Murmurs: We'll Skip The Jokes About Banana Daiquiris.

By WW Editorial Staff
  1. Alcohol and monkeys don’t mix. That’s the warning from a former Oregon National Primate Research Center employee, who says she was fired in June after reporting that her boss was getting a fellow employee drunk on the job. The employee filed a civil-rights complaint Oct. 16 with the state Bureau of Labor and Industries, alleging Oregon Health & Science University discriminated against her as a whistle-blower. OHSU runs the primate center, where scientists perform medical tests on rhesus macaques. The woman says she reported one incident in which her boss “provided alcohol to an employee during work hours and permitted the employee to get intoxicated to the point where it was not safe for the employee to drive home.” After complaining in the fall of 2013 about the boozing, she says, she was harassed and retaliated against before being fired. A BOLI spokesman says the agency is investigating. OHSU declined to comment. 
  1. What does $65,800 buy in the legal-weed market? Right now, a little more than 7 pounds of pot in Washington state. Legal-marijuana prices haven’t yet been set in Oregon, but the same money will pay the annual salary of Portland’s first government weed regulator. The Portland City Council on Nov. 12 approved a recreational-marijuana staff position, reporting to city liquor licensing specialist Theresa Marchetti. The manager will represent City Hall as the state sets rules about where and when pot shops can operate. The city is preparing to fight the measure’s backers in the Legislature to allow Portland to levy a 10-percent sales tax on weed (“Pot of Gold,” WW, Oct. 1, 2014). Meanwhile, the city will pay the new employee with existing funds. “We know there will be a significant role for the city in both ensuring a smooth implementation and reasonable enforcement,” says Josh Alpert, who has led Mayor Charlie Hales’ marijuana policy. “We are hiring a staff person now to help the city get ready for both.”
  1. Jorge Guzman says he’s finally caught a wave in his effort to hold accountable the Portland State University instructor who he claims stole his surfboard business (“Wipeout!” WW, May 21, 2014). Guzman says the instructor, Wilson Zehr, launched his own company, Yana Surf, after forcing his way into a firm Guzman and two partners had started—and then cut them out of the business. Zehr has denied any wrongdoing. Guzman says he’s had trouble coming up with the money lawyers want to take his case and has now turned to Indiegogo to crowdfund $65,000. He and business partner Ruben Barberan will hold a kickoff Nov. 22 at Dig a Pony, 736 SE Grand Ave. Guzman declines to say what legal steps he plans to take. “We have a lot of support,” he says. “We feel confident we can move forward.”

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