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WINNERS
1. Former Gov. Tom McCall got a tribute of
sorts last week. State Sen. John Lim, the quirky Gresham
Republican, proposed erecting state-highway welcoming signs
repeating the famous "visit but don't stay" proclamation
McCall made in 1971.
2. When Mark Hatfield, Vera Katz and other mucky-mucks
asked property taxpayers to cough up $82 million last November
to expand the Oregon Convention Center, anti-tax activists
Lewis Marcus and Ted Piccolo were the first
folks to gag publicly. Last week, five months after voters
rejected the measure, Marcus and Piccolo were vindicated
when hoteliers, restaurateurs and rental-car companies agreed
to raise taxes on their customers to pay for the expansion
of the convention center.
3. Supporters of open birth records got good news
during the limbo of waiting for the lawsuit against Measure
58 to go to trial. Last week Jane Doe No. 3 dropped out
of the case. Six anonymous birth mothers are still suing
the state to keep adoptees' birth certificates sealed, but
more could bail out as the rigors of a trial get closer.
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LOSERS
1. A new state survey on domestic violence had some
grim findings for Oregon's women and kids. An estimated
10 percent of Oregon women were victims of physical assault
during the past year, the report stated; and within abusive
homes 60 percent of kids witnessed violence. Gov. John Kitzhaber,
a former emergency-room doctor, said domestic violence is
an "epidemic" needing immediate attention.
2. Crime victims groups are having a tough
time getting what they see as justice. For the third time
in a year, the state Supreme Court has thrown out major
pieces of tough-on-crime legislation. Last week, it was
a portion of a law that allowed prosecutors, not defendants,
to demand a trial by jury.
3. Bad news for pedestrians, bikers and others
vulnerable to getting run off the road by inattentive drivers.
Last week the Senate Transportation Committee refused to
hear a bill that would have banned the use of cell phones
while driving.
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