Taking stock of the week's most active local issues

-33%

Oregon, Inc. (RAIN)
Investors rolled their eyes as the state of Oregon mailed out $320 million worth of refund checks to taxpayers, and then--guess what!--discovered a gaping hole, which last week grew to a $720 million budget deficit. Legislators will trudge to Salem next year to make the inevitable spending cuts in schools, health and public safety.

HighTech Corp. (CHIPZ)
Shares in Oregon's high-tech sector took another beating when Japanese chipmaker Fujitsu said it would shut down its Gresham wafer plant and lay off 670 workers. Forget chips--how about some fries with that?

Consolidated Vancouver, Wash. ('COUV)
Bad week for 'COUV stock. First, SEH America slashed 350 jobs from its silicon wafer fab. Then a local baker named WinCo Foods announced a "recall" of chocolate cakes from its 13 metro-area stores after parts of a knife were discovered in the batter. Anyone with a tip should call company officials....

UP Pilots, Unlimited (CLVZGRRLS)
While jockish investors focused their attention on Oregon State's unsuccessful takeover bid in Eugene, discerning connoisseurs of blue-chip sports stocks celebrated as the University of Portland Pilots thrashed Texas A&M 4-1 in the NCAA women's soccer quarterfinals. The Pilots, under the direction of CEO Clive Charles, garnered two goals from both Betsy Barr and Christine Sinclair en route to a berth to a final-four matchup with perennial powerhouse North Carolina this weekend.

The Boss (FATCAT)
Untrammeled capitalists and assorted union-haters lit big cigars on news that the three-week strike at the Northwest Regional Educational Lab had collapsed--a stinging defeat for the union, which wanted the K-12 research facility to run an "agency shop," where all eligible employees pay union dues. Management held fast--and won.