Where We Always Fill In The Blanks.

proclaim the white-and-red holiday lights on the roof of one Beaverton home. Murmurs was shocked to learn from the proud homeowner that the cipher had nothing do to with the movie

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says lawyer Bruce McLaughlin, who has (to the chagrin of at least one neighbor) also emblazoned his home with anti-war and anti-Bush statements in previous years. McLaughlin didn't want his address revealed, saying vandals had in the past snipped his wires and tossed a glowing green "radioactive" barrels over a neighbor's hedge. So why "Fuck Dubya" this holiday season? Says McLaughlin: "It's just a guttural, base feeling about this president."

The weekly Kitz watch: Funny how the groups least happy with Gov. Ted Kulongoski keep finding themselves meeting with former Gov. John Kitzhaber. First, it was environmental groups (who think the current guv hasn't been green enough) and public-employee unions (who think Kulongooski trimmed too much of their benefits). Next up: The Grand Ronde tribes, which financed a series of TV and print ads earlier this year slamming Kulongoski for backing the rival Warm Springs tribes opening a casino in the Columbia River Gorge. Reps from the Grand Ronde, the deep-pocketed owners of the Spirit Mountain casino, plan to meet with Kitzhaber in early January.

An annual citizen review of the Multnomah County corrections system heaps more criticism on Sheriff Bernie Giusto's office for failing to manage personnel spending. And the recently Corrections Grand Jury report says Giusto's $5 million overtime splurge this year should be amended to include an extra $1.7 million spent on comp-time hours. The report also questions safety at two jail facilities, predicting a grim fate for inmates if fire or earthquake strikes the downtown detention center or the courthouse jail.

The scrum of city and county officials (minus Chair Diane Linn) and K-12 parents cogitating on a replacement for the expiring three-year Multnomah County income-tax surcharge got poll results back last week. The ed-heads declined to show the data, but several background conversations yielded the following: The most politically palatable option appears to be a five-year, city-only income tax for the May ballot. The current countywide tax also pays for some county public-safety and social-services costs; a May ballot measure would probably be education-only. But nothing is definite, as other county commissioners do not (surprise!) necessarily share Linn's aversion to renewing the current tax and many folks are loath to leave county students outside Portland in the lurch. Expect more definition by mid-January.

Last week, Murmurs reported that former state Sen. Neil Bryant (R-Bend) listed being a white male as a "disability" when Gov. Ted Kulongoski tapped him to fill a vacancy on the OHSU board. This week, we report Bryant's attempt at humor fell flat and the governor's office has withdrawn the nomination.

You won't have the WW's Give! Guide reminder to kick around much longer. More than $40,000 has come in so far from 700-plus donors. But there's still time to take that up to even greater heights. The deadline for donations is Dec. 31, with awesome goodies for all donors and even better stuff for folks giving $250 or more, as well as for the biggest contributors. Check out www.wweek.com/giveguide for all the details.

WEB-ONLY MURMURS!

We're No. 89!!! Yes, our own Portland Trail Blazers rank 89th out of 92 major-league sports franchises, according to a fan vote taken on espn.com for ESPN The Magazine. (No. 1 is the San Antonio Spurs. The holy tragedy of teams below the Blazers: the Minnesota Vikings, Charlotte Bobcats and New Orleans Saints). The Dec. 19 issue of the mag tells us the Blazers ranked 79th in a similar survey last year asking fans to rate their teams in several categories. The lowlights: The Blazers rank last in players' effort and likability, and next-to-last in fan relations. Go, team!

Fitness-club promoter Josh Fallis, who closed the Princeton Athletic Club downtown in October ("Club Dead,'' WW, Oct. 19, 2005) yet continued to deduct monthly dues from several members' accounts, has drawn attention from Seattle-area media for a similar scenario in Washington. The Burlington Athletic Club, which Fallis also runs, closed this month, just weeks after a promotion selling dirt-cheap memberships.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission declined on Thursday to tighten regulation of alcohol sales for Oregon's 14 theater brewpubs, including eight in Portland. Oregon Partnership, a substance-abuse prevention group, had asked the OLCC to reconsider a proposal that would've forced theaters serving beer or wine to (1) exclude kids, (2) isolate swizzling to roped off areas, or (3) permit minors only when accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or spouse over 21. But the commission said theater brewpubs are doing a fine job regulating themselves, so feel free to sit right next to your first-grader and wash down those Junior Mints with a cold one.

Our federal judges didn't take the Fifth when an editorial last week in The Oregonian essentially accused them of first-degree Exclusion of the Public in the remodeled Pioneer Courthouse. In a letter to the paper Saturday, Judges Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Susan Graber and Edward Leavy criticized the editorial for blasting the removal of the post office from the courthouse lobby and cutting off access to judges. The judges said the editorial contained several false statements and that the entire courthouse was in fact more open and accessible than ever. They went on to invite everyone to witness their hearings and take in a breath-taking view from the cupola while visiting.

WWeek 2015