Let Us Bowl You Over.

By WW Editorial Staff
  1. Sandy Rowe, editor of The Oregonian since 1993, told her newsroom Monday she’s retiring Dec. 31 in what she described as a voluntary cost-cutting move to preserve other jobs at the financially ailing daily. Some wonder whether it may be more a consequence of the recent arrival of new publisher N. Christian Anderson III, who replaced the retiring Fred Stickel. At the same time, one staffer says the 61-year-old Rowe seemed relieved when she made her announcement—she won’t be the one to lay people off next year. That job will fall to Rowe’s replacement, Peter Bhatia, who came to the paper in 1993 and has been executive editor since 1997. To read Rowe’s email to staff, go to wweek.com/rowe_retirement.
  2. Add another name to the list of those planning to challenge three-term inc umbent City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who’s been criticized for his handling of the Police Bureau (see cover story, here). Former longtime Portland Bureau of Transportation spokeswoman Mary Volm, saying she’s motivated by a “leadership void,” will enter the race this week. She’ll join previously announced Saltzman challengers Ed Garren, Spencer Burton and Jason Renaud. Volm recently was front and center in the first effort to recall Mayor Sam Adams.
  3. Sometimes David beats Goliath: Last week, a city hearings officer rejected Lewis Clark’s plans for a massive expansion of the college’s campus in Southwest Portland. Neighbors fearing a large traffic increase to already congested adjacent streets opposed the college’s $200 million plan. “Their application is dangerous from a traffic standpoint and it is an environmental disaster,” says Danni McLaughlin, environmental chairwoman of the Collins View Neighborhood Association, one of the many groups opposing the plan. Lewis Clark spokeswoman Jodi Heintz says officials are still reviewing the Dec. 3 decision.
  1. PGE is spreading $37 million worth of holiday cheer (with help from the Utility Reform Project). If you’re a PGE customer, take a look inside the envelope from the state’s largest utility. PGE ratepayers from Oct. 1, 2000, to Sept. 30, 2001, are getting refund checks that average $46 apiece because the utility overcharged them for costs relating to the Trojan nuclear plant during that period.
  2. Carrying signs proclaiming “Fuck the Banksters” and chanting “Hey, hey! What’s the fuss? Make the economy work for us,” hundreds of protesters marched last weekend through downtown Portland. The Saturday rally, part of a global movement dubbed 5 Days of Action, was against the World Trade Organization’s potential expansion, which opponents say would spur more mega-corporations at the expense of small businesses. And the demonstration coincided both with the WTO’s meeting in Geneva and the 10-year anniversary of the so-called “Battle in Seattle.” That protest-turned-legend featured nearly 50,000 demonstrators. Image courtesy of Brittany Rogers.
  3. We’re stoked that readers have donated nearly $250,000 so far to the 79 great local nonprofits featured in WW’s Give!Guide. But we also know the need is great out there in these tough times. Please go to wweek.com/giveguide and give what you can. We’ve got all kinds of cool incentives to say thanks for the help.

WWeek 2015

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