Last week the daily went to bat for Big Brother, decrying Oregon's first two doctor-assisted suicides. The paper, which vehemently opposed the ballot measure allowing such suicides, questioned whether the two deaths were really as quick and painless as family members, doctors and euthanasia advocates claimed. Though many Oregonians were disturbed by the call for public oversight of what is perhaps the most private act, WW has learned that the O's editors want to carry this logic to another activity that takes place in bed. In the past few years, several local governments, including the City of Portland, have extended health benefits to domestic partners of public employees. Since there is no marriage license, the city simply takes the word of employees that the person they live with is more than just a roommate.
Oregonian editors are outraged.
People should be aware of every relationship, not just those domestic partnership advocates are proud to announce. The local graphic artist was set to sign a contract with Hallmark Cards when a political cartoon predicting Clinton's demise found its way to the company's corporate offices in Kansas City. The cardmaker apparently had confused Wuerker with another prominent Northwest cartoonist, Matt Groening, and was shocked to learn that Wuerker's portfolio doesn't include a single adorable adolescent on a skateboard. If you haven't already received a notice from the Central Library warning you to pay up your overdue fines, don't worry, you will. Director Ginnie Cooper has made a list and is checking it twice, but she's kept the record of library delinquents as secretive as a cop shop internal investigation report.