Murmurs Last week, Murmurs quoted Ron Murray, a founder of Oregon Dog PAC—a political action committee aimed at starting a no-kill shelter—as saying the Multnomah County animal shelter euthanizes 64 per   More

News As long expected, the former interim director of the Oregon Department of Energy, Mark Long, has filed a lawsuit against outgoing Oregon Attorney General John Kroger, his former chief criminal attorney, Sean Riddell, and the Oregon Department of Justice, over their conduct during an investigation.The lawsuit was filed today in Marion County Circuit Court. It was expected because Long filed a tort claim ...   More

News Gov. John Kitzhaber is doing something he didn't do often in his earlier two terms as governor from 1995 to 2003—he's raising money for legislative candidates. State filings show Kitzhaber has raised $51,500 already this year; donors include Greenbrier Cos., with $7,500; NW Natural, $5,000; and shipyard boss Frank Foti, $5,000. Kitzhaber spokesman Tim Raphael says the governor plans to raise more ...   More

News The companion of Gov. John Kitzhaber, Cylvia Hayes, has endorsed Eileen Brady in the Portland mayor's race. That endorsement carries some weight, because although Kitzhaber and Hayes are not married, the governor's office calls Hayes "First Lady," and polling shows Kitzhaber remains enormously popular in Portland. At least two candidates in the mayor's race have reason to hope for Kitzhaber's endorsement. ...   More

News The continuing saga of the Oregon Department of Justice's aborted investigation into whether state Department of Energy staffers wrongfully steered a contract to a company run by Gov. John Kitzhaber's companion, Cylvia Hayes, has taken another turn.Sean Riddell, the former top DOJ criminal lawyer who led the investigation, was demoted in June. The official reasons given by Attorney General John Kroger ...   More

News Oregonians can now see two very different accounts of what happened in the Oregon Department of Energy investigation, in which four employees were accused of steering state business to Cylvia Hayes, Gov. John Kitzhaber’s companion. The first report was prepared at the request of former Gov. Ted Kulongoski and written by retired Malheur County Judge Francisco Yraguen. Yraguen’s heavily-detailed ...   More

News WW has learned that four Oregon Department of Energy employees will be reinstated today, marking the latest twist in story that began with an Oregon Department of Justice investigation into ODOE contracting practices that last August.The investigation has received intense scrutiny because the employees were accused of steering state business to Cylvia Hayes, the long-time companion of Gov. John Kitzhaber.The ...   More

News The battle between former Oregon Department of Energy interim Director Mark Long and Attorney General John Kroger's Oregon Department of Justice continues to escalate.Bill Gary, Long's attorney, filed a lawsuit last week in Marion County Court accusing Kroger of withholding records related to the racketeering theory that Justice Department criminal investigators pursued in last year's probe into the ...   More

News The long saga of the Oregon Department of Justice's investigation into contracting practices at the Oregon Department of Energy has gotten even longer.First, a recap: DOJ began an investigation last August into whether ODOE employees had improperly steered a $60,000 subcontract to a Bend renewable energy consulting firm run by Cylvia Hayes, the longtime companion of Gov. John Kitzhaber. At the time ...   More

News A Marion County judge ruled last week on an arcane but important point in the ongoing battle over the results of an Oregon Department of Justice investigation into contracting practices at the state Department of Energy.The Justice Department announced Dec. 29 that it would not charge any of the four agency employees involved in a contract with the engineering firm R.W. Beck with official misconduct. ...   More