Felled timber's crack, and "bereaved" Blazer Zach.

[March 28th, 2007] WINNERS

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad surely breathed a deep sigh of relief last week as the Portland City Council voted 4-0 to support diplomatic relations with his nation. With the support of Portland's Iranian community and its allies, the city proved it will—say it fast—oil-wells love Iran.

Oregon's rural counties have a crack habit known in polite circles as a "dependence" on federal forest fees, and they've been in withdrawal since their D.C. dealers tried to cut off their supply, er, funding. Enter Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) , who last week negotiated a deal to send those counties to a methadone-treatment facility of sorts, fully funding their timber payments program in 2007 and then gradually reducing payments.

Maybe Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Giusto can shed his claim as the best example of all that's wrong in the county. After a withering piece in Sunday's Oregonian about county Commissioner Lonnie Roberts appearing to need a daily wake-up call from his chief of staff, it's safe to conclude that Roberts is a worthy competitor to Giusto for county dishonors.

LOSERS

OK, so, Zach Randolph ditches the Trail Blazers to attend a funeral in his Indiana hometown, and the Blazers win all three games without him. Then Randolph returns, and the team loses its next two. Randolph's side trip to a strip club during his "bereavement leave" suddenly seems to be the least of his problems.

Only one of the two contested races for Portland Public Schools' Board of Education looks close. But Stand for Children, the influential school-reform advocacy group, is acting like its name is Cover our Asses. Last week, the Portland group gave dual endorsements in the board's hotly contested race to incumbent Doug Morgan and his challenger Ruth Adkins. Way to take a stand, folks.

As the Portland Tribune reported last week, a pungent odor is following Deborah Saweuyer-Parks, who earned $468,000 two years ago for her work as the CEO of Homestead Capital, a local provider of affordable-housing funding. But it might not be her pay that stinks the most. That honor should probably go to her husband's $9,000-a-month consultant contract with Homestead.