Washington ACORN members and the Washington ACORN Institute kicked off their first ever mobile Prosperity Centers at the West Seattle Food Bank last week. The group is offering special services such as holiday budget planning and more opportunities to sign up for government and nonprofit food benefits. ACORN has ramped up its outreach and services just as the local economy is spiraling downwards and holiday pressures are reaching their peak ...

The Washington State Department of Financial Institution's Consumer Services Division advises homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgage to be cautious about using the services of someone offering to help them work with their lender to modify the terms of their home loan. The Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has received a number of inquiries regarding the legality ...

Earshot Jazz has presented this ecumenical concert for the past 20 years. It is the world's longest running presentation of the sacred pieces by Ellington, which he considered among his most important works. The concert features blues, gospel and jazz pieces drawn from Ellington's three "Sacred Concerts"

Ahmbur Blue, left, a Microsoft HR Business Specialist, helps senior citizen Mary Boston, right, fill out paperwork to get a free converter box for her television. Blue was volunteering at Courtland Place at Rainier Court, a senior housing complex in Rainier Valley in south Seattle.
Photo by Ron Wurzer/Microsoft

ATLANTA (AP -  Morris Brown College, which is scrambling to pay off a $380,000 overdue water bill that had threatened to close the school after 127 years, held a second rally on Saturday to raise money to settle the debt.
The school has raised over $125,000 in recent weeks through a grassroots campaign seeking donations from the community and across the country. The money raised Saturday included a bag full of quarters totaling $100 from 13-year-old Terrence McKenzie, who gave because his mother had gone to the college ...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Treasurer-elect Ben Westlund is proposing a college savings plan that he says would be safer for parents than investing in the stock market.
Westlund, a Democrat, says he wants to start a prepaid college tuition program that would allow parents to lock into current tuition rates by paying into a savings account.
"We're not talking corporate bonds," ...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- The leaders of the only two Arab countries to have peace treaties with Israel are condemning Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The office of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned Israel of the consequences of the invasion and says it places the responsibility on Israel for any civilians that are killed or wounded  ...

Shipwreck Hunting
Beachcombers find endless treasures along the Oregon coast, from seashells to shipwrecks...

Ski Areas Open
... now, with an abundance of snowfall brought by December's record winter storms, many ski areas are expected to remain open well into the spring ...

Single Speed Mountain Bikes
... the increasing number of mountain bikers in Oregon and elsewhere on single-speed bikes ...

Former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris was rebuffed in the U.S. Senate today as he tried to enter the venerated chambers and take his seat, as the successor to president-elect Barack Obama appointed by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
"My credentials were not in order, I will not be accepted, I will not be seated," Burris, 71, told a reporters ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President-elect Barack Obama will be hosting a Youth Inaugural Ball, five Regional Inaugural balls, and a ball for his Home States - Illinois and Hawaii on Jan. 20. Vice President-elect Joe Biden will host a ball for his Home States as well: Delaware and Pennsylvania. These balls round out the list of official inaugural balls to be held on Tuesday, January 20, along with the previously announced Neighborhood Inaugural Ball and Commander in Chief's Ball ...