[web2py] DAL query - GAE & local

[ram]

This  following code segment displays the first row from the table in
the view correctly when run using ./web2py. It returns None when run
in GAE development environment. What's wrong with this code?

Controller:
def print_status():
    row = db().select(db.Statuses.ALL).first()
    return dict(message=row)

in the view, I have the default code:
{{extend 'layout.html'}}
<h1>This is the default/test_db.html template</h1>
{{=BEAUTIFY(response._vars)}}

Thanks in advance