A week's story arc from political sharks to traveling larks.

[May 4th, 2005] * Some major panic for a bit at the Cascade AIDS Project when fundraisers couldn't find transaction records for about $600,000 donated at the nonprofit's April 9 benefit. CAP staff called about 300 donors to say a partygoer might have left the fundraiser with a fistful of high-limit credit-card numbers. The deep breath came about two weeks later, when the records turned up in a box. An apology letter went out last week.

* Construction will begin next month to convert the 93-year-old Clyde Hotel on Southwest Stark Street into a cousin of a Seattle hotel. The $3.3 million project will give Portland its own four-story Ace Hotel . "We're not a boutique hotel," says creative entrepreneur Alex Calderwood, who is working with A&R Development in Portland. "We're a unique hotel." What that means is anyone's guess. Seattle's Ave has the Kama Sutra on bedside tables.

* Oh, those traveling pols. State Sen. Bruce Starr tapped his campaign account for a recent D.C. trip that included a national state-legislatures forum and a meeting about the Lewis & Clark bicentennial. But the Hillsboro Republican says his agenda included no meetings with national GOP types about any congressional run in 2006 against Rep. David Wu, D-Ore. On a less wonky travel note, Metro's David Bragdon took a recent weekend to hang in Jersey with Pink Martini.

* Here are two tales from the "cats and dogs getting along'' files. The fight between Multnomah County Commissioner Serena Cruz and Randy Leonard for the City Council seat Leonard won in 2002 featured snarls, sneers and maybe even a few slurs. But the county's need for revenue brought them together recently for a meeting in Leonard's office-Leonard's Bureau of Licenses collects the county's Business Income Tax-and the two were all smiles. But if Cruz joins Leonard's pal Chamberlain in challenging County Chair Diane Linn next year (see murmur above), all bets could be off. Meanwhile, City Commissioner Sam Adams and Nick Fish , the lawyer/TV host Adams defeated in a hard-fought council race last year, are also making common cause. Both are endorsing Dan Ryan for the Portland Public Schools board in the May 17 election.

* City Hall's upcoming loss will be a gain for the "battle against the digital divide." At the end of June, Marshall Runkel will wrap up his decade-long stint as aide and sidekick to City Commissioner Erik Sten. Runkel, a 39-year-old policy wonk and political strategist extraordinaire, will take his talents to One Economy , a nonprofit whose mission is linking low-income Americans to the Internet . Runkel will report to Rey Ramsey, Oregon's former statewide director of housing, and his office will be above Harvey's Comedy Club in Old Town.

* The pool of blood-smelling challengers to Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn (right) is brimming a year out from the May 2006 election. Former city firefighters union head Tom Chamberlain has talked with heavyweight political consultant Mark Wiener about a bid. Investor Ted Wheeler says he's also leaning toward a run. Meanwhile, Linn, who wants to keep her seat, lost spokesman Bob Gravely this week to a PR job at Qwest. One final tidbit: Jeff Cogen, chief of staff to City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, will run for the county commissioner seat held by Serena Cruz, who's term-limited out next year.

* Suspected serial panty-thief Sung Koo Kim went on suicide watch for one day at his own request after Multnomah County sheriff's deputies discovered sinister smut in his jail cell. Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Michael Shults says a routine search last Thursday yielded a stack of newspaper photos with handwritten inscriptions. Another source says the photos, including shots of scantily clad women, were labeled with the names of Kim's alleged underwear victims. Among the phrases: "Heather's a bitch," "Rape me," and "I love sperm." Portland police detectives seized Kim's collection.

* Portland Police Officer Derrick Foxworth Jr.-the chief's son-will not face criminal charges after an investigation cleared him of rape and kidnapping allegations filed by a woman he transported to detox in March. The woman had told police he pulled over to a hedge, yanked her from her seat and raped her against the cruiser. But an inquiry by police detectives and deputy district attorney James McIntyre found no physical evidence supporting those claims. Documents say the woman was severely intoxicated when she filed her charges, changing her story several times. Foxworth Jr. was not placed on administrative leave, as is customary in more substantiated cases. The chief declined to comment.