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Buzzing
the Fuzz
It's a tenet of community policing that not only are cops
supposed to get out of their Fords and talk to people, they're
supposed to look human when they do it.
To be sure, most Portland cops are in no danger of being
mistaken for a Deadhead. But in a city that prides itself
on casual appearances, about one in five of our men in blue
sports well-trimmed beards, goatees and hair that would
make a gunnery sergeant blanch. You'll even find blue ball
caps and, if you look closely enough, an occasional diamond
pin in a left ear lobe.
That's about to change.
Mark Kroeker, the city's new police chief, recently told
the Portland Police Association he wants all that individuality
gone by July 1. In its place: the paramilitary look that
marks many police forces, including the LAPD, where Kroeker
last served as deputy chief. Although the rookie chief,
who was unavailable for comment, is still finalizing the
specifics, the new look is expected to be straight-up paramilitary:
hair that never meets collar, no jewelry, no caps and no
rose pins during the Rose Festival. (The motorcycle corps,
however, will get to keep their power 'staches, which are
genetic with those guys.)
Tom Mack, the union's secretary-treasurer and possessor
of a legendary ponytail, is not amused. "I'm more than a
little disgusted that it's the first thing an L.A. chief
does here," he says. Mack insists that he's not just concerned
about losing his locks. He says the uniform buzz-cut look
won't go over well with the public. "It fosters the mentality
of 'us versus all of you.'" he says. "That's the L.A. attitude--it's
not a community policing attitude."
Legally, though, dress code is not a bargaining item, says
Greg Pluchos, PPA president.
Kroeker recently ran the proposed change by police commissioner
Vera Katz, who told him it was his bureau to run. Still,
Elise Marshall, the mayor's deputy chief of staff and police
liaison, reports that many of the troops are as pissed as
Mack.
At least one bureau higher-up has already submitted to
Schick's music: Central precinct commander Larry Findling,
who reportedly once told his troops he'd retire before shaving
his beard, is now leading with his naked chin.
--Philip Dawdy
Tales from the
Darklady
Sex sells, but somebody has to pay for the advertising.
When radio personality and co-owner J.J. McKay launched
KGUY radio last June, she figured a steady stream of talk
about sex, booze and cars would draw a young male audience.
To that end she leased studio time to local sexpert Darklady,
the former editor of Portland's Exotic Magazine and
a contributor to other adult publications. Now, Darklady
finds herself on the wrong side of a collection agency.
To help get the nascent 4,500 watt station off the ground,
McKay, a co-owner, sold weekend slots to Darklady and others
at $150 per hour. Darklady found advertisers, including
Saturna Magica, a pagan shop in Salem, that were supposed
to cover the expense of her studio time. Unfortunately,
the advertisers never paid.
Darklady says she then arranged for Exotic Magazine
to carry KGUY advertising in exchange for her studio time.
Exotic owner Frank Faillace confirms that his magazine published
KGUY ads worth about $1,600, the amount of Darklady's debt.
"The advertising we did was meant to benefit Darklady,"
he says.
That arrangement is news to McKay. "I never saw anything
in writing, nor did I agree to that," she says.
Darklady says McKay is punishing her for not agreeing to
appear on McKay's syndicated show, The Affection Connection.
"I'm very unimpressed and disappointed with J.J. McKay,"
she says.
For her part, McKay thinks Darklady is missing the point.
"She's delusional," McKay says. "It's all about money."
--Nigel Jaquiss
Frogs
Feast in the Big Apple
For readers of The New York Times, Portland must
seem like one of the nation's cultural capitals. After last
year's glowing assessment of James Canfield and the Oregon
Ballet Theater, and the recent fluff piece promoting the
Portland Art Museum's Stroganoff Exhibition, Portland seems
to have become a staple of the Arts & Living page.
Now, it's Imago Theater's turn in the spotlight.
The troupe's marvelous and clever Frogs, Lizards, Orbs
and Slinkys is playing at the New Victory Theater in
Times Square. The piece, created by co-artistic directors
Carol Triffle and Jerry Mouawad, has long been a cultural
icon in Portland. But the New York critics have now taken
serious notice. In his April 6 review, critic Lawrence Van
Gelder seemed almost giddy from the experience, calling
Frogs "gently humorous, charmingly creative" and
its performers a "supple, talented troupe of five from Portland,
with a well-developed taste for mischief."
A new vignette, musical-chair-playing penguins, went over
particularly well, though Mouawad had some fears about it.
"We tried it out in Hartford, Connecticut, but we had doubts
over whether it worked," Mouawad told WW from New
York. Not to worry. Van Gelder declared the penguins "very
funny."
Frogs returns home to Portland for a limited engagement
starting April 21. But for now, it's a pleasure to live
vicariously off of the enthusiasm for Imago that seems to
be sweeping New York.
Next up for New Yorkers will be Portland's own Do-Jump
Theater.
--Steffen Silvis
BIG
BOX at PDX?
For the last month City Commissioner Charlie Hales has
been scrambling to keep the city's $182 million airport
light-rail deal on track.
What was threatened was not the rail line itself, but the
major reason for building it: Cascade Station, a downtown-sized
development along Airport Way.
In 1998, local government officials handed over lucrative
development rights and a sweetheart 99-year lease on prime
Port-owned land to construction giant Bechtel and national
real-estate developer Trammell Crow.
In exchange, the high-powered corporate partnership agreed
to build the rail line to the airport. What's more, they
promised to bring thousands of well-paying office, hotel
and retail jobs at Cascade Station, the airport's 120-acre
"city within a city."
Key to the plan was that Cascade Station attract the quality
office tenants who offer higher salaries. "We wanted it
to be urban," says Cary Pinard, city planner. "We didn't
want a suburban shopping center."
But what the city didn't want is exactly what the partnership
unveiled to City Commissioner Charlie Hales last month.
Bechtel and Trammell Crow are eager to get the project
going and had found a developer for 50 acres. The problem
was, the plans rolled out for Hales looked a lot like Jantzen
Beach--big-box retail stores surrounded by a sea of parking
spaces.
Hales says the initial proposal was "unacceptable" and
a violation of the spirit and intent of the deal. City officials'
fear is that a cluster of GI Joe's, Office Depots and Costcos
could scare away the office tenants who are key to the deal.
The city's wishes, however, fly in the face of the national
trend toward big-box-style development, said Hales aide
Jillian Detweiler. "It hasn't come naturally," she said.
"That hasn't been the market's response."
Since the initial plans were shared with the city, the
partnership's prospective developer, Mason Frank of MBK
Northwest, has submitted revised plans that officials say
are closer to what they are looking for. "It's got tremendous
potential," said Frank. "I think the retail community is
extremely interested in what's going to happen there."
--Nick Budnick
10th
Avenue Freakout
It was a gorgeous April evening at the end of a gorgeous
day. As the shadows of twilight lengthened into dusk and
the roar of rush-hour traffic subsided, a dull boom shattered
the urban calm.
A jackhammer? A car crash? No, it was a highly agitated
pipe-wielding gentleman by the name of Travis Buck.
In the space of a few short minutes just before 7 pm Monday,
April 3, the 29-year-old strode up Southwest 10th Avenue
and proceeded to shatter half a dozen storefront windows--including
those of Knepper Time Art, PIP Copy Center, Goldmark Jewelers
and Tubby's Deli--and bash in the windows of just as many
parked cars for good measure.
A parade of onlookers followed Buck's trail of blood and
broken glass to a car lot at the corner of Southwest 11th
Avenue and Main Street, where he stood brandishing the 2-foot
pipe, his hands stained with his own blood. Some whipped
out cell phones to dial 911.
"Vile, vile transmitter!" Buck shouted. "Eleven-GX-Three!"
Within minutes, three patrol cars screamed into the intersection,
instantly escalating the situation from bizarre to deadly.
Four police officers jumped out of their cars, aimed their
pistols at Buck's chest and ordered him to drop his weapon.
After a nail-biting delay, Buck finally threw his pipe to
the ground. Officers then cudgeled him on the knee, sprayed
him with mace and forced him face-down in the pavement.
His hands cuffed behind his back, Buck twitched and shouted
random epithets about viruses and biocontaminants before
an ambulance showed up to haul him away to the ER and the
lock-up.
The inspiration for Buck's rage remains unclear. According
to Portland police, Buck has a lengthy criminal history--including
a close relationship with amphetamines. "Let's just say
he's well-known to us," says Det. Sgt. Mike Hefley, who
added that Buck's police file contains no fewer than eight
different mug shots. Buck himself refused to comment from
his jail cell.
--Chris Lydgate
Murmurs
HEARSAY AND IDOL GOSSIP
The handwriting went from the wall to the printed page
last week when Our Town announced that longtime editor
and publisher Maggi White had been effectively ousted
from the struggling downtown paper. Bob Bigelow,
general manager for the nine-paper Community Newspapers
Inc. chain, will take over as editor and publisher. White
will continue to contribute as a "founding editor" (last
week she shared her thoughts on the parenting skills of
penguins).
Portland's cleated minivan passengers will have to wait
a little longer for a team of their own. Local soccer fans
hoped the planned advent of a women's professional league
might bring some of the stars of last year's triumphant,
bra-baring World Cup team to town, but the city once known
as Soccertown, USA, only made the new league's B squad.
The Women's United Soccer Association announced this
week that it will start up next year in eight cities; Portland
joined the likes of Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles on
the list of alternate possibilities.
At last Wednesday's mayoral debate, Vera Katz said
she would have fired 911 director Sherrill Whittemore
instead of backing off at the mention of a lawsuit. That
comment had some City Hall insiders wondering if the mayor,
who oversees the city attorney's office, is getting different
legal advice than City Commissioner Dan Saltzman.
As predicted on these pages last week, The Oregonian
announced Tuesday that Chuck Culpepper will, at long
last, replace Dwight Jaynes as sports columnist (Jaynes
launches his radio career next month on KPAM 860 AM). Culpepper
comes to the O from the Lexington, Ky., Herald-Leader.
The soap opera of democracy: After working out new ballot
language with the city attorney's office last week, PAC
2000 was told it faced yet another legal waiting period.
With a July 7 deadline for collecting 25,000 signatures
to revamp the city's police oversight system, the Police
Accountability Campaign is in no mood to wait. The group
told the city no thanks to the new deal; it'll keep its
original April 13 court date before Circuit Court Judge
Michael Marcus. If, as expected, he rubber stamps the language,
the PAC men and women could begin collecting signatures
by the weekend.
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