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- Mayoral candidate Jefferson Smith has released a 1994 settlement agreement that got him off the hook for a misdemeanor assault charge. Smith, then a University of Oregon student, injured a woman during a scuffle with her at a party in late 1993. The agreement notes that the woman required stitches and received treatment in a hospital emergency room. In the settlement, Smith admitted his conduct was âwrongfulâ; promised to stay out of trouble for six months; perform 20 hours of community service and pay $400 to 500 in medical bills. Smith has said he was only defending himself from the woman, who witnesses say was striking him.
- Forest Grove-based Stimson Lumber has been pouring money into an independent campaign expenditure group called the Oregon Transformation Project political action committeeâ$630,000 since last fall. Itâs trying to turn Clackamas County into a GOP stronghold and break the Oregon Houseâs 30-30 deadlock between Democrats and Republicans. Now the Oregon Transformation Project has unleashed some of that money in a mailer attacking Rep. Jeff Barker (D-Aloha) and government-employee pensions. âJeff Barker says he wants to retire,â the mailer reads, âand if you had a government-funded pension worth more than $100,000 a year to retire on, wouldnât you?â Barker, who earlier talked about leaving the House, is a former Portland cop who collects $79,104 annually through the cityâs Fire and Police Disability and Retirement fund. Oregon Transformation Projectâs Bridget Barton claims her group is guessing at Barkerâs future pension benefits if he also collects for his legislative years from the Public Employee Retirement System. âTheyâre just making it up,â Barker says. âTheyâre just lying.â
- Forget the $160 million and the better part of a decade spent trying to string together plans for the Columbia River Crossing, which includes new Interstate 5 spans between Washington and Oregon. Why not just take the tunnel? Two friends who travel between Vancouver and Portland have produced a new âpermitâ sticker for a fictional Columbia River Tunnel. âWe spend a lot of time in traffic and thought this was a fun way to make people smile as they do a double-take,â says project co-founder Jennifer Rego. CRC planners did briefly consider a tunnel, but Rego says she and her partner, Keith Mages, arenât proposing one. They say theirs is just a humorous take that celebrates the beauty and splendor of the Columbia and nearby Gorge. The stickers are on sale at columbiarivertunnel.com or at Frock and Local Discoveries on Northeast Alberta Street.
WWeek 2015