In the Oregon's gambling industry's sprint to the bottom, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla will now serve alcohol at their Wildhorse Casino. The house of chance becomes the only watering hole on the 174,000-acre Pendleton-area rez. Drinking and gambling? Sounds profitable.

Endangered critters rejoiced after federal judges body-slammed Bush's plans last week for Oregon. One ruling said Bush was wrong to ban public input on 170 Northwest public-lands projects; another gave Bush a one-year deadline to get serious about helping endangered Columbia River salmon.

Sex workers and their fans are still protected by Oregon's Constitution after the state Supreme Court quashed efforts to regulate nude dancing. Free speech rules, and you can say a lot when you're naked.

LOSERS

The town of Boring, usually considered a case of accuracy in naming, doesn't seem so placid after a stalwart citizen shot a man banging on his door for help. The victim had run to the gunman's house after crashing his car. Makes downtown Portland seem a little safer.

What is this, high school or an episode of Deadwood? Portland Public Schools' safety rep took a knock last week with a shooting near Jefferson and a knifepoint robbery at Benson.

Oregon State University's Athletic Department is feeling the heat. First, The Oregonian revealed the average GPA of the school's black football players had gone into a freefall. Then came news that three players (white ones) face charges in the alcohol-related death of another student.

Better luck next time, pro-choicers. Twenty-two Senate Democrats (including Oregon's Ron Wyden) voted for the Supreme Court nomination of John Roberts. Now that Roberts is chief justice, abortion's defenders must regroup against the non-judge Bush nominated for swing-vote Sandra Day O'Connor's seat.

Park Blocks panhandlers must now contend with a mobile police precinct that happened to turn up with the opening of the Portland Art Museum's new wing. Police officials tell The Oregonian the timing is no more than a "nice coincidence.''