The Wandering Eye

Bloggers, pundits and just ordinary folks are still scratching their heads trying to make some sense out of remarks Gordon Smith made last week during a panel discussion in Washington on partnership rights.

The Eye became curious about those anti-union ads that have been showing up on local TV lately, so we Googled around a bit to find out who or what was behind them.

Central Oregon LandWatch has won a legal victory that it says weakens the case for allowing development in part of Skyline Forest in exchange for protecting the rest of it.

For the record, Gordon Smith is neither a Duck nor a Beaver - he graduated from Brigham Young. But his campaign is using a typeface that sure as hell looks like the one the University of Oregon Ducks use.

Gordon Smith is tacking hard toward the center as he seeks his third senatorial term from increasingly blue Oregon, and that has at least some of the state's Republicans grumbling.

Greg Walden and Peter DeFazio have been ripping into each other lately over timber payments, but they're united across party lines in their appreciation of a good beer.

The Eye was watching the local news on KTVZ one night last week when an ad for something called "Tuscany Pines" came on. We had to rub our eyes (and ears).

Gov. Ted Kulongoski rode a bicycle from the governor's mansion to the state capitol Monday to encourage people to seek alternatives to car commuting, but the feat didn't impress The Oregonian's editorial writers much.

Bend has earned a high spot on a national list again, although this time it's an honor that we probably would just as soon pass up.

Sen. Ron Wyden, one of Oregon's superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention, announced his support for Barack Obama today - a day after Obama had clinched the nomination.