Bring the Green, it's Black Friday.

The line at the Hollywood Fred Meyer was growing at 4am when I stopped by. There seemed to be a lot of first timers. They had never stayed up all night to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. They were all taking it in stride (some were a little crabby--like the 13 year old who wanted to be in bed).  You can always tell the veteran shoppers, because they've got chairs, warm blankets over them and a long list in their hands. Either way, it seemed everybody had socks on their list of things to get at Fred Meyer. That's a big hook for the store chain. Aside from that, video games and TVs topped the agenda. One man asked me what I wanted for Christmas and said he could be my Santa.  I thought that was a good time for me to leave. I got my latte at the nearby Starbucks and was on my way. Happy Shopping everyone!

Rebecca Marshall

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm spending mine here at KXL, which isn't as bad as it seems.  Jim Ferretti and I have provided a feast for all the holiday workers here (which isn't many) and we will get a lot of work done with the office so quiet!
How do you spend your Thanksgiving?  More and more people have to work on the holiday...I was surprised this morning how busy the gym and Fred Meyer were.  Not to mention of course all the stores that will be open tonight for early black Friday shopping.
For many of us, Thanksgiving is just a day like any other, except there is a large meal involved.  But no matter what you do or how you spend your day, I hope you enjoy your family and friends and are able to give thanks for the things in your life.  Happy Thanksgiving from Lacey and the whole KXL staff!

Enthusiasm Will Take You Far!

After watching boy's basketball practice at the Heritage high school gym in Vancouver it's clear the team is eager to play for, learn from, and impress their new coach.

I was at Heritage for my story on coach Forbes Lapp.  You'll hear it on FM News 101 Monday. 

Lapp is starting his 54th season coaching basketball.    Lapp won city championships in New York city twice along with 2 state championships for La Center high school.

I asked some of the Heritage team what they thought of their new coach. (Lapp wasn't around to hear any of it)  They bragged about his record and basketball knowledge. They also are aware that coach puts up with no nonsense.

As they spoke and while they practiced they seemed to be saying they're ready to start a fire on the court.   They have me convinced.  Their first game is Monday night.

-Steve Leader

Am I in the wrong business?

The Oregonian has obtained a list of the highest PERS recipients in the state. Topping the list is former University of Oregon football coach Mike Bellotti. He was part of a top tier system that still allows him to collect more than $41,000 per month. He's not the only big earner. Director of OHSU's Dotter Institute Frederick Keller gets more than $31,000 a month from PERS. Lesley Hallick, OHSU's first University Provost, gets almost $24,000 per month. Steven Goldschmidt (Neil Goldschmidt's brother) gets more than $21.000 a month from PERS. He used to be the director of human resources for Portland Public Schools. About 837 people get more than $100,000 a year from PERS.

A lot of state workers say they paid into the system and they deserve to get their pensions.  Bellotti responded to the Oregonian story by saying: "Put in all the taxes I've paid to the state of Oregon."

Still, we have to ask: "How's YOUR 401K doing this morning?"

Superman---Can you help the Super Committee?

Chances are SLIM that the debt Super Committee will come to an agreement a spending reduction plan. That's what the Republican co-chair on the committee is saying. They have until Wednesday to come up with a plan to cut 1.2 trillion dollars over 10 years.

Democratic Co-Chair Patty Murray from Washington says they have made some progress but the sticking point is raising taxes. Republicans don't want to do that. Democrats are holding out on making cuts to things like Medicare.

The Super Committee technically needs to come up with a plan today so it can be drafted by the Wednesday deadline. What happens if it doesn't? Our political analyst Jim Moore says it's kind of a bogus deadline. We'll hear more from him about this, and about the impact this will have on Congress' already-low approval rating. That's on Portland's morning news. You can also catch his podcast later this morning on KXL.COM.

Christmas Tree or Holiday Tree?

Tis the season where cities across the country put up a symbol of the Christmas season and draw a lot of controversy.  We're talking about the tree.  Portland has one every year in Pioneer Courthouse Square.  This year, they are officially calling it a Christmas tree.  The lighting ceremony is set for the day after Thanksgiving.  Today in Gresham, city crews started stringing lights on it's Christmas tree.  Again, that wording is from an official press release.  But in Beaverton, it's simply called the Tree Lighting Ceremony and Holiday Open House.  What do you think about this?  Some people get very upset when it's called a Holiday Tree, they think it is too politically correct.  What do you call the tree?  What if you don't celebrate Christmas?  According to Wikipedia, the Christmas tree is also known as a Yule tree.  Maybe we should go back to using that and avoid this whole mess together.
--Lacey