News A Portland cyclist is suing Bike Gallery, Trek Bicycle Corp. and a dog owner over a 2009 road accident.In a suit filed June 30 in Multnomah County Circuit Court, cyclist Michael Fitzpatrick claims he bought a Trek from the Portland retail chain Bike Gallery in 2006. The suit does not specify what type of bike Fitzpatrick bought or which of the chain's three locations he patronized.Fitzpatrick's suit ...   More

News The Central Precinct officer cops say mistakenly fired five shotgun rounds instead of beanbags at a man disobeying police orders Thursday was involved in a 2008 incident where a video camera recorded him aggressively rousting suspected drug dealers. The officer, Dane Reister, also ticketed the cameraman, though the Multnomah County district attorney's office declined to prosecute him. Reister and ...   More

News Last year, Multnomah County voters approved giving county commissioners the ability creation a permanent  taxing district to support the county's 19-branch library system.The 2010 vote—which passed be a 3 to 1 margin—changed the county charter to give county commissioners the right to ask voters to tax themselves to support the library. The idea was pitched as a way of giving the library a ...   More

News A boat trying to run Israel's blockade of Gaza with a Portland activist on board is hitting turbulent political weather as it prepares to set sail from Greece.Portland activist Erin DeRamus is part of a flotilla of 10 ships trying to visit Gaza in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Last year, Israeli special forces killed nine civilians trying to break the blockade.The all-American crew of DeRamus' ...   More

News After waiting more than three months to hear back from Mayor Sam Adams about Adams' own plan to have Portland take over river-patrol duties, Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton on Tuesday sent Adams a stinging letter calling the matter "closed.""Unfortunately, even after numerous attempts by my staff to contact your office over the last three months, we have been unable to further the inquiry or come ...   More

News Following up on our story about business owners' efforts to clean up the nightlife in downtown Portland: The city is set turn one block of Southwest Ankeny Street into a car-free zone with outdoor tables for diners.The City Council is set June 15 to consider a proposal from the Portland Bureau of Transportation to make Ankeny car-free between 2nd and 3rd avenues starting June 21. The proposal came ...   More

News  Our ongoing investigation of government spending on public relations continues with a new local public agency added to the list: the Port of Portland.The Port is the eighth public agency we've surveyed to find out how many PR personnel they employ and how much money goes toward their salaries. Our list includes only those public employees directly involved in passing information to the press ...   More

News Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish has released the names of the owners and managers of 26 apartment buildings where a recent audit found evidence of housing discrimination. The documents list the properties where the Fair Housing Council of Oregon audit found evidence of discrimination based on race or national origin. One document (PDF) lists specific incidents discovered by investigators, and ...   More

News While ballots are still being counted in Tuesday's election, one high-profile local politician is already looking to the future.Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen told WW earlier this week that he was waiting until after the election to begin seriously exploring whether to run for Portland mayor in 2012. Besides running the county, Cogen had also been working on the campaign to pass the Portland Public ...   More

News  Longtime Portland marijuana activist Paul Stanford today pleaded guilty in Marion County Circuit Court to one count of Oregon personal income-tax evasion. Stanford agreed to a sentence of 18 months' probation and 160 hours of community service.The charge stems from Stanford's failure to file a 2009 tax return. He was also accused of failing to file his 2008 return when he was indicted earlier ...   More