OLYMPIA, WA—Gov. Chris Gregoire, already deep into a two-year overhaul of education, says the next big challenge is health care.

Pictured José "Chencho" Alas

One of Central America's best-known activists, former priest and friend of the late Archbishop Romero, José "Chencho" Alas, will discuss the work that needs to be done in El Salvador during a presentation on Sunday, April 30.

The Rev. Fred Woods of Calvary Christian Church, foreground, shares a laugh with Selena Gutierrez,…

In Oregon, 591,000 people do not have health insurance. That's nearly 17 percent of the state's population.

That's why a group of Oregon Health & Science University students are sponsoring "Cover The Uninsured Week" planned for Monday, May 1, through Saturday, May 6.

VANCOUVER—If you've ever dreamed of climbing into an airplane cockpit and taking the controls, your day has come.
Pearson Air Museum is hosting its first-ever Open Cockpit Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday April 29. Several of the museum's vintage aircraft will be open for visitors to actually climb into the cockpit and sit at the controls.

YAKIMA, W.A.— The state pharmacy board says pharmacists' moral objections should not allow them to deprive patients of a legal prescription.

Druggists could still refuse to dispense certain drugs under a proposed draft rule, but only if another pharmacist is on site to fill the prescription.

Development of the Burnside Bridgehead project is closer to realization with a memorandum of understanding reached between the Portland Development Commission and Opus Northwest LLC.

The memorandum is a non-binding agreement that states the understandings between PDC and Opus that will guide the $200 million development project.

Sen. Jackie Winters

SALEM—After gaining a reputation for bogging down in partisan gridlock over the past four years, Oregon lawmakers surprised most observers with something quite the opposite: The state's shortest special session in history — a decisive, six-hour affair in which lawmakers approved more funding for schools, new restrictions on payday lenders and tougher penalties for sex crimes against children.

They also managed to spend $178 million in those six hours, giving $42 million in unanticipated lottery profits to schools and earmarking $136 million to close a budget gap in the state's human services programs.

Washington State Ferries, the largest ferry system in the country, has topped the list of targets for maritime terrorism in the United States, according to a report from the Justice Department's inspector general's office.

It's the first time the FBI has publicly acknowledged the high risk to the state ferries system. The findings are based largely on analysis of suspicious incidents at the nation's maritime centers.

Amnesty International USA activists from across the country will tackle some of the most pressing human rights issues facing the world today when they convene for the organization's 2006 Annual General Meeting in Portland this weekend.

Up to 1,000 people are expected to attend this year's convention, set for April 28 to 30 in the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower, 921 S.W. Sixth Ave. The public is invited; registration is $100 for three days or $20 for one day.