What's hotter than Hades or colder than Fargo this week?

[October 13th, 2004] WINNERS

John Kerry's quest to keep Oregon in the D column on Nov. 2 got a boost from The Oregonian. The paper's editorial board overruled Bush-backing publisher Fred Stickel to endorse the Massachusetts senator. Kerry's just the second Dem ever endorsed by the O. (Yes, your local daily picked Wendell Willkie over FDR, Nixon over JFK and Goldwater over LBJ. Sobering thoughts, indeed.)

Jailed would-be voters got some good news, as inmates'-rights activists pushed to register guests of Multnomah County. Contrary to what many believe, convicted criminals who are now in county jails or have finished out their terms in state prison can indeed vote. (Hey, if unconvicted drug users can be elected president, it only seems fair.)

Light-rail foes and bus drivers fretting over expansion of MAX to the downtown transit mall cheered this week. Parking-garage magnate Greg Goodman and other big property owners are fighting the tax that would pay for the new trains--and have hired leviathan lobbyist John DiLorenzo to argue their case.

LOSERS

Embattled Trail Blazer Qyntel Woods faced a second week of nightmarish press as the feds and others probed accusations that he's a dog-fighting enthusiast. The team suspended the second-year player, accused of abandoning a wounded pit bull in an alley off North Killingsworth Street, from its annual fan-appreciation exhibition. Woods' career may soon smash into an ironclad Portland axiom: The city will forgive a lot, but mess with a dog and you're done.

Police Chief Derrick Foxworth took a hit in the O on Sunday. In 1996, when he was a captain, hundreds of his city cell-phone calls in a four-month period were found to be to his then-girlfriend. When the records were released to the media, Foxworth blacked out her name and number, saying she was a "citizen informant." Foxworth, who is now telling his officers untruthfulness will not be tolerated, claims the woman (who later became his wife) did some snitching, but he still reimbursed the city for the calls.

Health officials scrambled when a British drug maker that supplies half of the nation's flu vaccines had its license suspended due to tainted supplies. To prevent pandemonium, only "high-risk" people, including the very young and the elderly, will get the jab. The rest of us stoically proclaim, "Flu shots? We don't need no stinkin' flu shots!"