1. Lars Larson has forced Oregon State University and The Oregonian to rename and rejigger their jointly run Newspaper Institute for Minority High School Students. Gone is the word “minority.” And white students may apply for the first time to attend the summer camp in Corvallis. The conservative radio host said the institute violated OSU’s non-discrimination policies and now exults, “They’re going to apply their own rules to themselves.” OSU spokesman Todd Simmons said the university faced the choice of severing ties with The O’s training program or opening it to more students. Simmons says OSU remains committed to training groups underrepresented in journalism, saying, “We’re not shedding that mission, we’re broadening it just a little bit.”
  2. Five girls from Lincoln High’s defunct cheerleading team (see “Cheerless,” WW, Dec. 16, 2009) won a title at the cheer and dance American National Championships in Anaheim, Calif. The Lincoln girls, along with teammates from other schools, practiced off campus and beat six other teams two weeks ago in the Level 3 Senior Co-ed division. Lincoln’s cheerleading team disbanded last fall after principal Peyton Chapman overruled a decision by cheerleading coaches to remove a transgender student from the team. Coaches said that student violated the team’s code of conduct.
  3. More bad news for the Wiederhorn family. On April 9, the Vista House Condo Association in Southwest Portland filed foreclosure papers in Multnomah County Court against Peggy Wiederhorn, the mother of once-high-flying Portland financier Andy Wiederhorn (see “Ask Andrew Wiederhorn,” WW, Jan. 13, 1999). He moved to Beverly Hills last year, trailed by creditors including Citibank, holder of the $33,000-a-month mortgage on his West Hills mansion. Neither he nor his mother could be reached for comment on the filing, which comes on the heels of a December bank foreclosure notice on her $1.3 million mortgage.
  1. You won’t read all about the results of a lawsuit brought by 18 former correspondents for The Oregonian alleging the paper improperly treated them as contractors rather than employees (see “Practically Indefensible,” WW, April 9, 2008). The scribblers sought $2 million to $3 million for wages and benefits they claimed The O owed them for work from 1999 to 2005. Their attorney, Roy Pulvers, tells Murmurs that his clients have reached a settlement with the daily but said all parties agreed not to disclose the terms of that pact.
  2. The effort to put a pot-legalization initiative on the November state ballot (see “Joint Initiatives,” WW, Jan. 6, 2010) gets a boost this weekend from John Trudell. The Native American activist and other musicians are playing a concert April 24 at the Roseland Theater to raise money for the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, which reports having nearly enough signatures already to qualify. Meanwhile, Portland has been named the world’s No. 6 marijuana travel destination in a special report this week by MSNBC, behind top-ranked Amsterdam but beating out Seattle and the legendary Christiania commune in Denmark.
  3. Students at Jefferson High School are inviting Portlanders to celebrate Earth Day at Jeff’s second annual Carbon Footprint Fair. The event takes place in the school’s gym, 5200 N Commercial Ave., from 9 am to 3 pm on April 22. Students will help visitors calculate their carbon footprints and offer lessons on how to reduce them.