Urban planning and a politicaldebate between two candidates running for  chair of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners are on the City Club's agenda for the next two Friday luncheons.

There are a few more opportunities for residents to discuss the Portland Public Schools budget, which may call for the closure of some schools and the re-creation of kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools.

A new local television show is taking the issues that impact today's youth — at home, in school, on the streets and in the media — and bringing them into your living room. And it's doing it in real time — live, without a net.

Portland residents who want a say in how their taxes are spent can attend a community budget forum on Saturday, April 8.

CORVALLIS—Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of America's best-known civil rights leader, will visit Oregon next month.

VisionPDX, the community vision project launched by Mayor Tom Potter in 2005, will host an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at City Hall.

ABUJA,Nigeria—Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who vanished in Nigeria after authoritie reluctantly agreed to transfer him to a war crimes tribunal, was arrested trying to cross the border into Cameroon, Nigerian police said Wednesday.

NEW ORLEANS—New Orleans residents living in Houston, Atlanta and other cities are still waiting for the absentee ballots they applied for weeks ago. No one knows how many people will come back to the city to vote, and the polling places have yet to be selected.

A new elementary school is under construction at the New Columbia housing development in North Portland. All it needs now, besides a few finishing touches, is a name.

The Knott Street Boxing Team. Among boxing enthusiasts, the name carries legendary overtones.The North Portland-based boxing club has a rich and storied history, one that has produced Olympic contenders and world title-holders.