YOUR CHECKUP ON THE NEWS.

[August 3rd, 2005] Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Giusto has taken flak for using his clout to intervene in a domestic-violence allegation against Citizens Crime Commission chairman Jim Jeddeloh ("The Long Arm of the Law," WW, July 20, 2005). One answer to insiders' "What was Bernie thinking?" question: Giusto has told people he stepped in because Jeddeloh's wife, Lee, told him a cop in Portland's domestic-violence unit suggested she take her complaint to Clackamas County because her husband might have too much clout in Portland. In other words, Giusto felt he was balancing out the clout.

One of the various perks of being an Oregonian employee may be checking into an intensive-care unit. The newspaper picks up the full cost of health-care insurance, but publisher Fred Stickel sent out a July 15 letter raising concerns about projections forecasting the $8.6 million-plus spent last year by the company on health-care benefits will more than double by 2009 without some action. Among the actions: Employees in the company-sponsored Blue Cross plan are being "asked'' to complete a confidential health survey and screening coordinated by a third-party company, Quality Health Solutions. "Those who choose not to participate will be required to share the cost of increases in health-care coverage beginning July 1, 2006,'' the letter says.

"We strongly encourage you to become part of the solution!"

The saga of Ilya Adamidov , the former Portland strip-club manager once suspected by the FBI of being a local kingpin for the Russian mafia, has finally come to an end. Last month, a judge in Chicago slapped the Union Jacks skin-club icon with five months of house arrest and five years' probation for his role in a green-card scam ("Snitch-Slapped," WW, Jan. 22, 2003). Ironically, his case would have been over long ago except that gung-ho Chicago federal prosecutors nuked a deal their Portland counterparts had cut with Adamidov involving no prison time. In the end, the judge sided with the Portland feds, saying an undercover snitch had tainted the case by stealing the government's dough and fleeing to Canada.

With Multnomah County Commish Serena Cruz unable to run for re-election next year because of term limits, her would-be replacements are coming out of the woodwork. The latest name in the mix of wannabes: Pacific Green Party member Xander Patterson, director of the all-powerful East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. Given the county's knack lately for bad headlines, let us toast brave-soul candidates like Patterson,

Jeff Cogen , chief of staff to city Commissioner Dan Saltzman,

and state Rep. Gary Hansen , D-North Portland.

Margaret Rosenborg, the 82-year-old subject of a May 18 cover story ("Where's the Art?"), has her late husband Ralph's paintings back. Portland gallery owner Mark Woolley , who has staged several exhibitions of influential-but-little-known abstract artist Ralph Rosenborg's work, says Margaret got the 60 paintings back (minus four being held by her attorney as collateral for her legal bill) last week. Woolley credits the return of the paintings by Richard Valencia , who had courted Margaret and failed in his promise to sell her husband's paintings, to the prospect of legal action and pressure from Valencia's daughter to do the right thing. The paintings, two more than she even knew she had, are in good condition.

For more on Commissioner Randy Leonard and what's up in blogging, go to www.wweek.com.

CORRECTION: In last week's cover story, "Poker Boy," a photo caption on page 25 misidentified the player pictured as Amit, a protégé of the story's subject. WW regrets the error.

Kirk McCall appears determined to confound the "you can't fight City Hall'' adage. Last week, the Portland Tribune reported on McCall's curious business model: He buys trashed houses cheap, scavenges materials, rehabs them without bothering with city permits and sells for a tidy profit. The Trib's article included City Commissioner Randy Leonard 's typically pugnacious vow to "take a sledgehammer" to McCall's illicit work. After the story appeared, McCall failed to rise in Leonard's estimation when he emailed Mayor Tom Potter's office. McCall's email claimed that Leonard chief of staff Ty Kovatch called him an "asshole'' in a phone call and added, "If you have anything to say, call the bureau of buildings...and you better get a lawyer, motherfucker.'' Leonard and Kovatch say McCall-who told the Trib his "job" is studying "Middle Eastern music''-is lying.

In other news on the Commissioner Sledgehammer beat, City Council will vote Wednesday on Leonard's plan to require developers who receive city property-tax abatements to provide more info on projects' financial returns-and perhaps pay up if profits exceed expectations. Tax abatements, often used to encourage affordable housing, are a favorite target of critics, especially when employed in glitzy areas like the Pearl District. Leonard's proposal would require developers to fork over abated taxes if a project's "internal rate of return" exceeds 10 percent; the money would go to the city's affordable-housing fund. Developers could also make good by extending their commitments to subsidized rents. If approved, the new rules will take effect immediately, in time for an abatement request upcoming in two weeks in the controversial South Waterfront development.

Margaret Rosenborg, the 82-year-old subject of a May 18 cover story ("Where's the Art?"), has her late husband Ralph's paintings back. Portland gallery owner Mark Woolley, who has staged several exhibitions of influential-but-little-known abstract artist Ralph Rosenborg's work, says Margaret got the 60 paintings back (minus four being held by her attorney as collateral for her legal bill) last week. Woolley credits the return of the paintings by Richard Valencia, who had courted Margaret and failed in his promise to sell her husband's paintings, to the prospect of legal action and pressure from Valencia's daughter to do the right thing. The paintings, two more than she even knew she had, are in good condition.

New kids on the blog: If Andy Warhol were alive, he'd probably update his prediction that everybody in the future will get "15 minutes of fame'' to everybody "getting a blog" in the future. The latest evidence: Portland Beavers announcer Rich Burk (http://portlandbeavers.blogspot.com) and Washington's version (http://www.evergreenpolitics.com) of the progressive Blue Oregon blog have both debuted recently on the blogosphere.

And here's news from an old kid on the blog. City-politics blogger Christopher Frankonis, a.k.a. The One True b!X, reports the Portland Development Commission may be stonewalling his attempts to find out more about one of the PDC's many controversies. A couple of weeks back, a PDC-hired investigator issued a terse report clearing all parties in this spring's brouhaha over ex-chair Matt Hennessee's friendship with political consultant Nathaniel Clevenger, who was representing one side in a heated development controversy. Frankonis writes via his Communique blog (http://communique.portland.or.us/) that the urban-renewal commission hasn't responded to his public-records request for more (make that any) details on the investigation. Seems like an ill omen for PDC, which has been involved in more ethical foul-ups than Jude Law lately but has vowed to become more transparent.