We’re here 52 weeks a year.

[January 2nd, 2008]

Gov. Ted Kulongoski will fill a key vacancy later this month—chairman of the State Board of Forestry . Two names have surfaced so far, according to Ray Wilkeson of the powerful Oregon Forest Industries Council. One is John Blackwell, retired president of the World Forestry Center and chairman of the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Commission. The other: Kulongoski’s former transition director, Tom Imeson, now the Port of Portland’s head of external affairs. A longtime aide to former U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield and business partner of ex-Gov. Neil Goldschmidt, Imeson is a skilled political insider eager to escape the taint of Goldschmidt. Imeson says he has “more than enough to do at the Port.” Kulongoski spokeswoman Patty Wentz says there’s no decision yet.

Portland Public Schools’ chief bean counter, Cathy Mincberg , got a dubious honor last Friday, Dec. 28. Jobs with Justice, a coalition of labor and religious groups, awarded Mincberg the “Grinch of the Year” prize for 2007 in a surprise ceremony at school district headquarters. Mincberg got the “award” for her work overseeing contentious contract negotiations with the district’s custodians and food-service workers. Mincberg, the district’s chief operating officer, wasn’t in the building for the “ceremony” and didn’t return an email seeking comment. “We hope Cathy and the PPS Board’s hearts grow three sizes in the new year,” Jobs with Justice director Margaret Butler said.

The Sundance Film Festival is in mid-January. Cannes is in May. Screening at neither—but opening in Portland sometime soon—is City Hall’s most eagerly awaited film release. It’s the official visionPDX documentary , produced by Portland Community Media. “After wading through over 100 hours of footage”—culled from “countless meetings” and interviews with volunteers, Planning Bureau staff and Mayor Tom Potter—the documentary promises “the real story on the visionPDX process.” Previous spots chronicling the $1.3 million-and-counting project can be viewed at visionPDX.com.

Bruce McLaughlin reports passersby serenading his neatly arranged homemade Bush-bashing Christmas lights display with approving honks and kind notes dropped off as they drive by his Beaverton house. Subjected in years past to threats and vandalism for his political views, the lawyer seems to have become a local icon, given the unpopular war and its unpopular conductor. And so, for the fifth straight year, admonishing words from Beaverton’s holiday hooligan: “Render W to the Hague.”

Civic pride alert: On behalf of the 49 nonprofits featured in our annual holiday Give!Guide , a huge thanks to all our readers who made the new year for those worthy organizations a very happy one. To see the grand total, go to giveguide.oaktree.com. But at press time Monday, just hours before the donation deadline, the total was $472,233—shattering the $228,000 raised last year.