Not sure when it was written, but the fact that Wild One’s new single is called “Curse Over Me” fits surprisingly well, considering the past year they’ve had. Last year was a little rough for the Portland-based quartet, as they experienced financial woes in light of their upcoming album release, hospital visits and the departure of a drummer Andy Parker.

Despite a rocky 2012, the synth-pop group returns for a busy 2013, with the release of their first full-length album, Keep it Safe, coming in early July—which also happens to be the first release for Party Damage Records, the new label co-run by former WW music editor Casey Jarman.

The first single off of that album, “Curse Over Me,” mixes the group’s characteristic electronic pop elements with live instrumentation, creating a song that flows easily, with the simple keyboard line melting easily into guitarist Clayton Knapp’s floating, distorted electric guitar. Danielle Sullivan’s vocals are as light and sweet as ever as they taunt “Who do you think you are?/I find it so easy/ Oh, you make it so hard.” Backed by smile-inducing harmonies and a floating synth line while remaining grounded by small flourishes of guitar and a basic drumbeat, “Curse Over Me” is a fun, slow grooving number that touches on love and being alone.

If this is what their full-length will have to offer, I have two words: yes please.

BONUS! A few quick questions for Wild Ones' Danielle Sullivan and Thomas Himes.

Willamette Week: Tell me a bit about "Curse Over Me." Where does it come from lyrically?

Danielle Sullivan: "Curse Over Me" was my very first attempt at writing a break-up song. It's about the implosion of a relationship. Sometimes it feels better to be with the wrong one rather than no one at all.

Is there a connecting theme running through the record? Where does "Curse Over Me" fit in with that?

Sullivan: As far as lyrical themes, "Curse Over Me is one of the darkest, most aggressive songs on the record.   

Thomas Himes: The record has quite a range as far as lyrical themes and most are more optimistic than "Curse." However, the record is darker than our previous releases and I think "Curse" is an accurate depiction of that aural shift. Back to themes, I'd say the record revolves around personal relationships, and that includes, friends, lovers and enemies. 

According to the press release, this album was recorded during a tumultuous year, which included  "hospital visits and financial drama." Care to expound on that?

Himes: We've all been in a lot of bands preceding Wild Ones, all of which have broken down under similar circumstances. It was a grueling experience but I think it helped the record in the end. The hardships made us continually reaffirm our commitment to the record and our belief in it's artistic worth.  

Q: How did those experiences and hardships shape this record, if at all?

Himes: Like i said above, it was a litmus test of sorts—a trying process that reassured us that what we were doing was worth finishing.    

Q: Why title the album Keep It Safe?

Sullivan: Keep It Safe represents a desire to protect and preserve the purity that comes with making music that I love with my friends.

Q: What made you decide to put Keep It Safe out on Party Damage?

Sullivan: We have known Casey [Jarman] and Ben [Hubbird] since we first entered the Portland music scene in 2006. They have always been incredibly supportive and passionate about our projects so it feels natural to be releasing on their label. We feel very lucky to be working with those two studs.

Q: Everyone in the band has such varied backgrounds musically. How do you manage to find common ground within the songwriting?

Himes: We'd been in plenty of bands with the classic tortured-genius persona running the show. That musical dictatorship was not something we were interested in. Those bands aren't healthy and they leave folks unsatisfied and in some cases lamenting each other. We started Wild Ones with a more democratic process in mind, and I think it has matured beautifully. We have all contributed largely to this album and it represents us all. It required some strenuous ground work but now we're up and running and already cranking out the next record faster than any one person could. It's been an investment and an ideology Danielle and I had from the very beginning and I think it's created a great dynamic—one that will last.    

SEE IT: Wild Ones play Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi Ave., with Typhoon on Saturday, June 4. 9 pm. $15. 21+. 

Although the tallies from yesterday's election are not official yet, Measure 26-152, Metro's five-year, $50 million open spaces levy is passing by a 54 percent to 46 percent margin.

That's a good result for a campaign that struggled to raise money and, according to campaign manager Stacey Dycus, started off with poor polling numbers.

The results in Multnomah County—59 percent to 42 percent in favor—are not surprising. But the measure's weakness in Washington County—where it is narrowly passing 51 percent to 49 percent—is a little surprising. In recent election cycles, Washington County has grown increasingly blue, but not in this case. 

The other surprise is that Clackamas County voters are only rejecting the new tax by a slim 52 percent to 48 percent margin. Metro, which does land-use planning for the region, has come under heavy fire in Clackamas County in the past couple of years, taking more criticism than just about any subject other than light rail.

Unaccountably, none of Metro's critics bothered to file a voters' pamphlet statement in Clackamas County opposing the measure.

Click to enlarge:

Portlanders love taxes. That's the tax-away from tonight's results in which bluer-than-blue Multnomah County provided enough "yes" votes to pass Measure 26-152, Metro's five-year operating levy to support greenspaces and natural areas. Portland voters did just enough to overcome tepid support in Washington County and outright hostility in Clackamas County.

The measure was passing 57 percent to 43 percent.

Updated on Wednesday at 1:15 pm: The Tuesday night figure was Multnomah County only. As of Wednesday afternoon, the result of voting in three counties is the measure passing by a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent.

Metro, the regional government which operates in the three metro-area counties, asked voters to provide about $10 million a year to maintain, fix-up and operate 12,000 acres of land the agency has acquired over the past two decades. 

The other tax measure on the ballot, Measure 26-150, also called the Children's Levy, held a wide lead, passing 78 percent to 22 percent.

The measure benefited from being a Portland-only vote and having twice previously passed. The five-year levy will raise about $10 million a year, which will be used to fund various programs that benefit low-income and minority kids.

Steve Buel defeated incumbent Martin Gonzalez in Tuesday's election in the race for Portland Public Schools board for Zone 4, which includes North Portland.

Buel—who has previously served on the board—is leading Gonzalez 54 percent to 44 percent in the race. Another 2 percent of votes went to write-in candidates.

The two men also faced each other in 2009. Normally, the power of incumbency would be enough to guarantee Gonzalez an easy victory, but Buel got the endorsement of the Portland Association of Teachers and out-raised Gonzalez $29,200 to $3,200. That money difference allowed Buel to get his name in front of voters.

Although there were three Portland Public School board seats on tonight's ballot, the Buel-Gonzalez race was the only race that was truly contested.

In Zone 5 (central northeast), incumbent Pam Knowles ran unopposed. In Zone 6 (central southeast), an open seat, Tom Koehler, who ran an active campaign easily defeated David Morrison, who did not mount much of a campaign. Koehler held a 79-19 lead over Morrison, with 2 percent of the vote going to write-in candidates.

Fluoride is 0-for-4 in Portland.

Early returns in tonight's special election show Measure 26-151—which would have required the fluoridation of Portland's water supply—losing 61 percent to 39 percent. 

The defeat marks the fourth time since 1956 that Portland voters have rejected fluoride, and keeps this the largest city in the United States with unfluoridated water. The anti-fluoridation forces wasted little time celebrating their win.

Tonight's vote also means the end to a populist drama sparked by Portland City Council last summer, when then-Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Randy Leonard stealthily pushed the addition of fluoride to the Bull Run water supply, backed by a quiet campaign by a lobbying group called Upstream Public Health.

The revolt was instantaneous.

Fluoridation opponents packed City Hall and gathered more than 33,000 signatures to place the question on the May 2014 ballot. City Commissioners moved the vote up to this May—claiming they wanted to resolve the question quickly but raising even more suspicion among opponents, who believed they were trying to sneak the controversial chemical past voters.

That public distrust only deepened this spring when the Oregon Health Authority delayed release of its 2013 Smile Survey, a study of dental health, by three months—and the study showed cavities in Portland were down, even without fluoride in the water.

The pro-fluoride campaign, Healthy Kids Healthy Portland, raised more than twice the money of the anti-fluoridation campaign, Clean Water Portland. But as total fundraising topped $1 million, both sides endured money scrutiny.

As WW first reported, Healthy Kids Healthy Portland handed out $143,000 to seven minority groups who endorsed the pro-fluoride campaign.

WW also reported that almost half of Clean Water Portland's money came from out-of-state donors—including Tea Party supporters in Kansas and Utah, and a controversial alternative physician outside Chicago.

Every major newspaper in the city—including WW—endorsed the measure. As polling suggested the pro-fluoride campaign failing, media outlets across the country marveled at liberal Portland bucking scientific consensus. But the coalition of skeptics—rooted in Portland's organic ethos—grew more impassioned throughout the spring.

Yesterday, the world lost Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, who succumbed to cancer at age 74. While I went through a major Doors period at one point in my life—and will still contend the band is unfairly maligned in modern rock-crit consciousness—Manzarek also championed and produced X, my favorite band ever. For that, in addition to his many other musical accomplishments, he will be missed.

But then, there's a chance that he's not really gone. Maybe he's just working on a farm somewhere in Oregon with his old buddy Jim.

As everyone knows, rock stars don't die. They just fake their own deaths, change their names and move to rural Eagle Point, Oregon. 

At least, that's what the video below proposes. As of two years ago, Jim Morrison was allegedly living about five hours south of Portland under the name William James Loyer (although he named his ranch the Jim Morrison Sanctuary, which doesn't seem too smart, but then, ol' Jimbo wasn't quite famous for his intellect). The evidence is less than convincing, even after the poster—who goes by the handle "mjhdconspiracy"—uses some low-level video editing technology to place Morrison's face over that of Mr. Loyer. But then, he also has "amateur video" of Manzarek confirming the rumor himself, with no sarcasm whatsoever. So who knows?

Unfortunately, Morrison's opinion on fluoridation is unknown as of press time.

Mayor Charlie Hales announced this afternoon that his office has cobbled together money from a mix of public and private sources to preserve a list of city programs citizens fought to keep from the budget chopping block.

Those last-minute salvages from $21.5 million in budget cuts include keeping the Police Bureau's Mounted Patrol Unit, Buckman Pool and two programs that aid victims of sex trafficking. Citizens have loudly protested all three cuts in the past month.

"Public hearings matter," Hales told reporters at a roundtable in City Hall. "When people show up and have an opinion, this City Council listens."

The most complicated reprieve is the mounted patrol, which will be reduced from six horseback officers to four.

Staffing for the mounted patrol will come from other police vacancies identified by Police Chief Mike Reese, but the money for the animals' feed and care is being covered by private donations—most of which have yet to be raised.

The advocacy group Friends of Portland's Mounted Patrol, backed by Pearl District developer Bob Ball, has promised to increase its annual donation to $200,000 for the next two years. Feed supplier Maxson Hay is donating a year's supply of hay, worth at least $15,000.

"The police chief sharpened his pencil," Hales said. "The city is making a little hay here, har har har."

Ball—who has saved the mounties before—rejoiced, and pledged to raise the $200,000 through social media.

“We want to thank the Mayor and the Council for listening to the people of Portland, and those around the world, who advocated for the Mounted Patrol,” said Ball in a statement. “We’ll be launching a fundraising campaign in the coming days on our Facebook page, but for today, we just want to say ‘thank you.’”

Hales also passed along $277,000 in savings—from the city's victory in a telecommunications lawsuit and bridge funding for retiring employees—to Janus Youth Programs and LifeWorks NOW, which both aid victims of sex trafficking, mostly in East Portland.

Hales emphasized that the last items spared from the budget are coming from other pools of money than the city's general fund: community donations, levy funds, CenturyLink lawsuit win.

But he acknowledged that many of the programs he saved are traditionally offered up by bureaus as a scare tactic.

"I understand the perception, and I'll take the hits," Hales said. "I'm content where we ended up."

Mayor Charlie Hales keeps showing up to neighborhood messes with a shovel.

First he went after big apartments without parking spaces, then tried to set curfews for loud bar patios.

The mayor's latest target for increased quality control? It's Last Thursday, the 15-block Alberta Street bohemian free-for-all that never even had to apply for a city permit until last year.

When the festival returns on May 30, Hales' office says the permit issued to Friends of Last Thursday will come with lots of new requirements. 

"It is difficult to organize an event that already exists," Hales spokesman Dana Haynes says. "But we have faith that they can."

These include 15 certified security guards, two port-a-potties every other block, all musicians complying with city noise ordinances, and a shutdown promptly at 10 pm. (The festival will need separate permits from the Portland Fire Marshall if it wants any fire performers, the deal notes.)

Hales will see if that plan works to soothe irritated neighbors, and adjust it for June. But he risks alienating the artists who give the fest its zest. 

“This is what makes Portland Portland,”  Sammy Eath, an 18-year-old artist, told WW in 2011. “If you start regulating and charging people, it will be Seattle.”

Here's the full list of the mayor's requirements for Friends of Last Thursday to get their May 30 permit.

•    FoLT must assign a minimum of 2 ambassadors per 2 blocks for communication with security and monitoring the event.
•    FoLT must provide at least two portable restrooms every other block.
•    FoLT must ensure that a minimum 18’ street width is maintained on Alberta Street.
•    FoLT must help ensure that a minimum 14’ street width is maintained on side streets (no double parking allowed).
•    FoLT must help ensure that there is no consumption of alcohol outside of designated areas.
•    FoLT is responsible for managing musicians and keeping them in compliance with the City Noise Ordinance, as is required of organizers for each neighborhood street fair.
•    FoLT must help clear the street promptly at 10 pm.
•    The Street Closure permit does not authorize the use of fire in the closed street area. However, if the event organizer allows Performance Art/ Fire Effects, a permit from the Fire Marshal’s Office must be obtained in advance.
•    FoLT must help ensure that intersections remain free from obstructions (including vending carts, vehicles or moveable barricades) for 10’ from the adjoining street/avenue curb line.
•    FoLT must help ensure that use of propane is under the benefit of permit through the Fire Marshall’s Office (FMO), including cooking and heating devices.
•    FoLT must help ensure that street parking shall be no farther than 1’ from the curb in an area that allows parking, and no closer than 10’ to any hydrant.
•    FoLT must help ensure that Hydrants and Fire Department Connections (FDCs) shall be free of any obstructions in a 3’ radius, or 6’ diameter, and have clear access to the street.
•    FoLT must help ensure that all exits in any business open to the public shall be maintained clear of all obstacles.

If I told you the new single from Pure Bathing Culture was dreamy and heart-swelling, would you really be surprised? Probably not. And that's what makes "Pendulum," the first song released from the duo's full-length debut, Moon Tides, a perfect choice to introduce the group to a national audience. Last we heard from the band before they entered Richard Swift's Cottage Grove studio, they were covering Fleetwood Mac, and the song sounds a bit like Stevie Nicks fronting an '80s version of Beach House. Over moonlit synths and Daniel Hindman's glistening guitars, singer Sarah Versprille's voice opens up to a big, cloud-clearing swoon on the chorus, and the effect is wondrous.

Moon Tides comes out Aug. 20 on Partisan Records. We emailed Hindman and Versprille a few brief questions about "Pendulum" and their upcoming, heavily anticipated debut.  

Willamette Week: Tell me how you chose "Pendulum" at the leadoff single.

Pure Bathing Culture: "Pendulum" wasn't our first choice for the lead off single. But we were convinced by both of our labels that it was the best choice for the purpose.

Tell me how "Pendulum" fits in—sonically and thematically—with the rest of Moon Tides.

Sonically it has many traits in common with the rest of the record.  Thematically it is probably one of the darkest songs on the record.  

Tell me a bit about the pendulum imagery. Why did you choose that as a symbol to base this song around?  

It has something to do with the idea of a pendulum swinging infinitely and how that might mirror a person's behavior.

Why Moon Tides as an album title?

We are deeply inspired by the relationship between the moon and the tides. Particularly in the sense that the tides and the ocean are comprised of water and the element water is often associated with human emotion. The moon in this case to us represents the subconscious intuitive mind and perhaps even the world of dreams and mystery. We're really turned on by the fact that there's such a strong, in depth scientific relationship between the two and also a whole world of interpretive symbolism.

Tell me about recording in Cottage Grove. How did the setting influence the album's sound?

There's something strange and surreal about Cottage Grove.  It's the only place we've ever recorded with Pure Bathing Culture.

Tell me about working with Richard Swift. How has he shaped the sound of Pure Bathing Culture?

Amidst all of Richard's talents that he brought to the record, what is probably the most significant to us looking back on the process is that, from very early on, Richard was the person telling us that what we were hearing and wanting to do musically—which at times could feel a little strange or embarrassing to us—was OK and valid and that we should do it. It might sound simplistic, but it was incredibly important and empowering for us through the process, and I think it's an indication of how magical his intuition is. 

SEE IT: Pure Bathing Culture plays Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., with Father John Misty, on Saturday, May 25. 8 pm. $15 advance, $17 day of show. 21+.

The long-running reality show known as Measure 26-151, which would require the fluoridation of Portland's water supply, draws to a close today.

Ballots are due at Multnomah County elections or official ballot drop spots by 8 pm this evening. 

Filings today show that the Northwest Health Foundation contributed another $30,000 to the pro-fluoride campaign, Healthy Kids, Healthy Portland, bringing that group's total to $285,000. That is more than the "no" campaign, Clean Water Portland, raised from all sources.

As of this morning, Healthy Kids, Healthy Portland has raised $877,000 with a $107,000 remaining on hand; Clean Water Portland has raised $274,000 with $12,000 remaining on hand.

As of 2 pm yesterday, turnout stood at 25.75 percent.

The NBA has no off-season. Certainly, Portland-based professional basketball fans have moved on to other leisure-time activities since the Blazers’ season wrapped up unceremoniously just over a month ago. That doesn’t mean the NBA season is over, however. Or that it will, in fact, ever end. 

The NBA’s elites, minus Kevin Durant and an injured Russell Westbrook, are still fighting it out for the title. For them, the season is still very much on. But for the other 25 NBA teams, a whole different kind of season has just begun. Call it the off-season if you want, but it’s anything but off.

This secondary season began last week in Chicago with the annual NBA Draft Combine. It will continue through next week’s Draft Lottery, which will determine which team gets the number one overall pick, followed by individual team workouts in early June; the actual draft, held June 27 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn; mandatory team workouts; Summer League; and training camp in the middle and end of summer, with preseason and the start of the 2013-14 regular season in the fall. For NBA executives, head coaches and future players, there is no rest to be had.

Every NBA team was represented in one way or another at the two-day Draft Combine, scrutinizing 60 rookies-to-be as they were put through their paces in competitive drills and high-end fitness testing. For those unable to make the trip, ESPN was kind enough to broadcast the events live. 

Though watching groups of college players test their standing and running vertical leaps, complete three-quarter court sprints and execute the three-man weave is only slightly more exciting than daytime network television, Day One wasn’t without a little drama. Many of the players slated to go in the top tier of next month’s draft choose to sit out the activities of the combine’s first day. On the advice of their newly hired representation, these players had been counseled that going head-to-head with their lesser competitors might adversely effect their potential draft position. 

As the head-to-head drills were reserved for the first day only, all the potential lottery picks (players drafted in the top 14, earning them both the most accolades and the most guaranteed money) participated in the combine’s second day, the day set aside for fitness testing. 

It was on this second day that at least one of the incoming rookies the Blazers have locked in on shined. Indiana University’s Victor Oladipo is projected to be one of the first five players drafted on June 27, meaning the Blazers would have to make a draft-day deal to get him. Nonetheless, the three-year man known for his defense and athleticism has piqued the interest of the Blazers. 

“Playing with solid veterans in Portland that aren't that far away from being serious contenders would be a dream come true,” Oladipo told Chris Haynes of Comcast Sportsnet on Friday in Chicago. “To play in the backcourt with Damian Lillard and to have [Nicolas] Batum on the other wing would be a great situation.” 

Regardless of whether or not Blazer General Manager Neil Olshey pulls the trigger on the kind of deal that could bring a blue-chipper like Oladipo to Portland, the Blazers will have a serious opportunity to continue building to contention through the draft. 

Holders of the 10^th pick in the first round—barring some incredible luck, good or bad, in the Draft Lottery—and three picks in the second round, the Blazers will have a chance to add some talent using the league’s cheapest method of acquisition.

Whether that means drafting a guy like Kansas’s Jeff Withey, France’s Rudy Gobert or Gonzaga’s Kelly Olynyk—project centers who should be available when the Blazers make their first selection and might be able to address the team’s needs for a defensive big man—trading for the chance to move up in the draft or dumping the pick entirely in a deal to land a big-time known quantity, remains to be seen. 

The Blazers won’t choose their man based solely on how high he jumps, how fast he can back-peddle around the key or on the short interviews the team conducted with a number of players including Oladipo and UCLA’s uniquely-aged Shabazz Muhammed. Extensive individual workouts held in early June prior to the draft will likely be used to make those decisions. 

The Draft Combine isn’t a total waste of time, though. If not just to see the early stratifications of next season’s rookie class based on who did and didn’t choose to participate in team drills, the combine at least provides teams with raw data to help influence their later, super-important drafting decisions.

Not only that, the NBA Draft Combine official announces that the 2013-14 season has begun. The search for the Blazers’ next Next Big Thing is upon us.

Mike Acker is the founder of the Blazers fan site Rip City Project. Follow him on Twitter: @ripcityproject. 

Mark O. Hatfield is one step closer to knocking Jason Lee off his pedestal.

The Oregon House voted 36-22 today to place a statue of Hatfield, the late Republican statesman, in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington, D.C. The bill now moves to the state Senate—and if it passes, Hatfield moves back to Capitol Hill, where he served as a U.S. senator.

WW first reported in April that the legislature was considering a Hatfield statue to replace the current bronze of Jason Lee, the Methodist missionary who helped found Oregon.

We also provided a brief list of their respective accomplishments and failings. In brief: Hatfield opposed war but was investigated for taking bribes. Lee founded Willamette University but also a school where many Native American children died.  

Advantage: Hatfield.   

Attempting to recreate a lost Grateful Dead show from 1967 based on memories from people who were there is no easy feat. Honestly, most of us probably can’t vividly recall Further at the Edgefield in September, let alone a show that happened 50 years ago in what used to be a Masonic temple. Travis Neel still managed to resurrect what he knew about the show Friday night at the Portland Art Museum, tapping into a void in Dead history as part of his thesis project.

Aptly titled “Turn on Your Lovelight,” after a song that may have been played live that night, the project was undoubtedly Dead-like—or as Dead-like as it could be, given it was held in an art museum with staff members serving more as chaperones than security. 

U.S. Cadenza, one of the original opening bands, reunited to kick off the event in the PMA’s Kridel Grand Ballroom to a host of friends, family and a slew of art-goers meandering through the museum as part of the Shine a Light event. The five-piece played a blues-R&B fusion close what they might have played in ‘67, tacking on a riveting cover of “Turn on Your Lovelight” to close it out. 

Garcia Birthday Band, a local Dead tribute act, followed. The group built a setlist curated from what the Dead were playing at the time, rehashing classics like “Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)” and “Death Have No Mercy,” as well as few other tunes concert attendees supposedly remember from the original show. As imagined, the group jammed the bulk of the songs, fleshing them amid the psychedelic liquid light show and accompanying go-go dancers on either sides of the stage.

There may not have been thousands of attendees or so that filled the Temple that summer in ‘67, but there was a fair share of art attendees and Deadheads alike, donned in Dead tour shirts and tie-dye. Although I never actually saw anyone smoking, the smell of pot wafted through the air on several occasions, hovering above the 20 people fluidly dancing in their own little world in the center of the room. There was some hula-hoopers in the back.

True to the original night, there was also no encore (some audience members were really not happy about this). However, we will truly never knew how close Neel’s reenactment was to the original show. Then again, we’ll just have to keep our eye out for those precious bootlegs.

As reported today on our website, only 21.5% of ballots for this year's May special election had been received as of the end of the day on Friday, May 17. 

That means that as many as 78.5% of you hadn't turned in your ballots, a mere four days before the ballot deadline of 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 21. With a ballot that includes the ever-contentious water fluoridation referendum, those are some mighty low numbers even for an odd-year election. 

We hope you've examined each issue and candidate carefully. We hope in particular that you've already read through our endorsements, weighed the reasons behind them, and come to your own conclusions.

But for all you latecomers, and for those with short memories, here's a quick-reference guide to Willamette Week's 2013 endorsements, with links to the reasoning behind each endorsement. 

And remember: if you haven't turned in your ballot yet, you'll be wanting to do so in person, at county elections or an official drop site, by tomorrow at 8 pm. Happy voting!

Willamette Week's Endorsements at a Glance: 

Measures:  

26-151: Fluoridation: YES  

26-150: Children's Levy: YES

26-152: Natural Areas: YES

Portland Public Schools: 

Zone 4 Candidate: Martin Gonzalez - Nonpartisan  

Zone 6 Candidate: Tom Koehler - Nonpartisan  

Portland Community College: 

Zone 2 Candidate: Kali Thorne Ladd - Nonpartisan 

Zone 4 Candidate: Jim Harper - Nonpartisan 

Zone 5 Candidate: Ken Madden - Nonpartisan 

Multnomah Education Service District: 

Position 1 Candidate: Chris Cochran - Nonpartisan  

Position 2 Candidate: Nels Johnson - Nonpartisan  

Position 3 Candidate: Erica Thatcher - Nonpartisan

As of the end of day Friday, only 21.5 percent of registered voters had turned in their ballots for this month's election. Historically, off-year elections draw a light turnout. In 2011, 36.6 percent of registered voters cast ballots in Multnomah County.

The May ballot includes a Metro parks' operating levy; a renewal of the Children's initiative; school board and education service district races; and, of course, a vote on Measure 26-151, which calls for the fluoridation of Portland's water supply. Read WW's endorsements here.

A front page Wall Street Journal article this morning highlighted Portland's fluoride fight.

James Garvey, the conservative Wichita, Kan., real estate developer who is the "no" side's biggest contributor at $43,000, provided the money quote on the unusual coalition of right and left that opposes fluoride.

"I don't have any problem with tree-huggers," Garvey told the Journal. "It's not political, it's what you drink...I believe in individual liberty for all people." 

Ballots will be counted Tuesday, May 21, and must be dropped off at county elections or an official drop site tomorrow by 8 pm.

If Oregon and Washington don't break ground on the Columbia River Crossing by spring 2014, the federal government may ask for its $178.5 million back.

The news was delivered in a letter (PDF) to Matt Garrett and Lynn Peterson—directors of Oregon and Washington's departments of transportation, respectively—on April 19 and obtained by WW. But Republicans in Washington's Senate—which is vowing to strike down any transportation bill that includes $450 million for the controversial megaproject—are calling the letter a scare tactic.

"We believe it's appropriate to remind you of the longstanding 10-year rule for expenditure of federal-aid funds and the possible need to repay those funds," the letter, signed by Daniel Mathis and Phillip Ditzler, the Washington and Oregon state division administrators for the Federal Highway Administration, reads.

It goes on to say that the first federal funds came through on April 22, 2004. To date, $187.5 million in federal money has been obligated by both states ($108.5 million in Oregon and $79 million in Washington) to the project, of which $113 million has been spent.

"It is these funds which may be subject to repayment should the CRC project, as represented in the December 2011 Record of Decision, fail to materialize," it finishes.

The project, as approved by the feds, includes light rail from Portland to Vancouver, five miles of highway expansion and the replacement of the twin Interstate 5 spans over the Columbia River.

Washington state Sen. Ann Rivers (R-LaCenter) questions the assertions in the letter and says it's a gimmick aimed at  manipulating lawmakers.

"Historically we haven’t seen a claw back of funds," Rivers says. "The funds were used for the (environmental impact statement)—which was their intended purpose. This appears to be additional pressure designed to force the legislature into a false choice."