Politics Oregon is the Wild West when it comes to campaign contributions, and there’s a bill shooting through the Legislature that would make a bad situation worse.    More

News Keep your fingers crossed today, as a set of three bills designed to bring greater oversight to health-insurance rate increases are expected to face a crucial vote in an Oregon Senate committee.Sen. Chip Shields (D-North/Northeast Portland) says he's optimistic the bills he's pushing will win approval from the Committee on General Government, Consumer and Small Business Protection.Shields became alarmed ...   More

News A Multnomah County judge this afternoon sealed new affidavits in U.S. Rep. David Wu's pending divorce from Michelle Wu.Today's record-sealing order by Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Tom Ryan cites the best interest of Wu's 13-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter as the reason.The order shields from public view affidavits filed April 4 that potentially could have embarrassed Wu, whose questionable ...   More

News A Tigard man is suing his ex-girlfriend for allegedly narcing him out on a marijuana grow.In a lawsuit filed March 8 in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Tyler Goecks claims after he broke up with Melanie Talbert of Southwest Portland, she "plotted a scheme to extract revenge."The suit says sometime around January 2009, Talbert entered Goecks' house, and "without his permission she took photographs of ...   More

News Oregon lawmakers this week introduced an intriguing bill conceived by lobbyist John DiLorenzo and sponsored by all five members of the Senate Health Care, Human Services and Rural Health Policy Committee.There are a number of noteworthy aspects to the bill. First, DiLorenzo, a longtime Salem powerbroker, has generally been associated with Republican candidates. But he got Democrats, including committee ...   More

News The Associated Press has an interesting Oregon story out today about the sheriffs of Washington and Jackson counties fighting in court to deny a concealed-handgun license to a medical-marijuana patient named Cynthia Willis in Medford.Check out the whole story over at NPR. Here's the beef:The sheriffs argue that the 1968 U.S. Gun Control Act prohibits selling firearms to drug addicts, and they say ...   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 The Portland Water Bureau, recently the subject of a critical financial audit, has hired a formerly retired Water Bureau employee to update the history of—you guessed it—the Portland Water Bureau.Casey Short, a longtime city employee who first got a job in city government with former Mayor Frank Ivancie in 1982, wrote the original history of the utility bureau in 1983. That book, called Water: ...   More

News U.S. Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.) yesterday sent a last-ditch plea to financial supporters in the hopes of reaching his fundraising goal by today's Federal Election Commission reporting deadline. "Your support will tell the press and political pundits that I am a strong, resilient Democrat," the troubled congressman told potential donors in his March 30 email (excerpted below).Dear Friend -With 24 hours ...   More

News You’ve seen them along Northeast 82nd Avenue and lining the suburban strips of Washington County. With names like Hotties, Pussy Cats and Private Rendezvous, they advertise services from    More