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I’VE BUILT THIS MONTH’S column out of a house of cards and it’s only a matter of time before the bubble bursts.

Chris Sherland recognizes trouble when he sees it. “It’s a weak year for the retail industry.”

Readers rate their top concerns

YOU REMEMBER THE FEELING from when you were a kid: Just past the top of the highest point of the track, the roller-coaster car falls away, taking the pit of your stomach with it.

Sometimes honesty pays. Midway through his public-funding pitch to a committee of angel investors, Peter Hixson described his company as “a three-man baseball team,” then shrugged and said, “I have no experience with taking a company from $1 million to $5 million.”

AT THE CURRENT RATE of about 3,000 square nautical miles a year, it will take the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration more than 160 years to accurately survey the country’s 500,000 square nautical miles of vital commercial waters.

JOBS OUTNUMBER RESIDENT workers in Hood River County because of a large agricultural base and summer and winter recreation.

Despite a potentially devastating year for wine grape growing because of erratic weather, early word from Oregon vineyards is that the 2008 crop is shaping up to be better than expected.