WASHINGTON--When Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., travels to Africa next month for a five-nation, 15-day tour, he will have one credential no other U.S. senator can claim: He is the son of an African.

Twice before, that connection has led Obama to visit Africa and learn more about his late father, a Kenyan goat herder who became a Harvard-educated economist for his own nation's government.

This trip is guaranteed to be different now that Obama has become a political celebrity in the United States and a hero in parts of Africa.

"As the only African American in the U.S. Senate, there is obviously some symbolic power to my visit," Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The Tuskegee Airmen had something to prove: Black Americans wanted and could handle the most challenging military jobs. For their achievements, they will receive the Congressional Gold Medal in a White House ceremony later this year.
Luke Weathers, 86, was motivated by more than patriotism when he joined the Army Air Corps. "They were getting ready to draft me," he said. "I didn't want to be cannon fodder." The Memphis native, who had completed coursework for a degree in science and biology, used what influence he could to receive a spot as a cadet. He became one of 450 pilots sent overseas and one of almost 1,000 who graduated.

PHILADELPHIA, Miss.—The attorney for a one-time Ku Klux Klan leader who's serving jail time for his role in the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers says that if Edgar Ray Killen is granted bond, declining health likely will keep him at home until he dies.
The lawyers for Killen, 81, will ask Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon in Philadelphia on Friday to grant their client bond while he appeals his June 21, 2005 conviction on three counts of manslaughter. Killen was convicted of orchestrating the Neshoba County killings of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman. The conviction came 41 years to the day after the three workers were slain.

The original Harlem Globetrotters will provide an educational and memorable week of basketball and instruction during a basketball camp from July 17 through 21 in the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.
The week-long camp offers traditional on-court drills and teaches basketball fundamentals, but it also includes sessions on academics, character, leadership and citizenship. The camp, available in both morning and afternoon sessions, is open to children 6 to 16 years old.

Sens. Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith joined forces last week behind a proposal aimed at helping uninsured people get health coverage and those with insurance avoid financial ruin from a catastrophic illness.

The amount of Medicare spending considered questionable by the federal government is drastically lower than what state investigators suggested earlier this year, state Auditor Brian Sonntag said.
The change comes after a review from federal watchdogs, who found that about $80 million of the $950 million in Medicaid spending flagged by Sonntag is considered questionable spending under federal rules.
That's a reduction of about 92 percent, which pleased officials with the state Department of Social and Health Services, The Olympian newspaper reported Friday.

More than 600 volunteers gathered Tuesday at Memorial Coliseum to launch Project Homeless Families Connect.
Said to be the first event of its kind in the nation, the project mobilized community members and organizations specifically to help homeless families with children.

Don't be fooled by the breathtaking sunsets, top-notch boating and bountiful hauls of shellfish — Puget Sound's health is in danger, members of a special task force say.Many people living in the region have a rosy outlook on the sound, despite dire warnings about dwindling aquatic life and increasing urban pollution.
Such pressures have been widely documented, but the group was surprised that two-thirds of people contacted for a survey rated the sound's health as ``good.''
If leaders aren't able to persuade and inspire the public to get involved in improving the sound's health, ``I'm not sure we can win,'' said Brad Ack, director of Gregoire's Puget Sound Action Team.
``There's this disconnect between what the actual state of the sound is and what people's impression is, because it looks beautiful — the water sparkles, the mountains glisten,'' he said.

Ambree Cobb, 2, marches with the Greenwood Drill Team July 7 during the 57th Annual Wallingford Kiddie Parade.

Jordan Warren takes a turn at chess during a community event hosted by Nike at its Northeast Portland Factory store on Tuesday. Local dignitaries and store officials attended the event, where Nike awarded more than $100,000 in grants to 18 neighborhood nonprofit organizations. The corporation's annual donations to North and Northeast Portland have totaled $1.2 million since the store opened in 1984.