News At the end of 2008, we named the Republican Party of the Oregon our Rogue of the Year for general incompetence. Some Republicans did not appreciate the honor. One of them is Jay Kushner, chairman of the Multnomah County Republicans. He's an affable guy who ran for state representative in 2006 but his letter reinforces the point made in our Rogue of The Year. Why? Well, Kushner hammers WW ...   More

News Former Oregon Treasurer Bill Rutherford has mostly avoided the limelight since leaving office in 1987. But after the Oregon Investment Council, which oversees $47 billion in Oregon pension and other funds, recently decided to invest $400 million in a distressed asset fund run by Dallas-based Lone Star Funds (with the possibility of another $400 million later), Rutherford wrote [PDF] to current ...   More

News UPDATED at 2:30 pm: In what may be a new record for the shortest local campaign ever, Steve Novick, longtime Oregon political maverick and unsuccessful 2008 Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, now says he's not running for Multnomah County chairman. Novick said this afternoon — six hours after announcing he would be in the race — that he's now decided after talking with Jeff ...   More

News State Sen. Rick Metsger (D-Welches) entered the race today for state treasurer, just ahead of tomorrow's 5 pm filing deadline for all candidates in Oregon. The treasurer's position opened yesterday with the death of incumbent Treasurer Ben Westlund, who died of cancer at the age of 60. Metsger, a 59-year-old former sports anchor at KOIN, has served in the Senate since 1999, chairing the Transportation ...   More

News State Treasurer Ben Westlund died last night after a long battle with lung cancer. (Updated at 3:46 pm: statement from Westlund's spokesman follows at the end of this post.) Westlund, 60, first publicly disclosed in 2003 that he suffered from cancer. At the time, he was a Republican state senator from Tumalo, near Bend. After treatment, Westlund continued in the Senate and became the Legislature's ...   More