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The lights on Peacock Lane may be garish, but at least they're temporary. Not so for the two new video billboards that began blasting their commercial messages last week and drawing immediate complaints. One of the signs is on the eastern approach to the Morrison Bridge. The other is on the corner of Southwest 6th Avenue and Caruthers Street. They're both owned by StoreyBoards, which has put up three other such signs in the Northwest, including one that has been glowing alongside I-5 near Tacoma for more than a year. So far in Portland, owner Bruce Storey has signed up G.I. Joe's, Wade Cook Financial Seminars, the Last Frontier poker casino and Shilo Inns as advertisers. He says the ads cost from $245 per day to $3,000 per month. Storey insists that he keeps his signs tasteful and plans to slow down the video rotation, but it seems Portlanders aren't too keen on the city becoming the next Times Square. Mayor Vera Katz has taken a firm stand on the signs. "I strongly oppose them," she wrote in a memo to fellow commissioners yesterday. She says she supports City Commissioner Charlie Hales' efforts to take the signs down. Hales says his office has been inundated with calls from people wanting to know how such ugliness could invade our visual space--and he agrees with the criticism. He says the city commissioners discussed regulating these "pseudo television devices," but the signs were left out of the new regulations imposed on wall signs and murals last month. Additionally, the sign locations fall outside of the city's design district, where a review board controls billboard aesthetics. Still, Hales has temporarily put the kibosh on two more signs StoreyBoards has proposed for Northeast 28th Avenue and Broadway and Southeast 122nd Avenue and Division Street. He says he will find a way to prohibit them under current regulations or draft new rules to ban them. Hales says this may also be a matter for the Oregon Department of Transportation because of the potential traffic hazard. "I think these signs are an outrage," he says. "I'm ashamed of the property owners who signed the leases." Walt Pellet, owner of City Liquidators and the building that hosts the Morrison Bridge sign, doesn't apologize for his participation in the Vegasing of Portland. "It's not beautiful. There is no question about that," he says. "But it's the sign of the time." Pellet says he has received 20 calls about the billboard, most from people who think the technology is great or want to know how they can advertise on the signs. --Patty Wentz Frank DiMarcoIn our Nov. 24 issue, we ran a story about Portland Police Chief Charles Moose's response to a community protest ("Moose Lets Loose"). That same week, on rack cards that appeared on the bottom of our newspaper boxes, we called attention to the story with the phrase "Moose-Hunting Season." In hindsight, and given the atmosphere surrounding the protest, the choice of words on the rack cards was provocative and stupid. The last thing the chief and his force need is any suggestion--however unintentional--of violence against officers. We apologize and regret any distress this has caused them or their families. No Home For The HolidaysIf homemade Christmas decorations are on your shopping list, don't expect to find them at Fred Meyer. Since 1980, Freddy's has leased space in its stores to craft vendors who peddle everything from hand-woven ornaments to mini gingerbread men, adding a homey touch to an increasingly corporate environment. Although vendors worked in the stores year round, holidays were their peak selling season. Late last month, the vendors received letters notifying them they were no longer welcome at Freddy's. Sheryl Wheeler, who has sold crafts in various local Fred Meyer stores for nearly two decades, says more than 100 people in the Portland area regularly sold their goods in the stores. On a good day, she says, vendors could earn a couple of hundred dollars. "Many of the vendors are little old ladies," Wheeler says. "Others were supporting families." Losing the space in Freddy's will cripple vendors, Wheeler says, because aside from holiday gift fairs, there are few other places to sell such items. No other local grocery stores host craft merchants. Wheeler says Fred Meyer treated her well in the past, but she thinks the character of the company has changed. She speculates that the vendors' getting crossed off Freddy's list resulted from Kroger's buyout of the company in October. Fred Meyer spokesman Rob Boley rejects that explanation. "We told people in April they wouldn't get holiday space," he says, "and we'd been considering eliminating the program completely for some time." Wheeler acknowledges she and others received plenty of notice that they had to find new homes for the holidays but says many vendors were shocked that the program was cut completely. Boley says the vendors have lost out to Freddy's own merchandise. As the number of products the store carries has risen, he explains, internal demand for space has soared. --Nigel Jaquiss Full Sale? The Hood River-based Full Sail Brewing Co. is on the auction block, and Kurt Widmer concedes that he's taking a look. Founded in 1987, Full Sail is Oregon's second-largest craft brewery, and it's known among beer lovers for its dedication to producing big, distinctive beers. Nonetheless, the company's sales have stalled in recent years around 80,000 barrels annually--far below its newly increased brewing capacity of 150,000 barrels. In August, Full Sail co-founder Jerome Chicvara took a leave of absence from the privately held brewery, sparking talk that changes in ownership were likely. Such speculation has become more specific lately; Widmer Brothers, Oregon's largest craft brewer, is said to be on the verge of absorbing Full Sail. Widmer Brothers President Kurt Widmer says the rumors are only half true. "They [Full Sail] are being shopped around, but to say we're that far along would be a gross exaggeration," he says. "At this point a lot of people are looking and that's all." Widmer went on to say that investment bankers have been searching for a buyer for Full Sail for some time. Other local microbrewers say they've seen Full Sail's offer book but, like Widmer, say no deal is imminent. Full Sail spokeswoman Sandra Evans declined to comment, and Chicvara and co-founder Irene Firmat did not return calls.--Nigel Jaquiss Net ScrapeThis is a follow-up to the December 9th article, 'Call Waiting'. Negotiations between the city and AT&T over Internet access crashed last week when the telecom giant pulled the plug on a compromise proposed by Portland officials. The communication breakdown left both sides more polarized than ever on the issue of who should control the wires that bring the Internet into millions of households and businesses. AT&T is in the process of buying cable giant TCI for $48 billion but first must get approval from 900 jurisdictions across the country. Two weeks ago AT&T balked at a local regulator's condition. The Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission recommended that the merger be contingent upon "open access" for local Internet service providers, ensuring that local ISPs could use the merged company's cable lines. Without open access, regulators fear that the merged company could exercise a monopoly over high-speed Internet service. Faced with a motivated and wealthy opponent, the city compromised, agreeing that federal, rather than local, regulators should decide about open access ("Call Waiting," WW, Dec. 9, 1998). The agreement fell apart after the commission's director, David Olson, told an industry publication that the compromise ensured that ISPs could lease AT&T's bandwidth. Not so, says Deborah Luppold of TCI. She insists that AT&T believed the reference to "leased access" in the compromise referred only to video transmissions--i.e., cable TV. "We realized that city staff was interpreting the compromise language much more broadly than we were," she says. That disagreement put the city and AT&T back to square one--with the city reverting to its insistence on open access. But that's not the only thing open-access advocates have to smile about. City Commissioner Erik Sten reported to his fellow council members that the Oregon Internet Service Providers Association has offered to share legal costs with the city should the battle with AT&T end up in court. In addition, Sten says, Multnomah County has also decided to adopt the city's stance that AT&T must allow others access. The City Council is scheduled to vote on open access Thursday.--Nigel Jaquiss 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. Ask, But Don't TellLast week's Oregon court ruling requiring state and local governments to provide benefits for employees' same-sex partners was hailed a victory for gays and lesbians. But the question remains: How many public employees are going to feel safe "coming out" to collect benefits? For many, the answer may hinge on who needs to be told. Employees at the City of Portland, which already extends benefits to gay and lesbian couples, have to file an affidavit for domestic partnership that states they have lived with their partner for at least a year and are responsible for each other's welfare, among other criteria. The information is collected by the city's risk-management office and not shared, even with employees' supervisors. The other big question is whether such documents are considered public records, as city employees' salaries and benefits are, leaving gay and lesbian workers open to harassment. According to Madelyn Wessel of the Portland City Attorney's Office, there's probably no reason to worry. Although city workers' salaries and benefits are public record, Wessel says it is the city's policy to give only the dollar amount of the benefits, not the names of people covered. Les Zaitz, publisher of the Keizertimes and an expert on Oregon's public-records law, agrees that homosexuals aren't putting themselves at risk if they sign up for domestic partner benefits. "By and large," he says, "I think the privacy laws as they exist now offer considerable protection for that information."--Patty Wentz CORRECTIONS Frank DiMarcoIn our Nov. 24 issue, we ran a story about Portland Police Chief Charles Moose's response to a community protest ("Moose Lets Loose"). That same week, on rack cards that appeared on the bottom of our newspaper boxes, we called attention to the story with the phrase "Moose-Hunting Season." In hindsight, and given the atmosphere surrounding the protest, the choice of words on the rack cards was provocative and stupid. The last thing the chief and his force need is any suggestion--however unintentional--of violence against officers. We apologize and regret any distress this has caused them or their families.
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