Timbers chopped, Red Cross props, moon rocks and more.

[September 21st, 2005] WINNERS

Finished? Think again, bro! Portland's City Council 's struggle to control Portland General Electric is far from over. Rebuffed in efforts to buy the power company from bankrupt Enron, the Council-with Randy "Macho Man" Leonard in a leading role-is threatening to set PGE's rates unilaterally. Bam!

Portland's Red Cross bowed when nonprofit brass suggested its transformation of Washington-Monroe High School into a Katrina survivors' center could be a national model. Few evacuees ended up here, but the "one-stop" combo of shelter, therapy, health care, computers and volunteers looked good.

Looks like meth dealers are getting wired . The Oregonian reports 10 eBay auctions from two sellers hawking thousands of pseudoephedrine pills last week. The online sales of ingredients not only throw a curveball to DEA officials but also signal the evolution of meth-heads from scabbed-over skeletons to Web-savvy technophiles.

Bummed by Iraq, hurricanes or any other ill on Planet Earth? Well, NASA has an idea sure to please stargazers and retro-futurists . The space agency plans to relive its greatest hits and return to the moon using Apollo-style tech. Tang for everybody!

LOSERS

The Portland Timbers joined the United Soccer Leagues just five years ago but are already steeped in tradition. For instance, they're a perennial "wait 'til next year" club, just like the Chicago Cubs! Two playoff losses to the hated Seattle Sounders cashed the Timbers' chips for '05.

TriMet riders joined car drivers in collective dismay at rising transportation costs. Prompted by record-high diesel prices, the transit agency announced a likely 15-cent fare rise. Sound familiar? The proposed jump comes on top of a dime increase this month and nickel bump back in April.

Multnomah County faces a wrongful-death lawsuit over the killing of jail inmate Dennis Saban. In June, Saban's cellmate-convicted killer Thomas Gordon-beat him to death. The suit claims jail deputies should have known that bunking Gordon with the regular population would be trouble.