In a labor tradeoff worth millions to Portland's bottom line, last Wednesday, November 3, the city council declared the day after Thanksgiving—Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year—as an official holiday. The decision follows a series of labor contracts with city workers that traded the new day off for limits on overtime payouts and other perks. The swap could save the city as much as $10 million a year. But be warned: Just because city hall will be dark, parking crews will remain out in force. So, yeah. Feed those meters. DENIS C. THERIAULT

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Oregon pedestrian deaths are up 80 percent over 2009, clocking in at 52 fatalities so far this year. Locally, pedestrian deaths are also up, with 14 this year, compared to an average of 10.6 over the past 14 years. The bad news coincided with a crash on Monday, November 8, when three people (including a two-year-old) were hospitalized after a senior citizen driver hit them at North Interstate and Lombard. The child later died. The Oregon Department of Transportation noted that in most of the fatal crashes, drivers simply didn't see the pedestrian. SARAH MIRK

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A city audit released Tuesday, November 9, rips into Portland government over the roll-out of a payroll software system that was supposed to cost $14.2 million but instead wound up socking the city for at least $47.4 million. The project, first conceived in 2004, has long been a source of grief—marred by delays, a failure to live up to its promise, and budget problems that first came to light in 2008. The audit chiefly blames poor leadership, saying warnings about the project's cost were ignored. DCT