WINNERS
1. Jeff Merkley’s U.S. Senate campaign staged a winning stunt when it celebrated the closing of a Portland payday lender with balloons and “bubbly” (in the form of sparkling cider). The well-publicized gag highlighted the Democratic hopeful’s success as House Speaker to limit payday lenders in Oregon, a push many progressives can applaud.
2. Queer mag The Advocate scored a hit with its first-person profile of a “pregnant man” in Bend. Thomas Beatie was born a woman and had a partial sex change—and isn’t the first transgender male to be “with child”—but People, Oprah and newspapers worldwide ran with the story like they’d taken candy from a baby.
3. Seems like David Lee Simmons has a pretty good federal lawsuit working. The 19-year-old Central Oregon man spent a month in jail and had to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to charges stemming from his relationship with a girl three years younger than he. Problem is, neither the Jefferson County DA nor Simmons’ original attorneys noticed a grand jury had declined to indict him. A judge voided that conviction, but the DA—with help from the state AG’s office—wants to try him again on lesser charges. Now The Oregonian reports that Simmons is suing all of the above for $3.5 million.
LOSERS
1. How would Bill Clinton like it if we introduced him as the man from Hope, “Ar-KAN-zuhz”? And how would Bruce Springsteen—once married to an Oregonian—like it if we sent greetings from “Ass-BERRY” Park? Both visiting bosses called our fair state “Or-ee-GONE” last week, when they deigned to visit us rubes on the Will-uh-MET River. (See below for slideshows of Bill Clinton's and Bruce Springsteen's visits to Portland.)
2. Lake Oswego’s retired Air Force Gen. Merrill “Tony” McPeak, a national co-chairman for the Barack Obama campaign, got some bad press for comparing Bill Clinton to Joe McCarthy. Then right-wingers dredged up alleged anti-Israeli remarks by McPeak. (For more, go to WWire at wweek.com.) At least Obama got “OR-uh-gun” right.
3. In news slightly less shocking than the Trail Blazers’ recent collapse, ex-Jail Blazer Isaiah Rider was arrested again. Rider’s most recent run-in came last week in California, where he was busted on charges of driving a stolen car.
4. The ol’ Gray Lady ain’t as quick as she used to be. The New York Times got around to writing a vegan-sex trend story featuring Portland’s vegan strip club—after wweek.com reported that Casa Diablo is up for sale (see “Boobs with a Side of Soy,” WW, Feb. 6, 2008). Hey, it’s an improvement. After all, how long did it take the Times to wise up about Judith Miller?
Bruce Springsteen at the Rose Garden, March 28
Bill Clinton in Oregon, March 31
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If some payday lending outfits go under because much of the profit has been taken out of it, I suppose that's a natural economic shift. One needn't bemoan the closing of those stories. But to CELEBRATE the closing of 13 retail stores, the loss of whatever jobs were being held in those stores, and the loss of rent income for the building owners, is political grandstanding that rings an off note to me. I thought this was about predatory lending, not payday loan shops. Why is Merkley going personal against these retailers who are just trying to make it under the new rules?
Again: predatory lending bad. Boo. Payday loan shops: bad when charging 500% interest, but maybe not so bad at 36%?
Hopefully Oregon, and Portland especially, can follow suit and not throw out the baby with the bathwater when it comes to limiting Payday Loan stores.