Pictured, from left: Merkeycia Carter, Richard Gallion, and Petal Munroe.
On Friday April 24 the hippest, hottest and newest runway fashion was at the Portland Convention Center for the 51st annual Ebony Fashion Fair. On display were some of the hottest designers, such as Luca Luca, Gianni Calignanos, Rubin Singer, Giles Montezin, Marc Bouwer, Missoni, Kevin Hall, and Emmanuel Ungaro. Showcasing some of the best designers across the world, the crowd was engulfed in the beaded, sleek, sultry looks of the runway. . . .

• Learn to Prevent Foreclosure
• Find a Safe Bike Route to Work
• Dinner Supports Youth Police Activities League
• Neighborhood Job Seeking Skills Workshop
• WSU Holds College Day for Young Students

William James Adams, aka Will.i.Am, was born on March 15, 1975, in the City of Los Angeles where he attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. But by the time he got around to launching his own clothing line ("i.am") in 2005, the talented Renaissance man had already found fame as front man for the Black Eyed Peas, the multiple Grammy-winning hip-hop group with hits like "Let's Get It Started" and "My Humps."  A versatile musician, Will not only plays various keyboards, the bass and drums, but also sings and raps as well. . . .

Great offerings are on tap at this year's Art Beat Festival from May 11-15 at Portland Community College in Northeast and Southwest Portland:

• Arvie Smith - Artist Talk
• Grandma Zula's Legacy - Film and Discussion
• Jujuba - Music Performance

To celebrate the 150^th Anniversary of Oregon's statehood, the Oregon Department of Education wanted educators to share their knowledge of the state's varied history. With the help of the Oregon Virtual School District, a website was set up to compile lesson plans from around the state ... the website serves as a grassroots effort to get teachers to share effective lesson plans with other teachers. . . .

A report by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that Americans' sense of urgency about HIV/AIDS has fallen dramatically, providing some insights into the AIDS epidemic in Black America. "This report, on the heels of last month's report by the D.C. office of AIDS showing a 4 percent HIV prevalence among Black residents in Washington D.C. provides some context for the AIDS epidemic in Black America," says Phill Wilson, CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. . . .

The National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive is Saturday, May 9. Place nonperishable food donations by your mailbox on the morning of Saturday, May 9, for the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive. More than 3,000 letter carriers across America will collect donations of nonperishable food from their postal customers. . . .

A brief intervention program – consisting of one counseling session and two follow-up phone calls – boosted by tenfold the number of women correctly performing breast self- exams. These are the findings of a Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research study in the American Journal of Health Promotion. Funded by the National Cancer Institute, this study is one of the first to show intervention programs can be effective in increasing breast self-exams. . . .

The Portland Alumnae chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is planning to rehabilitate and expand its June Key Delta House into the Delta Sigma Theta June Key Community Center. The goal is to take what was once an abandoned gas station and turn it into a sustainable, environmentally friendly community center. The Portland Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (DST) is an organization of 250,000 college-educated women committed to public service. . . .

• MDC to Host Evening Forum with Seattle City Council Candidates
• King and Pierce Counties Optometrists Offer Free Exams for Infants
• The CREATION Project Boosts African American Artists
• Mattias Klum to Speak About Borneo's Dwindling Forests
• Umoja Fest Pageant Seeks Candidates