Not Your Typical Mugshot

[May 3rd, 2006] It was not your typical mugshot . On April 25, The Oregonian ran a photo of Dusten Jacob Williams, his face covered in red paint with garish black accents at the eyes and mouth. Beaverton police had arrested Williams and charged him with disorderly conduct for allegedly brandishing a fake gun outside a middle school. So what in the world was he up to? Murmurs has a possible explanation. Williams pulled his stunt the same day as a downtown Portland concert featuring a member of the Insane Clown Posse, a pro-wrestling-inspired horror-core rap group from Michigan. The concert reportedly drew crowds of painted young men, all hell-bent on trouble no doubt.

The pending investigation into Police Chief Derrick Foxworth's emails to desk clerk Angela Oswalt is interfering with Mayor Tom Potter's travel plans. Oswalt, who is out on medical leave, hasn't yet been interviewed by the city (though 17 others have). And that means the investigation may drag out for the rest of May, thus requiring Potter to stay in town and killing his plans to attend a world sustainable-development summit May 17-19 in Lyon, France. The duty of jetting to France's culinary capital falls to Commissioner Sam Adams. Taxpayers' tab for Adams, his economic-development advisor, two Office of Sustainable Development staff and a City of Portland booth: $11,070.

While Potter chills in Portland, progress on one of his few actual initiatives, a review of the city charter, is going more slowly than anticipated. The original plan called for charter reforms—potentially including tighter control of the Portland Development Commission, a relaxation of civil-service protections for city bureaucrats and a look at Portland's commission form of government—for the November ballot. Now, Judy Tuttle, Potter's point person on charter review, says the 26-member panel tasked with the re-do plans to have recommendations for council on all three issues by the end of June. But the complex issues will probably need more study.

Last week, City Council candidate Ginny Burdick complained to the city that incumbent Commissioner Erik Sten had placed lawn signs on public property. This week, Sten supporter Charlie Burr is going after what he says is a misleading Burdick radio ad that slams Sten for using public funding in his campaign. What's gotten under Burr's saddle is the ad's voiceover, which says the ad is "paid for by the Friends of Ginny Burdick, not by your tax dollars." Yet as Murmurs noted Feb. 8, an earlier Burdick campaign mailing asked supporters to take advantage of a law that lets donors claim a state income tax refund for political contributions. Burr wants stations to pull the ad. Burdick campaign manager Ed Grosswiler counters that the ad clearly refers to "city tax dollars."

Portlander Dorothy D. Hirsch recently made the Guinness World Record Book as the oldest person to reach the North Pole. The Nob Hill old-timer made it at age 89 in August 2004, along with 92 others. After trekking to the South Pole in the mid-1990s, Hirsch tells Murmurs that she persuaded her 49-year-old daughter, also named Dorothy, to come along up north by saying, "We've not gone to the North Pole, so let's do this." Sounds simple, huh?

^WEB-ONLY MURMURS!

Two quickie desperate tales from the campaign trail: No doubt it was pure coincidence that Multnomah County commission candidate Lew Frederick just happened to post on the political blog Blue Oregon the sappy, tear-jerking summary of a phone conversation he had with his daughter from New Orleans last Friday, the day ballots went out. We'd never be so cynical as to suggest he was pandering to the county's Bush-bashers by pointing out that Frederick, who last posted on Blue Oregon on Nov. 3, 2004, called for Dubya's indictment on charges of "criminally negligent homicide." And then there's City Commish Dan Saltzman, who looked just plain worried as he stood at the eastern ramp of the Morrison Bridge on Monday panhandling for votes.

We confess. We're annoyed that a West Virginia-based hate group going by the name of the National Alliance has been dumping its "White Power" directives in WW's boxes. For those wanting to learn more about how the Jew media corrupts white children by encouraging them to follow "Negro culture," go to www.natvan.com. And now to the folks pitching this BS, stay the hell out of our boxes.