Britain’s Got Talent. We’ve Got This.

[April 22nd, 2009]

• State Department background checkers recently vetted Mary Ellen Glynn , a former spokeswoman for the department (and after that, Gov. Ted Kulongoski). Glynn accompanied Secretary of State Clinton to Mexico earlier this month. “I was honored to be asked to be [Clinton’s] temporary communications director on the Mexico trip,” Glynn says. She declined to comment on whether she’ll take a permanent position with Clinton. Her decision may also influence a high-level law enforcement post here: Her husband is assistant U.S. Attorney for Oregon Dwight Holton ­—whose brother-in-law is Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Holton is in the running to replace U.S. Attorney for Oregon Karin Immergut and on the short list for the same position in the Eastern District of Virginia—within commuting distance of the State Department.
• As speculation mounts about when Attorney General John Kroger will complete his criminal investigation into the relationship between Mayor Sam Adams and Beau Breedlove , Kroger’s office is locked down tight. Neither Kroger’s office, nor his political allies nor other law enforcement officials are offering any information about the probe’s likely conclusion. One reason the investigation, which began in late January, may be taking so long? In early April, Kroger shifted Steve Briggs, the office’s criminal justice chief, to the appellate division. Kroger spokesman Tony Green says the move is unrelated to the Adams investigation. Bob Weaver, Adams’ attorney, declined comment.

• War of the roses: City Council will finally vote on Commissioner Randy Leonard’s ordinance to plant a giant neon rose atop the city-owned McCall’s building, which is being leased to the Rose Festival Foundation for $1 a year. The ordinance, if approved Wednesday, April 22, circumvents the typical city process for reviewing changes to historical design. And that caught the attention of Jeff Joslin , a former city land-use manager. “Never in the history of the City’s design and historical regulation has such an ordinance been crafted to sidestep public participation in such a matter,” Joslin wrote in a widely distributed email. “I would expect Mr. Joslin to have a little more perspective than he is demonstrating,” responds Ty Kovatch, Leonard’s chief of staff.
• The Legislature is inching closer to snuffing out Oregonians’ right to know whom their sheriffs are allowing to pack heat . The House Judiciary Committee last week sent House Bill 2727 to the House floor with a “do pass” recommendation. The bill would keep secret the names of concealed-handgun license holders unless a sheriff agrees it’s in the public’s interest to know. That seems unlikely, since sheriffs pushed for the bill after denying newspapers’ public-record requests, including one from WW (see “Gunning for Secrecy,” Dec. 24, 2008). Rep. Jeff Barker (D-Aloha), an ex-Portland cop who’s chairman of the judiciary committee, says he made changes to the bill that will let citizens see the records if there’s a compelling public interest.
• A stripper who fell off the stage at Cabaret Lounge on West Burnside Street is suing the club for negligence . Michelle Ulrich, a 38-year-old Portlander who uses “Parker” as her stage name, claims she caught the heel of her shoe in a hole near the center of the club’s main stage on Nov. 27, 2007. She hit the edge of the stage during her fall and broke a glass ashtray that cut her hand, hip and butt, according to the suit filed April 20 in Multnomah County Circuit Court. The suit seeks $50,700 from the club, whose owners could not be reached for comment.