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WINNERS
1. Financial ex-wunderkind
Andy Wiederhorn dodged a bullet when a Multnomah
County Circuit Court judge threw out a lawsuit filed by
the company he founded, Wilshire Financial Services Group,
that accused him of shady dealings. The judge said Wilshire
had signed away its right to sue.
2. A rare ray of sunlight for Portland's junkies:
After soaring to epidemic heights, the number of fatal heroin
overdoses in Multnomah County is tapering off. According
to preliminary figures, 39 Portlanders succumbed to the
needle in the first half of this year, down 39 percent from
1999.
3. Al Gore is breathing a lot easier than
the fish in the Snake River. With the dam-breaching decision
postponed at least five years, he won't have to take a position
during the presidential election, which gives him political
cover and will help keep Ralph Nader at bay.
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LOSERS
1. New figures from the Oregon Progress Board show
that Oregon's African Americans are increasingly
likely to be hassled by the man. In 1998, African Americans
accounted for 12 percent of all arrests in Oregon, up from
6 percent in 1990. During the same time, the state's African-American
population remained relatively stable at 2 percent.
2. A double whammy this week. Willamette Industries
was spanked with the biggest fine ever levied against a
smokestack company: $11.2 million in outright fines and
millions more in pollution-control measures for spewing
crap into the air in four states. Thank God for the EPA:
Despite years of complaints about Willamette's air pollution,
the state Department of Environmental Quality played
see-no-evil.
3. The Oregon Coast Aquarium's website has again
proven to be a wet dream for hackers, who posted a bogus
message that a terrorist organization had assassinated Keiko
the whale as part of a scheme to gain $2 million. Gullible
Keiko fans squeaked in dismay; Icelandic dog-food
factories cackled with delight. The FBI is investigating.
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