Murmurs | Night Cabbie MEET THE NEW BOSS SAME AS THE OLD BOSS After a process that rivaled the selection of a new pope in terms of whispering and secrecy, the Port of Portland surprised observers this week by announcing that Mike Thorne, who resigned in August, would remain indefinitely as the port's top executive.With a budget of $800 million, control of the airport and a central position in everything that happens to the Willamette and Columbia rivers, the port executive's post is a powerful one--and proved powerfully difficult to fill. The list of those who reportedly spurned the overtures of the search committee includes such luminaries as Fred Buckman, the former CEO of PacifiCorp; Steve Wynne, the former CEO of Adidas America; and Brett Wilcox, owner of Golden Northwest Aluminum. Some port insiders pushed the selection committee to look at City Commissioner Erik Sten as a way to revamp the port's image, but committee members reportedly wanted private-sector experience, which Sten lacks. That's not to say that the nine-member port commission was left with a bunch of slouches. The six finalists reportedly included Bill Wyatt, the governor's chief of staff; Bert Farrish, the CEO of Columbia Grain; Nancy Wilgenbusch, president of Marylhurst University; and Diana Snowden, a former utility executive and interim superintendent of Portland Public Schools who is married to former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt. In the end, however, sources say the port commissioners could not agree on a candidate and asked Thorne, who has run the port since 1991, to stay on. --Nigel Jaquiss CATCHING UP at the LOCAL JAIL Two months ago, the downtown county jail, not the presidential election, was dominating the local news (see "Strong Arm of the Law," WW, Aug. 23, 2000). While the allegations of excessive force have dropped out of the headlines, behind the scenes, efforts to root out suspected bad apples in the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office are continuing: * Facing a criminal trial in the alleged beating of cab driver Dennis Poe, corrections Sgt. Jeff Ristvet was recently demoted to deputy. Sources say the demotion was not directly tied to Poe's allegations but rather because Ristvet's blood alcohol level tested at 0.4 on the day investigators interviewed him regarding the incident. * FBI agents are continuing a civil-rights probe of the downtown jail. The investigation is believed to focus on Rodger Cross, a corrections deputy involved in the incident with Poe. Cross' zest for violence reportedly extends to wearing a boxer's mouth guard and fingerless leather gloves to work ("In the Cross Hairs," WW, Aug. 30, 2000). * Corrections deputies James Borja and Wallace John Montoya, also implicated in the Poe allegations, remain on leave while their internal-affairs investigations continue. They are two of the officers found to have forearms tattooed with "Brotherhood of the Strong." * The sheriff's office has investigated three other officers for incidents unrelated to Poe's charges, sources say, including one claim of inappropriate sexual contact with an inmate and two others involving allegations of excessive force. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to bring charges. * To address concerns of unnecessary force in the booking area, new cameras have been installed and a videotaping system should be up and running by the first of the year. * Finally, on Saturday, Sheriff Dan Noelle and the county avoided an unpleasant trial by agreeing to shell out $200,000. That was enough to settle a lawsuit by Bonnie Flowers that claimed excessive force by corrections deputies resulted in the death of her mentally ill son, Reginald Gafford. Federal District Judge Owen Panner still must approve Noelle's written apology to Flowers. --Nick Budnick So Much for the Afterglow After replacing the controversial Mike Chase as morning DJ on KNRK a couple of years ago, Bill Prescott was the great hope for the alternative-rock station. Prescott had been canned from KUFO to make way for the Howard Stern Show, and the Entercom heads bet that his loyal fans would follow him across the dial. Entercom chiefs pulled back their chips when they fired Prescott Monday morning after his show. "I guess you could say I was a square peg in a round hole," Prescott told WW Monday afternoon. Still, he said station managers treated him fairly and held out the possibility of a future job with the company. The NRK morning show's ratings have suffered in recent years (thanks, in part, to the arrival of Jammin' 95), but the station has edged back to fourth place with adults ages 18 to 34. "Those ratings certainly couldn't be considered spectacular," Prescott says, "but they're very healthy considering the dynamic Portland radio marketplace." Prescott says his biggest regret is his inability to give an on-air farewell to his loyal listeners. Midday DJ Gustav will replace Prescott. Media darling and morning co-host Daria O'Neil, of course, stays put. --Caryn B. Brooks RADIO RAGE SWEEPS THE HILL! As Congress drags through the final days of its annual budget battle, one surprising dispute remains unsettled. Along with passionate fights over immigration, school funding and assisted suicide, Congress and the White House remain at odds over the future of low-power FM radio. The FCC opened the battle earlier this year when it created a new class of radio licenses reserved for nonprofit groups. These so-called "microradio" stations would broadcast a weak signal over a small area. While church groups, liberal activists and grassroots organizations favor the reform, big broadcasters and public radio marshaled a formidable congressional alliance to stop the micro-stations from taking to the airwaves next year. In the waning days of the session, micro-opponents, led by Minnesota GOP Sen. Rod Grams, attached an anti-micro rider to the bill funding the departments of Commerce, State and Justice. The bill passed the House and Senate, but President Clinton has threatened to veto it, in part because of microradio. While the big broadcasters' massive war chest gives them a strong hand in Congress, not everyone is playing along. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, whose early opposition to microradio was motivated by fears that the new stations could interfere with public radio transmissions in rural areas, distances himself from this latest effort. "We support low-power radio if the FCC does some real-world testing," says Wyden spokeswoman Lisa Finkel. "We do not support riders. We wanted to have public hearings on this issue, in an open forum." So, with low-power snared in Congress' last-minute horse trading and election uncertainty, microradio advocates are left wondering who will blink first. "Right now, it looks like we have a Mexican stand-off," says Michael Bracey, of the D.C.-based Low-Power FM Coalition. "Is that a term we can still use?" --Zach Dundas RACING TO COURT When IBM bought Beaverton's Sequent Computer last year, Sequent founder and CEO Casey Powell walked away with more than $20 million. Rather than plunging his dough into a dot-com, however, Powell bought a race car--which is now at the center of a Clackamas County lawsuit. Powell loves fast cars. When he ran Sequent, the company co-sponsored a drag-racing team and paid his daughter, Cristen, to drive. Early this year, the cigar-chomping former CEO bought a funny car--think of your own ride with massive slicks on the back and a Christmas-tree-like engine growing through the hood. According to a lawsuit filed late this summer, Powell loaned the car and other equipment to Hofmann Racing of Florida. The payback, according to Hofmann's attorney, Kim McGair of Fairleigh, Wada & Witt, was that Cristen Powell got paid $50,000 to drive the car this year on the National Hot Rod Association circuit. But in June, the partnership soured. Hoffman Racing fired the 21-year-old for failing to qualify in six of the season's first 10 races. Powell's lawsuit claims that Hofmann reneged on their deal, keeping his equipment, which included a $75,000 semi-trailer, and a $50,000 loan. In all, Powell is asking for more than $300,000 in damages. McGair has asked that the judge dismiss the suit, arguing that her client doesn't do business in Oregon. A decision is expected in mid-November. --Nigel Jaquiss   Night Cabbie BY Willie Milkis willie_milkis@hotmail.com THERE AREN'T very many cabs on the street tonight, so business is good even for a Sunday. I make my kitty by 10 o'clock and the rest of the night is pure profit. I get a bitter, angry guy out of some car parts lot out in Southeast. "Man, this sucks," he tells me. He's a little drunk. "They towed my truck away last week and I've got to pay alimony to my ex, child support for kids I never see, and now without a truck I have to spend all my money on cabs. They towed my truck because I couldn't pay my bills, but how am I supposed to make money for the bills without a truck to get around in?" His face bears the marks of stress and years of hard living and anger. He lives close, so I drop him off without having to hear many more gory details. His story is a good example of why I practice my own religion, called Bad Situation Avoidance. I am a free agent, and intend to remain that way.   MURMURS PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN! * Bob "the Poacher" Pamplin is at it again. The Portland Tribune continued to staff up this week, nabbing The Business Journal's managing editor, Dennis Anstine, and Andy Giegerich, one of the paper's top reporters. "I don't like somebody coming in and raiding," says Business Journal Editor Dan Cook, who previously lost two non- editorial employees to Pamplin. "It's also flattering, because it means we have a great staff." The staff change is good news for the Journal's remaining employees, however, as Cook says most of them got "substantial" raises this week. * Portland's art community lost two of its greatest leaders in the past week. First, Gordon Gilkey died Saturday in Portland at 88. An artist, teacher and art historian, as well as the founder of the Portland Art Museum's Center for the Graphic Arts, Gilkey was a titan of Portland's art scene and an internationally respected figure, having been named an honorary officer in the French Legion of Honor by President Jacques Chirac. Then, on Tuesday, artist and former Pacific Northwest College of Art dean William Givler died in Portland. Givler, 92, was one of Oregon's finest mid-20th-century artists, recognized with shows at New York's Metropolitan Museum and the Whitney. * Good news for west suburban seekers of organic oranges and bulk basmati. A New Seasons Market is slated to open a year from now at Orenco Station in Hillsboro. It will be the fourth store of the natural-food mini-chain run and owned by most of the people who created Nature's Fresh Northwest. * Portland police union secretary-treasurer Tom Mack is down, but not out. After losing a heated election for union president to Det. Sgt. Robert King, Mack is taking a month off before heading back to the streets. The former Old Town beat cop says he's requested an assignment in East Precinct. That's also where outgoing president, and Mack rival, Greg Pluchos is heading. Odds are they won't be matched up as partners.