Happy Friday! The big news of the week was, of course, the sale of part of Stumptown to TSG, a private equity firm. Other than that, it was a fairly slow week as far as coffee news is concerned. We had to dig deep to find some interesting links (thanks, Google).

Here are this week’s links:

Stumptown’s Duane Sorenson wrote a letter to employees and associates about the investment by TSG. He comes across as very optimistic about the future of the company. I hope it turns out as well as he hopes. link

Oliver Strand (NY Times) keeps poking around, looking for more information about the Stumptown sale to TSG. link

Would you eat caffeinated popcorn? Why the hell would anyone eat caffeinated popcorn? link

Coffee doesn’t seem to shorten the lives of female nurses with heart disease, according to a recent study. link

Baristas at drive-thru coffee stands around Bend, Oregon, are breathing easier this week, after police arrested a 68 year-old man with a problem keeping his pants on…or something like that. link

Starbucks will soon be opening a new store in Portland’s Pearl District that will offer beer and wine in the afternoons and evenings. The company is trying to ramp up its late-day sales and plans to offer local brews from Rogue, Widmer and Deschutes. link

Good news for coffee-drinking expats in China, I guess. The big green apron wants to increase the number of stores from 400 to 1500 in the next four years. link

For those of you who will be in Seattle the next couple weeks, be sure to check out the Northwest Coffee Festival’s Coffee Crawl. It is a big celebration of the city’s great coffee. link

Hearing voices in your head? You might be drinking too much coffee…(so that’s where they’re coming from…) link

And finally, a photo from around town:

This guy's ready for summer!

Have a good weekend!