A mixed week for petty criminals.

[October 3rd, 2007]

WINNERS

1. Junkies and johns scored at City Hall with the death of Portland’s drug- and prostitution-free zones. Mayor Tom Potter said the law unfairly affected minorities. We suspect it was effective lobbying by dealers and hookers.

2. City Council tightened the rules on pawn shops and secondhand dealers, some of which were selling new stuff nicked from big retailers. Home-based fences and shady eBay dealers will be happy to pick up the extra business.

3. Hannah Sharene Penn was supposed to play sidekick to much-hyped mezzo-soprano hottie Jossie Pérez (‘She’s a Maneater,” WW, Sept. 19, 2007) in the Portland Opera production of Carmen. But Pérez got sick and Penn saved the show. The queen is dead, long live the queen!

4. Former Portland Public Schools superintendent Vicki Phillips showed her grip on the school district remains quite firm months after she left for the Gates Foundation. On Monday the district announced its new supe, Phillips’ former chief of staff Carole Smith, who insiders say was also Phillips’ pick.

LOSERS

1. This week’s civil war between Oregon and Oregon State football fans is over who’s more depressed. UO fans are moaning over a four-turnover collapse to Cal that killed the Ducks’ national contention. Beavers fans also saw a fourth-quarter freefall when UCLA outscored OSU 28-0. Hey, Portland State won.

2. What price freedom? Sure, Bucky now appears cleared to return to the wild after the state seized the pet deer and his pal, Snowball, from a Molalla family. But if a DNA test shows Snowball is Bucky’s mom, then it may be vasectomy time for the Buckster so he doesn’t pass on genes with Snowball’s deformities.

3. The Metro Council has all but snuffed a proposed 600-room convention-center hotel. Instead of voting to develop a design and firm cost estimate, the council voted not to spend a dime until other government agencies chip in—or a white elephant swims the Willamette.