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WINNERS
1. School doesn't start for a couple of weeks, but
schools' superintendent Ben Canada already is getting
high marks and a bonus of nearly $16,000 for his first year's
performance. A highly positive parent survey completed by
independent pollsters reinforced the idea that Canada has
the schools on the right track.
2. Anthropologists' persistence paid off
when a federal judge finally agreed to hear oral arguments
Sept. 15 in the case of Kennewick Man. The U.S. government
has spent more than two years trying to block scientific
research on the bones, which some have pegged as being 9,300
years old.
3. Charter-school pioneers got some working capital
from the feds, who will provide Oregon start-ups with $6
million over the next three years. Once approved by local
school boards, charter schools will qualify for state funding,
but in the meantime, federal dollars will help fledging
schools get through the application process.
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LOSERS
1. The official sanction amounted to a slap on the
wrist, but "Fiancée-gate" tarnished Clackamas County
Commissioner Bill Kennemer's reputation. Kennemer
tried to get his wife-to-be a PR $45,000-a-year job with
the county, behavior that state investigators found "totally
inappropriate."
2. Last week Astoria police cited Bubbles the
Clown for blowing an emergency siren before a parade.
Apparently, the cops feared that motorists might mistake
the clownmobile--a bright orange hearse with horns on the
hood--for an official vehicle of the local police force.
3. For the 26th week in a row, the working poor
got screwed--this time by a shortage of cash for Oregon's
Jobs Plus program, which helps welfare recipients and unemployed
workers get back on the job. Subsidies for firms that hire
unemployed workers will likely dry up soon, thanks to opposition
from the business lobby. The part of the program that helps
welfare recipients will continue.
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