Murmurs

* Bill Sizemore will soon lose yet another bully pulpit. After watching his petition-gathering empire implode last year, the Incredible Shrinking Taxivist retreated to his radio station, KKGT (1150 AM), where he continued to promote his conservative agenda weekdays from 8 to 9 am. But Sizemore announced last week that the station, which he co-owns with Frank Eisenzimmer, is being sold and that the new format won't include a slot for former carpet salesmen turned political doormats.

* Peter Stott and Scott Thomason are in the driver's seat in their negotiations with the city over the lease on PGE Park. The two tycoons morphed their failed Portland Family Entertainment into Metropolitan Sports earlier this year and secured financial concessions from the city, which owns the park. Now they are seeking a bigger break. With opening day looming, the city is strongly considering waiving $864,000 in back rent, though it would be "packaged" to camouflage the giveaway. Thomason and Stott are still balking at providing personal guarantees to banks and are thus unable to find money to pay off the debt owed TIAA-CREF, their original lender.

* Pascal Sauton, the French chef who revived the restaurant at Riverplace Hotel--now called Lucere--was canned this week on the eve of presenting a dinner at the Beard House in New York. Was it his accent? "I almost felt so at first, but I'm pretty sure that's not why," he told Murmurs. Sauton says he was in constant battles with management and they only told him "it was time for a change.'" Sauton says he has some options on the back burner and will back in the kitchen serving up frites--not "freedom fries"--soon.

* It looks like the state Legislature won't be sued for failing to do its homework, after all. Two weeks ago, Portland lawyer Mark Kramer threatened to take lawmakers to court for the 2001 Legislature's failure to explain why it was unable to find adequate funding for Oregon's schools. Such an explanation was required by Ballot Measure 1, passed in November 2000 (see "Putting the Law back into Lawmaking," WW, March 5, 2003). Kramer says he's been told by legislative counsel that House and Senate leaders are forming a committee to write their report. Jim Sager, Gov. Ted Kulongoski's education adviser, says his boss is preparing a separate report, which will be done in a matter of days.

* After five years of tying Portland Public Schools administrators in knots as head of the teachers union, Richard Garrett returned to the classroom this year, teaching math at Roosevelt High. But after receiving encouragement from education boosters, including former School Board Chairman Ron Saxton, Garrett will run for Debbie Menashe's seat.

* The battle for the coastal rainforest is on. The Tillamook and Clatsop state forests, both rich in endangered species, are primarily managed for logging. But environmentalists want to set aside 50 percent for wildlife, and they'll make their case in Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee hearings on March 24 and 26. See www.tillamookrainforest.org for details.

* This week, Metro councilors get their first look at candidates for the regional government's first chief operating officer. Murmurs hears that the most promising is an elected official from Clackamas County with administrative experience. We're guessing it's County Commish Michael Jordan, who served a decade as city manager of Canby.

WWeek 2015