NO TIME FOR THE APOLLO

The Oregon Apollo project, a proposed ballot initiative that would have mandated clean energy use in the state, died a quiet death last week. Members of the petroleum industry filed a challenge to the initiative's ballot title, and the state Supreme Court has taken its time reviewing the objection. The result: Organizers don't believe they'd have enough time to gather the required number of signatures to get it on the November ballot, so they pulled the plug. The upshot is that Governor Ted Kulongoski has pledged to push many of the same ideas for biofuel use through the legislature—if he gets reelected. SCOTT MOORE

MAY DAY!

Activists are promising that the movie A Day Without a Mexican will become a reality on May 1. This year's annual labor march downtown will be focused on the rights of immigrant workers—and there's been a (national) call for a general strike among the Latino population to show anti-immigrant conservatives what life would be like without them. SM

Welcome to Portland

Downtown Portland will be crawling with human rights activists this weekend, April 28-30, in town for the Amnesty International's annual US conference. At the Hilton on SW 6th Avenue, they'll be discussing just about every hot-button current topic—from gay rights to the death penalty to the war on terror—and listening to speakers like Oregon State Representative Chip Shields, actress Mira Sorvino, and Washington Post Iraq correspondent Steve Fainaru.

Meanwhile, Pioneer Square will play host to two Amnesty International rallies—one against torture, on Friday at 4 pm, and another about Darfur's ongoing genocide, on Sunday at 1:30 pm. Saturday night at Roseland, a concert—"Make Some Noise for Darfur"—features Suzanne Vega, Incubus, Portland's own MarchFourth Marching Band, and others. AMY JENNIGES