An Army lieutenant who has said he'd rather go to prison than Iraq did not deploy with his unit when it left last week for the Middle East, Army officials said.
1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, of Honolulu, who joined the Army in March 2003, has said he would be willing to serve in Afghanistan or elsewhere, but has concluded that the war in Iraq is illegal and immoral.

An aspiring basketball star talks hoops with a Portland Police Bureau officer at the All-American B-Ball Clinic at Irving Park. To learn more about the clinic and other summer activities at the park.
PHOTO COURTESY OF FIRST STEP SPORTS ACADEMY

2006 Breakfast Information

For tickets e-mail mlkbreakfast@theskanner.com or come to The Skanner office, located at 415 N. Killingsworth, between 8:30am and 4:30pm, Monday-Friday.

Tickets are $75
(There is a limited number of non-profit tickets available.)
Tables are $750

The 20th annual breakfast will be from 8:30-10 a.m. Jan. 16, 2006 at the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97232.

• Please Bring 2 Cans of Food Per Person to Feed the Hungry.

• Small Business opportunities update by The Oregon Department of Transportation

About the Breakfast

This year's theme is "Lessons from Katrina for King's Beloved Community".

The Annual Skanner Foundation Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast will be celebrating its twentieth year in 2006. The breakfast has grown from 100 attendees to over 1,000 and is the largest event in the Pacific Northwest to honor Dr. King. Governor Ted Kulongoski of Oregon will be in attendence and present his proclamation.

Pictured right: Governor Ted Kulongoski

During the event, we award several thousand dollars in scholarships to worthy students who have demonstrated their desire for self-improvement through education. We also present two awards (The Drum Major Award and The John Jackson award) to individuals, community organizations, or businesses that continue Dr. King's work for civil rights in their community. During the past twenty years, over $220,000 has been contributed to the community for educational growth.

Our breakfast offers the opportunity for major comporate sponsors to increase their visibility in our community and beyond. Attendees include representatives from the State of Oregon; The Oregon Lottery; Oregon Economic and Community Development Department; local, regional, and state elected officials; and representatives from national corporations such as State Farm, American Family Insurance, Brown & Williamson, Kaiser Permanente, McDonald's Corporation, U.S. West, and Safeco. In addition, leaders in law enforcement, education, and the religious sector attend, and people in the community from all walks of life.

Related Links

http://www.thekingcenter.org/

www.king-raleigh.org

Nominate an individual or organization

In preparation for its 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast, The Skanner is requesting nominations for awards. The Drum Major for Justice award and the John Jackson award will be given to individuals or organizations.

The Skanner is looking for nominations for people who have worked throughout the year to fulfill the ideals the Rev. King stood for: equality, justice, racial harmony, civil rights and peace.

E-mail your name, phone number and the name and phone number of the nominee, along with a short (50 words or less) description of why your nominee should receive the award to mlkbreakfast@theskanner.com. Or mail to:
Martin Luther King Jr.
Awards The Skanner
P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR
97228-5455

"LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL"VARIOUS ARTISTS*****Many of Portland's finest blues and…

Now, city officials and Rainier Valley residents want to head off another threat from the transit project: the potential displacement of ethnic businesses and longtime residents by rising rents tied to a light rail development boom.
"I have worried about that, but I hope my landlord doesn't do that because we've been struggling so much around here," said Dang, whose business dropped 70 percent after Sound Transit began construction on Martin Luther King Way Jr. Way South two years ago.

The annual Fourth of Jul-Ivar's fireworks display in Myrtle Edwards Park, 3130 Alaskan Way W., will begin at 10 p.m. Tuesday, July 4. Unlike past years, Ivar's has decided to discontinue the event's daytime activities, so no music, food or other concessions are planned. However, the park will be open all day so people can bring a picnic.

Sen. Barack Obama last week warned fellow Democrats they must take religion seriously, delivering a highly personal speech that noted his own religious awakening and how his father died an atheist and his mother a skeptic about organized worship.

The Illinois lawmaker recounted before an audience of church and lay leaders at National City Christian Church how it was not until after he graduated from college and became a community organizer in Chicago that he confronted his "spiritual dilemma."

In honor of the anniversary of its independence from Britain, the United States observes a number of traditions, both joyous and solemn. Along with the fireworks, the cookouts and the music, a more somber recollection takes place -- the ongoing changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington, Va.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon has delivered petitions on behalf of 1,774 Oregonians to the Oregon Public Utility Commission urging that body to vigorously investigate the cooperation of Oregon telephone companies with the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance and data-mining of innocent Americans.
Last month, the ACLU filed a formal complaint with the Oregon PUC against Verizon, Sprint and Qwest, alleging that the companies turned over private calling records of telephone customers in violation of state law. The ACLU also asked Attorney General Hardy Myers to investigate whether the companies violated Oregon consumer protection laws by allowing the National Security Agency to spy on their customers.

Rachael Manwarren tries on the T-shirt she will wear to the memorial services for her sister, Marissa Manwarren, on Friday. Marissa's face peers out from the black background, surrounded by her favorite Bible verse, Psalms 55:22:
"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."
Marissa Manwarren, 17, was shot in the head at Beverly Beach State Park in Lincoln County sometime last week. Police recovered her body on Wednesday, June 14.
Her boyfriend, Cevelino Capuia, 19, and another friend, Shawn Ryan Womack, 22, have been charged with aggravated murder and robbery in with the deaths of two men. However, police have not charged anyone in Manwarren's death.
Police believe she was killed after Capuia was arrested in Beaverton following a convenience store robbery on Sunday, June 11, and before Womack was taken into custody in Corvallis on Tuesday, June 13.
Police also arrested Jasmine Cooke Lesniak, Womack's girlfriend, and charged her with hindering prosecution and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.