Everything but Osama is here.

[September 13th, 2006] * Here's an answer to last week's perplexing Murmur about why a blatantly Christian symbol—the "Jesus fish" —appeared in some copies of The Oregonian's Aug. 29 Metro section . A blog entry last week by the newspaper's editors on oregonlive.com said they were equally "vexed" until they finally sleuthed why the emblem popped up. The reason: ink bleeding from a print ad for Cascade Hearing Centers . The ad, which featured various non-Christian symbols as well as the fish, appeared on the back of the paper's A section, directly preceding the front page of the Metro section.

* The Portlander who founded the website that exposes would-be sexual predators on NBC's "Dateline" ("Hunting Perverts," WW, May 31, 2006) is getting bad press for his blog posts two years ago about U.S. hostages killed in Iraq. Radar magazine's website, radaronline.com , reported last week that Xavier Von Erck ridiculed the hostages for submitting to the demands of their kidnappers. Among Von Erck's posts in 2004 on his blog, angrygerman.com : Slain captive Nicholas Berg "kneeled meekly and struggled naught as his death was thrust upon him," which Von Erck wrote demonstrates Americans are "weak-willed and subservient" to the Iraqis. Von Erck's response: Reporters "copy-and-pasted some of my (out-of-context) political opinions...to try to make people who disagree hate me."

* Feeling beaten up and misunderstood after the 2005 legislative session, Oregon's big three utilities recently hired political consultant Dan Lavey to help them with strategy and communication. Murmurs understands why the trio (Portland General Electric, PacifiCorp and NW Natural) would be smarting after the Legislature stripped them of a lucrative tax dodge and why a smart guy like Lavey might be appealing. But there might have been a more judicious choice. Lavey is the architect of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde near million-dollar attack on Gov. Ted Kulongoski, whom polls make a strong bet to be back next year when the utilities come banging on the door. Lavey calls the assignment a "modest job" that won't involve any lobbying.

* If there was any truth to rumors that Jefferson High School students planned a protest walkout Monday, students didn't get very far. No protest ensued, because all but one of the school's doors are locked during the day and security guards roam the halls. But parents say some students' underlying discontent remains against new principal Leon Dudley 's decision to bar all students from leaving campus during lunch. Among the teenagers' complaints: The cafeteria line is so long that they don't have time to wait for their meal and eat it, there aren't enough chairs for all 650 students, and they're confined to a small outdoor area if they want to get some fresh air. Dudley said in a press release Tuesday that he knows some oppose his policies but hopes they will accept them "so we can keep our eyes on the prize," which he defines as "greatly increasing academic achievement."

* The current contract between retailers and the Oregon Lottery doesn't expire until 2010, but the bars and taverns who get a fat subsidy from the arrangement may be disappointed to see the departure of commission chairman Kerry Tymchuk, a top aide to Republican U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith. Tymchuk, who says he's leaving early so the guv can appoint a new chair, has a rep as being even-handed in the job. His likely successor, Portland lawyer Steve Ungar, will probably be less sympathetic to the heavily Republican Oregon Restaurant Association when the existing contract triggers a potential windfall profits assessment on retailers.

^WEB ONLY MURMURS!

Here's a comforting update for your moments of financial dread at the gas pump. WW cover boy Randy White ("My Name Is Randy, And I'm Addicted to Oil," Feb. 22, 2006) is launching a new website aimed at making PDX a little greener. Carpoolcrew.com lets ride seekers find each other by ZIP code and adds a MySpace-like profile component that lets people find potential carpoolers they're comfortable with or who enjoy the same drive-time music. Says White, now a member of Portland's Peak Oil Task Force: "People are afraid of people they don't know. That's one of the big challenges of carpooling right now."

Murmurs got to wondering when it read in Tuesday's Oregonian about pending pay raises in Multnomah County if chair-elect Ted Wheeler would take the planned $8,000 raise for the chair's job when he takes office in January. We were curious both because Wheeler comes from big timber money and because he wouldn't say during the primary if he planned on taking any salary if he won. Wheeler, whose family foundation is worth about $15 million according to recent tax filings, said Tuesday that he'll "work hard to earn every cent" of his $123,000 salary next year.