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WINNERS
1. The path continues to clear
for Columbia River salmon heading for the ocean,
thanks to Gov. John Kitzhaber's dramatic call last week
to breach four dams on the lower Snake River.
2. Charter school fans had a good week as four new
applications rolled into the Portland Public Schools. Unlike
the McCoy Academy, whose application
is already in the approval process, the proposed schools
have taken aim squarely at mainstream students.
3. City auditor Gary Blackmer's critical audit of
the city parks bureau actually helped Parks Commissioner
Jim Francesconi last week. Blackmer found that
parks maintenance is underfunded, and in a tight budget
year that should help Francesconi as he fights for his piece
of the pie.
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LOSERS
1. Last week went poorly for brand-new city planning
director Gil Kelley. Neighborhood critics spent a
council hearing savaging his department's proposal to rewrite
the city code governing new buildings. Now it's back to
the drawing board for a process that has already been in
the making for five years.
2. Northwest Portlanders are warily watching
their property values after last week's news that lead pollution
is turning
up in sampling around the posh neighborhood. The culprit
is uncertain, but it's the second time in three years. No
wonder the east side is booming.
3. Kids these days! International sportsmanship
got a whacking last week during the goodwill-building
Russian Winterfest in Portland, when a 12-year-old Seattle
hockey player forgot that hockey is really the courtliest
of sports and clubbed a 13-year-old Russian player in the
back of his neck after the game was over.
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