Where we're always in high-def mode.

[September 21st, 2005] Crime-victims advocate Steve Doell has offered a modest proposal to a citizen commission looking at reforming the state Legislature-how about no legislating while drunk? As this year's session neared an end, Doell and two of his citizen volunteers were lobbying on a bill stiffening the penalties on drunk drivers who kill-only to find that some of the lawmakers they were lobbying were, as Doell puts it, "three sheets to the wind. " Doell, who won't identify the lush-makers, says he's worried about appearances-as well as what happens when potentially soused lawmakers pass laws. Doell says he's seen it in past sessions, "in both parties, in both houses of the Legislature."

The Sunday Oregonian's "high-definition" makeover, aimed at bumping up circulation and luring younger readers, proved as underwhelming as the recipe in its debut for creamed chipped beef from "hostess extraordinaire" Gwyneth Gamble Booth. There were a few high-def bright spots-sporty blue sans-serif section heads; sudoku, the crack cocaine of the puzzle world; a better-looking Opinion section. But an awkward attempt to incorporate blog-style columns into print means little to online readers who struggle with OregonLive.com. ArtsWeek, once the most distinctive Sunday section, gets buried in a confusing new arts/lifestyle hybrid known as "O!" Arts criticism now shares space with Ask Amy and a Q&A column about prescription drugs. One last note: The "2001 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Public Service" banner under the masthead is no more, replaced by "Voice of the Northwest since 1850."

By law, the state Public Utility Commission exists to protect ratepayers , which makes its decision to let Portland General Electric submit financial projections under condition of confidentiality somewhat surprising (see "The New Deal," WW, Sept 14, 2005). What's weirder is that when the PUC agreed to grant the utility confidentiality on Sept. 1, PGE's financial projections-which showed PGE can easily afford a rate cut-were already in the public domain. The utility submitted the projections to the City of Portland earlier this year when the city tried to buy PGE from Enron. When Enron rejected the city's bid on July 15, CEO Stephen Cooper waived a confidentiality agreement, making the financial projections a public record .

A haunting memorial chained to a pole near Northeast Wygant Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard featuress a bent bicycle with a frame spray-painted white, with flowers and loving messages scattered about. The well-secured monument is one of many "ghost bikes" planned for the sites of serious accidents between two-wheelers and cars. The bike on MLK memorializes Christopher Burris , who was killed in a hit-and-run accident Sept. 3 (the driver has been arrested). Burris' brother, Forrest, has moved to Portland from Seattle to lead the local ghost-bike project, which was inspired by a similar effort in that city to the north (see www.ghostcycle.org ). To help, email Burris at fiburris@yahoo.com.

A Monday email from City Auditor Gary Blackmer bashes an "expert" contractor's preliminary report on the city's fire and police disability system . Even though Blackmer agrees with the report's recommendation to ditch the city-run setup for the statewide workers'-comp system, his email calls the report by Colorado firm Health and Disability Management Solutions "one of the sorriest pieces of work I've ever seen." He would like to see better research to back up the plan, writing, "I hope the City didn't pay much for this report." The disability fund has been criticized for its susceptibility to abuse by firefighters and police with disabilities of dubious authenticity.

EXCLUSIVE WEB MURMURS!

Political circles have been abuzz over a $200,000 mystery pledge revealed in Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix's Sept. 12 contributions report. The only name attached to the pledge (which would be the single largest donation so far in the 2006 governor's race) was Rainmaker Services, a Lake Oswego-based company that hadn't registered with the Secretary of State. After the Albany Democrat-Herald criticized the puzzling pledge in an editorial last week, Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist registered the same business name with the state using the new address of Nyquist's Albany bowling alley, Lakeshore Lanes. Nyquist, a Republican, tells Murmurs he has no link to the firm but was concerned about the "lack of transparency" and registered the name on a whim, hoping to draw out the real Rainmaker. To check out the firm, described in one business directory as facilitating "commodities for special interest groups for other countries," see rmsi.org.

City Center Parking boss Greg Goodman regularly broadcasts concern about downtown crime to Portland and Multnomah County officials. Recently, he emailed them an anecdote about knife-wielding "young toughs" at Pioneer Square and asked the elected ones to respond. Goodman had earlier made the rounds seeking a tax break on a development he plans behind the Governor Hotel, prompting City Commissioner Randy Leonard to respond in an email, "Greg: Maybe if we did not grant the tax abatement on your market rate apartment project we could hire cops with the money instead...what do you think?"

Long-shot Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Pete Sorenson and party officials are in a full-fledged pissing match about the upcoming party summit in Bend. Sorenson is fuming that he won't be allowed to speak at the Oct. 7-9 event in Sunriver, emailing party executive director Neel Pender that he should at least be allowed to address the gathering. Pender's response calls Sorenson's missive "unhinged'' and a "grandstanding'' play.

Have you seen the massive trailer parks the feds are "building" to house displaced Katrina victims? The Portland chapter of Architects Without Borders, an international nonprofit that helps catastrophe-racked communities rebuild, thinks it can do better. The holdup? They're waiting on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to let them know they'll be able to work without getting in the way. "It's difficult to get any straight answers," says local AWB president Angelo Radich. Once the do-gooder designers deploy, they'll look to craft rebuilding plans a little more nuanced than simply lining up double-wides. For info: www.awb-or.org.

Been wondering what ex-Trail Blazer Michael Harper is doing (you too, huh?). Well, Harper, who played two years for the Blazers in the early 1980s, is the new head coach at 2A Riverdale High School out on Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard. After his two-year NBA career, Harper hooped for another six seasons in Europe, worked for State Farm Insurance and was director of the Blazers' Speakers Bureau.