News That’s Not Debatable

[October 8th, 2008]

Longtime Oregonian columnist David Reinhard  may be leaving the paper. Reinhard, 56, submitted his paperwork Monday to take advantage of The Oregonian’s buyout offer of two years’ pay and bennies. But before lefty readers rejoice that the columnist who calls himself “right on the Left Coast” has opined his last, there’s a caveat. Like other O staffers meeting the Oct. 6 buyout deadline, Reinhard has seven days to rescind his decision. “I’m keeping my options open,” says Reinhard, who’s got a Ph.D. in history and, according to his Web biography, “dreams of living in Central Oregon when he’s not on the job at The Oregonian.” To follow the latest on who’s taking the buyout, go to wweek.com.

Coming from a school with a high tolerance for chemical use (see “Higher Ed,” WW, May 14, 2008), Reed College’s new disciplinary stats posted on its website make it look like the campus either went cold turkey or stopped enforcing its laissez-faire drug-and-alcohol policy altogether. According to the newly updated stats, there were no liquor-law violations at all in 2007, compared with 15 in 2006 and 29 in 2005. And it says there were just three drug violations, compared with 18 in 2006 and 19 in 2005. Reed spokesman Kevin Myers says the stats appear “uncharacteristically low,” and the college is looking into whether some cases went uncounted.

Metro’s Transit Program director, Richard Brandman, is taking a top job at the Columbia River Crossing project. While Brandman might not be a household name, the move may signal that the project’s two sponsor agencies—the Washington and Oregon departments of transportation—want to make the proposed $4.2 billion bridge to the ’Couv more attractive to its many critics in Oregon. Metro and the DOTs typically have very different views, which could be described as planning versus paving. Brandman will be on loan for two years to the CRC and replaces ODOT’s John Osborn as CRC’s co-director.

The Hung Far Low sign in Old Town vanished last week, leaving many Portlanders frantic that the Chinatown icon might never return. Though the Hung Far Low restaurant moved to Southeast 82nd Avenue a couple years ago from its longtime home on Northwest 4th Avenue, the sign remained—at least, until last week. Dan Hong, whose family owns the building, says recent renovations to the building’s roof revealed the sign’s supports needed repair. It cost Hong’s family about $3,000 to remove the sign, and he isn’t sure he’ll be able to afford to put it back up. But the PDC says it has money set aside to cover some restoration costs for the sign, which was built in 1928.

Worried the government is rummaging in your recycling for evidence you’re a terrorist? Got a Visa bill you’d like to keep away from your significant other? If so, here’s your chance to shred the evidence. On Wednesday, Oct. 15, from 9 am to 5 pm in Pioneer Square, EFI Secured Shredding and Recycling will park one of its mobile trucks to shred up to 100 pounds of your paper for free. Company officials say they’re making the offer to help citizens prevent identity theft. How cutting-edge.