The Association for African American Historical Research and Preservation (AAAHRP) has announced that its 2009 Black History Conference, to be held at Seattle University on Saturday and Sunday, March 21 and March 22, will be the organization's final conference in Seattle. Future conferences will be held in other states.
AAAHRP conferences have evolved from a local history conference to an international event. . . .

What's happening for you in your city this week? Read here a day-by-day diary of community events to fill your spare time. For a full calendar please click on "Read the complete article" below . . . .

The Skanner Annual Black History Edition is out now.
The theme is on using online resources to discover your history.
 Click here to read it.

As crocuses bloom and thoughts turn to the outdoors, registration for Seattle Parks and Recreation's spring youth sports activities is getting under way at West Seattle and South Park community centers.
Teams are forming for participation in girls softball, track and field, and Westside Nerf Soccer, and for these educational sports programs: . . .

Nordstrom is committed to our communities. We think supporting the development of our young people in their pursuit of higher education is a great place to start. For this reason, we're pleased to offer the Nordstrom Scholarship Program to high school juniors who would like to go on to college. . . .

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Nordstrom is committed to our communities. We think supporting the development of our young people in their pursuit of higher education is a great place to start. For this reason, we're pleased to offer the Nordstrom Scholarship Program to high school juniors who would like to go on to college. . . .

Rep. Chip Shields hopes to bring fairness to the way prisoners are counted in Oregon. Currently, prisoners are counted as residents of the correctional institution in which they are serving time, inflating population statistics of the mostly rural communities in which prisons exist. This population count inaccurately skews congressional representation in sparsely populated areas, says Shields. This bill would rectify that inconsistency . . .

If you ride a bike on a public street, several state lawmakers want you to register that vehicle with the state of Oregon.
Rep. Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach, is sponsoring a mandatory registration bill that would essentially treat bicycles like automobiles. Every adult who owns a bike that is ridden on a public street would be required to pay $54 every two years to the state of Oregon – the same price  it currently costs to register a car and $14 more than it costs to register a motorcycle . . . 

The Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center recently got word that $80,000 in city funding would be cut from their budget next year. ... "Like everybody, we were prepared to tighten our belts. What we'd been told was 5 and 10 percent." What they weren't prepared for was a 30 percent drop in funds . . . .