Even as big companies are moving their pension funds out of stocks, state governments are chasing higher returns by making riskier investments.

Tossing high-fructose corn syrup [HFCS] off ingredient lists may well have more to do with marketing than science. A sweetener made from cornstarch processed with enzymes and acids, HFCS has roughly the same composition as cane sugar—about half glucose and half fructose—and the same number of calories. Concerns that it’s directly responsible for rising obesity rates or somehow intrinsically more fat-inducing than sugar are largely unfounded, though researchers continue to study whether the body handles HFCS differently.

[Board member Dilafruz] Williams said the resolution didn’t include enough detail about the focus schools, and she wasn’t convinced that the district needed 1,350 students to offer the core program. She also said that the board was [previously] given recommended numbers for creating K-8 schools, but few of them ultimately met the enrollment standard.

“I am just concerned and tired of programmatic and structural change in Portland Public Schools,” she said. “I’m a skeptic about us fulfilling promises that we have not fulfilled to this community time and time again.”

This is very sad.  Treasurer Ben Westlund was always willing to take part in a number of youth get-out-the-vote events I worked on.

I’m almost starting to feel sorry for all these self-hating, closeted gay Republicans. Almost.

Wow.

Portland Fire Commissioner Randy Leonard said Tuesday that he has accepted the arbitrator’s ruling, a move that angered Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman. Saltzman said Leonard’s actions will set a dangerous precedent and hamper the city’s ability to fight other pending grievances and civil lawsuits.