The Dallas, Texas, drug supplier that last year sent a Portland clinic a bad batch of medicine thought to have caused three area deaths reached a settlement with Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers this week — a settlement that immediately came under some criticism.. . The attorney general’s stipulated judgment requires ApothéCure Inc. to pay $100,000 to the state of Oregon, $60,000 of which will go to the Department of Justice’s consumer education and protection fund, and $40,000 of which will go to the Board of Pharmacy.. . The agreement also requires ApothéCure to pay a $500,000 civil penalty if it wants to sell products in Oregon again. ApothéCure, which sells most of its products through a Web site, currently does not hold a license to sell drugs in Oregon.. . In fact, according to the Oregon Board of Pharmacy, ApothéCure never has held a license to distribute in Oregon.. . The lack of a license came to light only after the deaths of two Portland residents and one resident of Yakima, Wash., last spring. All three were found to have died after receiving intravenous colchicine from the now-closed Center for Integrative Medicine in Southwest Portland.. . Public health officials eventually connected the deaths to a single, 31-vial batch of colchicine from ApothéCure that tested at eight times its labeled potency, strong enough for one intravenous dose to kill, authorities said.. . Colchicine is highly toxic and not approved for any use by the federal Food and Drug Administration, but is sometimes used orally to treat gout. The Oregon and Washington victims had been administered colchicine intravenously for chronic back pain.. . Portland Tribune stories after the deaths detailed how ApothéCure, by holding a Texas license as a compounding pharmacy, was able to escape FDA oversight of drug manufacturers.. . A 2003 FDA analysis of drugs supplied by compounding pharmacies that sell on the Internet found that one in three did not contain what their labels advertised.. . In addition, the Oregon attorney general’s lawsuit that led to Monday’s judgment alleged that ApothéCure used low-quality water for its products, which could increase the possibility of contamination, and did not properly test its products for contamination or potency.. . The attorney general revealed this week that ApothéCure had made 44 total sales of injectable colchicine to Oregon health professionals over a period of about a year and a half before the three deaths.. . Nevertheless, no deaths or injuries have been reported in connection with ApothéCure’s 43 other Oregon colchicine sales.. . Two of the families of the colchicine victims filed wrongful death lawsuits against ApothéCure, and both have reached confidential settlements with the drug supplier. The third family is in negotiation with the the company over a settlement.. . As an additional part of the settlement, ApothéCure must refund money from all of its 222 sales to Oregon consumers from 2004 through 2007. Oregonians who purchased ApothéCure products will be notified of their right to a refund by mail.. . Jan Margosian, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said that Oregon was the first state to reach a judgment against ApothéCure, and that it was sharing its agreement with attorneys general in other states that might want to pursue similar agreements.. . Margosian explained that the $500,000 penalty would have to be paid only if ApothéCure sought to do business in Oregon again. Still, Margosian said, the penalty served its purpose.. . “We use it as a deterrent,” Margosian said. “We don’t want them operating here. If they really want to operate here, they have to pay that. We accomplished what we wanted to, and we didn’t have to litigate.”. . But one longtime watchdog of companies like ApothéCure questioned the settlement.. . “This is not sufficient to protect Oregonians,” said Larry Sasich, chairman of the department of pharmacy practice at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Pennsylvania. “The state of Oregon is going to charge ApothéCure $500,000 to sell substandard drugs in Oregon. That doesn’t protect the public from anything. It seems to me there should be a criminal case.”. . An ApothéCure official, contacted this week, said he had no comment about the agreement.. . The attorney general’s office has estimated that ApothéCure’s annual sales are roughly $6 million, with Oregon representing only a fraction of that. Drugs still are available for purchase through ApothéCure’s Web site..

June 6-7, under the sponsorship of the Alchemist, performers of music in Corvallis from 1941 though yesterday, will be coming together with instrument makers, repairers and teachers at the Old World Deli on 2nd and Adams to retell their stories, to record the oral history of musical performance in Corvallis. The telling will begin at 5 PM and finish at 8 PM both evenings, after which performances will begin. For more information, write to info@corvallismusic.com, or see the Alchemist.. You can add entries to the database here. About the 1857 photo above: "Father was the bass drummer in the drum corps at Fort Hoskins under Phil Sheridan. Charles Franks played the tenor [snare] drum and J.C. LottsenheiserR played the fife. After the company was disbanded the four men scattered and never met again for many years. Then twenty-five or thirty years later they all came back and played together again. They were much in demand for celebrations and political rallies. I think I never heard finer music than they made. "- Bertha Plunkett Thompson, Corvallis pioneer

 If a doctor leaves scissors in her patient, she might get sued and lose her license. If a lawyer breaches ethical guidelines, he may get disbarred.. . But when adolescents say a public-school teacher can’t teach, the result can be a messier contest pitting the need to safeguard the teacher from false or unfair accusations against the interests of the child in receiving a high-quality education.. . Next month, Portland Public Schools will begin bargaining with its nearly 3,000 teachers, counselors and school psychologists. And the School Board is feeling good about the bargaining’s prospects, citing the completion of advance negotiations on one long-festering issue: hiring and transferring teachers.. . For nearly two decades, advocates had argued Portland’s complicated process hurt students because it tied principals’ hands with cumbersome rules about whom they could hire and when.. . Yet one unresolved issue that some say is just as pressing appears far less likely to be addressed in the upcoming bargaining: How should PPS identify and get rid of bad teachers?. . It’s not exactly easy under current guidelines. “Principals have learned the hard way they’re not likely to be backed up as they go up the chain of command,” says retired Portland principal Mary Beth Van Cleave. “It was not uncommon to get overturned.”. . Only about a dozen of PPS’s roughly 3,000 educators—or less than one-half of 1 percent—are on what are called “plans of assistance.” Those plans are the result of bad job evaluations and are a must before a principal can try to fire a teacher, except in extreme circumstances.. . But the evaluation system is “dysfunctional,” says Rachel Langford, a Portland director of the advocacy group Stand for Children. “Consistent, adequate evaluations are not happening,” she says. “[Principals] are not trained or supported by the district to do that well.”. . The School Board has so far offered little indication it wants to force a showdown over this issue with the union, which for the first time in several years enjoys a cordial relationship with PPS.. . Dan Ryan, one of the School Board members leading contract talks for the district, says he values evaluations but is careful to avoid addressing specifics about negotiations.. . Jeff Miller, president of the Portland Association of Teachers union, says he doesn’t hear any complaints form parents and dismisses concerns about the strength of the evaluation process. . . “Portland has the finest group of teachers collectively of any school district in the state,” Miller says.. . Here’s one example of the problem.. . About a month before the fall 2007 semester ended, Wilson High School teacher Gary Gramson decided to leave after several vocal students and parents complained he was in over his head teaching advanced physics.. . Though Gramson is certified in multiple scientific disciplines, students said they had a hard time following his lessons and that he often spent class time talking about issues unrelated to physics. Yet he wasn’t on a plan of assistance.. . “He didn’t give us the idea that he knew what he was doing,” says junior Gabriel Erb.. . But his contract gives Gramson the right to return next fall to teach. In other words, his return isn’t principal Sue Brent’s decision to make. It’s his. And even after PPS officials made the unusual move of allowing Gramson to leave before semester’s end, they haven’t tried to fire him.. . The 39-year-old teacher came to PPS in 2003, one year after he unsuccessfully sued the Springfield School District for “fraudulent inducement” by not renewing his contract.. . On April 20, 2007, he was detained by Portland Police at Wilson during the school day and later arrested by a Washington County sheriff’s deputy for violating a restraining order.. . Gramson’s troubles go back to 1993, his first year teaching in Oregon. The state Teacher Standards and Practices Commission reprimanded him then because he had failed to note multiple charges against him before he started teaching in the tiny Lane County town of Oakridge. Among those run-ins with the law were charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants, resisting arrest and two counts of assaulting a police officer. He was found guilty of the resisting-arrest charge and sentenced to three years’ probation.. . In a separate incident, he pleaded guilty in 1989 to fourth-degree assault and was sentenced to six months’ probation. More than a year later, he was charged with DUII again when police pulled him over in Clatsop County with a blood-alcohol content of .10 percent. Gramson pleaded guilty, but the court withheld sentencing for a year.. . Gramson, who has had some aspects of his record expunged, says through an intermediary he never had a bad evaluation from PPS. During his time at Wilson, he’s had three different principals.     

Eleven years ago, Sabrina M. Weiner graduated as a valedictorian at Kamiak High School near Everett. She was a National Merit Scholar, aiming for a bright future after earning a Navy ROTC scholarship to Stanford University.. . Two months ago, Weiner, 27, forfeited her Navy career after seven years on active and reserve duty, during which she rose to the rank of lieutenant.. . In a rare instance involving a commissioned officer, Weiner was arrested and given a choice between a court-martial or less-than-honorable discharge after refusing to serve in Iraq.. . Speaking publicly for the first time about it, Weiner says she was not against the war but the so-called "individual augmentee" program. In the past several years, that program has sent nearly 60,000 sailors from ships and bases to augment Army and Marine ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. "It is not an against-the-war argument but a people-accountability argument," Weiner says. "I was proud to say I was a Navy officer. My problem is the way they are using us as IAs. It minimizes the job and training we do for the Navy.". . It cannibalizes the Navy -- and Air Force -- to cover up a shortage of Army and Marine troops to fight the wars, she argues.. . For her convictions, she was jailed, flown across the nation in shackles and threatened with court-martial. Today she is scraping by in Everett, tutoring high school kids in math and enrolled in graduate studies at the Alden March Bioethics Institute based at the Albany Medical College in New York.. . "I'm not another Watada," she cautions, referring to the Fort Lewis Army active duty lieutenant, Ehren Watada. In 2006, Watada refused to accompany his Stryker Brigade to combat duty in Iraq, contending that the war is immoral and unconstitutional.. . Unlike Watada, whose case remains active after moving from a military to a federal court last year, Weiner's was resolved within a month in February. And unlike the Army lieutenant, Weiner has not become an anti-war cause for Hollywood celebrities and peace activists.. . Navy officials declined to discuss Weiner's case, saying they were unfamiliar with it.. . According to the Navy Department, 7,063 active and 5,050 reserve sailors are serving as individual augmentees, not only in Iraq and Afghanistan but also in the Horn of Africa and other locations. They include 3,145 active-duty and reserve officers and more than 9,000 active-duty and reserve enlisted men and women. The Defense Department and top Navy officials have acknowledged that the policy has created hardships for sailors and their families. The Navy has altered the program after listening to complaints from sailors, and invites more input, though it says the program is needed and will remain in place for some time to come.. . Assignments are voluntary and involuntary, and reviews from sailors are mixed. Active- and reserve-duty sailors, who declined to be named, cited problems with the program to the Seattle P-I. They included a ship driver from San Diego, a sailor from Eastern Washington and a Navy aviator.. . The aviator contacted his congressman after he was suddenly and involuntarily called up to serve alone with ground forces in Iraq, only a few months after returning home to his young family from a full deployment with his squadron flying missions in the war zone.. . The individual augmentee jobs typically include public works and reconstruction; training local forces in Afghanistan; medical care; protecting U.S. bases; interpreting laws, especially concerning contractor obligations; forging closer ties with communities in Afghanistan; handling detainees; and administrative work.. . Weiner got a call before Christmas that she would soon be called up. She says her job in Iraq was to have been commerce officer, providing money to local Iraqi leaders.. . That gave her pause, not only because she was not trained for the job, but also because she is of Japanese, Korean and Jewish ancestry.. . "They were going to have me negotiate money transactions with Iraqi warlords. A woman of Jewish and East Asian descent to try to talk to men about money in a country where women aren't always allowed to handle money," Weiner says.. . Weiner's record and fitness reports before she was called up to IA duty indicate anything but a shrinking violet. She had earned two overseas service ribbons, commendation and achievement medals and was part of a Meritorious Unit Commendation.. . After graduating from Stanford in 2001, Weiner started her career aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, a vessel second in size only to aircraft carriers and which transports Marine landing forces. She was serving overseas during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.. . She received glowing fitness reports:. . "Assigned to arduous sea duty ... ," her commander wrote in one review. "Outstanding officer and Navy professional! On the fast track! Assign only to the most challenging jobs!". . She left active duty in August 2004, receiving high marks in her final evaluation in all categories but professional expertise.. . By 2005, Weiner as a reservist worked as a research liaison officer at the prestigious Office of Naval Research. Her detachment was responsible for managing research in underwater unmanned vehicles and weaponry. She also served as the unit's public information officer. Her fitness reports continued to average "above standards" or "greatly exceeds standards." A commander called her "an excellent officer" and "a highly motivated self-starter.". . Her last good report was November 2007, this time newly assigned to a joint service unit of the Selective Service System in New Orleans.. . "She is most strongly recommended for promotion and greater responsibility in the Naval Reserve," her commander wrote.. . It all unraveled on Jan. 9 when she received orders to be called up.. . She agonized over the policy and her own convictions, readiness and obligations as an officer. The job seemed to her a random call for a warm body.. . "I was not afraid of dying; I was afraid of acting out of weakness," she said. "It would have been easier to just go along with it." Weiner was to report Jan. 28. She was depressed, and she tried to call local Navy lawyers for advice. "I was told they could do nothing because I'm a reservist" with her headquarters in New Orleans, she said.. . She turned to GI Rights hot line, a nonprofit organization at www.objector.netthat offers legal help to servicemen and women, especially to those refusing to go to war.. . Weiner found a lawyer and filed a request for personal hardship. In a conference call, her commanding offer was angry at her, she said. "I never got to tell them why I was refusing to deploy," she said. He ordered her report to New Orleans.. . Weiner said she refused to report while her request for exemption was in the pipeline. Counselors and lawyers seemed unfamiliar with how to handle officers refusing to report, having handled mostly Army enlisted personnel.. . A Navy official tried to reach her at her parents' home. Weiner was told to report voluntarily or risk arrest and being transported in shackles.. . "My dad said, 'We support you. They are trying to send you to an Army position in Iraq. I understand.' ". . Weiner put her jobs and a graduate program in bioethics on hold. She said she was preparing to pack for New Orleans on the night Everett police arrived at her door.. . Weiner said she was booked and strip searched and did nothing to resist, and credits jail and military authorities who handled her arrest with "acting very professionally." Though friends and the GI Rights people knew of her situation, she wanted no action or protest. " I wanted to know what the Navy will do." Military police took over and escorted her in shackles, walking to help her conceal them and avoid attention through the airports from Seattle and in New Orleans. "The staff was kind and wonderful to me," she said.. . She was flown to New Orleans on a Friday night, and the Navy was ready for her: Face detention, then a court-martial or accept an other-than-honorable discharge, a separation from the service in a middle ground, ranking below honorable and general discharges but above bad conduct and dishonorable discharges.. . Weiner said she mulled how much it might affect her later life. Wanting to teach and write after graduate school, she opted for the discharge. She was flown home the next day. Her final fitness report dated Feb. 20, 2008, sharply contrasts her earlier ones.. . "Lt. Weiner's failure to report ... was counter to good order and discipline, negatively affected the command climate and represents a failure to live up to the Navy core values of honor, courage and commitment. Lt. Weiner effectively put her personal desires above the needs of the Navy team and the nation. ... Lt. Weiner is most strongly recommended for separation from the Navy.". . The episode still makes her emotional both in what she gave up and for the support she has received. Weiner feels she showed honor, courage and commitment. She wants to continue to serve her community, perhaps to apply her studies in bioethics to ensuring the safety of the food we eat.. . "I want people to know about IAs, but there's a good side," she says.. . "The Navy did the best it could. I have no hard feelings. We are there to serve -- we serve the constitution."

When John Kitzhaber packed out of the governor's office in 2002, he famously grumbled that Oregon had become "ungovernable." Since then, the Oregon Democrat, a former emergency room physician, has returned to his passion - health care. And it may well be the most ungovernable policy issue of all. The American health care system, he told the McMinnville City Club on Tuesday, is already in crisis. And that crisis has the potential to get much worse as aging baby boomers add to the strain. Meanwhile, the sheer number of stakeholders has made genuine debate virtually impossible. With his PowerPoint casting the image of a giant waterfall on the screen, he asked the large audience to imagine all the key players aboard a raft floating toward the watery abyss. Paddling madly, they all derive a "perverse sense of security from the fact that the people on the other end are going to go over before they do," he said. "That is exactly what we're doing here in this country, and we can do better." For the 61-year-old Kitzhaber - himself a baby boomer - doing better meant launching a group called the Archimedes Movement, a grassroots nonprofit aimed at creating "a new space for civic engagement outside our traditional legislative and governance structures." Kitzhaber regards the decline of fossil fuels and the state of public education in the United States as two issues that ought to command everyone's attention. But he feels health care is the most urgent of all. It's not as if evidence is wanting. On Wednesday, a study by Oregon Health & Science University in Portland confirmed something those in the industry have long known or suspected - emergency room visits have jumped 36 percent since 2003, when tens of thousands of low-income residents were dropped from the Oregon Health Plan. That plan, the state version of Medicaid, was authored by Kitzhaber in the 1990s. So it's close to his heart. Social Security presents a $5 trillion long-term problem, Kitzhaber said. But that's nothing compared to Medicare, where the unfunded entitlement is expected to exceed $67 trillion by the time boomers start becoming eligible - in about three years. "We're paying for that by borrowing money from Japan and China and other countries that are still willing to lend it to us," Kitzhaber said. "What do you think is going to happen the day China, for example, says they're no longer willing to underwrite U.S. deficit spending in the face of a falling dollar? That's why we have a staggering currency crisis." And that's without taking into account the war in Iraq, which is also being effectively financed by the Chinese, with an ultimate price tag estimated in the trillions. In 2007, Kitzhaber presented an ambitious plan to pool virtually all public money spent on health care in Oregon - Medicare, Medicaid and the federal deductions employers get for providing health coverage - and use it to provide "core" health service to all Oregonians. Dubbed the Oregon Better Health Act, it was intended to jump-start a national debate on health care. It enjoyed bipartisan sponsorship in the Oregon Legislature, but remained bottled up in committee when the Legislature adjourned. He took another run at the issue last fall, campaigning for Measure 50, a legislatively referred cigarette tax increase intended to boost health coverage for children. The tobacco industry spent millions fighting it, and it took a drubbing at the polls. In Yamhill County, the measure was rejected 66 percent to 34 percent. The thrust of Kitzhaber's argument is that the system is beyond fixing - that it needs a radical overhaul. "Fixing the U.S. health care system, or fixing the U.S. energy system requires transformational change," he said. "You can't do it by playing around at the edges of what we have right now. "It's like trying to turn a Piper Cub into a 747 on a flight between New York and Los Angeles. You can't do it." Among those who can't do it - at least based on the plans they've put forth, Kitzhaber said - are presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, both Democrats, and John McCain, a Republican. Kitzhaber said those plans erroneously define the issue as a financing problem, a question of who will pay for insurance so everyone has access to the system. "The problem is the system," he said. "The poor performance and inefficiency of the U.S. health care system is built into the system itself. "It's a function of the system, and it's not going to change just by changing who pays for it. So somehow, we've got to shift this debate from how we pay for something, to what we're actually buying, how it's organized and delivered." Around 70 percent of all health care costs are due to chronic diseases - diabetes, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, and asthma, Kitzhaber said. Those are conditions where prevention can play a huge role, and if caught early and acted upon immediately, gargantuan hospital bills can be avoided. One of the problems with health care in America, he said, was that the system is only designed to deal with those problems when they've reached the crises stage. Citing the accomplishments of the so-called "Greatest Generation," the one that, having fought and won World War II, returned to the United States and built the U.S. Highway system, cured polio and went to the moon, Kitzhaber called for an equally momentous leap forward in the realm of health care. "Our apparent inability to address any of those issues raises a serious question about whether we still have the will and courage as a society to reconcile the growing contradiction between what we say we want to leave our children, and the world we're actually building through the choices and the decisions that we're making today," he said. "If we fail to address this, if we fail to act, this will be our legacy."

The Executive Board of the Vermont AFL-CIO, representing thousands of workers in countless sectors across Vermont, have unanimously passed an historic resolution expressing their "unequivocal" support for the first US labor work stoppage against the war in Iraq. The work stoppage, being organized by the Longshore Caucus of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), will seek to shutdown all west coast ports during the day on May 1st 2008. The Vermont AFL-CIO is the first state labor federation to publicly back the Longshoremen; other state federations are expected to follow.. . The resolution, among other things, calls the war in Iraq "immoral, unwanted, and unnecessary", states that the vast majority of working Vermonters oppose the war, and contends that the war will only be brought to an end by "the direct actions of working people." Many other Vermont labor unions and organizations, including the Vermont Workers' Center, have also made official statements condemning the war.. . The resolution also calls on working Vermonters to "discuss the actions of the Longshoremen, to wear anti-war buttons, and to take various actions of their own design and choosing in their workplace on May 1st, 2008.". . "Workers in Vermont and all across this nation are against this war. We have already demanded that the government end it, but they have consistently failed to heed our words. Therefore working people are beginning to take concrete steps to make our resistance known. If the war does not immediately end we, the unions and working people of Vermont, will also be compelled to take appropriate action," said David Van Deusen, District Vice President of the AFL-CIO.. . Traven Leyshon, President of the Washington-Orange-Lamoille Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said, "Vermont labor has long called for an end to this war. The untold billions being spent on the war could instead be used to address our domestic needs. It is working people who pay the cost of the war - in some cases with our lives, but always with our sacrifices."

Portland police say a federal guard killed himself outside the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland, where he worked. The Department of Homeland Security says supervisory special agent Darrell Souza was a long-time federal employee. Portland police say they received an early morning call Thursday from the Federal Protective Service, the branch of government for which Souza worked. The feds called Portland police and told them Souza was in front of the courthouse and was planning to kill himself. Police spokesman Brian Schmautz says they found the dead body on the sidewalk when they arrived. Brian Schmautz: “So we went out there, we confirmed he was deceased, there was no evidence to believe it was anything other than suicide and so we immediately suspended our investigation.”

How to Win the Online Mcgraw Hill Business Strategy Game
A History of the Canadian Dominion, William McGillivray and the Canadian Clique
History of Russians in the Pacific Northwest
The Basics of Making Cheese
Lyman Beecher and the Second Great Awakening
Bus Schedules
The Tulsa Race Riots
An Inquisition Torture Session
History of Mathematics in India
Corvallis dogs and Jack London's Call of the Wild
Corvallis Serial Killers
Thomas Egarton Hogg and Corvallis
The Modoc Indian War in Oregon
The fur trade in the Northwest
Imprisonment of OSU students 1942
The History of Astoria and Washington Irving's Trip to Oregon

Democrats:
For President: Barak Obama. Only Obama has consistently opposed Bush's war, with its now-catastrophic effect on the economy as it has vacuumed up 3 trillion dollars out of the credit market, for the sole purpose of making his cronies rich and making other people miserable. Young people, whose names have been forged on the checks for this debt, condemned to living on a planet which has been made nearly uninhabitable by their elders, deserve to have their voices heard, and they are quite clearly for Obama, despite one of the most unbecoming campaigns in recent memory, within the Democratic Party, waged by Clinton.
For the contested seats in Congress:
Kathy Dahlkemper. She has consistently declared her opposition to the war, to the debt, and to the globalization which has left the country a nation of beggars relying on pledging the assets of even unborn generations to support their lifestyles. She has also committed to halting global warming.
Mark McCracken. Same as Dahlkemper
Steve O'Donnel. Same as Dahlkemper
Republicans: If you can tear yourselves away from your country clubs, meth labs and crap games, vote for Ron Paul. Yes, his published writings prove him to be a Nazi. But so is McCain. And Ron Paul was never proved to be "on the take" in the Savings and Loan scandal under Ronald Reagan, like McCain was. Further, Paul is fopr ending the war. McCain is for continuing it "another hundred years".

Yesterday, one of the finalists competing with Kathie Olsen for the presidency of Portland State dropped out of the selection process. A professor told Willamette Week that candidate, Jon Whitmore, had explained to university officials they had champagne wishes and a, um, beer budget. In his official statement, Whitmore said PSU was not a good fit for him. That means Jim Francesconi, the chairman of PSU's presidential search, now has only two candidates: Wim Wiewel, a provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and professor of public affairs at the University of Baltimore since 2004; and Olsen, now deputy director and chief operating officer of the National Science Foundation. And now we find this. It's a stinging indictment of George W. Bush's grasp of science called "The Secret Campaign of President Bush's Administration To Deny Global Warming." No news there. But read the Rolling Stone excerpt below and look for Olsen's name! The most egregious example of cooked intelligence was a study underwritten in part by the API, [Philip] Cooney's former employer. The study, which purported to show that the twentieth century was not unusually warm, was authored by two astrophysicists, both of whom were on the payroll of the George C. Marshall Institute, a climate-denial group funded by ExxonMobil and now headed by Bill O'Keefe, Cooney's former boss. The paper's publication in a minor German journal in January 2003 quickly created a scandal, with the editor in chief and three other editors resigning in shame after acknowledging that the paper was fundamentally flawed and should never have been published. "It was sham science," says McCarthy, the Harvard scientist. "It's almost laughable, except that this study was held up by the administration as a definitive refutation of the temperature record." But even as the paper was being discredited, it was causing great excitement in the White House. When Kathie Olsen of the Office of Science and Technology Policy forwarded the study to Cooney, he responded with an enthusiastic, "Thanks, Kathie!" Six minutes later, according to internal e-mails, the study was in the hands of Kevin O'Donovan, who served as Cheney's point man on climate. The study also grabbed President Bush's attention, as revealed in an e-mail sent two days later to a high-ranking White House official: "Bob - if you din't [sic] already have, this is the study the President was talking about." Olsen also once worked for former Sen. Conrad Burns, the fallen Montana Republican whose relationship with lobbyist Jack Abramoff cost him his re-election in 2006. We're curious to see what additional scrutiny will be brought to bear on Olsen.

A fourth grade Oakville student has been expelled from school for bringing a toy gnu onto the property. The action falls under the school district's 'zero tolerance' policy, according to administrators. Officials believe the student, who is dyslexic, tried to intentionally break the policy. "We're convinced he intended to bring a toy gun." said Meredith Simmons, Principal of Waterbury Elementary. "His reading disability may have confused him about what is prohibited in the policy, but we can't take any chances. That's why it's called zero tolerance.". . The expulsion received full approval from the superintendent's office. "We support Principal Simmons' decision." said Milton Decker, Assistant Superintendent. "The toy gnu may seem harmless, but we can't ignore the underlying intent. I seriously doubt any of our students even know what a gnu is.". . The student, who requested to remain amomynous, will be eligible for admission next year following a psychological evaluation and sensitivity training. The toy gnu was confiscated and destroyed by janitorial personnel.  

Hi Kids! Friday the 18th we will be bringing in Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper in MARRIED LIFE and holding over PARANOID PARK, THE BAND'S VISIT, and TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE. Friday and Saturday night only, we will be featuring the late shows of the da Vinci Film Festival at the Darkside. Da Vinci Film Festival this weekend! * Holders of VIP Festival Pass are invited to a reception with keynote speaker Alex Cox, writer and director of REPO MAN and SID AND NANCY. A limited number of VIP Passes are available for $40. These passes get you into the reception, the keynote, and all movies. The reception is at 5 pm at LaSells Stewart Center, immediately preceding the keynote speech at 7:30. * Friday at 9:15 pm we have DALAI LAMA RENAISSANCE (80 min, Documentary) and ALTERNATE ENDINGS (40 min. Comedy) at the Darkside. Admission by ticket or with a VIP or Weekend pass. * Saturday at 9:15 pm we have OPERATION: FISH (10 min. Animation) and at 9:30 we have THIS IS WAR: MEMORIES OF IRAQ (82 min. Documentary) at the Darkside. Admission by ticket or with a VIP or Weekend pass. * Saturday at 5:30pm, Paul, your humble lavender bunny, will be moderating the discussion with the filmmakers in LaSells Stewart Center - Austin Auditorium. Alex Cox and other filmmakers will be available for your questions and proposals of marriage. Schedules, movie synopses, and more info is at the Da Vinci Film Festival website. List of not so special announcements: We are now doing earlier matinees on Saturday and Sunday, and we'll be closed between the afternoon and evening shows. We're considering bagging the credit card service and putting in an ATM. This will end the abuse by the credit card companies. There will be a $2.00 service charge for each use, but the fee will help support the Darkside viability. Feel free to comment. Seriously, come get stuff you may have lost at the theater--even if you may have checked before. I'm going to pack up two boxes of clothing and sporting goods and bring them to Vinyl Noses. So, if you don't come and get your stuff, I will taunt you viciously when you ask why I'm wearing your good coat and hat. And one more thing: Since the merchant credit card rates have just gotten stupid, we are now imposing a fee of 50 cents on each purchase of less than $10 with a credit card. Sorry for any inconvenience. Playing Friday, April 18th thru Thursday, April 24th (click a link to jump to the section). MARRIED LIFE PARANOID PARK TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE THE BAND'S VISIT OTHER STUFF

MARRIED LIFE--PG-13 Married Life This melodramatic musing on the trials and tribulations of marriage features a small but talented ensemble cast that includes Patricia Clarkson, Chris Cooper, and Rachel McAdams. Set in 1949, the story opens into a picturesque, affluent suburb where Harry Allen (Chris Cooper) resides with his wife, Pat (Patricia Clarkson). But there's trouble brewing beyond the perfect picket fences. Harry has fallen deeply in love with a blonde beauty named Kay (Rachel McAdams). He confesses his secret to his longtime bachelor friend, Richard (Pierce Brosnan), and even introduces Richard to the lovely Kay. Unfortunately for Harry, Richard is instantly smitten, and makes up his mind that he will do whatever it takes to win Kay for himself. Harry, meanwhile, continues to plot ways to escape his marriage, though he fears leaving Pat will destroy her. He soon decides the most humane thing would be to dispose of her the old-fashioned way, with the aid of a little poison. While he debates on when to make his move, we learn that Pat actually has a few secrets of her own. Cooper and Clarkson both give charming, multi-layered performances, expertly revealing the tortured emotions that hide behind their well-mannered 1940s façades. The film's recreation of the era is mesmerizing in its detail, with gorgeous costumes and an elegant set design. MARRIED LIFE has all the ingredients for Hitchcockian thrills, including a delicate blonde bombshell and a methodical murder plot. Yet the film daintily dances between black comedy and noir thriller, leading to a tidy, if rather anticlimactic end.

 PARANOID PARK--R An unsolved murder at Portland's infamous Paranoid Park brings detectives to a local high school, propelling a young skater into a moral odyssey where he must not only deal with the pain and disconnect of adolescence but the consequences of his own actions. As director of My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, To Die For, and elephant, Gus Van Sant has created some of the most memorable films about youth ever committed to film. At the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, he was awarded the 60th Anniversary Prize for Paranoid Park, which is largely considered one of his finest films. Based on the novel by Blake Nelson, and photographed by the incomparable Christopher Doyle (In the Mood for Love; 2046), the film has captivated audiences worldwide, becoming a unanimous standout at the Cannes, New York, and Toronto Film Festivals.

TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE--R Alex Gibney's TAXI FROM THE DARK SIDE is a perpetually shocking documentary about the Bush administration's use of torture when dealing with political prisoners, with a particular focus on those captured in Iraq and Afghanistan. The title of Gibney's movie is derived from the treatment meted out to an Afghani taxi driver named Dilawar, who was mistakenly fingered as a terrorist, then killed during a torture session conducted by American troops. Despite the title, Dilawar's case is just a small part in Gibney's jigsaw, as the director uses excruciating and comprehensive details surrounding the taxi driver's death as a starting point in his search for the people who have permitted such incidents to occur. Gut-wrenching and fully uncensored pictures from Abu-Ghraib feature alongside interviews with military personnel (some of whom tortured Dilawar) as Gibney's search slowly heads into the upper echelons of the military and, ultimately, into the Bush regime itself. TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE is a powerful, well-executed piece of filmmaking. Gibney's skills as a director come to the fore as he manages to pull some surprisingly candid revelations from his subjects, while his choice of newsreel clips featuring the likes of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are extremely well chosen. Perhaps the most eye-opening scenes come from a press trip to the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay, where Gibney and others are given a tour of the facilities, including the site gift shop, where gallows humor is stretched to breaking point with the sale of souvenir T-shirts bearing the legend Behavior Modification Instructor. The film concludes with Gibney pulling the focus back to Dilawar once again, highlighting the futility of his death as a number of commentators show how torture isn't, and never has been, an effective method for extracting information from people.
THE BAND'S VISIT--PG-13 The Band's VisitIsraeli filmmaker Eran Kolirin's debut feature, THE BAND'S VISIT, is a subtle, heartfelt, and humane work that goes a long way toward dissolving the incredibly complex cultural divide that continues to plague the Middle East. When the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra flies from Egypt to Israel to perform at the opening of an Arab culture center, they are left stranded at the airport. Their leader, Tewfiq (Sasson Gabai), orders the handsome violinist, Khaled (Saleh Bakri), to solve their predicament, but it turns out that he's gotten the wrong information. By that time, it's too late. All eight members are left standing alone in a quiet desert town far from their intended destination with no way to get where they need to go. Tired, hungry, and confused, they find shelter at a restaurant run by the pretty but brash Dina (Ronit Elkabetz). It's clear that Dina is bored with her lonely life, so she talks Tewfiq into letting the band stay over for the night: he and Khaled will stay with her, and the others will be put up at the home of Itzik (Rubi Moscovich). Over the course of the night, Tewfiq and Dina bond, Khaled helps a hapless local discover his inner Romeo, and the other band members find themselves caught up in a domestic situation that is less than perfect. Kolirin perfectly navigates his film's slice-of-life tone, blending comedy and drama and poignancy without ever succumbing to one completely. In the wrong hands, this material could turn into a quirk-fest that parodies everyday life. Yet under Kolirin's assured command, it becomes something that feels like life itself. THE BAND'S VISIT, a winner at film festivals around the world, is funny, lonely, inspiring, sad, and beautiful all at once. OTHER STUFF: I'M NOT AN ATHLETIC SUPPORTER I suck at sports. Always have. My brother was the athlete. He could do any kind of sports without so much as a thought. As we zoom toward 50 years old, he still plays soccer every week and weighs the same as he did in high school. Pisses me right off. Physical Education was the ninth circle of hell for me as a kid in school. I had the misfortune of being big. Naturally that meant I was supposed to be good at sports. "You should play basketball. You got the size for it." My favorite answer to that was, "You should play miniature golf. You got the size for it." My workmate Jeff also had trouble with the athletic assumptions, since he is also big and tall. Now add to this equation his heritage, which is divided between Sudan and Holland, and the fun really begins. So he endures socially accepted unspoken racism: "You should play basketball." (Ya got the colour for it.) Sure, no one comes out and says it, but it's pretty transparent. Especially to him. You have to have a pretty thick skin of you're going to be Dutch-American and live in the Northwest. Last year's Oscar winning title THERE WILL BE BLOOD could apply to my experience as a kid in Canada, when I was forced to play field hockey. For a number of us, the sport wasn't about winning or losing the game. It was about getting out of having to play. Our favorite trick was exploiting the frowned-upon practice of high-sticking. It's imperative to get caught with your hockey stick above your knees a couple times before whacking another kid with the stick. Make sure the other kid is complicit so he will yelp and fall to the ground in contrived agony thereby allowing both of you to sit the rest of the period out. The teacher eventually figured out what we were up to when he saw us high five-ing after getting tossed out of the game. I was never much of a team player, which I hear is necessary in the sports world. That sports gene must have skipped over my DNA and looped into my brother's helix. I'm not making fun of those who do possess that gene. It's just that they seem as mystified by my apathy about sports as I am by their love of it. There are many times I wish I spoke that arcane parlance of Sports Talk. When attending the Ashland film festival, some of the rush lines were quite long. The conversations would start out with, "Nice day. Have you been to the film festival before?" But, after a couple hours of standing in line, the conversations had crossed into areas like, "How could she leave me? Where's the love? She even took the cat! What kind of person does that?" Somewhere between those two conversational mileposts, the topic of sports would come up. It struck me later that if I actually knew the Oakland Raiders was not a lawn bowling team, perhaps I could have avoided becoming the rush line therapist. Even as a motorcycle enthusiast, I tend to keep away from teams of bikers and events where the leathered cluster. Whereas my brother, a fellow motorcycle enthusiast, loves rallies and riding in packs. He's the sports guy, remember? One friend, a little older than me, expresses his disregard for my osteopathic health by trying to lure me into the world of vintage motocross racing. It's a lot of what I love: old motorcycles, speed, noise, fuel fumes, patching machines together with twist ties and feminine hygiene products to finish a race, etc. But, there's that "team" aspect. As much as I would enjoy the individual people in this sport, I think it would cease to be fun as soon as someone started telling me rules. "People could get hurt, ya know." I kinda thought that was the point. As a young person I would never have dreamed of street racing in my old muscle car (*winks*). I built the motor up and tricked out the transmission exclusively for the satisfaction of a mechanical job well done. Someone once suggested it would have been good fun to be involved in a speed contest where the only rule is not endangering the civilians. I heard this is why such speed competitions generally took place in remote areas, which would often involve long walks home when a U-joint yoke fragmented, dropping the driveline. Since the winner of such a hypothetical race would have been miles ahead by the time the other car limped to the side of the road, no one was around to offer a tow home. When I think of such things, I think this is the kind of sporting event that would have suited my mechanical disposition and lack of team player ethic. So here I am, moving into the last half of my life. My body seems hell-bent on proving that motor sports does not provide any more of a healthy workout than sinking 16-penny nails in one swing. I have always prided myself on being able to do hard physical labor--I've written about being a roofer and watching the athletes hired for a day of work lose their Gatorade before lunch, not used to our brand of construction work. But, now I pay for it. As I watch my 50ish friends run five miles a day or play sports with their every free moment, I have to start, once again, slowly rehabilitating my body from my last project. A health care professional once described what I do to my body being similar to what a weekend drunk does to their liver: they'll go all week without a drop of alcohol, then for two days slam their liver with a load of poison (booze). So now I try to do something every day, rather than spend two days doing taxes and office work, then heft a 125-pound sound head into place over my head without stretching first. Yes, I might have benefited from embracing some sport that would have provided me a lifetime of continuous activity, rather than my psychotic work ethic providing me a lifetime of binge working. As I titrate my physical activity upward, realizing there is little aerobic workout to come from shifting gears in a car, someone twice my age will jog by. They smile and wave. I'm sure they're being friendly, but when the pain in my side is screaming like Paris Hilton with a broken fingernail, it seems more like they are taunting me. Taunting me with the karma of a lifetime spent making fun of the athletic types, who've treated their muscles and bones like living tissue rather than like construction tools. Yeah, they may know the rush of winning a 10K marathon. But, have they felt the rush of a Chevy 427 hugging redline as the tires break lose with each gear shift? Try that in a Volvo, hippie. Like a retired coach watching a little league game, when a loud Harley or a '60s car with a V8 sporting a zesty exhaust note screams by, it reminds me that the one competition I did enjoy was turning gasoline into speed. My 1962 Impala rests its gas-hogging self in a storage unit--not unlike a coach's team football rests on a mantle in a den. So, as I get things in order for the third act of my life, I move lumber one piece at a time rather than carrying seven sticks of eight-foot 2x6s on my shoulder in one leap. Maybe if I had been more athletic, I would have started respecting my body earlier. However, I am grateful I never embraced bicycle shorts. No matter the degree of the observer's heterosexuality, their eyes are drawn to the stunningly articulated intersection between the wearer's legs. I'm sure these shorts serve some other function other than to publicly display--without fear of prosecution--evidence of one's religion and/or affinity for personal piercing. I'm not sports-oriented enough to view such shorts as athletic enhancements. Instead my business mind kicks in and I see people who sport such shorts as a market for prosthetics. "Oh, they look lovely on you! And what a great fit. Here. Put this chewing tobacco can in your back pocket. The girls will think it's a condom made just to fit you! Fabulous!" I still suck at sports, but I look great in my (baggy) shorts. As always, thanks for your continued support! Remember what happened to the Whiteside. Paul "The Avalon Guy" Turner President (and now Author!) of the "Prancing Lavender Bunnies"  

Darkside Cinema
215 SW 4th
Corvallis, OR 97333
Darkside Cinema website
541·752·4161

Week of April 22nd, 2008

BOMBS AWAY CAFE
* 2527 NW MONROE AVE (757-7221)*
www.bombsawaycafe.com <http://www.bombsawaycafe.com>
This Wednesday, the 23rd, Corvallis musician Evan Churchill plays a selection of original and cover songs. Though he plays regularly with his band Break As We Fall, this is a solo show for Evan. FREE, 7:30, ALL AGES.
Thursday, the 24th, acoustic/pop duo Storyhill performs. They began in Bozeman, MT, where Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson grew up and started performing together as teenagers. They have been through Corvallis on many occasions and always play to a packed house. Don’t miss them! $12, 8:30. www.storyhill.com <http://www.storyhill.com>
This Friday, the 25th, Seattle’s Das Vibenbass stops on their West Coast tour. This quartet continues to amaze audiences with their precise, uncompromising timbre. Geoff Larson and JC Bockman structure the groups prime sensibility with flooding bass and raucous drums, respectively. Josh Clifford lends his versatile tenor saxophone to passages that require both ferocity and elegance, while Justin Sorensen assertively haunts the sound with his contemporary approach on the vibraphone.
They are joined by Eugene’s Disco Organica. DO plays positive music drawing from a range of influences - a fusion of trip-hop, jazz, funk, soul, blues, drum'n'bass, and R&B. Always up for exploring grooves and improvising, Their tunes meld genres and span styles from mellow, down-tempo jazz numbers to energetic schizo-funk, that is sometimes aggressive and always danceable. $5, 10:00, 21+.
www.myspace.com/dasvibenbass
Saturday, April 26th, Cassandra Robertson extends
her string of local performances. She has been described as “deep inspiration meets ruckus revolution.” Blending folk/rock/ country and bluegrass effortlessly, Cassandra offers a refreshing departure from traditional sorrowful folk music tales. Her music carries a truly positive message and soul rocking experience. Joining Cassandra will be Brian Bucolo on drums and Mark Lynch on electric bass. 9:30, $5 www.cassandrarobertson.com

*PEACOCK BAR AND GRILL *
* 125 SW 2ND ST (754-8522)*
www.myspace.com/peacockbargrill
Karaoke is offered every night with KJ Sqwig-e-okie at the helm.
Look for Johnny Dark and the Wondertones on Wednesday nights at the Peacock. Karaoke following tight on the heels of their rockin’.
The Peacock doesn’t have any music scheduled until May 10th, when they host Celtic/Funk band Bazil Rathbone.
In case you missed it, The Peacock did host international pop sensation Gunther last Sunday. He played to a sold out crowd and followed his performance with a chance for his most loyal fans to meet him one on one.
The Alchemist wants to know if any of its readers got the opporunity to meet Gunther and what you asked him. Or do you just want to recall the experience of seeing him perform? Email us your story at gunther@corvalchemist.com

CLUB PLATINUM
* 126 SW 4TH ST. (738-6996)*
www.platinumvenue.com
Tuesday, April 22nd - Patches will be in the house hosting Karaoke! Come out and display your skills at Platinum every Tuesday night. Patches starts his show at 9 PM. Don't forget we got $1 beers all night every night at Platinum as well as 3 Beer Pong Tables for your gaming enjoyment.
Wednesday, April 23rd brings you another Wild West Wednesday featuring DJ Scuba Scribble on the turn tables. Come out and dance to Chart-Topping Country Hits all night long. Don't forget we got $1 beers all night every night at Platinum as well as 3 Beer Pong Tables for your gaming enjoyment. Also, if Texas Hold'Em is your game don't miss the tournament every Wednesday at 6:30PM.
Thursday, April 24th is Ladies Night featuring DJ Hes on the turn tables. Ladies you get in free until 11PM so show up early to get your party on. Ladies night starts at 9PM and beer pong tables are out on the floor until 11PM. "Platinum's own DJ Hes lays it down each Thursday with the best in Chart-Topping Hip-Hop. Don't miss Thursday Night ' cause we got tha joint!"
Friday, April 25th is LATIN XPLOSION night! Come dance to booty shaking Latin hits all night long!! Music starts at 9PM $4 Cover
Saturday April 19th is "The Juice" featuring DJ Will on the turn tables. Come get your dance on as DJ Will brings his fresh brand of hip-hop mashups to Club Platinum. No cover until 11PM and $1 beers all night long!! Also, if Texas Hold'Em is your game don't miss the tournament every Saturday at 6:30PM.
www.myspace.com/platinumvenue

SAHALIE WINE BAR
AND RESTAURANT
* 151 NW MONROE ST. (754-7457)*
www.sahaliewine.com <http://www.sahaliewine.com>
On Friday April 25th, the Joe Manis Trio plays Sahalie.
Saxophonist Joe Manis received a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of Oregon in Eugene in 2005. He received a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies-Performance with Academic Honor from the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA in 2007. Manis attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY in 2005. Manis has played with Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited and appears on their album Rise Up! on Real World Records. He currently shouts background vocals and plays alto saxophone with the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and appears on their album Susquehanna, playing baritone saxophone. Manis has also played with the Ken Schaphorst Big Band featuring trombonist Andre Hayward of The Temptations.
This Saturday, the 26th, local Wild Hog in Woods returns to the stage. Wild Hog in the Woods is an Oregon stringband that plays a wild mix of old-time, swing, sleaze-jazz, ragtime, blues and tin-pan alley tunes with honest verve and gusto. The sheer fun that these guys have playing the tunes that they love is infectious. Their motto, “Nobody leaves without a grin” keeps people coming back for more. They play an armada of fine instruments with fresh abandonment true to their music.
Sahalie’s menu is based around fresh, simple, and unprocessed foods, meant to highlight the abundance of quality, healthful ingredients available to us in the Willamette Valley.
They use only organic vegetables, fruit, dairy, and eggs, and as organic and locally grown as possible for everything else. These offerings are meant to be shared with wine, friends, and conversation. Enjoy!

*OTHER EVENTS IN CORVALLIS
THIS WEEK:
Big River
*4.25 - Gumbo
4.26 - Gordon Neil Herman Trio*
Beanery
*4.25 – Trio Manouche, 8 pm
4.26 – Acoustic Showcase, 8 pm*
Book Bin
*4.26 - Sharon Thormahlen, Musical Watercolors on Harp, 1-2 pm*
Cloud 9
*4.24 - turntable enabler, 10 pm
4.25 – dj sierra, 10 pm*
Firework’s
*4.24 - Poetry Slam, 9 pm
4.25 - Jesse Meade, 8 pm
4.26 - The Jones Brothers’ School of Cool, 8 pm*
Squirrel’s
*4.26 - People’s Front – funk/reggae, $3, 9 pm*
*

*It’s not you. It’s me...calendar@corvalchemist.com*
 

The candidates running for the open Ward 7 seat on the Corvallis City Council. One, an insurance salesman, Rick Schroff, is the pick of downtown developers who are hoping his first act will be to betray his constituents and saddle them with the $1000.00 tax increase associated with the developers' plans to shed their own tax responsibilities for the foreseeable future ( see here). The developers want the entire swath of the city from Michael's Landing to the condos and the skate park, to the soccer fields of Willamette Park, declared "urban blight" and placed in their hands, with their own taxes repealed so they can instead devote their funds to developing, using "eminent domain" to seize the properties of others to further their plans. They are betting money that Schroff will be the same stooge for them that his predecessor, the right wing extremist, Scott Zimbrick, was. The scam has launched a planning committee for a boycott of downtown developers planning it. Schroff's opponent, Jeanne Raymond, is one of a handful of women in this town who have borne the brunt of civic involvement of the years. Those with fortunes, like the late Alma Pastega, have given unceasingly for every community issue. Those without fortunes, like Jeanne Raymond, have given every inch of themselves. We would all be poorer without them. And we would all be richer, in more than one way, if Jeanne Raymond were on the Council.

Greg Oden is simply not the type to dwell on the misfortune of his first season in the NBA. The perpetually positive 7-footer is looking ahead. "I'm just antsy, you know, to compete. To get out there and to be able to win a game, I miss that feeling," he said. Oden's rookie season was iced before it even started when he had microfracture surgery on his right knee last September. The procedure is designed to stimulate cartilage growth by drilling tiny holes in the bone. Recovery time can take six months or more, and the Blazers exercised caution. He would sit out the season. The news stunned Oden, not to mention the fans who had hailed the big man as the team's savior. Oden was the crowning piece of a rebuilding effort that had taken Portland from the "Jail Blazers" of years past to the NBA's comeback franchise. The Trail Blazers had shed players like Rasheed Wallace and Bonzi Wells, hired disciplinarian coach Nate McMillan and brought in young talent - like guard Brandon Roy and forward LaMarcus Aldridge - placing an emphasis on character. After going 32-50 last season, the Blazers beat the odds and landed the No. 1 pick in the June draft. There was much speculation about whether Portland would go with Oden, who played at Ohio State, or Kevin Durant out of Texas when fans filled the Rose Garden Arena for draft night. When the selection was announced, the crowd rushed to center court and chanted "O-den! O-den!" Oden averaged 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds in his only season at Ohio State, despite being hampered by a wrist injury. He led the Buckeyes to the national championship game, scoring 25 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the loss to Florida. Before that, he was the 2006 Naismith prep player of the year - as well as homecoming king - at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. He was introduced to the city at a rainy rally in downtown Portland. The turnout was big and enthusiastic, leading many to proclaim the return of Rip City, a term for the city and its fervent fans after the 1976-77 Blazers won the NBA championship. Oden played in a few summer games but offered only a brief glimpse of the future before he needed a tonsillectomy. Then came the jolting news about his rookie season. After surgery, Oden went into the first phase of rehab - lying around for eight hours a day with a machine on his leg that manipulated his knee. It was tedious, so Oden watched "a lot of movies. A LOT of movies." And he got a puppy, a beagle-Boston terrier mix, and named him Charles Barkley McLovin'. "The funny thing is, I'm trying to walk him to the mall with the leash," he said. "Don't go to the mall on crutches." After a while, Oden got off the crutches and started working out in the pool. And he took on an increased role as the future face of the Blazers. Throughout the season, he was a looming presence on the bench at home games and on many road trips. In the pregame videoboard introduction of the team, his face was right there with Roy, Aldridge and the rest of his teammates. In his downtime, Oden whiled away the time by blogging. He turned 20. He endorsed Barack Obama. He launched Team Oden, a mentoring project for young people. And he has continued his workouts. Now he's even able to do a little shooting. "His knee feels good. His knee looks good," Blazers trainer Jay Jensen said. "But again, we're going really slow with him. We're elongating this process." Recently, Oden went to a 24-Hour Fitness near his home and played a pickup game. He even dunked a few, although he said the rims were only at 9 feet. Word spread quickly on the Internet and made its way back to the Blazers, who weren't pleased. Oden got a phone call from McMillan scolding him. "It was one of those things where he got excited and wanted to shoot some hoops, I guess. You can't do that, though," McMillan said. "He's a young man and he wants to be the same young man that came here, and he's not. There's a huge value on him. He wants to do some of the same things he probably did a couple of years ago, and there's certain things you can't do as a professional athlete, a lottery pick, a franchise player. "He's aware of that now and he understands that. And I don't think that it will happen again." Oden said the ill-conceived game was a lighter workout than he gets with the Blazers. He's admittedly in no shape to play. "Right now I can't go. I'm not ready to cut," he said. "I still have to get both my legs evenly strong. Right now, one leg's stronger than the other, I'm favoring my left knee more." While Oden has been rehabbing, the Blazers have carried along surprisingly well considering that many wrote their season off. The NBA's youngest team finished 41-41, buoyed by a 13-game winning streak in December. Roy was named to the All-Star team in just his second season, and Aldridge is considered a candidate for Most Improved Player. Oden, quick to joke and often sporting a toothy grin, has few laments. And they don't often center on his knee or what his own achievements might have been this season. "It's more about being around the team and just bonding with the guys at my standpoint, because I'm new coming in, so really not a lot of them knew me. I get injured, and it's like they go on the road trips and I'm staying home recovering," he said. "You just want to get that time to bond with those guys and be a part of this team - even though I am, and they treat me like I am - but really, I'm not going through everything that they went through. I haven't played a game." He'll get to do that next season.