News Good news for worried toy retailers and manufacturers in Portland and elsewhere. Last week, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission voted to delay the testing mandate for lead and other hazardous materials in children's products for another year. Many local retailers had begun a coalition to draw awareness to their concerns, which included fears that the requirements would prove too ...   More

News Two of the three people who founded Oregon's top left-leaning political blog, Blue Oregon, are going to bat for Mayor Sam Adams. Last week, Kari Chisholm, who designs websites for Adams and many of the state's Democratic elected officials, posted a couple of times in Adams' favor. Last week, for example, he wrote, The media had no business asking him a question about sex between two legal ...   More

News Retailer-in-chief Barack Obama has a "New Deal" on inaugural gear. Here's the email that landed in our box this morning: Dear Friend, Last Tuesday, we came together for the most open and accessible inauguration in our nation's history. To commemorate this historic event, we're releasing a special line of collectibles from Inauguration Day. And if you spend more than $25, you'll receive ...   More

News Mayor Sam Adams has probably sat through more routine City Council sessions in the past 15 years than about any other Portlander. As chief of staff to Mayor Vera Katz for more than 10 years; a city commissioner for four years, and now mayor, Adams is perhaps the city's leading expert on the arcane procedures that govern council meetings. One that worked in his favor today is the requirement ...   More

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News Multnomah County Commissioners voted today 5-0 in favor of a food labeling law that will require some restaurants and coffee shops operating in the county to display calorie counts on menus or sign boards beside each regular menu item, including beverages. The new law applies to those restaurants and coffee shops with 15 or more stores nationwide such as Starbucks, Pizza Schmizza, McMenamins, ...   More

News We confess. The national media has beaten us to a big story. Turns out we "missed" this Boston Tea Party response to a proposed beer tax increase in Oregon. Fortunately, the Weekly World News is there to pick up the pieces, writing of Oregonians, "Despite their peaceful, laid-back reputation, some residents have pre-emptively shown their anger by sneaking onto boats in the harbor and throwing ...   More

News There may be no combat pay for one Crip-affiliated local after all. The defense attorney for Levell Peters, a convicted felon whom the Oregon National Guard was seeking to deploy to Iraq, canceled a hearing this morning in Multnomah County Circuit Court. A military lawyer had asked Judge Marshall Amiton to change the terms of Peters' probation so he could carry a gun and deploy to Iraq with ...   More

News As President Obama wades into the hot-button issue for teachers unions of merit pay for teachers, it's worth re-reading this cover story Beth Slovic wrote last fall. That's when Oregon initiavista Bill Sizemore had Measure 60 on the ballot. The measure, rejected by Oregon voters, would have abolished the practice of basing teachers' salaries and pay raises on their years of service; instead, ...   More

News The Oregonian is trying to save money like the rest of us media schlubs. But amid rumors from the daily's newsroom that there's a big cost-cutting move ahead on top of what's already been done, the paper has now eliminated at least one couch cushion it won't look under for loose change: its comics. The O told readers recently it needed to cut up to 10 of its 33 comics to save money. And Executive ...   More