Murmurs

Still searching for scuttlebutt of mass destruction.

* Hot on the heels of landing teen hoops dream LeBron James with an eye-popping $90-million endorsement deal, Beaverton-based sneaker titan Nike invested a cool $1 million in the embryonic career of 13-year-old soccer prodigy Freddy Adu. The Ghana-born youth star from Maryland may turn out to be the bargain of the decade if he fulfills The Hype: Some think he could make the U.S.A.'s World Cup team long before getting a driver's license.

* Local musicians have exactly one week to set down their beer steins (carefully! That stuff doesn't fall from the sky) and apply for the third annual Musicfest Northwest. The WW-sponsored charity festival, set for Sept. 4-6, benefits Portland Public Schools music programs. Bands from every genre in Creation are encouraged to apply--check out www.musicfestnw.com.

* Portland coffee importer Sustainable Harvest gets a plug this Thursday when PBS' Frontline takes a look at efforts to help Mexican growers get higher prices needed to sustain coffee farms which treat the environment, and laborers, better than traditional plantations do (9 pm, OPB Channel 10).

* It's far from clear what life will be like in newly "liberated" Iraq, but Portlanders can get a glimpse of pre-war Baghdad, thanks to local photojournalist Joel Preston Smith. He'll wrap up the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center's lecture series on June 11 with observations about his two-month stay in Iraq documenting the daily lives of people living under the threat of war (See "Eyes on Baghdad," WW, March 19, 2003). Tickets are $10, $5 for students and seniors. Call 823-4322 for more info.

* After weeks of speculation (and denial by owner Sam MacBale), downtown's La Bella Napoli restaurant has become a pizza joint. MacBale, who's also the proud owner of Silver Dollar Pizza on Northwest 21st Avenue, is turning La Bella into The Silver Dollar II Pizza Sports Bar. MacBale has also purchased Sammy's Restaurant & Bar on Northwest 23rd Avenue, which a Bella Napoli employee described as "another whole concept" in fine dining.

* Our public schools are slashing arts programs, but thanks to the nonprofit Metro Murals, kids can pick up a paintbrush and spruce up a neighborhood at the same time. The group worked with students from Open Meadows High School to restore Tom Cramer's 14-year-old mural, Machinery, on the Scientific Research Building at the corner of North Williams Avenue and Shaver Street. For more info, check out www.metromurals.org.

WWeek 2015

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