The up-and-down world of Ron Saxton.

[September 27th, 2006] WINNERS

Think Teddy K is vulnerable? So does the national Republican Governors Association, which showed its love for GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron Saxton over the weekend by dropping off a half-million-dollar check. That should buy a few TV ads.

If Zach Randolph could beat defenders like he does prosecutors, he might actually be worth his six-year, $84 million Trail Blazers contract. The Multnomah County DA's Office says there isn't enough evidence to back accusations that the oft-troubled Randolph was involved in an alleged rape of a woman in a room at the Vintage Plaza last month.

Enviros cheered when a federal judge in San Francisco ruled last week that the Bush administration had wrongfully overturned Clinton-era protections against logging 50 million acres of roadless national forests, including 2 million in Oregon.

Sadly, the world's endless misery is Portland's economic gain. Mercy Corps will keep its headquarters in Portland, announcing plans to spend up to $35 million building a new space in Old Town for its humanitarian work around the globe.

LOSERS

Portland police have some tough questions to answer now that a medical examiner has found James P. Chasse Jr. died from trauma to the chest after officers tackled him Sept. 17. No drugs were found in Chasse's system, and witnesses say officers repeatedly kicked the 42-year-old man in the chest.

Grey's Anatomy writers, take note. OHSU faces a $2 million lawsuit from a man fuming that its fertility clinic mistakenly gave his sperm to another woman instead of the intended recipient—his fiancée.

A front-page story in Tuesday's Portland Tribune quoting critics of Saxton's temporary crosstown move a decade ago isn't what any candidate needs six weeks before the election. The Trib explains that Saxton's family went from Southeast to Southwest so his son could enroll in Lincoln High's international baccalaureate program, then moved back to Southeast.