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WINNERS
1. The Portland Public Schools' police force brought
in the big guns last week when police Capt. Cliff Madison
was appointed its commander. Having a full-fledged city
cop at the helm will give the organization a strong dose
of legitimacy, and Madison's media-savvy, tough-but-fair
style is a perfect fit.
2. Ron Saxton, chairman of both the Portland School
Board and the law firm Ater Wynne, shone in last week's
Business Journal profile. Declaring himself a devotee
of Aretha Franklin, the Marx Brothers and H.L. Mencken,
the normally strait-laced Saxton displayed far more personality
than the usual profile subject; we're not sure, however,
that he'll ever achieve his goal of dunking a basketball.
3. The Portland Police Bureau decided to give up
the dirt on its use of a trap-and-trace device to catch
pot growers phoning a local agricultural-supply store.
With that once-secret information, defense lawyers hope
to challenge the charges against their clients by arguing
that the use of the device was illegal. But the battle is
far from over. The city wants the information kept confidential,
which could hurt the defense's case.
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LOSERS
1. A Portland jury slapped Philip Morris
with an $81 million judgment Tuesday. The damages, the largest
ever against the tobacco industry, were awarded to the family
of Jesse Williams, a former Portland schools janitor who
died of lung cancer in 1977. Philip Morris plans to appeal.
2. Gresham's road-rage law might seem a frivolous
attempt to outlaw stupidity, but Aloha resident Ian Anderson
proved last week that you can never set the bar too low.
Anderson allegedly swerved at another vehicle, cut off the
driver, then made obscene gestures--all under the watchful
eye of a Gresham cop. Anderson strengthened his hold on
loserdom by claiming ignorance of the Gresham law, which
has received only slightly less ink than the New Carissa.
3. House Speaker Lynn Snodgrass displayed
the subtlety of a monster truck last week when she attempted
to flatten her nemesis, former Speaker Lynn Lundquist. Lundquist
had the temerity to call for more money for schools than
Snodgrass had wanted. In throwing Lundquist off the Education
Committee and stripping him of the chairmanship of a key
subcommittee, the iron lady from Boring galvanized the efforts
of school-funding advocates.
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