Introducing... Nate McMullen!

Gays and lesbians won a symbolic victory when the state Senate passed a civil-unions bill. The plan to sanction same-sex unions is likely to die in the Republican-dominated house. Nonetheless, it enjoyed bipartisan support from the likes of Corvallis Republican Frank Morse, who said his "aye" was what God "called him to do."

Scientists finally got a chance to ogle Kennewick Man after years of legal combat. The 9,000-year-old skeleton found on the Columbia's banks in 1996 could hold clues to humankind's early North American history. Anthropologists sued after Northwest tribes tried to claim K-Man as an ancestor and put his bones off-limits. The anthros won in federal court-but can they survive the bad hoodoo that's sure to follow?

After heisting coach Nate McMillan from the Seattle Supersonics, the perpetually struggling Portland Trail Blazers reveled in rare good press. And in a show of newfound camaraderie, an anonymous WW intern even removed the domain name blazerssuckhard.com from eBay-after it failed to attract many bids, of course.

LOSERS

Not all was happiness and light in Blazerland, though. Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn-whose political luck is almost as bad as Portland's recent pro-hoops fortunes-endured national ridicule when she introduced the club's new head coach as "Nate McMullen" at a PR dog-'n'-pony show. Not to be outdone, sports blowhard Colin Cowherd, an ex-Portlander, repeatedly called MultCo's bedeviled leader "Diane Lee" on the air.

Oregonlive.com: dead. Well, the site-The Oregonian's notoriously crappy online outlet-didn't completely flat-line last week, but it was certainly in critical condition. The culprit: a fire in the building housing its New Jersey server. For nearly two days, a creepy, skeletal ghost of Oregon news greeted visitors while the site limped back to full strength.

Newish downtown club H2O is beefing up on security in response to official pressure. A fatal shooting outside the club in May appears unconnected to the bar, but the owner must still answer for alleged liquor-code violations and a drunken brawl in December. Sounds like a fun place.