Murmurs: All the News That's Fit to Read in a Loo.

  1. City Commissioner Steve Novick is ready to flush Portland’s toilet-sales department. The newest member of the City Council says the efforts to market the patent sidewalk commode known as the Portland Loo to other cities is failing. Novick says he is responding to our cover story last week  (“Money Bucket,” WW, May 15, 2013) that showed the city has sold only three of the $90,000 loos in three years—and would need to quadruple that rate to cover the maintenance costs of six loos the city operates around town. Novick says he’s asking Mayor Charlie Hales to end the loo sales program and instead restore the Bureau of Environmental Services’ Clean Rivers Education Program, providing wetlands field trips to students. “It doesn’t seem like loo sales are going to take off,” Novick says. “And the rivers education program is very popular.” Hales’ office says it wants to let the loo sales program die a quiet death.
  1. Dept. of Shameless Self-Promotion, 2013 Edition: WW won 18 first-place awards at the Society of Professional Journalists banquet May 18. Among Pacific Northwest alternative weeklies, WW won first place in 10 of 11 categories. Crime and justice reporting: Andrea Damewood, “The First 30 Seconds” (Dec. 12, 2012), police dealing with the mentally ill. Business reporting: Damewood, “Rent a Pup” (Nov. 14, 2012), on the Hannah Pet Society. Government and politics reporting: Aaron Mesh, “When Stacks Attack” (Aug. 1, 2012), on the Multnomah County Library taxing district. Environmental and science reporting: Corey Pein, “Fisherman’s Wrath” (June 13, 2012), on the Oregon gillnet industry. Personalities reporting: Pein, “The Evolution of Eileen Brady” (March 7, 2012), on the then-mayoral candidate. Arts reporting: WW staff, “Art Breaker” (Sept. 12, 2012), in which fine artists go slumming. Critiques and reviews: Chris Stamm, “Aged and Warped” (Aug. 1, 2012), in which he listened to every Warped Tour compilation. Lifestyles reporting: Martin Cizmar, “Beer of the Future” (Feb. 15, 2012), on revolutionary Oregon-grown hop varieties. Sports reporting: John Locanthi, “Chip Kelly’s Secret Offense” (Dec. 19, 2012), on University of Oregon boosters’ dislike of the then-football coach. Special section: WW staff, “Take Me to the River” (May  2, 2012), our photo essay about the Willamette. -->>WW also won eight awards among Oregon non-dailies with circulations above 8,000. Comprehensive coverage: WW staff, ongoing investigation into the Columbia River Crossing. Science and health reporting: Ben Waterhouse, “Heretical Healing” (Jan. 11, 2012), a guide to alternative medicine. Environmental reporting: Pein, “Fisherman’s Wrath.” Religion and ethics reporting: Cizmar, “Confessions of a Chubster” (Jan. 11, 2012), the moral case for maintaining a healthy weight. Consumer and lifestyle reporting: Pete Cottell, “Magic Kingdom” (Sept. 5, 2012), on playing Magic: The Gathering as an adult. Arts criticism: Stamm, “Aged and Warped.” Business reporting: Damewood, “Rent a Pup.” Elections coverage: WW staff, the 2012 Portland mayoral race.

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