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Photo: Christopher Onstott.
Steve Buel Gets School Board Challenger
Steve Buel, a member of the Portland School Board who represents North Portland, says he will run to keep his seat in the May election. But Buel, a retired schoolteacher, has already drawn a formidable challenger: parent activist Rita Moore, a policy analyst with the Oregon Health Authority. Buel, who beat incumbent Martín González in 2013, did so largely because of support from the Portland Association of Teachers. Moore had the support of the teachers' union when she lost to González in 2009—a race in which Buel also ran. PAT President Suzanne Cohen says it's too early to say whom the union will endorse in the race.
Loretta Smith Keeps on Fundraising
Multnomah County voters rejected a ballot initiative Nov. 8 that would have allowed county commissioners to serve three consecutive terms—a change that would have aided the career prospects of Commissioner Loretta Smith, whose second term ends in 2018. But the initiative's failure hasn't stopped Smith from campaign fundraising. Since Election Day, Smith has received two $1,500 contributions—one of them from developer Tom Cody, a vocal opponent of the high-profile proposal for a homeless campus on the Terminal 1 industrial property in Northwest Portland. Smith has been rumored as a potential challenger to City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who's a champion of Terminal 1 and announced earlier this month he'd seek a sixth City Council term in 2018. Smith, contacted last week about her future plans, said she's "not ruling anything in or out."
Barbecue Cart Owner to be Sentenced in Felony Beef
Winter is a tough time for food-cart operators—and this winter will be particularly harsh for Darren Bottinelli, whose Northwest Portland cart Botto Barbecue drew raves from critics. (Our reviewer in August declared Botto's ribs "the finest I've had in this city.") Bottinelli is scheduled to be sentenced this week on a federal felony conviction for theft. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court earlier this year to stealing more than $3 million from thousands of clients—many of them poor—of his company, Axis Benefit Administrators, which held funds for health care reimbursement accounts. In August, Bottinelli told WW he'd been "Obamacared out of a job." Botticelli couldn't be reached for comment.
Give!Guide Tops $1.5 Million
WW's annual Give!Guide is live and accepting donations at giveguide.org. Giving has surpassed $1.5 million and 5,200 donors. If you give on Dec. 15, you'll have a chance to win a package of cultural adventures in Portland and Eastern Oregon and on the Oregon Coast, sponsored by the Oregon Cultural Trust.