MURMURS

Getting details of the

pot case from the cops is like trying to pick off one of Jason Kidd's passes. But sources close to the investigation say that Damon told authorities the pound of pot they found in his crawlspace belonged to

. Reportedly, Damon did concede that he not only knew about the stash, but had sampled it! Of course, now that Damon's and Willie's attorneys think a recent court ruling makes the search a technical foul, all bets are off.

* A new magazine has hit the presses in Portland. Mara McLoughlin, who teaches yoga to the Blazers (Lord knows, it can't hurt), has produced the first issue of Yoga Northwest with a striking cover photo of center Dale Davis in Crow Pose.

* Land Cruisers, 4-Runners and Cherokees in Portland were tagged with fake traffic tickets over the weekend as part of a guerrilla strike. The environmental "violations" were part of the Earth on Empty art campaign that originated in Boston. They came complete with info on the inefficiency of gas-guzzling SUVs.

* Fed up with the astronomical cost of prescription drugs, a scrappy band of two dozen senior citizens is flying to Tijuana this week to hunt for pharmaceutical bargains. Sponsored by the advocacy group Oregonians For Health Security, the pill posse is heading south of the border, where drug prices often plummet 50 percent or more. (A month's supply of Prilosec, a popular acid reflux medication, costs $118 in Portland but just $32 in Tijuana.) "It's crazy that we're actually better off in Mexico than Oregon," declared 79-year-old Hermena Murray in a prepared statement. "So many people my age have to skip payments on their electricity or phone, or even cut back on food spending just to afford the medicines we need to stay alive." For more information, contact Oregonians For Health Security at 655-2793.

* An extensive two-hour Murmurs investigation has revealed that the Multnomah County sheriff employs a pusher! That's right, Sgt. Wendy Talbert seems to have a nasty habit of shoving colleagues. In 1999, Portland cop Sue Johnson filed a criminal complaint against Talbert alleging that the corrections supervisor had pushed her very hard at a crime scene following a dispute over a mental patient's welfare. More recently, Talbert was accused of shoving one of her subordinates, who was at the time reportedly on crutches after being injured in a training exercise.

* While the school board turns over the same old stones in pursuit of a new superintendent, at least one local heavy hitter has tossed his name into the ring. Steve Kanter, the former dean of Lewis & Clark's law school and a leader of the movement to bring big-league baseball to Portland, met with the district's headhunter for three hours over the weekend.

* Now that the NW Natural/PGE deal is officially dead, PGE must now fend off the City of Portland's interest in a takeover. Just because the company allowed the looting of its pension funds and is charging the Northwest's highest electricity prices, that doesn't mean PGE needs any help, according to a May 16 memo from PGE Executive VP Fred Miller. In response to an earlier memo from city Commissioner Erik Sten, Miller wrote, "The utility business is very complex and we have a proven expertise in this industry."

WWeek 2015