As Portland prepares for what might be the tightest mayor’s race in decades, Mayor Charlie Hales is catching flack for letting his former (and future?) campaign consultant lobby him on behalf of Uber (Commissioners Dan Saltzman and Steve Novick, too). Treasurer Ted Wheeler is pledging that his campaign staff will be banned from lobbying the mayor’s office for four years if he wins. He’s asking Hales to do the same. Meanwhile, Commissioner Nick Fish says he’s mulling rules that would make such relationships illegal.
An anti-Nestlé ballot measure is taking shape in the Columbia River Gorge. As broke-as-a-joke Cascade Locks crosses its fingers that a deal to sell the multinational corporation pristine water goes through, citizens are preparing to push a measure that would limit how much bottling could take place.
Killer cougar in Canby! They say it takes its victims not for sustenance, but for the stoic satisfaction of taking a life. Hide your llamas. Hide your sheep. And seriously, hide your kids.
Also, the deer in Ashland have gotten all stalky and weird. Steer clear of them.
Republican state lawmakers really want a shot to grill Planned Parenthood over fetal organ use. It looked like they’d get their chance, too, until House Speaker Tina Kotek killed those dreams.
Happy trails, Scott Walker! You were a terrible presidential candidate, but maybe there’s solace in knowing you’re an even worse governor. For those who haven’t heard: Walker bowed out because he didn’t have the scratch to continue a contest against billionaire blowhards and establishment types. One smart thing: He urged other Republican candidates to follow his lead.
Another sobering survey that suggests sexual assault is more prevalent on college campuses than most people would suspect. For instance, at the University of Oregon, almost a quarter of undergraduate women who responded said they’d been assaulted. There are caveats from the researchers—for instance, the possibility that women who were affected by assault answered in greater numbers, and many of those who weren’t simply ignored the survey—but the findings also mirror other, similar surveys.
Cartoonish corporate super-villainy of the day: These two companies who thought it’d be sweet to buy up the rights to drugs that fight semi-obscure diseases, then screw over the people who get those diseases by ratcheting up the price to insane levels.
Cartoonish corporate super-villainy honorable mention: Did you hear about how Volkswagen put software in some of its cars that could sense when emissions tests were taking place, and prompt the vehicle to ONLY limit emissions during those tests? German engineering.
It is the last day of summer. That seems a shame.
So, nothing about David Cameron and the pig? Promise me at least that Ann Romano will cover it.