Pirates of the Willamette.

BY WW EDITORIAL STAFF

It's well established that ripping off other people's copyrights and patents constitutes a major industry in China. How ironic, then, that a Chinese court recently slapped Beaverton-based Nike and Portland-headquartered ad agency Wieden & Kennedy for that very sin. A court in Beijing ruled that a Nike campaign featuring sporty stick figures, developed by WK's Amsterdam office, plagiarized the work of a Chinese artist. The court ordered Nike to pay about $36,000 in damages and apologize--and never mind the millions in fakeola Air Jordans produced in the People's Republic each year. In a prepared statement, Nike maintained that the Chinese artist did NOT invent the stick man and said it is considering an appeal to the Beijing High People's Court. Wieden & Kennedy declined to comment.

When light rail came to North Portland last year, some thought the nonprofit Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, which operates a theater, art galleries and a dance studio in a historic firehouse on North Interstate Avenue, would become a cultural engine for NoPo. Instead, the 23-year-old institution is in serious trouble. Partially funded by the city to the tune of roughly $90,000 a year, the Center is in deep financial straits, which some attribute to management problems. To get it over this hump, it's seeking a city bailout of about $100,000--not the likeliest prospect.

It's true: Stuffing your face can help tsunami victims. Many local restaurants have added charity donations for ravaged Southeast Asian communities to their menus this month. On selected nights through mid-February, dinner club ripe (235-2294) is opening up its Family Supper cash bowl, donating all proceeds to local relief heroes Mercy Corps. Karjit Singh, the owner and chef of Gandhi's East Indian Cafe (827 SW 2nd Ave.) is donating his entire profits for the week up to Friday, Jan. 14. Kells Irish Pub (112 SW 2nd Ave.) will donate all of its Friday proceeds to Northwest Medical Teams and Mercy Corps. Today only, Beaverton's Thailand Restaurant (15915 NW Schendel Ave.) has pledged to donate every cent of its lunch proceeds to relief efforts. Bon appétit!

On Monday, a North Portland man lost his long battle to adopt a boy when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to strike down Florida's gay-adoption ban. Steven Lofton, a former Miami Beach resident who became a foster parent to an HIV-positive boy nobody wanted in 1991, filed a lawsuit five years ago after his bid to adopt was blocked.

Last week's story on cop grumbling over a new Police Bureau policy curbing paid leave for officers involved in shootings ("Blue Battle Brewing") sparked an internal response from Chief Derrick Foxworth. In a Jan. 7 memo to every Portland cop, he said "the article misrepresented many items in regard to this issue." His only example was to maintain that responsibility for the policy lies with him and not, as the article stated, Assistant Chief Stanley Grubbs.

Fans of Portland's bestselling musician Art Alexakis have a new trivia source: federal court records. Last week, the leader of the alt-rock band Everclear filed for bankruptcy in a California court. The docs show Alexakis' debts topping $3 million, with a hefty $2.75 million owed to the IRS for back taxes. What's perhaps a bit scary is that these days anyone can register on Pacer, the online federal court website, and, for a small fee, read the details of his plight for themselves. Alexakis has yet to submit a list of his assets to the court; when he does, we're betting there will be a lot of boxes of unsold Everclear CDs somewhere in there.

Originally published on WEDNESDAY, 1/12/2005
newsdesk at wweek.com