Author, actress and director Perri Gaffney, left, entertains an admiring crowd June 27 at the North Portland Library. Gaffney was on hand to read from her own works while her audience enjoyed a spot of tea.

Thousands of children each year are injured or killed by guns not properly stored. Experts in the Doernbecher Children's Safety Center urge families with guns to store them unloaded and locked in places where children can't gain access.
They also recommend families follow guidelines suggested by the Asking Saves Lives campaign, which offers solutions to gun violence and urges parents to ask friends and neighbors whether there are guns in the house before allowing their children to play.

After a short illness of one week, James Harrington died on June 18.
"Jack" was the first child born to James "Jim" Harrington and Isabella Briggs Harrington. He was born in Beirne, Ark. on Dec. 24, 1911.
He married Myrtle Taylor on July 15, 1939, and moved to Gurdon, Ark., where he lived until moving to Portland in 2002, remaining there until his death.
He worked for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. and the Reynolds Metals Co., until he retired in 1976.
He professed a hope in Christ at an early age, joining Shady Grove Baptist Church in Beirne, Ark. In 1975, Jack joined Bethel AME Church in Gurdon, Ark., where he served as a trustee, steward and member of the senior choir.

Tracie Yevette Lane-Diamond was born on Jan. 4, 1967 in Stockton, Calif., to James L. Lane and Lila Lane. She was the youngest of six children.
Tracie and her family moved to Portland in 1976, where she graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1985.
She was employed with the Oregon Humane Society for 17 years.
She always greeted people with a warm pleasant smile; she loved children and animals. She was full of fun, enjoyed music and stayed up-to-date on the latest movies.

Providence Center on Aging offers "The Secrets of Living to be 100," a four-part course on living longer, healthier lives. The course will be offered at the St. Vincent Medical Center and at Portland Medical Center.
At the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, the course will run from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursdays, July 13, 20, 27, and Aug. 3.

Irma Thomas, the "Soul Queen of New Orleans," will sing "The Star Spangled Banner" during the fireworks show following the final performance of the Waterfront Blues Festival on July 4.
Thomas will bring her southern warmth and gospel-tinged voice to the festival at 8:45 p.m. and will close with the festival's grand finale, the national anthem, at 10 p.m. as the fireworks display begins.

In honor of Black Music Month, Gulf Coast artists such as B.B. King, Irvin Mayfield and Patti Austin, visited the White House to cast a spotlight on some of the better-known classics.
New Orleans trumpeter Mayfield performed "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" and Austin performed a selection of her own and Ella Fitzgerald's numbers.
President George W. Bush issued a proclamation declaring June "Black History Month" and recognizing African American artists throughout history who have enhanced and shaped the national conscience.

New federal Medicaid requirements will require 450,000 Medicaid recipients in Oregon to show proof of citizenship when they enroll in the Oregon Health Plan.
But Gov. Ted Kulongoski said the state will make certain that no one who is eligible for Medicaid in Oregon will suffer harm.
"Despite the fact that these new rules will impose a significant burden on the state, we will make certain that the health, safety and well-being of our neediest citizens will not be jeopardized," Kulongoski said.

The proposal calls for siting one 620-bed facility in the North Willamette Valley region, one 360-bed facility south of Linn County on the west side of the Cascades, and at least two non-hospital-level 16-bed secure residential treatment settings east of the Cascades.

Billionaire financier Warren Buffett's recent giveaway of $37.1 billion — mostly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as two other foundations — fits right in with the City Club's topic of the July 7 Friday Forum: "The Business of Philanthropy: New Trends in Stewardship."
Three of Oregon's largest foundations — the Oregon Community Foundation, the Collins Foundation and Meyer Memorial Trust — must wrestle with new developments in giving and receiving every day, and their directors, Greg Chaillé, Jerry Hudson and Doug Stamm, will discuss those developments.