A Raft Of Good News, But A Hotel Faces Heartbreak.

[May 31st, 2006] WINNERS

Crushed in her re-election bid, Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn got a tiny ray of job hope with news that Roey Thorpe left the top spot at Basic Rights Oregon. A position with the gay-rights group may be Linn's best chance for gainful employment when she leaves the county payroll at year's end.

Suspended Portland Police Chief Derrick Foxworth could breathe easy for a bit after Mayor Tom Potter shifted our media-jackal focus to an embarrassing law-enforcement revelation other than the ongoing investigation into the chief. Potter dimed out the FBI for an agent's bungling attempt to develop a City Hall source.

Ratepayers under the newly "independent" PGE so far have gotten word of a requested increase in already steep rates and of a hedge fund quickly absorbing 7.4 percent of the utility. But not everybody's a loser under independence: Getting huge pay hikes are PGE execs such as CEO Peggy Fowler, who receives a 59 percent salary bump that could climb to 100 percent with bonuses.

Fair-weather rafters rejoice. As the unofficial season for whitewater rafting opens, water rats say the high snowpack makes Oregon's rivers better than they've been in 20 years. Of course, the season never ends for hardcore, non-pussified rafters.

LOSERS

Prospects for building a hotel at the Oregon Convention Center look slim now that there's an actual price tag. Sticker shock set in last week when the Portland Development Commission announced taxpayers would have to pony up $79 million to get private developers on board.

Portland's troubled Catholic Archdiocese must get serious about its search of the couch cushions for spare cash. A bankruptcy judge last week sped up the trial calendar for some of the more notorious priest-abuse cases to go to court.

University of Oregon football isn't waiting until the September season kickoff to make the losers' scorecard. Two recruits, one of whom signed with the Ducks, were charged last week with burglary and sexually abusing two women during a visit to the school in January.