Sam Adams is off to Washington next week for a series of meetings to try to convince the Federal Government to invest in the city's "green economy." Astute readers will realize Portland isn't the only city in the US vying to become a hub of said "green economy," but Adams does have a few aces up his sleeve: He'll present to the Mayors' Innovation Project Conference on Portland's clean energy retrofit program, for example, which has drawn plaudits and a degree of skepticism from economists over recent weeks. He'll also continue to seek funding for the Oregon Sustainability Center at PSU.

Adams will also find time to attend the U.S.Conference of Mayors' 78th Annual Meeting. He was at the 77th one, last year, when a certain story broke in a certain newspaper, but there's been no mention of that in this morning's press release from his office. He'll also participate in a roundtable discussion on jobs and the economy with the President. THE PRESIDENT.