Too sexy by far.

[November 5th, 2003] * A intriguing mini-drama continues to linger in the wings at the Portland Police Bureau : What will happen to one of the Rose City's best-known cops, C.W. Jensen ? The former bureau spokesman irked his colleagues by going out on medical disability four years ago--thus stalling an Internal Affairs probe into an alleged false claim by Jensen for reimbursements. Then he ruffled more feathers by taking a job with KGW as a crime reporter. Now he wants to return to the Bureau, which restarts the false-claim inquiry. Sources say the IA probe is complete and awaits a final decision. He's a friend of new Chief Derrick Foxworth , so cops are watching closely. Meanwhile, Jensen waits in administrative-leave limbo, staying home on full pay.

* People talk about a rock and a hard place , but Metro Councilor Rod Park is somewhere else: between a Bragdon and a Bragdon. The regional agency's east-county representative is considering running for the state Senate to fill the seat being vacated by Republican John Minnis . Park says his dilemma is that his pal Metro president David Bragdon would like him to stay where he is, while David's older brother, Peter , who is Gov. Ted Kulongoski's chief of staff, would like the moderate Democrat to go for a seat that could give the D's control of the Senate. Says Park, "I'm feeling like a Bragdon wishbone ."

* Another development over at Park's place: Kulongoski , who created the open Senate seat by offering Minnis an administrative job, met with the Metro councilor Friday to make his pitch. Clearly, Kulongoski, unlike predecessor John Kitzhaber, is taking an active role in reclaiming the state Senate for the dems.

* Last week Oregon's Democratic U.S. Senator, Ron Wyden, provided President George Bush with a bill that will cut public input while allowing increased logging of old-growth timber on federal land. The move drew kudos from columnist David Reinhard for snubbing what the O's in-house conservative calls Wyden's "extreme-green" colleagues. Among them was Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), who called Wyden's bill "a well-camouflaged attempt to limit the right of the American people to know and to question what their government is doing on the public's lands." Enviros, meanwhile, point to another kind of green. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Wyden has already received $32,500 in campaign contributions from the timber industry in this
election cyle, more than anyone but Bush himself .

The Portland Business Journal has a new editor. Rob Smith, managing editor at sister publication the Puget Sound Business Journal, replaces Dan Cook, who resigned in September after a dispute with publisher Craig Wessel about a story Wessel spiked.