Black
and Blue
Capt. C.W. Jensen, one of the Portland Police
Bureau's most high-profile officers, has taken an extended
sick leave after being the subject of a criminal investigation.
According to a document obtained by WW under Oregon
Public Records Law, the former public information officer
is being investigated for unspecified reasons by the bureau.
On Tuesday, District Attorney Mike Schrunk issued a statement
saying that certain conduct by Jensen "would be criminal...if
unexplained by further information."
Schrunk's office, however, declined to prosecute. Instead,
the bureau will investigate Jensen internally, according
to Officer Henry Groepper. Jensen may be disciplined later.
Jensen could not be reached for comment. His attorney,
Stephen Houze, declined to talk about the case.
Although bureau officials refuse to disclose details
of the investigation, law-enforcement sources say that
Jensen is under investigation for submitting an allegedly
fraudulent travel report. Shortly after news of the investigation
reached Jensen, he hired Houze and checked into Springbrook,
a drug and alcohol rehab clinic, according to sources.
Supporters said Jensen had been undergoing a stressful
period and is in the middle of divorcing his wife of fewer
than two years, former KGW-TV reporter Shannon Brinias.
Houze, one of Portland's top criminal lawyers, also represented
Jensen's friend, Capt. Mike Garvey, who was investigated
for allegedly hiring a male prostitute. A grand jury declined
to indict Garvey, who later filed suit against the bureau,
alleging he was the victim of discrimination because he's
gay.
--Maureen O'Hagan
Why,
There Oughta Be A Law...
HOUSE BILL 4023 * SPONSORED BY BILL GRIESAR
RELATING TO RECYCLING HARASSMENT
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OREGON:
SECTION 1: Whereas Oregonians have the right to
limit their recycling efforts to items they themselves
choose to purchase (despite The Oregonian's desire
to boost circulation figures), be it resolved that:
(a) Individuals not subscribing to The Oregonian
for regular delivery of a newspaper should not be subjected
to bombardment by its This Week or FOODday sections.
SECTION 2: Should a non-subscriber receive more
than five (5) editions of the This Week or FOODday sections
following at least two (2) phone calls to the circulation
desk to demand cancellation of the bombardment, he or
she is permitted to choose one or both of the following
options:
(a) Delivery of all unsolicited This Week and/or
FOODday issues to the Public Editor's desk. Subsequent
issues received may be lobbed directly at Sandy Rowe or
Bob Caldwell.
(b) Delivery of an equal amount of the individual's
own recycling material to the desk of any Oregonian
editor or associate editor.
THIS WEEK'S AMATEUR LEGISLATOR, BILL GRIESAR OF NORTHEASTPORTLAND,
WINS DINNER AT CAPT. ANKENY'S WELL.
Some
Nerve
As if Scott Thomason's face weren't
ubiquitous enough, now Thomason Auto Group has become
the first local business to run full-length commercials
in movie theaters. The ad, which started running last
week, was created by Thomason's ad agency, Nerve Inc.,
and crafted to look like a movie trailer. "It's a new
media. Anytime you try something new, you run somewhat
of a risk," says Nerve president, Michele O'Hara. In the
60-second ad, which is showing in 13 local Regal Cinemas,
including Lloyd Cinemas, KOIN Center Cinemas and the Movie
House, a group of mafiosi play poker and discuss a competitor
moving in on their territory--who turns out to be Thomason
himself. According to theater managers, the ad has met
with mixed reactions since it began showing last Friday.
Kit Matheny of KOIN Center Cinemas says audiences have
been amused. "It's new, so it surprises people," he says.
"They laugh." Matheny notes that audiences do complain
about on-screen commercials in general. "They object to
paying to see ads," he says. "They say they won't come
back to the movies, but what are they going to do? Everyone
has them now."
At the Movie House, where the ad ran before David Mamet's
The Winslow Boy, reaction was more critical. "We're
an art house, and people get really offended by that type
of stuff," says manager Cheyne Morton-Carnahan. "It's
beautiful for TV, but for a theater it's kind of out of
place."
According to O'Hara, 30-second versions of the ad will
air on TV after the three-month theater run ends. In September,
theaters will start showing a second Thomason spot, in
which a Shakespearean actor paces a junkyard, delivering
a paean to his dead automobile à la Hamlet lamenting
poor Yorick. As for negative response, Nerve creative
director Craig Opfer is confident people will come around.
"Advertising in theaters is inevitable," he says. "You
can't please everybody, but if people don't like this
one, they may like the next one."
--Karen E. Steen
Name
That Stadium
What'll it be, Standard Insurance Stadium or
Cloudburst Recycling Field?
On July 7, the City Council unanimously approved a deal
with Portland Family Entertainment to run Civic Stadium.
As part of the deal, it also gave PFE naming rights to
the facility
There are some strings attached, however. The city requested
that PFE lease the rights to a company that doesn't make
its money from guns, alcohol, gambling or sex and, ideally,
is based in Oregon.
While the council meeting was filled mostly with backslapping
pronouncements by members of the council, it was the stadium
naming issue that occasioned perhaps the morning's most
informative presentation. Garth Meyer, an advertising
copy writer, implored officials not to turn one of Portland's
most visible landmarks into a corporate billboard.
Holding aloft a cassette copy of Arena, a 1984
album by the British pop group Duran Duran, Meyer said
stadium renaming was a recent and unnecessary phenomenon.
As proof, he noted that that none of the 63 arenas listed
in the album liner notes was named after a corporation.
City officials, Meyer testified, should realize that
selling pieces of the city is short-sighted. "Integrity
means more money in the long term," he said.
But in the short term, naming rights mean big bucks.
According to Ken Young, president owner of the Class AAA
Norfolk Tides, a company (like say, Value Village) would
probably have to fork over $300,000 annually to put its
tag on Civic. Privately, city officials are reportedly
saying the rights could bring as much as $500,000 per
year.
City finance director Tim Grewe explained that the naming
rights were a negotiating point. "PFE is counting on the
revenues; otherwise we have to give them something else,"
he told the council.
Meyer, who recently wrote an article for the Southeast
Examiner about the city's efforts to get rid of street-side
electronic advertising, says it's ironic that the same
council that has spent more than a million dollars trying
to prevent AK Media from papering the city with giant
billboards is giving PFE the right to create what will
in effect be the city's largest billboard.
--Nigel Jaquiss
Correction
In last week's cover story ("Why
Hasn't Gov. Kitzhaber Set Him Free?"), we incorrectly
stated that Clifford Frey receives $458 a month in Social
Security. Although he's eligible for the payments based
on his disability, he cannot receive them while he's in
prison.
