Portland Public Schools has shelved its controversial high school redesign that planned to close or shrink three schools. Superintendent Carole Smith made a surprise announcement of the delay on Monday, June 21, in front of a crowd that came prepared to protest the closure of Jefferson High School. Originally, the redesign was slated to begin with the 2010-2011 school year. Now the school board will wait until September to vote on it. Expressing a sudden and belated interest in the process, Mayor Sam Adams commended the district's decision not to rush. "I offer you the full participation of the City of Portland," he told the school board. God help us all. STEFAN KAMPH

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The Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project will not pursue tolls on the I-205 bridge to Washington, CRC staff told a review panel last week during a marathon eight-hour meeting. An expert on the panel slipped up when asking about the new plan to toll only one of the two bridges from the Portland metro area to Vancouver. "Being an outsider, you've got two major bridges across the river, what an ideal situation to manage the [traffic] flows across the river," said civil engineering professor Dr. Michael Meyer. "From a broader public policy perspective, it sure seems, from an outside perspective, stupid—oh nope, uh, uh, I did not say that. If there's a reporter in the room, I did not say that." Meyer backpedaled to describe the plan as "myopic." SARAH MIRK