Taking stock of the week's most active local issues

+12%

Parking Scofflaws Inc. (NOTIKIT)
Able-bodied motorists, long lusting after those unused parking spots reserved for handicapped drivers, were emboldened last week when the Oregon State Police suspended its program of sending volunteers out to nab offenders. Caveat parker, however: In downtown Portland, the city still has a hardcore squadron of parking-enforcement deputies.

Hi-Tech Corp. (CHIPZ)
Hi-tech Corp. appears headed toward a nice Yuletide gift, courtesy of U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, one of the top recipients of hi-tech political cashola (not that there's anything wrong with that!). Santa Smith is pushing a federal tax write-off for the industry that he claims will boost the economy. Scroogelike critics reckon the plan will cost the Oregon treasury $154 million a year.

Gamblers Unlimited (LOTTOLUV)

The gambling sector rallied on rumors that Oregon lawmakers, faced with a hole in the state's britches, may consider adding one-armed bandits to the Oregon Lottery's line-up when they gather in Salem next month. Such a move would face opposition from John Kitzhaber & Co., which in recent years has warned that LOTTOLUV was overvalued and a risky long-term investment.

Larry Hurwitz, Inc. (KILLR)
If there's anyone out there still holding shares in convicted murderer Larry Hurwitz, the Ticker Desk has a message for you: SURRENDER! Hurwitz, who last year pleaded no contest to murdering Tim Moreau at Old Town's Starry Night club in 1990, this week settled a civil wrongful death case by admitting he was guilty--that's guilty, guilty, guilty--of the slaying he denied for more than a decade.

The Boss (FATCAT)
Untrammeled capitalists and assorted union-haters lit big cigars on news that the three-week strike at the Northwest Regional Educational Lab had collapsed--a stinging defeat for the union, which wanted the K-12 research facility to run an "agency shop," where all eligible employees pay union dues. Management held fast--and won.