Gossip Should Have No Friends

[April 4th, 2007] Put the champagne away at Portland State University. Last Wednesday, U.S. News & World Report told PSU that its electrical-engineering program had made the Top 10 list in its "America's Best Graduate Schools 2008" guide. But PSU's spring fling with the premier arbiter of university rankings crashed and burned Monday when the mag told school officials the ranking was a colossal mistake. U.S. News' website no longer lists PSU's program. But guide books now on newsstands still contain the incorrect information. As for how PSU was mistakenly elevated from the rankings' bottom half to the No. 9 slot, U.S. News says there was a data error from the survey company.

Thanks to Portland Public Schools board member Doug Morgan's travel plans , the race for his seat has hit a lull. Just weeks before ballots go out for the May 15 election, Morgan headed recently to China and Vietnam for a two-week trip on behalf of PSU's Hatfield School of Government. His challenger Ruth Adkins says Morgan's absence is causing the postponement of various events until he returns on April 9. "I'm here and I'm doing my best to talk to voters," Adkins says. "I feel like we both need to be here." Morgan's campaign manager Pat Mobley says, "I pressed Doug to try to get out of it," but adds, "He had just too many important relationships with decision-makers in those countries to not go."

A bill in the Oregon House would let 9-1-1 operators in Oregon retire and begin collecting their pensions as soon as they reach 25 years of service, which theoretically could apply to retirees in their mid-40s. Backers of that bill, HB 2401, say it's needed because of the job stress. But a larger impact could come if 1,100 Portland police and firefighters , who can't retire until age 50, demand the same right. The city's top finance man, Ken Rust, says as long as retirement benefits are reduced proportionally, the only cost to the city would be slightly higher insurance premiums. But the PR cost of 45-year-old pensioners? Rust says that's not his department. A House vote is expected next week.

With heavy legislative arm-twisting over a renewable energy bill headed for a Senate vote next week, most interest groups are taking predictable positions. Power consumers such as the Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities fear rate hikes from Senate Bill 838, which would require Oregon to generate 25 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2025. (See "The Green Machine,'' WW, March 28, 2007.) Enviros, the gov's office and the green-friendly Citizens' Utility Board say such concerns are just hot air. But some Salem watchers are wonder how to read the stance of one powerhouse—PacifiCorp, which is enthusiastic about a bill placing hefty mandates on utilities. It fought a similar but less onerous ballot measure in Washington last year. "We learned a lesson," says PacifiCorp spokesman Scott Bolton. "The ballot measure we got in Washington was worse than the bills in three previous legislative sessions and we think the bill we have here [SB 838] is better than we'd get on the ballot."

Will there be a battle of the "armies" when the Portland Timbers open their soccer season April 21? Of course there's the original "Timbers Army" ("Hometown Hooligans," WW, July 6, 2005), which sits in Section 107 and serenades PGE Park with chants such as "You suck, asshole!" In recent seasons, the Army has generated some concern from Timbers management over fan-friendliness. So now it's endorsing something called the Portland Timbers Official Supporters Club (http://home.comcast.net/~kurtds2/PTFC.html) by holding joint events with the club. The new "club," which will sit in Section 122, says it's more interested in "positive support.". One more thing: The Timbers are planning to have more cops and security officials at games. Who says soccer is boring?

CORRECTION: WW erred last week in reporting the amount of a four-month contract in the story, "Going Postal." The correct amount is $4,092. WW regrets the error.

WEB-ONLY MURMUR:

Yes, a long-awaited bill that would require employers to make accommodations for breastfeeding mothers ("Expressing Themselves," WW, March 28, 2007)—HB 2372—passed the Oregon House last week. But House Majority Leader Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone) says it almost didn't make it to the House floor, thanks to a small group of stubborn Republicans. Hunt says House Minority Leader Wayne Scott (R-Canby) "locked up and delayed the vote" for four hours with procedural motions and two caucus meetings. Scott didn't return phone calls seeking comment about Hunt's charge and the bill, which passed the House 49-7 and now heads to the Senate.