Murmurs: Shannon's Missed Putt

There's a hole in the middle of his big plans.

TRES SHANNON
  1. Voodoo Doughnut owner Tres Shannon for months now has been talking up his brainstorm for a nightlife project, a putt-putt golf and pool room called the Portland P Palace (see “Voodoo Child,” WW, Dec. 21, 2011). The bar was supposed to open earlier this year in a former Timberline Tire Factory and Auto Service Center at Northeast Sandy Boulevard and 24th Avenue. He says his project is mired in the city-permits process, and he tells WW the dream of the Portland P Palace is over. “Presently in Purgatory,” Shannon tells WW by text. “Prior Planning (by all Parties, both Public & Private) would have Prevented Piss-Poor Performance...by us all.”
  1. Given Andy Wiederhorn’s track record, who would loan him money? Turns out Portland steel and property tycoon Howard Hedinger’s American Industries Inc. The company sued Wiederhorn and three of his Fog Cutter companies in U.S. District Court last week, seeking just over $5 million. Hedinger’s beef: payback of $3.6 million his company loaned Wiederhorn in 2008, with interest and non-payment charges. Wiederhorn, a key figure in the Capital Consultants fiasco, now lives in California. He tells WW he disputes the claims. “The parties are in settlement discussions,” Wiederhorn says via email. “We expect the matter to settle shortly.”
  1. From the Incumbency Is Power Department, Rep. Mike Schaufler (D-Happy Valley) was the lone House Democrat to vote against 2009 tax increases supported by teachers unions. His May primary opponent, Jeff Reardon, is an Oregon Education Association member. But Schaufler’s clout means the OEA, representing 48,000 teachers, has endorsed him, not Reardon, the union told Reardon last week. Although Schaufler is pitching hard for campaign support, he’s still using donors’ funds liberally, albeit legally. During the February session, he spent campaign cash on seven visits to Magoo’s tavern and a $750-a-month apartment, despite drawing a $123 per diem.
  1. The Rosewood Initiative is a shoestring effort to create a community space in low-opportunity, high-crime East Portland, the city’s most diverse and fastest-growing area (see “The Other Portland,” WW, Oct. 12, 2011). The Rosewood, on the city’s edge along Northeast 162nd Avenue, has received seed funding from Multnomah County—while also raising money through car washes and scrap-metal drives. But the center had trouble finding the money to cover the salary of its one employee. On March 22, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 against spending $75,000 to help the project. Chairman Jeff Cogen—with commissioners Deborah Kafoury and Judy Shiprack—voted no. “In my heart I want to support this program,” Cogen says. “I just don’t think this is the way.”

WWeek 2015

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