From Wonderland to Sunderland.

[July 20th, 2005] Randy Ray Richardson , the flamboyant former Multnomah County prosecutor charged with bribing witnesses, beat the criminal rap last May but still faces ethics charges from the Oregon State Bar . And the case, which could strip him of his law license, keeps growing. The latest is a brand-new bar investigation over an incident five years ago: The then-prosecutor allegedly lied and used his position to get a Portland cop to help collect money he felt a woman owed him ("Randy Richardson was a hotshot defense lawyer. Now he needs one," WW, May 28, 2003).

Outside Magazine may proclaim Portland a "dream city" in its most recent issue, but not everyone is wowed. When city planners in sprawly Atlanta started talking up Portland's Metro regional government, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shot back with an angry op-ed: "Look closer, Portland no utopia." The editorialist, Jim Wooten, found his way to John Charles of the Cascade Policy Institute, a right-wing-ish think-tank that often voices skepticism about Portland's urban achievements. Quoth Charles: "What's going on in Portland is a Potemkin village where they put up these false fronts." The paper goes on to feverishly defend Atlanta's sprawling past, averring that "government's aim, always, should be to determine how citizens wish to live-and facilitate it, regardless of whether that results in 'sprawl.'"

Failed Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean 's Oregon legions are starting a new political action committee and using House Speaker Karen Minnis as the star villain to gin up enthusiasm. The Dean-inspired Democracy for Oregon this week sent its missive to nearly 4,000 supporters statewide with a comparison of Minnis to Alice in Wonderland's Red Queen, in this case shouting "off with their heads'' to moderate Republicans who cross their GOP leader.

The Portland Timbers are trying to forget their so-far-lackluster season and put on the ritz for Sunderland AFC, the English Premier League team coming to PGE Park for a Saturday exhibition match at 7 pm. Several hundred Black Cats fans are expected to come out of the woodwork to support the side from England's industrial north. Meanwhile, our local minor-league soccer squad aims to bag a gate-receipt windfall and an on-the-field shocker against a club about as far removed from them in the soccer hierarchy as the Chicago White Sox are from the Binghamton Mets. The roster-depleted Timbers' hopes to secure a Major League Soccer defender on loan appeared stalled at press time, but perhaps they can count on indigestion. Sunderland wants its boys fed mackerel, tomatoes and black beans for breakfast. Jeez-we know they're English, but come on!

Drive-in movie buffs beware, the spread of urban lights threatens the last Portland-area drive-in movie theater. Newberg's Planning Commission expects to decide in the next week or so on a commercial development application for land next to the 99W Drive-In, a favorite of car-club enthusiasts and nostalgics alike. Newberg planning and building officials say developers remain sensitive to the ambient-light issue. But fans of the 52-year-old drive-in are sounding the alarm bells about one of Oregon's four remaining drive-ins.