NEWS BUZZ

murmurs | scoreboard | rogue of the week

STRIP KING ACCUSED OF RAPE
The publisher of a local guide to Pacific Northwest strip clubs is being held in Washington County jail on charges of rape, sodomy and assault.

Philip Reed Yoder, publisher of the The T&A Times, was arrested Feb. 11 at his Tigard residence. He was indicted Thursday on charges of Rape 1, Sodomy 1, Assault 2 and Assault 4.

Because the case is still under investigation, prosecutors and police will not discuss details of the alleged assault. Tigard detectives working on the case did say, however, that the victim knew Yoder but was not a stripper.

Rumors regarding Yoder's arrest raced through the adult entertainment industry last week. According to one account, police were investigating whether the woman might have been drugged with Rohypnol, the so-called "date-rape drug" (known as roofies), sexually assaulted, and then physically assaulted when she regained consciousness and struggled.

Det. Sgt. Jim DeSully said he'd heard those rumors and is awaiting lab tests to determine whether the victim was, indeed, drugged. He also confirmed that the victim suffered physical injuries that will leave "long-term scars."

"This was a pretty violent act," he said. "And there are some pretty serious injuries."

As of Tuesday, Yoder was still in jail on a $5 million bond. If convicted, he'll spend a lot more time behind bars. Three of the charges fall under Measure 11 and one, Rape 1, carries a minimum sentence of 100 months.

Yoder, 47, has been publishing The T&A Times for 10 years. Although the newsprint tabloid has been eclipsed in recent years by Exotic, a Portland-based glossy magazine, Yoder still claimed to have the largest-circulation sex-club guide on the Pacific Rim,
distributing in Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Nevada.

The T&A Times sponsors the annual Miss Nude Oregon Pageant. This year's event, scheduled for Feb. 17 at the Portland Conference Center, was canceled as a result of Yoder's arrest.

--John Schrag

Junk Mail
With all the controversy surrounding the Bush Administration, email petitions have become ubiquitous. Activists group-fire them into cyberspace to tap collective outrage while building themselves a hefty mailing list.

The only problem with such petitions is that they are politically worthless.

Sen. Ron Wyden's press aide, Josh Kardon, says email petitions have no impact in Washington, D.C.

"Many of these petitions are poorly conceived and poorly executed," Kardon says. He explains that his boss welcomes constituents' input but prefers to hear directly from them, rather than via a mailing list funneled through a special-interest group. "My sense is that a number of the petitions promise more than they deliver," Kardon says. "If you want to communicate in writing with a member of Congress, sit down and jot down a few lines and send it off."

Part of the reason Wyden and other officials ignore email petitions is that the "signatures" they include are unverifiable.

For example, among the 130,000 citizens listed on a recent petition opposing the confirmation of Attorney General John Ashcroft was none other than George W. Bush.

I know, because that's how I signed the petition at www.oppose-ashcroft.com. I immediately got an email in reply, not asking for verification of my identity but thanking me for joining the fight against Ashcroft.

Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of email petitions is that they delude signers into believing they're weighing in on the important issues of the day when they are not.

Still, the Internet isn't completely useless for armchair activists. Wyden and the rest of Oregon's congressional delegation have websites where it's easy to click and send an email, and Kardon says these messages carry as much weight as a letter.

--Patty Wentz

SCOREBOARD

WINNERS

LOSERS

1. Despite outraged protests from Columbia Gorge purists and Hood River residents, the Warm Springs Indians are steaming ahead with plans for a casino near the windsurfing mecca. High-rollers are rattling their dice in anticipation. 2. Portland cops breathed a sigh of relief at the news that the state and federal prosecutors will not indict the officers involved the Centralgate overtime scam. Turns out the dubious overtime payments amounted to a mere $23,000, a fraction of city officials' original, apparently LSD-inspired estimate. Call out the drug squad! 3. Snake River salmon leaped for joy when U.S. District Judge Helen J. Frye ruled that dam operators could not lower reservoirs to ease the region's power crisis. Lowered reservoirs equal hot water equal dead fish, and that's illegal.

1. Forget bombs in Iraq--someone's messing with our commute! The $3.1 million Morrison Bridge construction project will terrorize the main artery between downtown and the eastside until October, driving commuters to new heights of road rage. 2. City Commissioner Charlie Hales took a drubbing at a council work session over his proposal to fix potholes by taxing each homeowner $2 a month; businesses would pay up to $1,300. His council colleagues don't want to be stuck explaining yet another fee to voters. 3. It took more than 20 years, but the feds finally nailed Burns cattle baron Jay Hoyt when a Portland jury found Hoyt guilty of defrauding thousands of investors out of more than $100 million in a tax-shelter scheme. Hoyt will be sentenced in April.

From Hero to Zero
One year ago last week, three ordinary guys were plucked from obscurity and became local heroes after they captured an escaped serial rapist they spotted on a MAX train.

Earl Phelps III recognized fugitive Richard Cantu on a Hillsboro MAX car last Feb. 16 from TV reports, a day after Cantu had escaped from a slow-moving Washington County sheriff's deputy.

Phelps, 27, enlisted the help of fellow passengers Robert Stampflee and Dan Hicks. Together, the three men pursued Cantu, finally tackling him in a nearby field. The dramatic capture grabbed headlines and transformed the men into instant heroes. They were showered in medals, money clips and a cash reward: $9,000 for Phelps and $6,283 each for Stampflee and Hicks.

The gush of praise was especially welcome for Phelps, who had just spent 13 months in Oregon State Penitentiary for theft.

But after the spotlight dimmed, Phelps discovered that fame isn't all it's cracked up to be. Two months after being honored by Washington County, Phelps received his first parole violation for alcohol and failing to schedule counseling. He racked up a similar violation in late June. In October, he failed to report to his parole officer.

Last week, he celebrated the anniversary of his heroic deed in an inpatient drug-treatment facility.

Phelps will remain on probation until January 2002. As for Cantu's other captors, Stampflee worked for a construction company until last November, when he was laid off; Hicks manages a gas station in Southwest Portland.

--Andrei Yuri

ROGUE OF THE WEEK
Seen a rogue on the loose?
Contact our roguemeister,
John Schrag
jschrag@wweek.com

The big news in Salem last week was the volcanic stack of paperwork spewing from the Capitol Dome. So far, approximately 4,000 bills have been filed this session--an increase of 10 percent over last session. On average, it costs $1,000 just to set each bill in type--and hundreds more to print copies to the hordes of legislators, aides, lobbyists, reporters and other creatures of the night.

In fact, much of the zeal to legislate away the state's problems stems from one esteemed lawmaker: Sen. Gary George of Newberg, our Rogue of the Week.

A conservative Republican, George has clashed with environmentalists, planners and other do-gooders who want to impose "big government" on the working man. Of the nine organizations listed on his website as "worth checking out," four are libertarian and three specifically mention the goal of limiting government.

In fact, George is so opposed to government activism that he has sponsored a staggering 150 bills, ranging from the praiseworthy to the questionable to the downright bizarre.

We applaud Senate Bill 533, which strengthens the rights of mobile-home owners. But change a single digit and you've got SB553, forcing the Oregon Health Division to include an "anti-drug message" in every anti-tobacco advertisement. And then there's SB707, his proposed mandatory five-year sentence for hate crimes against capitalists or ranchers.

George defends himself by saying that many are "placeholder" bills for the General Government and Transportation Committee, which he chairs. He also points the finger at prolific bill writers such as Republican Rep. Bill Witt of Cedar Mill. But Witt has sponsored just 73 bills this session--more than average, to be sure, but far below George's record-breaking total.

Don't get us wrong. We love the sound of new legislation churning in the Salem mill. But it seems odd that a Republican proponent of small government would be so eager to right the state's wrongs by legislation, legislation and more legislation--sticking taxpayers with a six-figure tab.

Fractured Hopes
A spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front is poised to settle a lawsuit against the City of Portland because he is convinced he can't get a fair trial.

"I'm not sure a fair trial exists," says activist Craig Rosebraugh, "and I'm sure I can't get one in Portland."

A longtime fixture on the local radical scene, Rosebraugh sued the city in federal court after his arm was broken by a Portland police officer in October 1999, in the aftermath of a rally protesting the imprisonment of Mumia Abu Jamal.

Based upon videotapes of the event, Rosebraugh's mistake was to ask officers why another protester was arrested for dropping a flower on the sidewalk (see "Strong Arm Tactics," WW, Oct. 27, 1999). In the process of arresting Rosebraugh for disorderly conduct, Lt. Scott Winnegar put the whippet-thin protester into an arm-bar takedown, which fractured Rosebraugh's upper left arm, though he didn't resist arrest.

Rosebraugh, 28, who stands 6-foot-2 but weighs just 140 pounds, says he still cannot completely straighten his arm.

Rosebraugh says he has tentatively agreed to settle his suit for $47,500--less than 1/10 of the half-million the city paid to a local woman in 1998 after a police officer broke her arm during a traffic stop--because his attorney, James Hendry, believes city lawyers would demonize him on the stand, creating in jurors' minds the image of an ELF eco-terrorist hell-bent on destroying American culture. Rosebraugh maintains that he is nothing more than the spokesman for so-called elves, who ship him anonymous communiques after ELF actions.

He plans to use the lion's share of his settlement to pay off legal bills rung up during federal grand jury appearances during the past two years, when he was repeatedly questioned about his connections to ELF. The grand jury never returned an indictment.

City Attorney Jeffrey Rogers said no settlement had been reached and declined further comment.

--Philip Dawdy

Murmurs

MORE REVEALING THAN STANFORD; LESS OBSEQUIOUS THAN NICHOLAS

* Sorta-local rock journalist (and long-ago WW contributor) Mikal Gilmore is feeling the heat the way only Sean "Puffy" Combs can bring it. The bling-bling-enhanced rap Svengali is suing the inkslinger for allegedly abandoning a "collaborative" book project. No word on whether Puffy ex J-Lo might offer M-Gil advice on how to deal with Mr. Combs.

* The new Arbitron is out, and the buzz in the radio biz is that despite a huge advertising blitz, the fall ratings for KPAM 860 AM have crept from abysmal to embarrassing. The Rev. Dr. Bob Pamplin's AM talk station is still clinging to the lowest rung on the radio ladder. Sources who peeked at the latest numbers say the station is attracting slightly more than 37,000 listeners, up from about 34,000 last summer. (By comparison, the local leading AM talk/ news/ personality station, KEX 1190 AM, reaches about 260,000 pairs of ears.) No wonder Pamplin started a newspaper.

* Congress recently voted to send its best wishes to Ronald Reagan on his 90th. But, as those sticklers at The American Spectator noted, seven members of the House of Representatives voted "present" rather than voting in favor of the resolution. Among those symbolically flipping off the Gipper was Oregon's own Rep. Peter DeFazio. DeFazio didn't respond to WW's request for an explanation.

* Ten years ago, if you asked whether Powell's had a specific title, all you'd get was an over-educated shrug. Now, according to Forbes magazine, the City of Books boasts the best book-selling website in the world. The magazine's Feb. 26 "Best of the Web" edition raves over Powell's "brilliantly subdivided" browsable used-book section and "excellent" author interviews. The only dig: no web discount on new titles.

DEMON ALCOHOL UNLEASHED ON MLK!
Oregon Liquor Control Commission meetings are high-stakes affairs. The booze czars frequently decide who opens for business and who spends their lives talking about this cool bar they planned once.

Even so, the Feb. 5 meeting, held at OLCC galactic headquarters on Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard, was something of a zoo. You had your Old Town missionaries and anti-gentrification artists opposing Tube, a futuristic lounge proposed for Northwest 3rd Avenue. Then there were the Chinatown business people fighting East, a small hipster hangout planned for Northwest Everett Street.

A third contingent opposed a license for the new Texaco station on Southeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Despite the station operator's flawless record at other stations, everyone from the relevant residential and business associations to the Portland Police Bureau protested his bid to sell beer and wine.

In each case, commissioners had to consider strident neighborhood opposition, credible applicants and city-designated "alcohol-impact" zones. But the three proposals met different fates.

East and Tube tanked, with the commission deadlocking at two votes in favor and two against (a tie means the application fails).

However, the Texaco won a liquor license on a 3-1 vote, an exact reversal of a decision in December.

The apparent discrepancy in the treatment of three applications enrages some Texaco foes.

"I was dumbfounded," says Susan Lindsay of the Buckman Neighborhood Association. "Why would they deny these upscale cocktail bars in Old Town and then turn around and vote against us?"

OLCC Commissioner Robert Puentes, however, says comparisons between the three situations aren't valid. "I know you want to look at these like apples and apples," Puentes says. "But they're really apples and oranges."

According to Puentes, Texaco operator Hector Hassen presented a more convincing case on his second try. Hassen attorney James K. Neill--who also represented East--cited the size of the station's retail and gas operations and its willingness to accept restrictions on malt liquor and fortified wine sales in a winning argument.

"I don't think we had a leg to stand on to deny that permit," says Puentes. "At some point, this license would have been granted."

Legal arguments aside, the decision confuses those afraid the Texaco license will aggravate street drinking in inner Southeast.

"I was surprised," says Susan Steiner, manager of the nearby Hooper Detox center. "I don't know how they make their decisions."

--Zach Dundas