No Jerking Around Allowed.

[January 25th, 2006] Looks like a new city income tax for Portland schools will go to the May ballot without the unanimous support of the City Council . Commissioner Randy Leonard says he'll oppose the plan being unveiled Thursday by Mayor Tom Potter because it would devote less money per student in east Portland districts like David Douglas and Parkrose . Advocates of dedicating more money per student in Portland Public Schools say that district's needs are greater and that most of the tax would come from residents inside PPS lines. Leonard, the only city commissioner living east of 82nd Avenue, says he doesn't oppose the tax lightly but cannot vote "to give the poorest areas in Portland less money per student than what the wealthiest areas in Portland receive."

Turns out Linda O'Neal , a private eye who co-wrote a new book criticizing the FBI in the Ward Weaver investigation, has been on the other side of the magnifying glass since August 2003 . That's when the Oregon Board of Investigators began looking into the case of a Texas man with a restraining order to stay away from his ex-wife and children who hired O'Neal to find his family. The board says O'Neal failed to investigate her client's history and sent her unlicensed husband, Philip Tennyson, to the family's house to pose as a potential buyer. The board is recommending a 90-day license suspension and $1,500 fine, but O'Neal is contesting the suspension part. Meanwhile, O'Neal is scheduled on NBC's Dateline Friday, Jan. 27, to discuss Missing: The Oregon City Girls, the book she co-authored. O'Neal didn't return Murmurs' calls.

Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey wants to pimp her ride, a Jeep Liberty, with a license plate that reads MNGIRL . And yes, that refers to the "mean girls" moniker County Chair Diane Linn is said to call Rojo de Steffey and the two other female commissioners Linn has been bickering with for months. Rojo de Steffey says she is not worried about new plates (still awaiting DMV approval) upping the tension. "People should be able to have a sense of humor about things," she told Murmurs.

If you've always wanted to read about Lars Larson and masturbation, here goes: The radio rabble-rouser got ramped up recently when he learned about a workshop for students at Oregon State University on sex and masturbation. Larson called the "class" a waste of "tax dollars." OSU counseling director Ellen Taylor refused Larson's interview request. But she ended up changing the name of the two-hour free workshop , largely paid for out of student fees, from "Masturbation for Everyone" to "Sexual Healthy Relationships with Yourself and with Others" because of its broader context. "It's important because it deals with healthy choices some people are too nervous to talk about," Taylor tells Murmurs.

Cheap beer, video games and maple bars? SWOON! The ladies of Willamette Week report a great date last Wednesday with the boys of the Portland Mercury. WW's women got the date, thanks to a winning $218.50 bid made by WW receptionist Rachel Tompkins in the Merc's holiday charity auction in December. Even with the knowledge that the dates would be their "arch-enemies," the Merc's writers, editors and ad reps were total gentlemen (including Wm. Steven Humphrey, pictured here with WW's Greta Hogenstad). They topped off a night of Galaga and pinball at Ground Kontrol with a gratis feast at Voodoo Doughnut. The boys even agreed to wear nifty WW pins on their cute vintage sweaters.

CORRECTIONS

Last week, Murmurs incorrectly reported the location of Jack Tafari. He remains in London. Also, the name of Sherman Clay Pianos manager Mitchell Paola was misspelled in last week's update on Stanley Waters. WW regrets the errors.

^WEB-ONLY MURMURS!

Last week's Murmurs reported how a press release mistakenly said the new director of the Cascade AIDS Project won a Woman of the Year award in Oklahoma. The error has now led the nonprofit to cap its media consultant, Janna Mock-Lopez, whom CAP blames for releasing info that inflated new director Jean Ann Van Krevelen from being one of 50 Woman of the Year finalists to the actual winner. Mock-Lopez says the info came from Van Krevelen herself, but she ended up taking the fall.

Geoff "Buff Daddy" Thompson (see "Buff Daddy," WW, Sept. 29, 1999) has Multnomah County Chair candidate Ted Wheeler backing his latest plan to reopen the Viewpoint Inn in the Columbia Gorge. Thompson got a permit in 1997 to open the Inn as a vocational school for disabled adults. But a judge shut it down in 1999 for operating a full-time restaurant and hosting wedding receptions instead. Earlier this month, Wheeler lobbied the county board to expedite the nine-month approval process for the inn (after returning Thompson's $500 campaign donation, he says). Wheeler says he didn't know about Buff Daddy's "colorful history," which included a requirement that a sheriff's deputy accompany him when he entered county offices. Wheeler says he supports the inn proposal based on its promised creation of new jobs and market for local produce.

The Portland-based company collecting signatures for four initiatives, including those backed by Bill Sizemore, the Oregonians in Action property rights group, and the anti-tax group Freedom Works, is in more hot water. On Monday, the state Bureau of Labor and Industries served B&P Campaign Management owner Brian Platt a subpoena for all wage and hour records related to signature gathering. Four B&P Campaign Management employees say they weren't paid the $13-an-hour wage promised them and sometimes got paid less than the state's $7.50-an-hour minimum wage. The Oregon Secretary of State's office started investigating B&P in December for paying employees by the signature (instead of by the hour), which would be a violation of state law. B&P did not return phone messages, but Sizemore called the BOLI investigation "nothing but harassment."

Some chatroom bullying has put a 52-year-old Salem man on the receiving end of a $25,000 lawsuit claiming the teasing in AOL's "Romance—Older Men" room caused emotional distress to an Ohio plaintiff, according to a Court TV report. Murmurs couldn't reach Bob Charpentier, the Oregon defendant who is threatening to file a $125,000 countersuit, because he was out of town. But several legal experts told Court TV the case looked like a loser.

Dreading President Bush's State of the Union speech next Tuesday, Jan. 31? Well, a group called World Can't Wait wants to "drown out Bush's lies" by organizing BUSH STEP DOWN protests around the country. Cyd Manro, director of Portland Can't Wait, is asking people to march down local streets, banging pots and pans, so that "attention will be focused on what is going on in their neighborhood" and away from Bush's 6 pm televised speech. Manro's group is organizing music and speakers at Pioneer Courthouse Square, starting at 5 pm on Tuesday. For more info, go to www.worldcantwait.net or call (206) 666-BUSH.