News Just before City Council voted 3-2 today to let Merritt Paulson begin some construction work at PGE Park, city commissioners considered a separate ordinance related to the publicly owned stadium: the thrice-delayed zoning code change to allow limited office space at PGE Park. (They'll vote next week on that proposal.) Both agreements gave Commissioners Nick Fish and Amanda Fritz, who voted against ...   More

News Rudy Soto, student body president at Portland State University from 2007 to 2008, will file next week to run against Commissioner Dan Saltzman, joining five others who have already announced their intention to challenge the three-time incumbent. Soto says he plans to make an official announcement next Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Soto, 24, has already seen the dark side of political ...   More

News First piece of city election news today in Portland: Jesse Cornett, one of the seven candidates running against City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, says he expects to qualify for $150,000 in public financing for the May primary. That achievement, which requires 1,000 signatures and $5 matching donations, would make Cornett the only candidate to qualify for that financing this election season in ...   More

News This Thursday, a pro-peace nonprofit called J Street will kick off its national grassroots campaign by launching local chapters in Portland and dozens of other locations nationwide. J Street differs from longer-established pro-Israel organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee because it supports a two-state, peaceful solution in the Middle East, and because it's willing ...   More

News The final financial deal is not without some risk to the City of Portland's general fund, but this afternoon Mayor Sam Adams and three city commissioners said they would support the terms of the renovation project at PGE Park for Major League Soccer. Adams and Commissioners Randy Leonard, Nick Fish and Dan Saltzman have all said they'll vote "yes" next week when the $31 million project goes before ...   More

News This afternoon at 2 pm, Portland commissioners will discuss the city's deal with Merritt Paulson to renovate PGE Park for Major League Soccer in 2011. They'll vote on the deal next week. Meantime, here is a summary of the deal from the budget gurus at the Office of Management and Finance, with the bureau's acknowledgment of the plan's risk (as has been pointed out elsewhere) to the general fund: The ...   More

News The 53 percent to 47 percent margin by which Oregonians approved Measures 66 and 67 surprised even those responsible for crafting the campaign that convinced voters to raise personal and corporate income taxes during a deep recession. "I was nervous," says Kevin Looper, the campaign manager for the tax hike proponents. Here are a few other observations about last night: 1. Notable Absences: ...   More

News Without consulting Commissioner Dan Saltzman or the Bureau of Environmental Services, Mayor Sam Adams this afternoon proposed using $20 million of BES money to help build Portland's Bicycle Plan for 2030. The last-minute move appears to have been a calculated case of retribution directed at Saltzman for his surprise funding amendment last week. And the tapping of BES certainly caught BES head ...   More

News Quick. Which City of Portland elected official charged $18.90 to his city-issued credit card at Spartacus Leathers on Oct. 29, 2009? A: Commissioner Dan Saltzman B: Commissioner Nick Fish C: Commissioner Randy Leonard D: Mayor Sam Adams Read their recent expense reports* [PDF] plus Commissioner Amanda Fritz's to find the answer. Then head to Berbati's Pan at 9 pm to see Pep Assembly, Bombs ...   More

News Ex-Gov. John Kitzhaber, running in the Democratic gubernatorial primary for his old job, isn't the only one getting political donations from Nike. The company also swooshed into Portland politics last week when it gave $2,000 apiece to two candidates who each have little-financed challengers in the May primary. The recipients of the Nike contributions are City Commissioner Nick Fish and Multnomah ...   More