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October 30, 2009
Paulson puts kibosh on Beaverton Beavers
This just in: Portland Beavers owner Merritt "Son of TARPman" Paulson has pulled out of his proposed deal with Beaverton for a minor-league baseball stadium. His explanation: There isn't enough time to get a stadium built there by 2011.
As explanations go, this is pretty unexplanatory: That would have been a tight timetable to get a Beaverton stadium done in any case, and it's not like any other cities are further ahead with their stadium plans. More likely: All the Beaverton city council members hating on the plan, combined with behind-the-scenes talks with other cities, caused Paulson to figure he'd be better off putting his money on another horse, whatever that may be.
Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard told the Portland Business Journal that the news doesn't threaten Portland's agreement to renovate PGE Park to be soccer-only for Paulson's Timbers. Which is exactly the opposite of what Paulson said two weeks ago, but then this is a guy whose lines in the sand change every other week.
