The power of music was on full display at PCC Cascade Campus this past Friday as the Journey to Freedom (JTF) Project hosted its Teaching With a Purpose Conference. The theme of this year's conference was Infusing Hip Hop Into Education.

"Go to MyLife.com, the Internet's leading people search site, just type in your name and see if someone is searching for you – for free," proclaimed a television advertisement for Los Angeles-based website MyLife.com.  Unfortunately, according to documents filed today by the Washington State Attorney General's Office, there was nothing free about MyLife.com's services.

The conference aims to bring together community activists, parents, youth, researchers, teachers, social workers, therapists, writers, spiritual leaders and social justice pioneers from all walks of life to build networks of understanding, resistance and healing

As the owner of an independent insurance agency, Vince McCreary makes sure his customers come first. "I work for insurance companies but really, I work for the insured, making sure they get the best rates possible and the right company," he says.

More than 200 people from 14 states attended training on the sex trafficking of minors, at Portland's Embassy Suites Hotel, Oct. 4 and 5.

While most fans know the basic story of hip-hop's origins in block parties in the South Bronx, many aren't aware of the conditions that produced the highest selling music genre in the world.

The Portland Parents Union, a member of the Dignity in Schools coalition, is observing the National Week of Action on School Push-out with  a "restorative listening" event on disproportionate suspensions and expulsions of students, Saturday, Oct. 6, 4 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1624 NE Hancock.

Dr. Maya Angelou is scheduled to speak in Portland, Oct. 30, at the Arlene Schnitzer Hall. She tells the Skanner News her thoughts on the president, reading and the Good Life.

Following up on its crusade against pay disparities statewide, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) and the Oregon Council on Civil Rights (OCCR) host a Community Forum on Pay Equity Tuesday, Oct. 2, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the AFL-CIO Oregon Labor Center at 3645 SE 32nd Ave.

Multnomah County District Attorney's Office has landed a $600,000 grant from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance: $45,000 a year goes to Eleven:45, the church-led youth violence prevention initiative. It also will fund a Deputy District Attorney who will work in the Albina and Killingsworth corridor to work with the street crimes unit.