No pity in the Rose City.

[July 13th, 2005] Metro Councilor Robert Liberty thinks he has a solution to the legal quagmire created by Measure 37. (The measure requires local governments to pay landowners whose property is affected by new regulations-or to remove those regulations.) Liberty's idea: Landowners who want to get their acreage inside the region's urban growth boundary (thus allowing it to be developed) could pay for the right to do so. This, says Liberty, could create a fund that would pay other landowners' Measure 37 claims. Farmers and homebuilders are open to the idea, and on Monday night a Metro task force OKed looking into it.

Not long after British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Kirsti Gill ruled that environmental activist Tre Arrow could be extradited to the United States, the former Michael Scarpitti's lawyer announced he would file an appeal aimed at keeping Arrow in a Canadian jail. In fact, Arrow says he'll use every appeal open to him, because he doesn't think he can get a fair trial in the United States. Arrow, a former Portland congressional candidate, is accused of ringleading a pair of arsons four years ago that caused $260,000 in damage to logging and cement trucks. Stephen Peifer, the federal prosecutor in the case, says it would be in Arrow's best interests to return to Portland for trial. "[He's] just serving dead time," Peifer says of Arrow's 15-month sojourn in a Canadian clink. As for Arrow's fair-trial fears, Peifer says: "That's patently absurd."

Portland Monthly's "Best of the City" issue just hit the streets; the glossy city mag asked a team of "opinion leaders" to "wrangle over their favorites." Our favorite member of this august group: stylist Brian Rusch . Rusch's website, Mega Muscle Productions , features a parade of hunky dudes in various stages of undress and, until recently, sold used underwear worn by its models.

Oregon Democrats may face the '06 election season without one of their most prominent, seasoned pollsters. Portland's Lisa Grove says that while she still plans to do some political work, she recently became a partner at Integrity Furniture . Why the move from politics to palm wood? Sez Grove: "I'm having a crisis of faith with the Democratic Party." Join the friggin' club, lady.

A recent story in Indian Country Today slammed David Douglas High School after a Native American student claimed a teacher damaged four eagle plumes she wore as part of her graduation regalia. The July 1 article by Portland writer Jean Johnson says Kelsey Wellman wore the traditional decorations to the school's commencement, only to have a Douglas staffer rip the feathers off her mortarboard. David Douglas principal Randy Hutchinson's response: The school doesn't allow any adornments on graduation caps, and the staffer thought Wellman indicated she'd let the plumes come off. Wellman's parents say her brother graduated from David Douglas without incident last year, with a similarly decorated cap.

Back from Washington, D.C., for a" district work session," U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio has been all over the news over the past week, fueling speculation that he may jump in the governor's race if Gov. Ted Kulongoski decides he's had enough (see the Nose, page 17). Last Thursday, for instance, DeFazio did a bunch of media interviews over the London bombings and met with a state labor group followed by the Portland Business Alliance and, interestingly, Kulongoski himself. Hmmm...

Count Thomas Bruner, director of Cascade AIDS Project, out of the running for a seat on the Multnomah County Commission. Bruner, rumored to be gunning for outgoing commish Serena Cruz's seat, bowed out with a letter to Cruz. Bruner writes that although he'd "do a bang-up job if elected," he doesn't want to spend most of the next year on the campaign warpath.

A study by four Portland State University urban-planning grad students looks like a small victory for public-skatepark advocates. The city is inching towards a decision on where to site two new public skateparks. With dozens of potential locations under consideration, the PSU study examined how existing parks affect their surroundings. Bad news: Skateparks do contribute to noise, litter and vandalism. Good news: They're no worse than basketball courts or other high-traffic rec amenities.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...the Dude Ranch, that is...A team of local developers is still negotiating with the owners of the abandoned Multi-Craft Plastics building on Northeast Broadway and Williams Avenue. Developers want to rehab the former jazz club, which hides exquisite 1940s decor beneath a drab post-industrial husk, and couple it with an ultra-green new building by world-famous architect Ken Yeang. The building's current owners wanted a deal by July 8, but talks continue after the potential buyers rustled up more investors and said they could close in 30 days if the price came down. City Commissioner Sam Adams is wading in, organizing a forum on the potential renovation at 5:30 pm this Thursday at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, 5340 N Interstate Avenue.