Spring Cleaning: Time To Shake Out The Dirt.

[April 26th, 2006] Former KATU reporter Eric Mason, who reigned as the best (although sometimes also the only) legislative reporter on local television, has landed a new gig. The one-time Channel 2 reporter is now a licensed private eye, effective March 27, according to state records. Mason's career skidded into the ditch last year as part of the career collapse of meth-lovin' former state Rep. Kelley Wirth (D-Corvallis). Wirth's freefall began after a jealous rival for a Capitol janitor rammed Wirth with the rival's vehicle. WW then reported that Mason's reportorial access to Wirth was allegedly the result of a prior personal relationship (see "News at 11," WW, Oct. 25, 2005). Mason could not be reached for comment.

The manager of Portland's River Renaissance Initiative won't be taking that economic development post in the Cleveland mayor's cabinet after all. The offer was withdrawn earlier this month after reporters with the Cleveland Plain Dealer uncovered a 1999 prostitution bust in Michael J. Montgomery 's past that led him to resign his post as economic development director for Oakland, Calif. A firm conducting the search said Montgomery lied to it about disclosing the charge during a job interview, the Plain Dealer reported. Montgomery, who pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace and was put on two years' probation before a judge dismissed the charge in 2003, had discussed the arrest with Mayor Tom Potter before being hired for the city's Willamette River revitalization program last March, Potter's spokesman John Doussard said. Montgomery did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.

Now that House Speaker Karen Minnis (R-Wood Village) has abandoned her pals in the payday loan industry, her lieutenant, House Majority Leader Wayne Scott (R-Canby), is the go-to guy for predatory lenders. The latest campaign-finance reports show Scott, who grumbled out loud when the Legislature last week passed strict interest-rate caps on payday lenders, got $8,500 from Select Management Resources . That's a Georgia company operated by Rod Aycox, one of the titans of the car-title lending business. "These contributions and some of the comments made on the floor last week show us that many legislators don't understand how damaging predatory lenders are to Oregon's economy," says Patty Wentz, a spokeswoman for the union-financed advocacy group Our Oregon. "This fight is far from over."

Environmental activist Tre Arrow is one step closer to returning from Canada to face trial in Portland on 5-year-old arson charges. A spokesman for the Canadian justice department says Justice Minister Vic Toews agreed on April 24 to extradite Arrow. Spokesman Chris Girouard wouldn't give Toews' reasons for the decision, saying it may still be subject to judicial review if Arrow requests it. Arrow's lawyers have 30 days to request a review with the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Arrow, who's been in jail in B.C. for over two years, has previously said he will use every avenue in his fight to stay in Canada .

With 1,000 Amnesty International staff, activists and others coming to Portland this weekend for the human rights group's annual general meeting, look for Pioneer Courthouse Square to become World Protest Central. On Friday, April 28, at 4 pm, demonstrators will protest the U.S. detention of prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Then, starting at 7 pm Saturday, April 29, more than 860 Portlanders are expected to gather overnight for the Invisible Children movement's Global Night Commute, when people worldwide will highlight the plight of children in war-torn Northern Uganda. And on Sunday, April 30, at 1:30 pm, it's a rally to stop the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

^WEB-ONLY MURMURS!

The local American Federation of Musicians is banging hard on federal regulators to deny license-renewal applications for Portland radio stations KUFO (101 FM), KCMD ("The Johnson" at 970 AM) and KYCH ("Charlie" at 97 FM). Local president Bruce Fife returned from a recent meeting in Washington with the Federal Communications Commission, where he pressed objections by the musicians foundation and the Oregon Alliance to Reform Media, a group that advocates for local control of media. The two groups say the three stations, all owned by media giants (Infinity owns KCMD and KUFO, and Entercom owns KYCH), are failing to fulfill the FCC's local-programming requirements.

The conservator for a 50-year-old Kaiser Foundation Hospitals patient is suing the foundation for allegedly diagnosing dementia-like symptoms, but sending Susan Gettman home without alerting her family or providing follow-up care. The $1.3 million lawsuit filed earlier this month in Multnomah County Circuit Court says Gettman, who couldn't fill out a bank slip without help, was left alone to care for her 13-year-old son. Without treatment, Gettman was physically and financially taken advantage of, eventually having her house in Southeast Portland condemned and being separated from her son when they were placed in separate foster homes. A Kaiser spokesman declined to comment because of pending litigation.