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[August 31st, 2005] It's no secret that the Portland Tribune is suffering, with big layoffs earlier this summer on top of its relocation to Clackamas County ("Closer to Home," if you happen to live in Estacada). But now the paper that launched itself in 2001 with free home delivery, then ended up slashing that service, is cutting off even paying subscribers: "Due to economical [sic] reasons, we must discontinue sending the Tribune by courier. However, if you would like to continue receiving the Portland Tribune, we will be happy to mail it out 3rd class. It may take a few days to arrive by mail," the paper wrote in a form letter that described its journalism product as "cutting edge."

For months, Gov. Ted Kulongoski 's allies had pointed to his hire of campaign pro Paige Richardson , as proof that he was, contrary to the rumors otherwise, running for re-election. Well, Richardson is stepping down from the campaign-reportedly not due to anything to do with Kulongoski, but to get out of politics altogether. Richardson ran the John Kerry campaign last year in Oregon and former Multnomah County Chair Bev Stein's losing gubernatorial bid in 2002.

Portland police Lt. Mark Kruger , who as a teenager hung around with skinheads and more recently dressed up in Nazi uniforms ("The Cop Who Liked Nazis," WW, Feb. 11, 2004), now faces a lawsuit for alleged brutality from an August 2003 anti-Bush protest at the University of Portland. Promoted last July from sergeant, Kruger recently passed his one-year probation. But in a sworn deposition for the lawsuit, Kruger admitted keeping a photo from an earlier protest above his desk of him manhandling a young female protester into the back of a custody van by grabbing her by the face -using a maneuver dubbed "The Claw." He also admitted flunking background investigations with the LAPD and Washington State Police before getting a job in Portland; Kruger says the problem was his admission that he stole while in the Army. (For even more police Murmurs, go to wweek.com.)

The Oregon Health Plan may be facing fines from federal Medicaid officials. The current issue of Oregon Health Forum reports that the feds have just wrapped up a 10-day visit to determine if the state's Medicaid program meets federal standards. A source tells Murmurs it does not, pointing to the Center for Medicaid Services' requirement that any organization receiving federal Medicaid funding be subject to external review. But in Oregon, outside contractors hired for that review haven't been told to check whether patients' grievances have been handled in a fair and timely fashion or to conduct site visits, the source says. The result, if true: substandard monitoring that means no way to know whether the poor and disabled are receiving quality care.

The son of Portland-based federal judge Owen Panner Sr. will be sentenced in October on charges that he secretly videotaped teenage girls during medical exams at a Northern California hospital. Dr. Owen "Sandy'' Panner Jr. , 57, pleaded no contest last week to the misdemeanor charges. The Klamath Falls Herald and News (www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/08/25/news/top_stories/top2.txt) reports that Doc Panner has resigned from Modoc Medical Center in Alturas, Calif., and that California state regulators have suspended his license. As for the tapes, deer hunters discovered them partly buried in the woods.

EXCLUSIVE WEB MURMURS:

Reporting about the re-appearance of former WW cover boy Marc "The Mole'' Caven (June 8, 1982) as a police informant in Yamhill County has prosecutors there dropping about 40 drug cases in which they used Caven. McMinnvillle News-Register reporter Katie Willson's work uncovering the Mole's past (www.newsregister.com) as a career informant with a criminal record and history of entrapment (Murmurs, Aug. 17) led District Attorney Brad Berry to announce the dismissal last week of cases for which the county narcotics team used Caven as its primary source. Most of the cases, the newspaper reported, involved small amounts of pot .

You'd think state corporate tax collections that were $38.5 million more than forecast in the latest quarter would be good news for Oregon's budget. And you'd really think the news would be great when you consider the corporate surplus from the previous quarter was $62.6 million. But since corporate collections exceeded the forecast by more than 2 percent, that combined $101 million goes back to corporate taxpayers. For Chuck Sheketoff, of the liberal Oregon Center for Public Policy, the whole thing points to the need for a rainy-day fund where the surplus cash could be stored, for a novel idea like helping overcrowded schools.

Last week's Murmur about the arbitration that restored the job of Portland Police Officer Edgar Mitchell forgot to mention yet another police arbitration that went against the city. In April, an arbitrator reversed Chief Derrick Foxworth's attempt to demote Lt. Steve Hollingsworth, who reported to the scene after two drunk off-duty cops kicked the crap out of an innocent bystander outside Stephanos in 2002. In that case, which a grand jury dubbed a "cover-up," Hollingsworth was the relative good guy while his more veteran colleague, Lt. Gabe Kalmanek, took command and almost faced criminal charges for obstructing justice but-equivalent to Hollingsworth-faced only a demotion. Sgt. Larry Baird, whom the Hollingsworth arbitrator described as having helped "short-circuit" the accountability process for the two off-duty cops, later told investigators in the Stephanos incident that Hollingsworth had wanted to document the beating in reports even though "everybody just want[ed] to go home." The reports were not written until months later, after an investigation commenced based on another cop's anonymous tip.

(CORRECTION: An earlier version of this murmur incorrectly stated that Baird has been promoted. In fact, his lieutenant's application remains pending.)

WW's "best blog for wonks and hackers'' (Best of Portland, Aug. 10) is in apology mode after a recent post about Commissioner Sam Adams. Jack Bogdanski, the blogger behind Jack Bog's Blog (www.bojack.org), had joked about wanting to send Adams, who is gay, a pink fur comforter from Wal-Mart in reference to his opposition to Wal-Mart. Some readers blasted Bogdanski for taking a cheap shot at Adams' sexual orientation with the pink comforter. Bogdanski said that was not his intent but adds, "It is now easy for me to see how it can be taken the latter way. Perhaps subconsciously, I was thinking about that...it was a bad mistake on my part.''

A June 7 Murmur about a cheaper Segway knockoff labeled The Q prompted Hillsboro cops to call Portland dealer Mark Atkinson to show off his product at their office. After he gave them a field test, Hillsboro police decided to buy four Qs to augment their bicycle patrols at special events.