A stylish place to park your scuttlebutt.

[February 25th, 2004] * Mayor Vera Katz may finally fulfill a bit of a promise made long ago, pleasing developers and interior designers alike. In 1998--just before the market crashed--the engineering and construction giant Bechtel Corp. took a big parcel of land along Airport Way in exchange for building light rail to PDX. The area known as Cascade Station has lain largely fallow since, but Bechtel reps will be conferencing with Katz this week to discuss bringing Swedish furniture giant Ikea to the promised land.

* Even before her first day in town, the county's new head librarian, Molly Raphael, was a focal point for controversy thanks to the whopping salary of $138,000 she was awarded by county chair Diane Linn. Now that the fuss is over, Raphael is settling into her new job and, soon, a new house. Murmurs has confirmed that the county's newest high-profile public servant is buying an abode in ritzy Dunthorpe. No word on the final price tag (the sale is pending), but it boasts three-and-a-half bathrooms and just short of 5,000 square feet, and the current owner was asking more than $1 million.

* We may be naked, but that doesn't mean we're--gasp--gay! That's right: Certain members of a nudist club outside Portland are perturbed that they might be giving people the wrong idea with the club's rainbow-colored logo and flag. The 103-acre collective known as Restful Haven Health Club (don't call it a "colony," please), which leases campsites to members, has been in North Plains for 53 years but may be in for a change. As the minutes from their meeting last month say, "Some members don't like our rainbow, it signifies gay & lesbian acceptance. So we should change it." Intolerance at a nudist club? "Some of our more conservative people have a problem with" the perception that they are gay-friendly, says Pam, the club's spokeswoman. "I like to think we're friendly with all people."

* Can you spell lawsuit? Try "OYA." Last week, an Oregon Youth Authority juvenile-probation officer, Michael Lee Boyles, was indicted for multiple counts of sex abuse against a teenager he supervised, and the organization is now set to catch some serious flak. Word has it that top supervisors--including one now up for a big promotion--knew the boy was living at Boyles' home. Several more alleged victims have reportedly already come forward, so stay tuned: This will get uglier.

* Three weeks ago, Murmurs wrote about Pavel Goberman, the Beaverton fitness guru and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who is making a long-overdue push to get the people talking about legalizing dueling. In response, he sent Murmurs a series of dispatches clarifying he is no bodybuilder--"I don't have time for it"--and complaining that WW did not endorse him when he ran for state labor commissioner. "Do NOT assault me: I will fight back. ... Garbage! Dirty, rotten, evil nest, the enemy of the PEOPLE. Your business will have no luck. You will see!" In a later email, Goberman showed his sensitive side: "P.S. But: thank your newspaper for printing my website address." That address? Getenergized.com/vote. Don't hurt us, Pavel.

* No film at 11. Pete Schulberg, once one of Portland's most respected TV newscasters, is now writing about "butt dialing." The former KGW anchor left the airwaves in 1993 to pen a media column for The Oregonian, then jumped ship to host a morning radio show on KPAM. When KPAM owner Bob Pamplin started the Portland Tribune three years ago, Schulberg resumed his TV column. After giving up the radio gig last year, Schulberg reportedly accepted a hefty pay cut to stay on as columnist. This week, following a major layoff at the Trib, Schulberg was pressed into reporting duty, writing a business story about a guy who invented a device to prevent people from inadvertently dialing 911 when they sit on their cell phones.