PONT-NEUF, WRAPPED

* Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the famous publicity minded artists who wrapped the Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris, attempted to similarly confine local media while visiting Portland last week--with mixed success. They demanded that in exchange for an interview, any article written would have to be pre-approved by the pair. The Oregonian and WW essentially responded, "Go wrap yourself." The Mercury did run an interview; whether the paper acceded to the demands is unclear. The Tribune's Jill Spitznass spoke with Jeanne-Claude on the phone but didn't agree to any deal.

* That birthday card you expected a decade ago could arrive any day now. Last month, someone slipped a letter through a gap in a closed-off mail chute in the Loyalty Building at 317 SW Alder St., then realized their mistake. They called the U.S. Postal Service, which exhumed the chute. Although the chute had been marked as defunct since 1987, the post-spelunkers found 500 pieces of mail ranging in date from 1988 to just last month. Assuming they are still alive, the addressees will be tracked to their current locations.

* Neil Goldschmidt is gone, but the battle for Portland's power lines is not over. According to an invite circulated by Goldschmidt's former lobbying partners at newly named Imeson Carter, OHSU boss Dr. Peter Kohler will host business leaders for cocktails and dinner beginning this Wednesday at 6:30 pm at the Arlington Club. Kohler, who replaced Goldschmidt as the frontman for investment firm Texas Pacific's much-maligned bid for Portland General Electric, will introduce TP chief David Bonderman to local business leaders. Good news for women: The Arlington has allowed females in for more than a decade now.

* The Northeast Portland bar Helena's Place opened a court battle this week to save its Oregon Lottery contract. Both the Lottery and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission want to shutter the tavern, which caters to a cognac-swilling, heavily African-American crowd and was the scene of a fatal stabbing last spring ("The Hennessy Factor," WW, June 30, 2004). This Friday a Marion County judge will determine whether the Lottery can, as it contends, cancel a bar's gaming license at any time. Helena's says the state is playing hardball to cover its assets following a lawsuit filed by the stabbing victim against the OLCC as well as the bar.

* Bad news for mayoral candidate Jim Francesconi: At press time yesterday, a Multnomah County grand jury was considering whether to issue a criminal indictment against developer Tom Moyer, his assistant Sonja Tune and Moyer's daughter Vanessa Kassab over alleged illegal contributions to the city commissioner's campaign. Alert readers may recall that Tune, who lives in a very modest house, gave a whopping $2,000 to Francesconi the same day her boss gave $500 and his daughter $2,500 in May 2003--one week after Moyer lobbied Francesconi over one of the developer's projects. Giving money in someone else's name is a Class C felony.