The Chattering Class

[July 6th, 2005] * An inmate in the same Multnomah County Jail unit where Dennis Saban was mortally beaten by a cellmate says the deputy responsible for the unit was nowhere to be seen during the June 16 attack. John Sigismondi, jailed on a menacing charge, tells WW that he began hearing screams and the dull noise of flesh hitting the stainless-steel toilet before breakfast, which is served after 7:30 am. He says the screaming continued for about 15 minutes, and the blows for another 10 minutes after that. Several minutes later, Sigismondi says, a deputy came in to find Saban, who had been in the same cell as Thomas Allen Gordon , a convicted murderer with a history of jailhouse aggression. (Saban died about two weeks after the beating.) A Sheriff's Office spokesman says the beating happened after 8:30 am, and that the deputy left for only about 15 minutes.

* How much does Nike's new boss like the company's digs or perhaps the prospect of being annexed into Beaverton? Good questions. The June 30 issue of The Financial Times quoted new Swoosh CEO Bill Perez saying, "We try staying attuned to the market, which is a challenge sometimes when you are in Portland as opposed to being in Chicago." Um, have we mentioned our mild winters? Anyone?

* Portland City Council's vote to solicit a private firm to build a citywide wireless Internet cloud comes at a time when public efforts to expand high-speed Internet access are under attack. Congress is considering a bill introduced last month that would ban city-owned wireless networks designed to help poor people get access to crucial online information. So far, Portland's plans face no pushback, though, as wi-fi activist Nigel Ballard noted after last week's council vote, "There were lots of well-dressed people sitting in the back of the room, taking notes."

* For the handful of TV viewers watching Gov. Ted Kulongoski at 6:30 am last Sunday on Outlook Portland with Nick Fish, there came a weird harmonic convergence of news and advertising. Right after the governor (and ex-Marine) expressed worry on the KWBP program about the effect of deployments to Iraq on enlistments and re-enlistments in Oregon's National Guard came a public-service ad for that same guard. Needless to say, the ad painted a much rosier picture of service.

* The "Q Girls" may soon be descending on the Pearl in whirring, electric-powered throngs. Portlander Mark Atkinson is bringing The Q, a new Segway knockoff that looks just as bizarre for a fraction of the price, to the city. He plans to create a buzz by sending flocks of attractive women riding the things into the trendy heart of Portland. Says Atkinson: "The Q is a thing that people can stand on and not look stupid." Check out www.rad2go.com to see if you agree.