News When the 112th Congress began this week, we did a quickie non-wonk guide of three tidbits to know about lawmakers from Oregon and Washington that you could use if pressed at a party that wasn't focused on the "important" stuff. Here's a fourth: This Congress is less than one week old and already the National Republican Congressional Committee has U.S. Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.) in its political ...   More

News Vancouver, Wash., at least according to The Advocate. The Advocate's 2011 annual gay and lesbian census lists the top 16 gayest U.S. cities and ranks Vancouver as number 6. So, why Vancouver and not Portland, which has an openly gay mayor? The LGBT mag's Mike Albo writes that it's because gay and lesbian Portlanders are moving across the river to settle down in Vancouver. The city of 165,000 ...   More

News  The census numbers out this morning showOregon didn’t gain enough population in the last decade to add a sixth House seat, but thatWashington has grown enough to add a 10th seat to its House delegation.The change also means one more electoral vote for Washington in the presidential election because each state’s share in the Electoral College is based on ...   More

News The reward for any information leading to the capture of the “River Rat,” who has been robbing banks on both sides of the Columbia River, has been raised from $10,000 to $15,000. The FBI says witnesses to the River Rat's robberies describe the suspect as a white man in his 20s to mid 30s, 165 pounds, and with a medium build. He has been seen wearing a black athletic-style jacket ...   More

News Last night's election results in Maine and Washington left Basic Rights Oregon executive director Jeana Frazzini stressing this morning that she's a "half-glass-full" kind of person. "If I weren't, I couldn't do social justice work," Frazzini said. The quickie "half-glass-full" summary of yesterday's election when it comes to gay rights is that Maine voters overturned gay marriage in their ...   More

News With one week to go until Washington voters decide whether to retain their state's domestic partnership rights for same-sex couples, we were curious which Oregonians and Oregon companies are donating their cash to the campaign across the river. Washington Families Standing Together, the group urging a yes vote Nov. 3 on Referendum 71 to retain domestic partnership, has collected more than $1.3 ...   More

News Basic Rights Oregon is reaching across the Columbia River to help its counterparts in Washington. On Nov. 3, Washington voters will decide whether to retain domestic partnership when they consider Referendum 71. And BRO wants people to come to its downtown Portland office next week for some phone-banking of Washington voters on that question. Oregon's domestic partnership law took effect last ...   More

News As an incredibly superstitious Oregon football fan, I'm very sensitive this week to anything that could tip the cosmic karma in the Ducks' rivalry game Saturday against the University of Washington. So imagine my "shock" to learn that Portland's Morrison Bridge is apparently lit this week in UW's purple and gold for something called "Husky Heritage Week." Could this be the final revenge of ...   More

News The big official news recently about the proposed Columbia River Crossing bridge between Portland and Vancouver is the shaving of the price-tag from $4.2 billion to $3.6 billion. Today, the Project Sponsors Council (which includes local electeds, transit officials and Department of Transportation officials from Washington and Oregon) punted on whether to vote to approve the down-sized option. ...   More