Where The Buzz Always Comes Gift-Wrapped.

[November 30th, 2005] * Thanks for nothing! Although the Princeton Athletic Club closed shop last month amid financial turmoil ("Club Dead," WW, Oct. 19, 2005) it turns out the downtown fitness center deducted monthly fees from members' bank accounts up to Thanksgiving Eve. Former club manager Joshua Fallis—whom several employees blamed for wrecking the business—tells Murmurs that patrons needed to cancel their contracts to avoid charges because the members list was sold to Mavericks gym in Northwest Portland. The letter sent by the club to 500-some members in October says, "We have arranged with [Mavericks]...in transferring your membership" but doesn't clearly state they had to cancel their accounts.

* Major changes are coming at year-end for the Sunday-morning gab-fest lineup at KXL radio (750 AM). Getting canned are longtime yakkers Marc Abrams (a former Portland School Board member and current assistant attorney general) and Rob Kremer (a charter-school activist) in the 9-11 am slot. Also on the casualty list: the Oregon Crossfire duo of City Commish Randy Leonard and property-rights activist Larry George from 11 am to 1 pm. All are being shelved in favor of state Rep. Jeff Kropf (R-Sublimity), now on from 1 to 3 pm. Leonard calls his year's worth of experience in the media instructive. "The one thing I did learn," he says, "is that, although I was always making fun of Kropf, he will still be doing a show on Sundays and I won't."

* One of the country's most outspoken supporters of same-sex marriage, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom , will sweep into downtown hipsteria Saucebox the evening of Monday, Dec. 12. The pretty-boy mayor isn't popping into P-town just to quaff one of this swank pan-Asian joint's killer cocktails. Rather, His Honor is being honored with a $60-a-person cocktail party in support of his next mayoral campaign in 2007. The bash will be hosted by Kerry McClenahan , David Kahn , Saucebox owners/life partners Joe Rogers and Bruce Carey , and others. To buy tickets, visit the mayor's campaign website at gavinnewsom.com.

* The b!X is back! Noted local blogger Christopher Frankonis (a.k.a. The One True b!X) killed his heavily reported, wonkish blog Portland Communique back in September, much to the dismay of Portland political junkies and lazy reporters. He has now returned, complete with exclamation point, posting this time at a site called Furious Nads! (www.furiousnads.com). He says the site takes its name from a song by a Portland band called the New Bad Things. Although initial entries are heavy on the kind of me-focused navel-gazing that makes many blogs tortured reading, Murmurs is betting b!X won't stay above the political fray for long.

* Your weekly "Give a little, get a lot" holiday reminder: Everyone who donates to the nonprofits profiled in WW's Give! Guide (wweek.com/giveguide) will receive a discount coupon for American Apparel, a cup of joe at Stumptown, a tin of Powell's After Reading Mints, a booklet of Music Millennium New Year's coupons and, while they last, a copy of WW's Finder magazine. Give $250 or more and Publisher Richard H. Meeker will personally deliver a pound of coffee, a six-pack of beer, and a bottle of fine wine from E&R Wine Shop. Make the biggest gift and get dinner for two with Meeker and WW's editor, Mark Zusman, at your favorite restaurant. All donors have an equal shot at the DeLuxe edition of the Johnny Cash box set (a $300-plus value from Music Millennium) and chef's dinners for two at clarklewis. So Give! Give! Give!