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WINNERS
1. The hysterical debate over Inferno
2000 took an unexpected turn last week when Sen. Ron
Wyden introduced a novel element in public discourse--facts.
A report Wyden requested from the Congressional Research
Service found no correlation between the number of trees
cut and the number of forest fires on public lands.
2. Rail travelers were spared the horrors
of the highways when the Federal Railroad Administration
granted a temporary reprieve to Amtrak's high-speed Talgo
trains. The Spanish-engineered Talgos, which ply the popular
Cascades route from Eugene to Vancouver, B.C., enjoy a faultless
safety record, but a competing manufacturer complained that
they do not meet new federal safety standards.
3. Call it symbolic or call it a small first step--either
way, Multnomah County's newly opened domestic partner registry
is an option that local gays and lesbians did not
previously enjoy.
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LOSERS
1. Hillsboro city officials have gotten huevos
on their faces for their pig-headed insistence that taco
trucks in their 20 percent Latino city "move along" every
two hours. Worse, Hillsboro officials admitted last week
they couldn't locate the relevant ordinance and don't apply
the same rule to espresso carts and farmers markets.
2. Oregon's fish and those who eat them have
a sinking feeling...last week, Oregon State University and
the Oregon Progress Board disclosed that water pollution
is getting worse, not better, in a large portion of our
rivers.
3. Last weekend's Oregon State Fair proved a disappointment
for Def Leppard fans. Hoping for a triple-digit-decibel
head-bangers' ball, the Leppard-lovers instead heard lamentably
low-volume lullabies, thanks to uptight noise regulations
at Salem's L.B. (Freakin') Day Amphitheatre.
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