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WINNERS
1. In a bit of post-nuclear-age irony, 90 million
salmon are benefiting from past national security worries.
Last week, the Department of Energy gave U.S. Fish and Wildlife
140 acres of pristine high desert around the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation, including a 50-mile stretch of river. The area,
which salmon travel through to spawn, has remained undeveloped
thanks to its former role as a natural security buffer.
2. Cascade General still hasn't been able to close
its purchase of the Portland Shipyard, but the local ship-repair
company wrestled two huge concessions out of the Port of
Portland last week, giving up nothing in return. Cascade,
which leases the shipyard, convinced the Port to slice its
rent in half, even though the company is projecting a 15
percent increase in revenues. Commissioners also gave Cascade
another year to close its purchase of the yard.
3. A lawsuit filed by North Portland jail foes
cleared its first hurdle last week. The county had requested
that the lawsuit challenging the siting of a new jail near
Smith and Bybee lakes be thrown out as baseless. But Multnomah
County Circuit Judge Michael Marcus allowed the suit to proceed.
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LOSERS
1. In the midst of the snowiest winter in decades,
Morrow Snowboards found itself tossed into involuntary
bankruptcy last week. Creditors got tired of hearing that
the check was in the mail and pulled the plug on the Salem-based
company. Like many pioneering companies, Morrow found itself
short of capital and management expertise when its industry
picked up speed.
2. Solitude-seeking trekkers will have to buy their
own chunk of trees if they want to avoid crowds. Last week
the Forest Service scrapped controversial plans to limit
how many hikers can be on Mount Hood National Forest trails
at once.
3. Summoning the ghost of the Sports Illustrated
cover jinx, Willamette Week appears to have
put some bad juju on last week's cover boy, Brian Grant.
Until we called him a local hero, Grant was carrying the
Blazers to the top of the NBA. Then, the night before the
issue hit the streets, a deep knee bruise put him on the
bench, interrupting the team's winning streak. Grant missed
two of three games in a week, and the Blazers lost to the
hated Sonics and lowly Clips--their worst week of the season.
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