmfestival.org.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A costumed club dressed as King Arthur's knights paraded through New Orleans' crowded streets Tuesday in what has become the city's unofficial opening of Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the raucous end to the pre-Lenten Carnival season, with 12 days of parades, parties, drinking and lots of near-nudity in the city's famed French Quarter.
Several members of the Half-Fast Walking Club, whose parade opens the celebration, wiped sweat from their foreheads in unusually warm, muggy weather.
"Oh, I'm feeling fine. You always feel fine on Mardi Gras,"...

Nearly 1,300 people converged at the state capitol building Monday for the 2008 African American Legislative Day in Olympia, helping to raise awareness and issues affecting African Americans in Washington State.
Sponsored by the Commission on African American Affairs, the event included adults and children bused in in large motor coaches from various schools, churches, organizations and businesses in Tacoma, Bremerton and Seattle. ...

Local Black leaders in HIV prevention will be at high traffic intersections in Seattle this Thursday, talking with people to create greater awareness and help prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS in the African American community. This outreach is part of a national effort on Feb. 7 to raise awareness through National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness and Information Day.
"Many people in the Black community don't realize that HIV and AIDS still pose a threat to people in all walks of life," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "We need to educate one another, promote HIV testing and get treatment to those who need it." Feb. 7 has been declared as Black HIV/AIDS Awareness and Information Day by Sims...

Enthusiastic Barack Obama supporters Marlenna Kulkarni and Teresa Porter joined other supporters at a campaign kickoff rally at Westlake Center on Feb. 2. The rally was the meeting point of an Obama Unity March that had two starting points, Occidental Park and Seattle Center.  More than 100 people heard from local leaders who are endorsing Obama, including former Mayor Norm Rice, Bob Santos, the "Mayor of Chinatown," Rev. Vaughn Profit-Breaux from Mt Zion Baptist Church, and King County Councilman Larry Gossett.