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Corrections In last week's cover story, "The Legacy of Lil Smurf," we incorrectly reported that Anthony Branch Jr. forced another teen, Ricky Coley, to shoot a third teen in the face. In fact, according to a police report, Coley confessed to firing shots at the teen, but the bullets did not hit him. In a story about Washington County District Attorney Scott Upham ("Upham's Comeuppance," WW, Dec. 10, 1997), Kevin Hunt was described as an expert witness. In fact, Hunt is a lawyer practicing in Oregon City. WW regrets the errors.
Tickle-Me Intel Thousands of Portland kids could be getting a Christmas toy that's not available at Finnegan's, Freddy's or even Toys 'R' Us. Intel spokesman Bill Calder says 200,000 Intel employees ordered the company's newest product--BunnyPeople dolls. No, Intel isn't getting out of the microchip market. Rather, plastic replications of its TV and print ad character--a microchip worker in a technician's "bunny" suit--have struck a chord with employees. Though real-life factory workers wear white garb, the dolls are decked out in your choice of violet, yellow or pink jumpsuit. Using a toy manufacturer in China (Calder says the company is following all the minimum-wage rules and regulations), Intel manufactured about 75,000 BunnyPeople dolls in September to promote the release of its Pentium II chip. It's not quite up there with Tickle-Me Elmo, but employees started clamoring for the dolls, and Intel ordered about 350,000 more. "We realized it was a hot item," Calder says. The $5.99 dolls are on sale at Intel, on line and at Comp USA, a national computer store. A salesman at the Tigard Comp USA says his store sold out of the Intel dolls three weeks ago and has 150 more on order. "It wasn't only Intel employees buying the dolls," he says. "I think a lot of kids will get them for Christmas." --JF CARAT Stew If you tucked a ring under the Christmas tree for your sweetheart, you might want to stuff a magnifying glass in her stocking, at least if you bought your jewelry from Fred Meyer. Last month, the local chain advertised diamond and ruby rings at a price that seemed too good to be true. As it turns out, it was. Just ask Marva Hone of North Portland. In November, Hone bought a ruby ring set in a 14-carat gold band, which Freddy's had advertised for $49. But when she got home and put a magnifying glass to the band, she saw that the gold was marked 10-carat. She then checked her receipt, which also said she'd paid for a 10-carat ring. Hone promptly took the ring back to the Jantzen Beach Fred Meyer where she bought it. Hone says the manager of the store told her there had been an "advertising mistake." The ad should have said 10-carat ring, he explained. No 14-carat version of the ring existed. Hone decided to buy a different ring at a higher price. Fred Meyer spokesman Rob Boley says the newspaper typo was an honest mistake, and the company sent out an e-mail to its jewelry shops to post signs alerting customers to the mistake. Boley says only one other customer complaint was registered. Hone, however, worries that she wasn't the only shopper who wasn't warned about the ad gaffe. She also worries that other shoppers won't bother to check the bands as carefully as she did. "What I want to know," says Hone, "is how many people out there bought the wrong ring." --JF
Follow-up:
BARKING for Justice To dramatize Oregon's discrimination against adoptees, advocates for open adoption records have recruited a mascot: Max the golden retriever. Their point? Dogs know more about their pedigrees than adoptees do in Oregon. Helen Hill, chief petitioner for Initiative 46, brought Max to a signature-gathering candle vigil at Pioneer Courthouse Square on Saturday evening. If passed, Initiative 46 would reverse a 1957 law that called for the permanent sealing of adoptees' birth certificates. Currently, people who were adopted as children can see only the amended document that was created at the time of the adoption. The originals are sealed away by the state and accessible only by court order. Initiative 46 would let adoptees see the original at age 21 ("State Secrets," WW, Oct.15, 1997). Hill says she rarely gets a refusal when she asks people to sign her petition. It's the civil-rights angle that gets them, she says. After she explains that adoptees are the only population that are denied access to their birth certificates, "time and time again I see a light go on," she says. "It shocks people's sensibilities when they find out that adoptees don't have the same rights as they do." Meanwhile, there has been little word from the people who have vowed to fight the initiative: Catholic Charities. While they could be waiting to see if the initiative qualifies, Catholic activists may be rethinking their tactics after failing to stop the passage of Oregon's assisted-suicide measure last month.
For more information on Initiative 46 check out www.plumsite.com/oregon/ --PW |
