Winners

1. Don't stop separating clear glass containers from green and brown bottles yet. Recycling purists were able to slow the City of Portland's plan to mix, or "commingle," all containers as part of a new recycling system. After recycling advocates protested last week--claiming that commingling was bad for the environment--the City Council decided to create a task force to study the issue.

2. Temperamental Police Chief Charles Moose can be a very difficult interview. Oregonian reporter Michelle Parente captured the chief's stoic side last week in a story about Moose's chances of landing the top cop's job in Washington, D.C. "Asked whether he was excited about the prospect [of getting the job] Moose was succinct," Parente deadpanned. "'Yes,' he said, showing no excitement."

3. Metro's image needs repair after the Blazer Ticketgate fiasco. Councilor Susan McLain has the remedy: register all lobbyists and ban all gifts to councilors, staff and their families (except meals and beverages at events sponsored by nonprofits). Her plan will go to the full Metro Council for a vote in several weeks.

Losers

1. Senate Democrats, parents, teachers and particularly school children shared a loss last week, when former state Sen. Shirley Gold died of pancreatic cancer. After serving 15 years in the Legislature, Gold was a trove of wisdom and trivia to her colleagues. A former teacher, Gold will be missed even more by education advocates and the public school students they aim to help.

2.Louisiana-Pacific was blasted last week by the country's largest public pension fund. The California Public Employees Retirement System named the local forest-products giant as one of the nine worst performers it monitors, saying LP has "consistently been destructive of shareholders' interests." The criticism is sure to shake up LP's board of directors.

3. It was a bad week for the Oregon Credit Union League. First, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it's too easy to join credit unions. That ruling prompted 30 federal lawmakers to jump on board a bill to liberalize rules governing credit union membership. The Oregon league, however, was unable to get any of the state's five U.S. reps to support the resolution.