Scoop: Swing Low Alabama.

1. BUDGET WEED: Washington state’s largest recreational weed seller, Vancouver’s New Vansterdam, is aiming to match street prices with a new 10-for-$10 program. “We understand the original intention behind Initiative 502 was to create a regulated and sustainable industry, while also pushing out a criminal market,” says Shon-Lueiss Harris, an assistant manager at the shop. “High prices have proved a hindrance to this goal.” The going street price in Vancouver is $10 a gram, so, on Friday, Feb. 13, New Amsterdam plans to roll out 10 different dime bags of its own. Among the first $10-per-gram strains will be the wildly popular-in-Portland Cinex (18.9 percent THC) and the Dutch classic White Widow (20.1 percent THC) from K&M, an outdoor grower in Okanogan County. Also available: Omega from Emerald Twist, an indoor-grown strain that established itself as a new favorite in the WW office after impressing weed-hating writer Roberto Jamón.

1. FRENCH FOXES: The old St. Jack location at 2039 SE Clinton St. is going French again. But according to co-owner Edwin Thanhouser, Renard (that’s francais for “fox”) will be a lot less formal than its predecessor, with Parisian-style bistro sandwiches, weekly trivia nights, a plate of steak frites under $10 and bottomless pommes for around $5. Chef and co-owner Dulce Frommer (Accanto, Cocotte) plans casually adventurous dishes such as crispy pig’s ear and a French omelet made with truffled mashed potatoes. The most novel plan is a brunch modeled after a meal Thanhouser encountered in Paris. “Le Brunch” is a prix-fixe breakfast where the food arrives shortly after you do, with no ordering—you simply mark a card “gluten-free” or “no-meat,” and the food keeps rolling. Renard hopes to open by April.

1. FUTURE DRINKING: There’s another beer-centric restaurant opening within swigging distance of the Oregon Convention Center. Altabira City Tavern will open in May at the soon-to-open Hotel Eastlund at 1021 NE Grand Ave., joining the 99 Oregon taps at Kurt Huffman’s Loyal Legion and ex-Wildwood chef Paul Kasten’s planned beer-pairing restaurant, amid a rapid-fire spate of big openings on the eastside. >> Stag PDX is hoping to beat the curse of 317 NW Broadway when it becomes the fourth bar to open in that space in a year. Tiger Bar closed in January 2014, followed by the rapid opening and shuttering of the Royale and Whiskey Dolls Game Room. Stag will be a strip club. (Despite their heel-appropriate names, neither Tiger Bar nor Whiskey Dolls had strippers. The Royale had only burlesque.)

1. CHEAP SKATES: Last year, the iconic CCS skate catalog was shuttered by Foot Locker, which had paid $100 million for it. The owner of the Portland-based Daddies chain bought the brand and is planning to relaunch it as a mail-order catalog in the next year. Not everyone is happy about this, including the owners of local skate shops. For more, check Lucas Chemotti’s video story here.

WWeek 2015