The Truth.

[April 6th, 2005] WINNERS

Portland's Roman Catholics may have plunged into mourning at the death of Pope John Paul II. But parishioners of the embattled local archdiocese, which declared bankruptcy amid a wave of child-abuse lawsuits, had to be glad to see their faith make news for something else, for a change.

Portland cop Gina Hoesly won vindication in the 2002 case in which her fellow officers searched her garbage looking for evidence of drugs. The hunt turned up a tampon, which was dutifully sent on to the lab, and inspired WW's heist of recycling bins and trash cans belonging to ex-Police Chief Mark Kroeker, former Mayor Vera Katz and Multnomah County DA Mike Schrunk. Well, the Oregon Court of Appeals tossed out the case against Hoesly last week, saying the cops should have gotten a search warrant. Um, so apparently searching trash is illegal. Now we know.

We all knew prison had its "perks," but who woulda guessed? Disgraced financial wiz Andrew Wiederhorn may be locked up for filing a false tax return and other misdeeds, but he's making major bank: $6.6 million from Fog Cutter Capital, a company that reported a $3.9 million loss last year due to its generosity. This lifestyle is obviously too taxing for the $6.6 Million Man: He's seeking early discharge due to diabetes.

LOSERS

Things are not looking pretty for Douglas Sovereign Smith Jr.-in a strangely ironic sort of way. The former Portland scout executive, who used to head the Boy Scouts of America's Youth Protection Task Force, was charged in Texas with exactly what that task force was trying to stop: the possession and distribution of kiddie porn.

Way to hire the keepers, TriMet! The local transit agency faces a $2 million lawsuit brought by Holocaust survivor Rosa Wigmore, who alleges that a former bus driver bullied her and broke her ribs in an on-board altercation.

The FBI can't seem to buy good press in this town. Even as the City Council put off its vote on Portland's participation in the controversial Joint Terrorism Task Force, the G-Men lost more ground with the skeptical public. According to a Sunday Oregonian article, head agent Robert Jordan responded to Mayor Tom Potter's request for security clearance with vaguely sinister warnings that the background check could turn up anything. Classy move, J. Edgar Junior.