The gifts that keep on giving.

[December 6th, 2006] So much for a Democratic Senate primary run in 2008 by former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber . Asked on Nick Fish's Sunday public-affairs TV program whether he'd have any interest in the U.S. Senate, Kitzhaber splashed cold water on any Dem fever to get him in a race against U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.). Check out the video clip of the interview from KWBP's Outlook Portland with Nick Fish at WWire on wweek.com.

Trying to sort out how much of the $2 million settlement local lawyer Brandon Mayfield will get from the feds for his 2004 wrongful arrest in a terrorism investigation? Well, know this: Mayfield will end up handing a hefty sum back to the feds, despite the pain and suffering of filing his tax return. IRS officials tell Murmurs that standard treatment of similar settlements would generate a tax bill of about $658,250. One tax-reducing option for Mayfield: Itemize his return to include his legal bills.

Fresh off a sweep in the November elections, Oregon's Democratic Party leadership has an internal leadership fight on its hands. Party Vice Chair Meredith Smith, a grassroots organizer and stepmother of the Oregon Bus Project's Jefferson Smith, announced at a party confab last weekend that she'll seek the chair's job at the D's internal elections March 10. "I've got the time and energy to devote full-time to the job," Smith tells WW. Four-term incumbent chairman Jim Edmunson, a Eugene lawyer and former legislator, hasn't announced his plans yet. But insiders say if Edmunson steps down, his supporters will field another candidate. "I want to see who else comes forward before I decide," Edmunson says.

The subject of the Aug. 30 cover story "With Amigos Like These," about unqualified business owners who offered poor legal advice to Latino immigrants , has run into trouble again with Oregon's attorney general. The latest problem for Jorge Macias: advertising "investigative" services to Latino clients when he wasn't a licensed investigator. As a result of a Nov. 29 court order, Macias, a paralegal with an office in Southeast Portland, must pay $4,000 to the state. All but $400 of that will be suspended if Macias complies with the order. Macias tells Murmurs he now has his investigator's license, but admits he advertised his qualifications before it came through.

Commissioner Sam Adams' Nov. 30 deadline to name the aerial tram has passed, but we must wait a few more weeks to learn the winning entry. Between five and 10 finalists chosen from 1,080 entries by a committee of local historians, business people and OHSU employees will be listed on commissionersam.com. Then we can all go to that Adams website to vote. Meanwhile, this piece of tram news now in: riders will need to pack earmuffs in the winter and fans in the summer. Why? The tram cars aren't even going to be heated or cooled. Makes us think of a naming suggestion for the tram's two cars: Poor and Planning?

Your weekly Give!Guide reminder reports that we're more than halfway toward our $100,000 fundraising goal for the 37 nonprofits profiled in our annual holiday guide. That's great, and WW thanks you for donating more than $53,000 so far. But we really want to help these folks out, so please go to giveguide.wweek.com and give. There are, of course, prizes aplenty for donors, from free haircuts and coffee coupons for everybody to fine bottles of wine for the most generous.

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Friends of a 70-ish woman who regularly sat on the bench next to Kitchen Kaboodle at Southwest 6th Avenue and Alder Street are planning a memorial service at that spot for her Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 2 pm. Anita Floyd's death last week of complications from a heart attack has already sparked a flood of bouquets, notes and photos from people who work in the area or regularly walked by Floyd. Friends say Floyd had recently moved off the street, but still came to sit every day at the bench where she'd been for four and a half years asking for money and chatting with passersby.

The amount of money paid out by Multnomah County to settle lawsuits and tort claims jumped by 39 percent in fiscal year 2005-2006. A recent county report of settlement expenses showed payments in the fiscal year through June 2006 of $1.17 million for lawsuits, tort claims and property damage. This year, the county settled 13 lawsuits, paying out claims ranging from $750 to $232,000 for a case involving a woman under county supervision whose pit bulls attacked two people. While the payout was up this year, it was 10 percent less than two years ago.