Embattled Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn (left) suffered a major blow this week when the union representing 4,200 county employees endorsed her opponent, political newcomer Ted Wheeler, in this May's election. AFSCME Local 88 is perhaps the race's single most important endorsement (Linn got the union's nod the last time she ran, four years ago) in terms of cash and cachet. Meanwhile, in the other race on the five-person commission, the union endorsed state Rep. Gary Hansen (D-Portland) to replace Serena Cruz Walsh, who can't seek re-election because of term limits.

Rasheed Wallace slept here, and you can, too—for a mere $5.5 million. The mercurial former Trail Blazer's 2.16-acre, streamfront Dunthorpe estate went on the market this month, with some lucky buyer getting to live where Sheed came home to rest after a hard night's work cursing refs, teammates and reporters. Among the more tangible selling points: a 10,000-square-foot, six-bedroom home with hardwood floors, a koi pond and a historic tax break due to expire next year.

Erin Berry's left trigger finger may cost the City of Portland a fistful of dollars. Berry was a cadet two years ago in the Portland Police Bureau when her finger was cut off by a city-owned and –operated boat ladder during the Polar Bear swim in the Willamette to raise money for police. Berry, 23, isn't left-handed. But a cadet must be able to fire a gun with either hand to qualify as a cop. Berry says the city refused to buy her a prosthetic and offered only $50,000 when the lifetime costs of maintaining an artificial finger are estimated at $200,000. Last week, Berry filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court seeking $200,000 for lifetime medical expenses plus $200,000 for pain and suffering. City Attorney Linda Meng declined to comment.

Murmurs has the cure if you fear4 withdrawal pains from Olympic skating for women, men, pairs or any other permutation. On March 15 at Madison High (2735 NE 82nd Ave.), Dreamland Skateparks will present its blueprint at 7 pm for an outdoor skate park (of the non-ice variety) at nearby Glenhaven Park. With construction planned to begin in July, Glenhaven will be the first in a 19-park network OK'd last summer by the Portland Parks Bureau's Skatepark Leadership Advisory Team (or SPLAT). A city levy and a state grant cover costs for three of the 19 sites. But the remaining question, with $10.6 million needed to complete the project: Will SPLAT go splat after that? Parks and Rec landscape architect Rod Wojtanik says the bureau will keep looking for skatepark funding sources.

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Not everyone at last week's Portland City Club forum on human trafficking believes there's a problem here, despite hearing about chilling examples of slavery in Portland (on top of WW's Dec. 7, 2005, cover story about the topic, "Esclavitud en Portland"). After about 150 well-heeled folks lunched on London broil at the Governor Hotel, a panel of experts spoke about the scourge, from sex slavery to forced labor. The scariest story concerned a young Honduran boy who escaped from Portland to Seattle, but not before his captors halted an earlier attempt at freedom and cut off his arm in retribution. Then, during questions and answers, local businessman Donald Gale asked: "Why are we spending so much time deliberating on this issue that is nonexistent?"