SAM ADAMS CENTRAL: Set Your Bookmark Here for the Latest on Portland's Embattled Mayor.

Well, that didn't take long. Little more than a month after announcing his candidacy in the 2010 Democratic primary for governor, former Hewlett-Packard exec Steve Shields said today he's pulling the plug. In his withdrawal letter to supporters, Shields said he hadn't raised enough money to be a viable candidate and that his campaign was always a long shot (against former Gov. John Kitzhaber and former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury).

BY: Hank Stern | 0 comments

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) is making a good bit of news this morning on Capitol Hill with his call yesterday on MSNBC's Ed Show for the firing of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. And if you watch this video, you'll see DeFazio ain't too keen either on top economic adviser Larry Summers.

Veep, or veg? Just ahead of Al Gore's stop this week in Portland, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has challenged the former vice president to back his green talk by giving up meat. At Gore's book discussion Wednesday night at Keller Auditorium, PETA warns that the former vice president will be faced down by a "nearly naked 'Mother Earth' " and PETA supporters holding signs that say "Meat's Not Green." "More and more, we are hearing about the damage that meat production does to our water supply, the forests and the global climate," PETA says in a news release. "In...

In the recent annals of Oregon political foul-ups, there have been few stories as amusing (although ultimately inconsequential) as the saga of Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken. Leiken, a Republican, has set out to challenge U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, (photographed above) a Lane County Democrat who is expected to seek re-election though he continues to muse about running for governor. Meantime, Leiken got sideways when he claimed he paid his mother $2,000 to conduct a poll. According to the results of an investigation [PDF] released today by the Oregon Secretary of State's Elections...

Portland City Council tomorrow morning will consider whether to change the zoning code to allow limited office space at PGE Park. The proposed change is part of an effort to bring a sports medicine clinic, sponsored by Providence Health & Services, to the stadium to support Merritt Paulson's new Major League Soccer team when it begins play in 2011. Here's the ordinance [PDF]. Updated on Thursday around noon: Mayor Sam Adams this morning pulled the proposed ordinance, saying later he needed another week to deal with a number of outstanding issues surrounding the PGE Park remodel....