News In response to the University of Oregon's August proposal, Mayor Sam Adams and the university have officially dissolved their compromise agreement on the Made in Oregon sign. That decision yesterday means the parking lot under the west end of the Burnside Bridge next to the university's Portland campus is no longer part of the deal, Adams says. (Back in April, Commissioner Randy Leonard had ...   More

News It's not clear yet who is to blame. But one thing is certain: The "Made in Oregon" sign is no longer glowing above the Willamette River. Ramsay Signs, the neon billboard's owner, has turned it off. And that's not the worst of it, if you happen to be among the sign's fans. "It looks like it may have to be removed," says Darryl Paulsen, president of Ramsay Signs. When last we left the sign ...   More

News Two weeks ago, WW first reported the "Made in Oregon" sign had been turned off owing to a dispute among city officials, the University of Oregon, the owner of the White Stag building and the owner of the sign. Then The Oregonian reported an additional twist. Commissioner Randy Leonard, in a second attempt to bring the sign under the city's control, would support what the O called a "public option" ...   More

News Two weeks ago, former Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti was WW's Rogue of the Week for high-tailing it for ESPN after less than a year on the job and with a $2.3 million golden parachute. (That's Bellotti on the left in the photo above from 2007 with quarterback Dennis Dixon when Bellotti was still the football coach.) Below is what university president Richard Lariviere had to say today ...   More

News Nike's activities in Honduras were condemned as “monstrous” this week by two factory workers from that Central American country who alleged abuses by the sportswear company. Speaking Tuesday night at Portland State University, the two Honduran workers told an audience of about 100 people that Nike's subcontractors violated Honduran law by withholding severance payments totaling $2.2 ...   More

News The University of Oregon's handling of its $2.3 million farewell payment to former football coach-turned athletic director Mike Bellotti violated no criminal laws, but it does show "deficient legal representation," according to Attorney General John Kroger. Kroger said today that "The most significant legal error disclosed in this review (and in the parallel internal audit conducted by the Oregon ...   More

News The seemingly endless series that is "College Football Goes to Court" moved this week from Eugene to Corvallis, according to this piece in the (Corvallis) Gazette Times that reports Oregon State defensive lineman Brennan Olander along with former Beavers quarterback Lyle Moevao and former Beavers linebacker Keaton Kristick were arraigned on felony charges of stealing a golf cart. All three have ...   More

News Oregon Solicitor General Jerry Lidz, who was Attorney General John Kroger's top appellate lawyer, resigned last week. Lidz's resignation comes on the heels of departures by two other top Kroger lieutenants, environmental lawyer Brent Foster and elections law specialist Margaret Olney. Lidz, whose job is the state equivalent of what Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan does at the federal level, ...   More

News Dear Oregon universities, We are pleased to inform you that you have been placed on the Honor Roll of the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index. The index owned by Campus Pride and supported by the Campus Pride Q Research Institute for Higher Education ranks schools in terms of their level of inclusion and respect towards the LGBT community. And it turns out that five of the six listed Oregon ...   More

News University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere is no shrinking violet as illustrated by this story in today's edition. He's thumbed his nose at cost-saving measures that were ordered for university employees. And he is determined to gain far greater autonomy from both the seven-campus Oregon University System and from lawmakers, who provide less than 10 percent of UO's budget. On Sept. ...   More