News Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler on Tuesday rejected an offer from county jail deputies to give up their cost-of-living pay hikes next year, the head of the county corrections deputies' union tells WW. Read about why Wheeler gave up $1.2 million in savings for the county, which is facing drastic budget cuts to fill a $42 million shortfall, after the jump. Multnomah County Sheriff's ...   More

News After a 15-month lull, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office reported this week they were once again forced to release prisoners because local jails were full. The sheriff's office let 30 prisoners walk free in the past week: 10 on June 14, and 20 on June 16. Twelve of those prisoners were arrested for property crimes like identity theft and car theft. Another 12 were arrested for drug crimes ...   More

News As you may remember, the state Legislature drafted an amendment this spring to spare Multnomah County Sheriff Bob Skipper from attending basic police training, which includes physical tests. But they attached only one requirement: that Skipper, 70, pass an academic course designed for career officers. Skipper got word yesterday that he failed that course, earning a 66 percent average on three ...   More

News The controversy continues over recent raises for two top staffers to Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler while other county employees agreed to a pay freeze. First, from Wheeler's Twitter feed: That tweet follows an email last week where Wheeler asked Becky Steward and Michael Hanna out to lunch to discuss the controversy. Steward is president of the American Federation of State, County ...   More

News The leader of Multnomah County's largest employee union this week traded heated emails with county Chairman Ted Wheeler over recent salary increases for two members of Wheeler's staff. Becky Steward, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 88, says the raises send the wrong message to county employees who agreed to salary freezes this year to help ...   More

News Attorney General John Kroger today named a new chief of the Department of Justice's Criminal Justice Division. The new hire, Sean J. Riddell, is a prosecutor in the Multnomah County District Attorney's office. As WW reported earlier, Kroger shifted Steve Briggs, the former chief of the criminal justice division, during the five-month investigation of Portland Mayor Sam Adams. Riddell looks ...   More

News The Oregon Employment Department's latest breakdown today of unemployment numbers last month by county remains bleak. Here are some of the lowlights from the state's overall 12.2 percent unemployment rate, which is third-worst in the nation behind Michigan and Rhode Island. _Multnomah County's seasonally adjusted rate continued to slide, hitting 11.7 percent — compared to 11.5 percent ...   More

News Multnomah County Democrats have chosen three candidates as contenders to replace former state Sen. Margaret Carter, who left office last month to take a state job. The three people forwarded last night by a meeting of county Democrats for the county Board of Commissioners to consider next week as the new senator in Senate District 22 are state Rep. Chip Shields; former state Rep. Jo Ann Bowman; ...   More

News [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcAFY2oVEtw[/youtube] Saturday night's alright for fighting. Turns out it's also not a bad time to get out of jail free. Continuing a trend that re-emerged last summer after a 15-month lull, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office was forced to release 26 prisoners from jail over the weekend because there wasn't enough space to hold them. Here's a breakdown ...   More

News Two men released early on Saturday night for lack of space in the Multnomah County Detention Center have been found dead of a drug overdose, the state Medical Examiner's office has confirmed. Jamie Daniel Coleman (top photo), 22, and Rex Albert Rumer (bottom photo), 51, were both found dead on Monday, says Damon O'Brien, deputy medical examiner. O'Brien declined to release further details, ...   More