Continuing a week in which he had already made front-page news twice, former Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt today made it snow throughout the northern half of the state.

Just a day after announcing that he was heading an investor group that will buy Portland General Electric from Enron, Goldschmidt worked quietly behind the scenes to cause a major alteration in the region's weather.

"Last night it was 60 degrees in Portland," Goldschmidt told a news conference. "We didn't think that was a good situation. But today we are very excited to have independent, locally based snow on the ground, with the backing of strong northerly winds. We believe it is a solution that will work for homeowners, businesses, snow removal crews, and the ski areas."

The snow came less than a week after Goldschmidt was named as the new chair of the state Board of Higher Education. "Already we're seeing results on all our college campuses," said current Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who appointed his predecessor to the new post. "Students were all enthused today about the possibility of their classes being cancelled due to the weather."

The latest developments were greeted with suspicion by Portland City Commissioner Erik Sten, who had been working for months on an ice storm. "The jury's still out on this," Sten told reporters. "If this snow doesn't stick, we'll be right back in there with our ice proposal. It's very feasible." So far the city's initiative has cost taxpayers nearly $1 million.

Goldschmidt served as governor from 1987-1991. He was also former U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Jimmy Carter and the former mayor of Portland. More recently, he has worked diligently on becoming very rich.