As a student at Jefferson High School in the 1970s, Gene Hughes dreamed of becoming a movie director. This month, with a little help from friends in Portland, Hughes finally is shooting his first feature film, "Feet."  "It took me 30 years....

Pier Park skatepark is the hot spot for Northeast Portland's youth this summer. On any given afternoon you can find a hundred or so kids "oohing" and "ahing" at the daredevil skaters showcasing their skills. Glenhaven skatepark in Southeast.....

16. SUMMER FESTIVAL. Hear a live swing jazz band in the park. 17. EDUCATION FIRST. Participate in the Back to School Supplies Drive. Drop off supplies 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friends of the Children 18. BLOCK PARTY. The Oregon Bus Project hosts a door-to-door canvas and block party. Come for breakfast and training before going out to register voters and talk about the Healthy Kids....

Lindbergh High School and Baden Elite Seattle basketball player Danyelle Grayer does some final touchups on a car at a fund-raising carwash Baden Elite held Aug. 11. The carwash will help pay for a college viewing tournament in Las Vegas. The select team, which has high school players from schools in Western Washington, recently won the Open Division of the Nike Grand Finale Tournament. Many past players from the team have gone on to play for Division 1 and Division 2 teams.

The City Council today passed the first pieces of its multi-part package of legislation to maintain safe, exciting Seattle nightlife while managing issues of concern to surrounding neighborhoods. Councilmember Sally Clark, chair of the Economic Development and Neighborhoods Committee, said, "This package was informed by months of deliberation and public input. It will genuinely balance neighborhood quality-of-life issues and our need for an exciting, successful Seattle nightlife scene." Councilmember Jan Drago said, "This package will help downtown residents....

Keith Tucker has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. The 43-year-old Federal Way radio personality has several projects in the works, including a new radio show entitled, "The Keith Tucker Show," on the Afragenesis network 1150 AM.
In the 10-week series, titled "Hip-Hop Beyond Rap," Tucker and his guests will discuss and define different elements in the hip-hop culture and explore the nine elements of hip-hop culture. In the first show, titled "What is Hip-Hop ....

Chaffey Baseball Club will expand its current offering by opening a program  in the inner-city communities for youth age 13 and 14.
This program will begin with the formation of two Sandy Koufax travel teams — a 13-year-old team and a 14-year-old team. These teams will compete in the summer of 2008 but will have the opportunity to ....

Traveling all the way from Bangladesh, television and newspaper reporters from the small country visited The Skanner's Portland office as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program ... The group is learning about American journalism practices, which they say are very similar to their own – with little government interference. But there is one difference in Bangladesh – fluff and celebrity coverage rarely takes precedent over political reporting ...

Charges have been dropped against two Black teenagers accused of killing a White mother of six.
Police say ballistics tests show neither had a hand in shooting Wendy Meinke, who was killed July 30 during a dispute involving her son and others at an apartment complex in the Detroit suburb of Taylor. She tried to intervene, and two people shot in her direction....

A University of Missouri-Kansas City graduate student is suing a professor that she said addressed her in a classroom using a racial slur and other expletives.
The discrimination lawsuit filed by student DeLana Sattarin names sociology and criminal justice professor Peter Singelmann and the University of Missouri System curators as defendants.
Satttarin claims that the January incident led her to drop out of Singelmann's Globalization and Developing Nations class, which resulted in her not having enough credit hours to graduate in May.
In a report compiled by UMKC Affirmative Action Director Grace Hernandez, Singelmann admitted using the racial slur several times during the Jan. 18 class. However, according to the report, he claimed he used the term only to make a point during a discussion....