Some might suggest that Nike has become a more politically sensitive company. Others, like this sports columnist, believe the company has been “strong-armed by an environmentalist organization.”
Whatever the case, today Nike replaced an ad that it had created to promote the new uniforms for the West Virginia University football team with another, less controversial one.
What was wrong with the first ad? It showed the new uniform, and in the backdrop was a flat treeless mountaintop, an image that some said appeared to be a tacit endorsement of strip mining.
So Nike pulled the ad and replaced it with this:
In West Virginia coal mining is next to God, and the recent deaths of 29 men at the Upper Big Branch mine strengthened the resolve of a state that, in the words of the sports columnist “can only hope that those who don’t understand the hard work, the memories, the blood, the sweat, and the tears they have demonized this past week, will not look to capitalize on another opportunity to garner media attention in the hopes of furthering their own agenda.”
The new Nike helmet for the West Virginia Mountaineers team has the number 29 at the back to honor the men who died in the mine.
Recently booted Oregonian food critic Roger Porter hasn’t wasted any time finding himself a seat at a new dinner table. Food Dude, the shadowy diner behind longtime local food website Portland Food and Drink told us that Porter will start writing for the site this month. “He’ll be writing reviews at first, and whatever strikes his fancy as time goes on,” the Dude explained. He also mentioned that he’ll be covering the critic’s food costs through PFD advertising revenue.
After years of writing for newspapers, including WW, Porter—long known for his meandering food-cum-travelogues and ecstatic (bordering on florid) meal descriptions—may have found a true love match with the Internet foodie hub. After all, as far as we know, PFD doesn’t impose any limitations on story length and doesn’t have any plans to start reviewing suburban chains.
Last year, WW took a look at how City Hall was spending Portland taxpayers’ money by poring over expense-account reports from Mayor Sam Adams and city commissioners.
In what became a semi-regular tradition, WW took another look at City Hall’s expense reports in March and found Adams’ expense account had an $18.90 charge at Spartacus Leathers. The charge was for a Halloween-style mask for a masquerade ball. But Adams didn’t attend the ball, and the staffer who authorized the charge was later made to repay the money. (Yes, we know $18.90 is not much money, but someone’s got to keep an eye on this stuff!)
In this month’s installment [PDF], we find no such sex-shop charges. But the mayor’s office did spend $3,415.61 on pizza between March and August this year.
Check out the expense reports at the link above and tell us in the comments section what charges you have questions about.
In the race to be Oregon’s next governor, Republican Chris Dudley has out-fundraised his Democratic opponent John Kitzhaber by about a two-to-one margin this year. Dudley is capitalizing on his celebrity as a former Portland Trail Blazer and the anger that many business owners and wealthy Oregonians have expressed in recent elections, as shown by their support for issues ranging from non-partisan primaries to their opposition to two income tax hikes that passed in January.
But while those deep-pocketed donors are flooding Dudley’s campaign with contributions, state filings show they are doing a whole lot less for legislative Republicans who are in the minority in the Senate by an 18 to 12 margin and in the House by a 36 to 24 margin.
In the Senate, the latest filings with the Secretary of State’s elections division show that Democrats have out-raised Republican in 2010, $595,000 to $260,000 and Democrats currently have $669,000 on hand (a total that includes money left over from 2009) while Senate R’s currently have no money on hand. In the House, Democrats have out-raised Republicans $704,000 to $410,000 and have $607,000 on hand, compared to Republicans’ $16,000. The party caucuses use their funds to support candidates in targeted races and caucus support is crucial for rookie candidates who have not yet established fundraising relationships with constituents or interest groups.
The current numbers do not tell the whole story, of course. Some donors prefer to contribute directly to candidates rather than to party caucuses. And Republicans’ negligible cash-on-hand may mean that caucus leaders are just pushing their funds out to candidates as quickly as possible. But the overall gap in money raised reflects the difficulty of convincing contributors that Republicans can win back the legislative majorities they held for most of the 1990s.
8:37 PM September 2nd, 2010 by Beth Slovic News | 1 Comment »
The much-loved Hung Far Low sign returned to Old Town/Chinatown tonight in a festive ceremony that included hundreds of onlookers. Kurt Huffman, one of the owners of the restaurant Ping in the Hung Far Low building, formally unveiled the restored sign from the basket of a crane parked next to his restaurant.
The iconic sign came down in 2008. But a campaign to “re-erect” it kicked off in 2009. Returning the sign to the building cost almost $80,000 of which the Portland Development Commission contributed $45,000.
The Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) is ready to soak up the sun. The center has just installed rooftop solar panels and says the new system of 428 panels is the second largest in Multnomah County. They anticipate it will create 15 percent annual energy savings.
Located on Northeast Columbia Boulevard, NAYA features a series of after-school and advocacy programs as well as employment services, violence prevention, and foster-care support programs. It says the panel system will move the center closer to a LEED certification and strengthen its student science and environmental programs. The initial project cost was $850,000. But they were able to get that down to $160,000 through negotiations with their two companies, EC and Solar World, plus a series of state tax credits. They funded the remainder of the expenses with a grant from the Northwest Area Partner.
“We’re super excited,” says Nichole Maher, executive director for NAYA. She says the step in energy efficiency is a bright spot for the Native American community, which has the highest poverty rate out of out of any ethnic community in Multnomah County. People of color in Portland also suffer from greater racial disparities compared with other American cities. The panels have already covered 90 percent of the building’s energy costs on a good day.
“The other day, it was raining, and it was at 20 percent, so we’ll see,” says Maher. “But it’s promising.”
The center will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new solar system on Sept. 8 from 5 to 6:30pm. For more information, visit the group’s website.
Here’s the latest turn of the screw in the gubernatorial election.
The back-and-forth between Democratic gubernatorial nominee John Kitzhaber and his Republican rival Chris Dudley is entertaining. It would be even better if the voters could see the candidates in the same room at the same time responding spontaneously to questions. But we’ll have to wait a while for that.
The Timbers Army is on the warpath for a good cause: It’s leading a fundraising effort to help Jefferson High School’s girls and boys soccer teams buy new team uniforms.
Tonight during the game against Puerto Rico, Timbers fans will be collecting donations outside PGE Park at the Timbers Army van on the corner of SW 20th Avenue and SW Morrison Street.
There’s more information about the Army’s efforts on the group’s website.
Andy Kulak, a Jefferson teacher who coaches the varsity girls team, says it will cost about $2,000 to outfit both the girls and boys teams. But even if the Timbers Army and other fans donate all the money to pay for the uniforms, players have to pay additional $175 fees to participate. (That fee is $35 per student for teenagers who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.) The girls’ season starts Sept. 14. Boys have their first game Sept. 9. So time is of the essence.
10:06 AM September 2nd, 2010 by Beth Slovic News | 1 Comment »
The Northwest Examiner has a piece this month proposing to rename NW Westover Road for John Callahan, the prolific Portland cartoonist who died last month.
“People in Portland are known for arguing over street names, so I don’t want to start any trouble with this, but Westover Road could easily give up a few feet where it meets 23rd Avenue without anyone making a big deal of it,” Mike Ryerson writes in the Northwest Examiner’s September issue.
City Hall this afternoon drew dozens of protesters concerned about recent changes at TriMet.
Today, of course, marked the first day of TriMet’s nickel fare increase, a move that raised the cost of riding a TriMet bus across two zones to $2.05. Meantime, TriMet has continued to cut services even as it prepares to ask voters for a new $125 million bond in November.
While denouncing the service cuts and the fare increase, protesters shouted, “We are the bus riders! The mighty, mighty bus riders.”
A group called OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon organized the event. “Give us what we need,” shouted Shannon Olive, an OPAL organizer. “More buses!” rally attendees shouted back.
Commissioner Amanda Fritz, a proud bus rider, threw her support behind protesters, reminiscing about the reliable English bus lines of her childhood.
