Rescue us from the armchair Sherpas.

[December 20th, 2006] One more woman is accusing ex-Multnomah County Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Green of sexual impropriety . As first reported on WWire at wweek.com, 22-year-old Amanda Mortimer is suing Green, alleging that he made her stand naked by the side of the highway three years ago when he found her and a male friend nude in a car. Green lost his job this year after he made at least four women expose parts of their bodies, saying he was looking for a suspect with a flower tattoo. Mortimer's suit, which is seeking at least $400,000 , also accuses the county of "failing to reasonably train and supervise Green." The Sheriff's Office says the incident was investigated and no violation was found.

For at least the next two weeks, the most dangerous place in City Hall won't be between Commissioner Sam Adams and a press-conference microphone. Adams is out of pocket until the new year because he's recovering from jaw surgery to correct sleep apnea, which causes repeated stopping of breathing during sleep.

An early Christmas present for two Portland lawyers representing Ihlkham Battayev, a Kazakh fruit trader held at GuantÁnamo Bay, Cuba, for his fifth straight year (see "Distant Justice," WW, Aug. 9, 2006): Battayev was released unexpectedly last week and returned to his homeland. But federal authorities are keeping mum about their rationale for the release, say Battayev's Portland attorneys Tom Johnson and Cody Weston. It wasn't until the two lawyers made a scheduled call Friday to Battayev's parents in Kazakhstan that they learned the Kazakh government had informed the couple that their son was heading home. To read more, go to WWire at wweek.com.

A key architect of the Democrats' 2006 march to power in the Oregon House has moved on. Jon Isaacs, who directed FuturePAC, the political action committee of House D's for the past two election cycles, left this month to take a job with Compass Media in Chicago, where his wife has family. Michele Rossolo, campaign services director at FuturePAC, succeeds Isaacs. "Jon executed a smart, aggressive plan," says political strategist Kevin Looper of Our Oregon. "His departure is a big loss."

Cheaper wine is perhaps a lot farther off for Oregonians after the Oregon Liquor Control Commission last week reversed an earlier ruling by an administrative law judge (see "Uncorking the Wine Market," WW, Nov. 1, 2006). In a decision that probably would have lowered wine prices by increasing competition and eliminating middlemen, the judge had green-lighted direct sales by out-of-state wineries to Oregon retailers. But the OLCC disagreed, choosing to maintain the current system that funnels out-of-state wine through local distributors. Lawyer John DiLorenzo , who represents a Washington winery trying to change the status quo, is considering his options, including taking his case to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

In what's become a holiday tradition for Bruce McLaughlin's Beaverton neighbors, we present his latest seasonal ode to President Bush. Given Bush's low approval ratings, McLaughlin doesn't expect as much flak from passersby for this year's "Impeach W"as in Christmases past, when he's put up such slogans as "F--- W" in lights.

Observers of WW's Give!Guide will note we've far surpassed our goal of $100,000 already, collecting $123,000-plus as of Tuesday for the 37 nonprofits we want to help. Thanks to the nearly 1,000 people who have contributed so far. But are we satisfied? No. We want to cross the finish line Dec. 31 like a Triple Crown winner, so please go to giveguide.wweek.com and dig deep.

^WEB-ONLY MURMURS:

Wal-Mart alert: Neighbors of Madison High School are freaking over a possible big box in their little swath of Northeast Portland. That flop sweat comes as city planners await final details from a developer with long ties to Wal-Mart on its application to rezone a former dump site across from the school. Canada's largest retail development firm, SmartCentres, wants to rezone the site at Northeast 82nd Avenue and Siskiyou Street from 60,000 square feet to 240,000 square feet of retail space, with parking for over 900 cars. SmartCentres hasn't publicly ID'd a tenant, but the Save Madison South Committee isn't waiting around for the first bottle of Sam's Choice Cola to show up. Committee co-chair Dawn Tryon wants to see a different kind of business, such as a New Seasons or a garden supply store, on the land. As for a Wal-Mart, Tryon says, "That's insanity!" The rezoning application should be completed in early January, with a public hearing to follow soon afterward.

An escalating battle between state Veterans of Foreign Wars officials and the oldest VFW post in Oregon may lead to the permanent closure of that Southeast Portland post, says ex-VFW commander John Murphy. That's because the state has suspended VFW Post 81 for the second time in a nasty two-year leadership dispute. State VFW commander Daniel Wakefield, a former Post 81 member, sued Murphy both for libel and slander earlier this year after Murphy alleged during a Post 81 meeting that Wakefield was behind the disappearance of several war artifacts and had inappropriately waived fees for new members. Wakefield, who strongly denies the allegations, lost the suit but wants the 550-member post to pay his legal fees or face suspension. The post refuses. Oregon's VFW didn't return Murmurs' phone calls, and the national VFW said it could not comment on the case.