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BEST PIECE OF INFORMATION WE DIDN'T NEED
Republican STATE REP. JIM HILL, when asked why he never wears socks, even on the stately floor of the House: "They match my underwear." BEST CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Portland cop JOHN MINNIS was caught off guard recently when he received a heads-up from the FBI. Minnis, who doubles as a Republican state rep, was warned that he has been targeted by a radical pro-life group out of Georgia that "is collecting dossiers on abortionists in anticipation that one day we may be able to hold them on trial for crimes against humanity." Minnis, far from being an abortionist, is a pro-lifer who has tried to outlaw abortion in Oregon. Nevertheless, Minnis is listed on the Web site--called the Nuremberg Files--because he was photographed a few years ago arresting an Operation Rescue protester at one of the group's local clinic assaults. The photo apparently caused the Nuremberg miscreants to make the intuitive leap that Minnis was "a law enforcement bloodhound for abortionists and their lackeys." Also listed on the site are Portland Mayor Vera Katz, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, former state Rep. Gail Shibley and more than a dozen Portland-area residents. The site, www.christiangallery.com/atrocity, contains detailed personal information on many of the people listed, including home addresses, license plate numbers, vehicle descriptions and, in some cases, photos of the people, their homes and cars. BEST ETHNIC ORGANIZATION
Many groups in Portland are doing good work, but none is quite so helpful as the organizations that assist refugees who come here because they're fleeing political oppression. That means they've had little time to prepare for their relocation--unlike many immigrants who learn English and study our culture before arriving. And that makes a helpful hand all the more valuable to these strangers in a strange land. Stellar groups include Catholic Resettlement Services, Lutheran Refugee Program, Jewish Family & Child Service, and Sponsors Organized to Assist Refugees. Special praise, however, goes to three groups: Russian Oregon Social Services, a new group that helps Portland's rapidly growing (7,000 and counting) community of Russian refugees; the International Refugee Center of Oregon, an umbrella group that helps refugees from all over the globe; and the one we think is the very best, the OREGON COMMISSION ON ASIAN AFFAIRS, also a relatively new group. Organized last year, the commission has operated so far without public money and relies on volunteer labor and its own private fund-raising. Its commissioners represent the Laotian, Palauan, Japanese, Syrian, Korean, Iranian, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, Pakistani and Chinese communities. "They selected the creme of the crop from 11 Asian communities," says Paul Kinh Duong, the City of Portland's refugee-program coordinator. In May, the group showed why it's winning kudos. It used a seemingly mundane occasion--a state celebration of Asian Heritage Month--as an opportunity to bring 200 citizen lobbyists to the state Capitol. There they found three of the state's most powerful officials--the governor, Senate president and House speaker--a captive audience at the heritage month celebration. Commission members then lobbied the trio to protect welfare and immigration benefits for immigrants. "To use that occasion to lobby for welfare reform was very important to refugees," says Duong. "And to mix celebration and advocacy was wonderful." The commission's help is certainly needed. Oregon ranks fourth among the states for refugee population as a percentage of total population. BEST FRIEND OF FISH
DAN ROHLF, co-director of Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, enjoys a good lawyer joke, which is ironic because if all lawyers were like him, there wouldn't be lawyer jokes. An environmental lawyer who works on behalf of wildlife, Rohlf has often worked on the endangered species act; his list of clients includes goshawks, grizzly bears, bull trout and especially salmon. Though his work hasn't exactly endeared him to those who'd like to drill, dam, mine and cut his clients' habitat into oblivion, friends and foes alike find Rohlf has backbone and integrity as strong as the trees he works to protect. Though relentless in his work, Rohlf is utterly nonchalant about the ire he raises in his opponents: "If I've made the Bonneville Power Administration mad, I've done my job." BEST BILL NUMBER
If you're trying to get lawmakers' attention on a bill about emergency room service, what could be better than SENATE BILL 911? That was the number assigned to a measure backed by the state association of emergency-room doctors this year, and although the guts of SB 911 were transplanted into another bill, the legislative operation was considered a success. The docs were troubled by increased reports of patients being hassled for seeking ER treatment without authorization of their managed care health provider. So they hired Portland lobbyist Brad Higbee to push a measure to remedy the problem. The result was legislation that calls on the state to come up with a layman's definition of what constitutes an emergency to prevent insurance companies from denying claims solely because a patient called 911 instead of their HMO. Gov. John Kitzhaber, himself an ER physician, is expected to sign the reforms into law. BEST OUTPOST OF A FOREIGN POLITICAL PARTY
First the British gave up Hong Kong; next to go may be Scotland. In case you haven't heard, the Scots are clamoring for independence. At the very least, London may grant them their own (separate) parliament in the next few years. Spearheading the fight for separation is the SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY, which until recently based its U.S. headquarters in downtown Portland. Alas, the cozy office closed earlier this year when its main organizer returned to the homeland. BEST SUGGESTION FOR MAYORAL GETAWAY
As a self-described "cosmic constant candidate" for City Council, Jada Mae Langloss has come up with her share of ingenious ideas, such as using parking garages to shelter homeless people in the winter. Langloss outdid herself recently with a note to Mayor Vera Katz. "If you want to have some real fun," Langloss wrote, "please come to the RAINBOW GATHERING at Prineville. Disguise yourself as hippies, rent a Green Tortoise bus (out of Eugene) and meet the true gypsies, free spirits, etc. You can camp out with me in a teepee (my own). "P.S.: Beverly [Stein] could pass as a beatnik. I could dress her up, too. We'd have too much fun (I won't do anything illegal)." It just so happens that Katz was vacationing while the Rainbow Family was sharing good vibes in eastern Oregon. The mayor's staff claimed she was here in Portland during her vacation. We agreed not to blow her cover. BEST USE OF LOCAL TAX FUNDS
We've criticized the city Bureau of Environmental Services' spending practices in the past, and we probably will again. But we're also willing to give credit where it's due, and BES deserves praise for its COLUMBIA SLOUGH RIPARIAN RESTORATION PROJECT. In a nutshell, this project is building a new forest where it's desperately needed--and doing it at bargain rates. The project has restored more than 75 acres along the banks of the Columbia Slough, planting more than 60,000 trees, 25,000 shrubs and 100,000 wetland plants. The cost so far has been $350,000--less than $2 per planting. The area was polluted and stripped of vegetation; now the plants help clean stormwater, reduce algae growth and improve wildlife habitat. The program also stretches tax dollars by creating partnerships with businesses, which match the city money 50-50 to restore their property along the slough banks. So far, 23 private landowners and four public agencies have signed up. The city's money also funds a nursery that produces plants at a cost of pennies each and involves Portland Public Schools students and volunteers from Portland Park Bureau, Metro and the community. BEST SOON-TO-BE-DEFUNCT LIBRARY
No, it's not one of Multnomah County's neighborhood branch libraries, but an even more endangered species. Tucked away in a small storefront at 223 W Burnside St. is PROJECT 223: A FREEDOM AND INFORMATION CENTER. In this unusual library, local and nomadic lefties distribute flyers, hold meetings and peruse the small library for books on Marxist political philosophy or the history of agrarian revolution. Run entirely by volunteers, Project 223 relies on members like Sea Forrest, who donates his time to assist visitors, inform them of political happenings around town, or simply tell them where to crash for the night or get a cheap meal. Groups like Food Not Bombs, Nike protesters Justice Do It, and Portland Police watchdog group Copwatch convene here regularly. Other on-site activities include the Books for Prisoners Program, book discussion groups and a small bookstore. Because 223 is currently suffering from a lack of funding and support, it is shutting down its storefront at the end of July and may be relocating. That's a good reason to check it out soon, and perhaps donate your time and money to the cause. BEST EVIDENCE THAT ALIENS HAVE INFILTRATED THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
A few months ago we ran a story about questionable fund-raising tactics employed by the DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON. We won't bore you with a rehash of the details here, but one quote will stand out long after the relevant facts have faded away. We were trying to find out who actually went out and raised the questionable cash, but we kept running into dead ends. Mysteriously, nobody at the Democratic Party could remember. In fact, state Democratic Party Chairman Marc Abrams (pictured) made the hair on our journalistic necks stand up when he said, "I think you'll find that the memory is dispersed." |
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