Winners

1. It's not exactly the California grape boycott, but it's a start. Piñeros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United) signed the first union contract in Oregon history between farmworkers and growers. Twenty workers at Nature's Fountain Farm, an organic blueberry and strawberry farm in Woodburn, will now be represented by PCUN, getting guaranteed breaks, overtime past 40 hours, holidays and seniority.

 2.U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio is just as fed up as you are about skyrocketing cable rates, and he got an honorable mention for it in last week's Business Week magazine. While most lawmakers are fussing over bills that would re-regulate the industry or help cable's competitors get into the fray, DeFazio has proposed something a bit more direct: freezing rates.

3. Chalk one up for Measure 11 foes, who staged an energetic rally in front of the Justice Center jail last Wednesday. At the event, the group began gathering signatures to repeal the tough-on-crime initiative. Though there were plenty of mothers of young Measure 11 inmates in the crowd, defense lawyers were noticeably absent. "We'd like to see a little more support," says Cathi Lawlor, chief petitioner for the repeal drive, "but I think it will come."

Losers

1. Viewers weren't the only ones taken in by KPTV's April Fool's prank. The station reported the sighting of alien crop circles at Portland Meadows, which, from the KPTV helicopter, looked an awful lot like the KPTV logo. Rival KOIN-TV took the bait when an anonymous caller told the station about vandalism at the race track. KOIN, which had its 'copter in the air checking out the April 1 Hawthorne Bridge traffic, dispatched the camera crew to Portland Meadows. "KPTV was having some fun, and we bit," says KOIN assignment editor Bruce Williams. "But we don't get mad, we get even."

2. It might make economic sense, but the Blazers' idea of ensuring Rose Garden sell-outs by ripping out seats is a PR loser. While they're at it, why not start the games an hour late so Isaiah Rider can be on time?

3.Willamette River lovers had hoped the City Council's rejection of the proposed Avalon Hotel would make the building more accommodating to pedestrians and river-gazers. No chance. Last week developer Paul Brenneke presented an even bigger hotel design, thumbing his nose at the city's recommendations.