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Playing against the Phoenix Suns and Shaq on their home court, the Blazers rallied last night to get the 124-119 victory. But the real story of the night was The Natural. Brandon Roy. The former Husky.
Roy dropped 52 points on the Suns. That’s two shy of the franchise record (only a handful of players have topped the half century mark in Blazers’ history). Of those 52, five were hung in the last minute to break a 119-119 tie.
We here at GoodNewsPDX are fans of karma. And we realize sometimes it takes time to show its face but when it does, it is oh so sweet.
You may remember Debra Markham from her efforts to prosecute two middle school boys for sex abuse in the spring of 2007. If not, feel free to read this recap. One of GoodNewsPDX’ staff writers covered the case and, to be fair, Markham was quite genial with the press. She returned calls even if it meant staying after 5:30 on a Friday and she was always available to answer questions after a hearing.
That being said, it would be fair to characterize her prosecutorial efforts in this case as . . . heated. Zealous. Over zealous. A bit over the top. The boys were eventually acquitted and returned to their normal lives. Markham continued her service in the DA’s office, and it seemed we were done with the McMinville court house.
Until THIS came out. It seems Markham spent time in jail recently after allegedly popping her husband in the face. She has also been sacked relieved of her job (officials say it’s for personal reasons and won’t comment any further).
Karma: 1 Debra Markham: 0
One of our favorite topics to post on here is executive salary cuts. Not forced salary cuts, mind you, but when leaders of big companies look at their accounting ledgers and say, “you know, rather than lay off employees, I’ll cut my own salary.” It shows a dedication to the employees and presents the image that “we’re all in this together.”
That being said, we are THRILLED to report that OHSU leaders are hacking away at thier own compensation for the coming year. The University leadership team agreed to take a 20% pay cut ON TOP of a previous agreement to forgo incentives for the year. that averages to a pay reduction of about 30% per employee.
In total, OHSU needs to shave $30-35 Million from their books because of lost revenue and losses in investments but this reduction may account for as much as 10% of that total amount.
OHSU Prez Joe Robertson -- Oregonlive.com
Jim Craven - Mail Tribune
This is Brandon Weathers. He lives in Central Point and like most five-year-olds he has lofty career aspirations. He wants to be Santa Claus when he grows up.
Though he suffers from a form of Spina Bifida the pint-sized elf-in-training dresses like the jolly man himself every month of the year. And rather than asking for his own pile of loot, he invests his focus on emulating Santa in every way . . . including the giving to others part. He donates toys and food to the local mission and hands out candy canes to nearby families.
And when he’s not giving to others, Brandon stands out on his families lawn amidst the holiay decorations, waving to passersby. That is, when he is not forcing his 11-year-old sister to play the part of an elf in his re-enactments of the Tim Allen film “The Santa Clause.”
You can read more about this amazing little guy here
Check out this story from Bend.
A group of nine year olds have worked together to assemble an honest-to-goodness, full-length book. The entertaining plot centers around Santa and what might drive him to hang up the reindeer reins and jet off to Maui. A nice diversion from coverage of ARCTIC BLAST 2008.
Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
Two local photographers brought home hardware from this year’s Aperture Awards. Mark Gamba and Steve Berliner were both honored for their skill behind the lens at this year’s international gathering. Not bad considering 2,000 shooters from 40 countries submitted pics.
The whole story is featured here
The Beavers hung on to avoid an upset bid from D-2 Seattle Pacific at Gil Coliseum last night. Despite building an early 15-point lead, SP took the lead coming out of the half. But Oregon State rallied and took the lead and the W right back.
This marks the first time in over a year that the Beavs have registered back to back victories.
But the drama wasn’t confined to the court. Power problems shut the scoreboard down for a few minutes and left half the lights off inside the arena.
After losing three-straight (their worst losing streak all season) the Blazers came alive against the Sacramento Kings, dropping a 32 point victory at the Rose Garden.
Despite frigid temperatures outside, the boys from Portland were red hot on the floor, earning free Chalupas for the crowd with 109 points including 29 from potential All Star Brandon Roy. Roy went perfect at the charity stripe, shooting 15 of 15 free throws.
The night began with a very special tribute to former Blazer Terry Porter. The team retired Porter’s number 30 jersey . . . Bobby Gross’ jersey will be retired later this week. The Blazers sit at 16-10 on the season.
Believe it or not, some farmers are actually WELCOMING the arctic blast as it helps keep their growing trees alive.
The trees usually pull moisture out of the ground, but when the temp drops as low as it has this week, that moisture locks up into ice. However, if trees are covered in their own layer of ice, they can pull water from that.
We all want to help others this time of year. But holiday spirit or not, some may feel wary of donating cash to an outstretched hand for fear it will be used for something other than food or shelter. If you are in this group, we have a suggestion.
Gift Cards.
The GoodNewsPDX staff keep booklets of $1 gift certificates to McDonalds in our glove compartments along with a few gift cards to local grocery stores. When we meet someone in need, we can offer them a gift certificate for a hot meal without concern. Also, some stores are offering bonus buys for the holidays (buy $50 in gift cards, get $10 free).
