Murmurs: Jeremy Christian Rant Could Be Played at Trial

In other news: Big Pharma sues Oregon.

Gateway Transit Center. (Reid Kille)

Jeremy Christian Rant Could Be Played at Trial: Prosecutors in the murder trial of Jeremy Christian want to introduce a recording of him ranting on public transit to prove he planned to stab anyone who challenged his racist diatribes. A Dec. 6 motion by the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office asks Judge Cheryl Albrecht to admit a cellphone video taken on a TriMet MAX train on May 25, 2017—the night before Christian fatally stabbed Taliesin Namkai-Meche and Ricky Best. "I'm about to stab some motherfuckers," Christian says in the recording. "Call the police. I dare you. Let's do this shit." The request by prosecutors suggests a key argument in their case: "The stabbing of Ricky Best, Taliesin Namkai-Meche and Micah Fletcher was not a spur-of-the-moment response to the situation," they write, "but rather were consistent with the defendant having previously contemplated the idea of stabbing people on public transportation." Christian's trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 21.

Bike Racers Wage Transgender Fight: The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association is standing by a board member who condemned the participation of transgender entrants in women's bike races. The association announced Dec. 9 it would not remove Inga Thompson from its board of directors. Thompson, a former Olympic cyclist, wrote an article in October for a website called Save Women's Sports titled "Male Athletes Are Taking Over Women's Cycling." She also circulated a proposal to create a separate racing category for transgender athletes. Critics demanded her removal from the board, as BikePortland first reported. OBRA says Thompson's position on transgender athletes didn't "pose a conflict of interest with the organization's rules, mission or statement of diversity."

Big Pharma Sues Oregon: The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America sued Oregon in federal court Dec. 9 over two new laws requiring disclosure of prescription drug prices. The lawsuit, first reported by Portland Business Journal, contends the laws will control pharmaceutical prices nationwide and force companies to disclose trade secrets. "It is our hope that these misguided and unconstitutional policies are put aside so that we can instead focus on reforms that will actually help people better afford their medicines," says PhRMA general counsel James C. Stansel. State Rep. Rob Nosse (D-Portland), who sponsored the laws, says the key reason for pharmaceutical price hikes is corporate profits. "There is already a strong precedent going back over a century requiring corporate transparency in a variety of cases," he says. "I think this means our state has a good case."

Portland Tycoon Vows Revenge Against Montana: The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has handed a former Portland timber magnate a major victory, ruling the state of Montana improperly forced him into involuntary bankruptcy in 2011. Tim Blixseth earned fame and fortune as co-founder of now-defunct Crown Pacific, a Portland firm that was once among the state's largest timber companies. Blixseth later co-founded the exclusive Yellowstone Club ski resort in Montana. In 2006, Forbes pegged the Oregon native's net worth at $1.6 billion—but after taking on too much debt, Blixseth went broke and spent time in a Montana prison. In late November, however, Blixseth told the Great Falls Tribune he will seek hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the Treasure State. "I feel like there is justice in America," Blixseth told the Tribune.

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