Everyone duck and cover.

[February 27th, 2008]

Winners

1 A good-news week for former gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix . The Republican was assured plenty of free ink for his property crimes initiative on the November ballot, after state lawmakers last week referred a competing measure. And all ink is good for Mannix if he’s running in November for the congressional seat of retiring U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.).

2Gun-wielding sightseers might kick off their summer vacays to Crater Lake with a bang. As first reported on WWire, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is responding to a plea by Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and 46 other senators to kill the firearms ban in national parks (see “Gordo, Get Your Gun.” WW, Feb. 20, 2008). If the ban gets shot down, expect booming sales of orange vests.

3 The Oregon Legislature covered the ass of state Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo by allowing school districts to charge parents for full-day kindergarten. Castillo had run afoul of state law in 2004 when she told districts the practice was kosher.

4 Last December’s nasty storms are proving a windfall now for Oregon tourism . Uncovered in the aftermath of the lousy weather: the spooky-cool wreck of the George L. Olson, along with at least three other shipwrecks around the state, some old cannons and “ghost forests” of ancient tree stumps.

Losers

1TriMet was begging for a civil-rights lawsuit when it rejected a pro-salmon, anti-dam ad from the Karuk Tribe. Last week it got one, from the ACLU. But why read ads on MAX, when you can read The Score?

2Blaming a crappy economy, The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver announced cuts of more than 8 percent from its 360-employee work force. The only reporter getting the ax: veteran Don Hamilton. The solid scribe got little support from management while facing a trumped-up charge stemming from his reporting on a cop shooting last year (see “Casualties in the ’Couv,” WW, Jan. 2, 2008).

3Clang, clang, clang go the Trail Blazers. Between their rim-jangling shooting and a bout of injuries, the Blazers are left with little in the “Yes We Can” department, beyond hoping for a repeat of the lottery luck that landed them the top pick in last year’s draft.

4State lawmakers shot an airball last week when they approved $200 million in state-backed bonds for a new hoops arena at the University of Oregon. Never mind that the state higher-ed system has many more pressing needs; The Oregonian showed that the project’s financial projections are about as solid a bet as a lottery ticket.