Northwest Kidney Centers brings community health to the forefront at the fourth annual Kidney Health Fest for African American Families, set for 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6, at the African American Academy, 8311 Beacon Avenue S.

The event is free to the public and designed to educate the African American community about kidney disease and ways to live smarter and healthier.

state Rep. Steve March

The Multnomah County Democratic Party will rock the house with local blues musicians during the House of Blues-Dick Celsi Awards Dinner at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 6, in the Hilton Portland and Executive Towers, 921 S.W. Sixth Ave.

A silent and live auction are planned, as well as political speakers and opportunities to socialize with elected officials plus entertainment by Portland blues musicians.

When the Portland School Board meetsThursday night, it will consider five resolutions affecting schools in North, inner Northeast and West Portland. But there's one issue that won't be up for debate: the closure of Humboldt Elementary School.

Superintendent Vicki Phillips has tabled her proposal to close Humboldt.

Another $2 million will be added to increase the number of school-based health centers when Gov. Ted Kulongoski submits his budget to the Legislature next year.

Kulongoski announced his "Healthy Kids Plan" while visiting Roosevelt High School to celebrate the 20th anniversary of school-based health centers in Oregon. The state's first health center was based at Roosevelt in 1986.

Voters who want to know the answers to some burning questions but don't have a way to contact a candidate can find nonpartisan help on the Internet.

Available online are the answers that candidates for state and federal offices gave to questions by the League of Women Voters of Oregon Education Fund.

All candidates for an office were sent the same questions to help voters compare their answers. The questions and the answers are in the league's Voters' Guide, which is online at www.lwvor.org.

Beginning this month, the World Forestry Center will host a rare collection of Makonde ebony sculptures.

The exhibit will run from May 6 through Sept. 17 in the second-floor gallery of the Discovery Museum, 4033 S.W. Canyon Road.

One of five major tribes in Tanzania, the Makonde originally migrated north from Mozambique to the southern Tanzanian highlands. They are known as master carvers throughout East Africa and have been carving ebony for centuries for their own enjoyment and use.

Addiction is the great equalizer. It strikes without discrimination rich and poor, Black and White, everyday people and conservative talk radio hosts. Addictions can ruin marriages, careers and lives.

To an outsider, the solution to addiction may seem simple — if a substance is negatively affecting your life, just stop using it. But it's hardly ever that simple, said Olivia Jeffries, director of Project Network, a North Portland-based inpatient addiction treatment program primarily for African American women.

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