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It's more than a tabloid headline. At the Portland office of the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service, it may well be a reality. On Monday, the director of the Portland INS confirmed to WW that one of his longtime employees, Sally E. Yates, is on indefinite leave pending a Justice Department investigation. Yates, 51, is suspected of theft. INS officials won't divulge specifics, but sources told WW that investigators believe Yates took green-card applications from immigrants and pocketed the fees, totaling perhaps $20,000. The alleged scam worked simply: Yates, a supervisory immigration-information officer who earned $41,600 a year, received applications for permanent residence from aliens. But rather than process some applications, Yates allegedly stashed them away. Sources say some of the files were recently discovered at Yates' desk by co-workers. Dozens more were reportedly found by federal investigators at Yates' Gresham apartment. Sources close to the investigation say Yates claims to have a gambling problem. "I'm not going to confirm or deny any details of the investigation," says Special Agent in Charge Ralph Paige of the inspector general's office in San Francisco, which is overseeing the investigation. A woman who answered the phone at Yates' apartment refused to speak to WW and hung up. Yates did not return a later message. Last month, an INS worker in Seattle was convicted of a similar offense and admitted to stealing $9,505. What makes such crimes particularly heinous is that they victimize unsuspecting immigrants. "Immigrants are very susceptible," says Hillsboro lawyer Dick Ginsburg, who specializes in immigration cases. "The law is complex, and they don't know how the system works." Members of Oregon's congressional delegation have long expressed their frustration about routine business with the Portland INS office. Sen. Gordon Smith spends a lot of time dealing with complaints about the INS, according to his spokeswoman Mary Healy. "It's common knowledge that the Portland office is very far behind in processing green-card applications," Healy says. "As far as federal agencies go, we certainly see more people who have problems with them than any other agency." --Bob Young Call Waiting Last 1.606week, facing legal threats, city regulators and officials started backing away from an anti-monopoly condition they were considering imposing on AT&T and TCI ("Ma Bell," WW, Dec. 2, 1998). AT&T wants to buy TCI for $31.5 billion, and federal and local jurisdictions must approve the deal. As a condition for approval, Portland regulators wanted to ensure that local Internet service providers like Europa would ha1.606ve access to TCI's cable network. The stance garnered national headlines for Portland. One story in The Wall Street Journal depicted local cable regulator David Olson as a telecom-age Teddy Roosevelt. But to the disappointment of the ISPs, when Olson emerged from a five-hour meeting with representatives from TCI and AT&T last Wednesday, it turned out the telecom titans were carrying the big stick. Sources familiar with the talks say Olson went into the meeting saying the city wouldn't approve the merger unless AT&T/TCI meet the "open access" prerequisite--the condition that the merged company open its cable network to Internet competitors. AT&T/TCI came into the meeting saying the city could enforce open access only if the feds required it. Olson agreed to a compromise that lets the city enforce open access if the feds allow it. The compromise lets the merger go through the local level, leaving the open-access issue up to the Federal Communications Commission. City Commissioner Erik Sten, who pledges to take the issue to the FCC level, says Olson's compromise is not a cave-in. "It's not materially different from our original position," Sten says. "What's different is that the City of Portland isn't going to defend the position of open access in court with public money." Olson also says he didn't come up empty-handed in his battle with the communications companies. "They acknowledged for the first time anywhere that open access can be required," he says. "We have a written acknowledgment that other ISPs have a place at the table. We've just pushed the timeline back." The ISPs, however, aren't so impressed. Stephen Kafoury, who represents the Oregon Internet Service Providers Association, fears the city is getting its bell rung. "AT&T is giving nothing except [a promise] not to sue. David is saying this is a moral victory, but I don't buy it," Kafoury says. "I was proud of him, but if he pulls back, he'll be sending a losing message about open access." --Josh Feit Ways Of Giving This time of year, Willamette Week urges you to put down your shopping list for a moment and consider four of our favorite community organizations. Sisters of the Road Cafe (133 NW 6th Ave., Portland, OR 97209) provides the homeless with food and a safe place to congregate in Old Town. Contact Brenda Ray Scott or Deirdre Atkinson by phone (222-5694), fax (222-3028) or e-mail (Sisters133@aol.com). SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) has 2,000 volunteers reading with Portland-area kindergartners and first- and second-graders lagging in language development. Send donations c/o the Oregon Children's Foundation, 200 SW Market St., suite 170, Portland 97201. Wallace Medical Concern provides services to homeless youths and adults and to medically needy families in the Portland area. Send contributions to: WMC, P.O. Box 6972, Portland 97228. Health-care professionals and Spanish interpreters are also needed. Contact Kathy Hammock, WMC's executive director, at 274-1277. Cascade AIDS Project's Housing Warehouse needs donated furniture for its clients. Call Kate Mosca (223-5907, ext. 149) to arrange a pickup. For more information about these organizations, see our November 24th article. Welcome To The FishbowlKari Chisholm sent an e-mail to friends last week announcing his new job at the state Capitol and saying it would put him "very much in the fishbowl." He didn't know the half of it. One of Chisholm's "friends," who will go unnamed, found the e-mail so breathlessly self-important and ambitious that he forwarded it to us. In his new job, Chisholm, 25, will be executive aide to Secretary of State Phil Keisling. "In this role I will be his top political strategist," boasted Chisholm, whose previous political experience is limited to a college internship for Sen. Ron Wyden and managing David Bragdon's Metro Council campaign. Chisholm's perhaps best known for creating the "Bill Sizemore Owes Me Money Too" bumper sticker. "In short, I'll be his right-hand man and political confidant," Chisholm continued in the e-mail. "Frankly I'm a little stunned. I never expected to scamper up so many rungs of the ladder so quickly." Others may be surprised as well--by Chisholm's indiscretion. Chisholm, Keisling's new "confidant," blabs that his boss is "widely expected to run for higher office in 2002." The only higher offices available that year will be Gordon Smith's U.S. Senate seat and the governorship. More troubling may be that even though Chisholm is a state employee paid by taxpayers, his e-mail suggests he'll be advancing Keisling's personal ambitions. Chisholm says not to worry. "Nothing here [in the e-mail] says I'll work on his personal ambitions at taxpayer expense," he explains. Keisling stood by his new aide, saying he didn't see the news value in Chisholm's e-mail or in his own future political bid. "I think it's untoward to start speculating about 2002 in 1998," he says, "but I can't prevent someone in journalism from doing it." --Bob Young
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