EILEEN BRADY

The Del Monte plant featured in the May 2 WW cover story, "Chop Shop," was raided Tuesday morning by federal immigration officials. About 165 people were detained after the raid at the North Portland plant, says Lorie Dankers, public information officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Dankers says the raid was a product of a six-month investigation into reports of widespread ID theft, Social Security fraud and undocumented workers.

Add New Seasons co-founder Eileen Brady to the list of Democrats besides activist Steve Novick who might enter the 2008 U.S. Senate primary. As first reported on WWire at wweek.com, the 45-year-old Brady says she's been talking with local, state and national officials about a run for the seat of U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore). Meanwhile, a second rumored Democratic contender is Rey Ramsey, the 46-year-old co-founder and chief executive of One Economy Corp., a nonprofit that seeks to bridge the digital divide for poor people. Ramsey tells Murmurs he has spoken with some people in the Democratic Party about the Senate contest but has "no plans to run."

Contract talks aren't going well between Multnomah County's ambulance provider, American Medical Response, and its crews. Workers say they're paid far less than AMR crews in Seattle and Northern California or Portland firefighters, whose primary job these days is responding to emergency medical calls. As a contract vote looms on June 19, ratification looks unlikely enough that ambulance workers are already talking with the Portland Fire Bureau about what might happen. One scenario, according to insiders: If a strike renders AMR unable to perform, the county could cancel AMR's contract, leaving Portland Fire to provide ambulance services. Some in the powerful firefighters' union like the idea of taking over and adding as many as 170 new members—in fact, twice in the 1990s Portland Fire and Rescue tried to grab the county contract. Meantime, AMR drivers would certainly get better pay and benefits as city employees. That would seem to put the union in the driver's seat, no pun intended. Says AMR spokesoman Jane Drumi, "It's in the hands of employees and we hope it works out well."

Walking the talk? Metro—the region's guardian of land-use planning and greenspace—has egg on its face. After Clackamas County approved a Measure 37 claim earlier this year on property owned by Florence Erickson between Gresham and Sandy, two enormous billboards arose in May at the largely rural property on Highway 26 near the intersection with Hoyt Road. The signs infuriated many locals and the city of Sandy, which says the signs may violate a so-called "Green Corridor" agreement signed by the county, Sandy and Metro. But guess who's advertising on one of the signs? The Oregon Zoo, owned and operated by Metro. Zoo marketing director Jane Hartline says she didn't realize where the sign was going to be. "It will be down as soon as possible," she says.

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Rape victims in Oregon now have fewer barriers to receiving help at hospitals. Gov. Ted Kulongoski on June 1 signed House Bill 2154, which lets hospitals collect—and preserve—forensic evidence without making victims first file a police report. (See "Raped and Ignored," WW, Aug. 16, 2006.) The new law, which takes effect immediately, is important because some victims are unsure when they go to a hospital if they want to report the rape immediately, says Chandra Evans of the Portland Women's Crisis Line.

Anybody who claims that Portland despises industry and Oregonians lack ingenuity should read Monday's Wall Street Journal. Portland ranks 12th, out of 379 metro areas in the nation, in Moody's Economy.com Business Vitality Index, which factors in such economic variables as household income growth and labor availability. And Oregon apparently, is also ripe for inventive types. Our fair state ranked 13th, with 2,366, for number of patents issued.