What's blowin' in the wind

[November 2nd, 2005] Rudolph the Red-Nosed Duck ? Turns out the iconic "Made in Oregon" sign atop the White Stag building may be in play. Here's why: The Bill Naito Company, which got the building in a recent division of family assets , is negotiating a sale to a developer representing the U of O. And the university reportedly plans a graduate school of architecture and design for the site next to the west end of the Burnside Bridge. The city sign code probably protects the stag, but who's protecting Portland State from a Ducks invasion?

Fallout from hurricanes Katrina and Rita could produce massive losses in Oregon for either NW Natural or its biggest customers. Last week, 26 of NW Natural's largest industrial customers—including Georgia Pacific, its single biggest buyer—filed a complaint with the state Public Utility Commission saying the utility promised them gas at fixed prices. NW Natural spokesman Gregg Kantor says the contract called for gas to be delivered at spot-market prices, which nearly doubled after the hurricanes curtailed production in the Gulf of Mexico. Industrial users attorney Ed Finklea says the difference between what the customers expected to pay and what they now will pay could be as much as $30 million . The flap is a huge potential exposure either for customers or for NW Natural, which earned $50.5 million for its stockholders in 2004. Residential customers will see little if any impact.

With colleagues like these, who needs enemies? Diane Linn 's main challenger so far in the upcoming race for Multnomah County Chair has already received support from two current county commissioners, Maria Rojo de Steffey and Lisa Naito . Granted, Linn and the two commissioners regularly squabble, but endorsing Linn opponent Ted Wheeler marks quite the departure from the usually genteel local political scene. In case you're scanning Wheeler's list of backers and spot the name of John Ball, it's not the same guy who was Linn's chief of staff before departing.

Isn't a library supposed to be a quiet place? According to a Multnomah County official and an internal memo sent to county library staff, FBI agents staked out the main branch at Southwest 10th Avenue and Taylor Street on Saturday, Oct. 22, hunting for an unknown bad guy. Then on Halloween night, police got into a scuffle outside the main branch with four young adults, employing Tasers and pepper spray in arresting the foursome. Police spokesman Brian Schmautz reports no injuries and says the fight started when a young woman interrupted a traffic stop and began kicking an officer.

Holy fiscal impact, Batman: First The Oregonian awakens its newsroom with a buyout offer for its most senior staffers (those with a combined age and tenure at the paper of at least 95 years) then raises newsstand prices from 35 to 50 cents. We understand what that means, but what of the September rejiggering of the paper's masthead, which elevated President Pat Stickel above Editor Sandy Rowe, at least graphically? The pair are potential successors for current Oregonian publisher Fred Stickel, who is 84.

Turns out there are reasons your City Center Parking attendant looks "just so." Murmurs picked up a copy of the parking company's grooming standards (who knew?), and here are some of the highlights: For all employees, "Many hairstyles are acceptable, as long as they are neat and conservative'' (nice to know "acceptable" is so broadly defined). For the fellas, "Tattoos may not extend to the face or neck.'' And for the ladies, keep those "fingernails clean and neatly trimmed.'' Is this a parking lot or a finishing school?

Web-only Murmurs!

El Sid has left the building. Judge Sidney Galton's final day on the Multnomah County bench was Halloween—perhaps fitting, as some lawyers were afraid to go in front of him. He was considered by his critics to be the most vindictive judge in Multnomah County, with a reputation for bullying female lawyers ("Sid Vicious," WW, Jan. 19, 2005). When the Judicial Fitness Commission began investigating, he went out on leave citing depression and stress, then finally resigned. Little birds tell Murmurs he took a disability retirement, meaning he'll collect at least $43,100 in annual pension.

WW first crossed paths with Joseph Briden, a caseworker for the state office of Services for Children and Families, back in 1998 ("Turning the Other Cheek," April 29, 1998) when his history of domestic violence, assault, drunk driving and a jail break began nipping at his heels. Now Briden was arrested Oct. 25 for coercion and assault of his domestic partner, and is on administrative leave from the Department of Human Services.

There's at least one distant Portland tie to the maelstrom surrounding the indictment of vice-presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Libby is charged with lying to the grand jury about when and where he'd heard that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative and what he told others. Central to that investigation is Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter who served 85 days in jail before she testified about her source. Miller, who has come under fire for getting snookered by White House warmongers, had as her editor Steve Engelberg when Engelberg was an investigative editor at the Times. Engelberg came to The Oregonian in 2002 (well before Plamegate) and is now the paper's managing editor for enterprise. Engelberg and Miller also co-wrote with William Broad the 2001 book Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War.

While schools advocates are hoping to raise your taxes, the Utility Reform Project just lowered them, at least if you're one of PGE's 253,000 Multnomah County customers. The utility watchdog group sued PGE earlier this year for collecting nearly $7 million in Multnomah County Business Income Taxes, which went into Enron's pocket. Two weeks ago, PGE agreed to stop collecting the county tax and make at least a partial refund of earlier collections to ratepayers. An average ratepayer's expected refund: about $14 a year.