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WINNERS
1. A pseudo-grassroots group founded by the pharmaceutical
drug industry spent last week running ads assaulting U.S.
Rep. Darlene Hooley for "meddling" with seniors' medication.
But in a neat trick of political judo, Hooley took the industry
to the mat by using a press conference with local senior
advocates to blast "deceptive" industry efforts to block
price curbs she sought.
2. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
is taking huge heat for locking up a Chinese girl for seven
months. The high-profile saga is good news for Multnomah
County Commissioner Serena Cruz, who has waged a
largely ignored campaign against the county's policy of
renting jail beds to the feds.
3. Good news for anti-channelers. Last week
three agencies charged with reviewing endangered species,
water pollution and the state's coastal land-use plan 'fessed
up that the Army Corps of Engineers' proposed channel deepening
of the lower Columbia River could have a detrimental effect
on fish, fowl and people.
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LOSERS
1. Fans of singer/songwriter/ apparently very
important short person Randy Newman paid $29 a head to check
out their grizzled hero, famed for his biting social satire,
at the Roseland on Saturday night. Instead of treating long-suffering
fans to a deluxe headlining set, Newman slipped onstage
for 20 minutes, sticking concert-goers with an evening of
unknown troubadours and gaping holes in their wallets.
2. Although the smoke-free-workplace ordinance passed
by the Multnomah County Commission Dec. 9 seems reasonable,
the task-force authorized the same day is clearly designed
by the anti-smoking absolutists to snuff out smokers
lighting up in bars.
3. Jefferson High School supporters can't be happy
to hear that a Catholic high school plans to open nearby
next year. The beleaguered North Portland school has suffered
from dwindling enrollment, among other problems, and doesn't
need any more competition.
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