News When U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) visited WW last August for an interview, the freshman's lawmaker said one of his biggest frustrations so far was with how easy it's become for a filibuster to gum up the Senate. The Oregon Democrat told us then, "I don't think our nation is well served by that or that it produces better legislation. There are a group of us in the freshman class working on ...   More

News There is no logical reason that Oregon State should beat Oregon tomorrow in Corvallis and derail the Ducks' hope of playing in the national championship Jan. 10. Oregon has an 11-0 record. Oregon State has been up and down en route to its 5-6 record, including last Saturday's 38-0 drubbing at Stanford. But as any sports fan will tell you, logic doesn't always necessary show up at the game. ...   More

News Mayor Sam Adams notified his tweeps this morning the Portland Development Commission Executive Director Bruce Warner will retire, effective April 2011. Here's that tweet: Warner, Ex Dir of @PdxDevelopment Commission, announces retirement; he will stay on until 4/1/11 http://bit.ly/gOF5OW Warner took over leadership of the city's urban renewal agency in June 2005, having previously led the ...   More

News There's a benefit next week in Northeast Portland to raise money for a man police believe was assaulted likely because he is gay. The Dec. 18 fund-raiser beginning at 9 pm at the Tonic Lounge (3100 NE Sandy Blvd.) is being organized by Ian Mandis. His friend works with the man whose attacker left him with serious head and abdominal injuries. Bands playing at the event include The People's ...   More

News The Oregon Republican Party has asked for a partial recount in Multnomah County for the governor's race. The request came in 15 minutes before the final deadline on Tuesday, according to Secretary of State Kate Brown's spokeswoman, Andrea Cantu-Schomus. Multnomah County spokesman David Austin says the GOP requested a recount for three precincts in Nob Hill, the Lloyd Center district and Laurelhurst. A ...   More

News We've written a bit about efforts by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to reform the filibuster so the Senate doesn't get bogged down so easily. The Oregon Democrat today launched an online petition effort at BlueOregon to drum up support for a reform he and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) are proposing for the filibuster. Merkley notes that one of their proposals is a requirement that senators who are ...   More

News Here's something to take your mind off the political infighting in Washington DC for a second. Something actually was achieved today in the nation's capital. President Obama signed into law the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010 sponsored by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), along with Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Richard Burr (R-NC). Merkley joined the president in the Oval Office for the ...   More

News Below is one of the TV interviews Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has given after leading this week's House Democratic revolt against President Obama's tax deal with Republicans. In this interview with The Big Picture, DeFazio tells an empathetic Thom Hartmann (starting at about the 2:40 mark) that the backlash against Obama's deal is "unprecedented" during his 24 years in the House, and that he ...   More

News Attorney General John Kroger today announced a settlement with the Dannon yogurt company, which has apparently been making unsupportable health claims, some of them through these TV ads by actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Here's one of the ads: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j9nRJgX5iQ[/youtube] And here's the statement by Kroger's spokesman, Tony Green: Attorney General John Kroger ...   More

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