News Delivering his first State of the County speech to the City Club of Portland, Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen left us with these five impressions:

1. As usual at City Club events, the audience of mostly progressive and aging Portlanders left the most pressing question of the moment unasked. No one followed up previous media inquiries by putting Cogen on the spot with questions about hi...   More

News As reported in this week's Murmurs column, word in political circles is that longtime Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk (pictured left) is considering stepping down after 30 years on the job.Sean Riddell, a former deputy for Schrunk who now heads t...   More

News Observers at Multnomah County headquarters this morning witnessed a remarkable scene, as officials who have been feuding publicly for months over funding a new Sellwood Bridge met to congratulate one another over finally reaching an agreement.For a few minutes, the players managed to bury their mutual mistrust and make nice in a performance worthy of an Oscar nomination.First to deliver his lines ...   More

News In today's Murmurs column, we reported Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk is rumored to be considering whether to step down before his four-year term expires in 2012.Insiders mentioned two candidates actively seeking to replace Schrunk, if and when he retires.
Rod U...   More

News Some Northeast Portland residents are trying to haul the City of Portland in to court for approving a wireless-internet tower in the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood.A petition filed Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court claims the city violated its own rules last year when it approved a tower for wireless internet carrier Clearwire (a    More

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News In a nation where filing lawsuits is as much a part of our social DNA as baseball, tort claims are a sure sign that an emerging business has become lucrative enough to run up legal bills. By that meas ...   More

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Kilong Ung, a Portland software engineer who survived the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, is returning to his native land next week to start work on building a new school.

"I want to show the better side of humanity," Ung says. "My dream is not just one or two schools. I want to build hundreds or thousands."

In a    More

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As senior Republican Party members gather in Washington, D.C., today to elect a party leader, pundits are predicting Michael Steele will soon be out as GOP chairman.

Today's vote puts us in mind of    More