Skip to main content* The investigation of the paraquat-laced sausages at Laurelhurst Park that took the lives of more than a dozen Portland dogs has been suspended. Recently released police reports leave unresolved the role of county employee Fred King--who says he is an innocent man smeared. King drew detectives' attention because he set up a website, leashyourdog.com, devoted to exposing owners of unleashed dogs at Laurelhurst Park by publishing their photos. Questioned by police, King denied any role in the poisonings and explained the website was because his children were "threatened and frightened" by unleashed dogs at the park. What caused King trouble, however, were "inconclusive" results in two polygraph exams--results the polygrapher blamed on a pattern of abnormal "deep breathing." Asked about the breathing, King said he was "repeating a chant over and over in my head," according to the report. According to KATU news, which first named King, he has threatened to sue the city and the TV station.
* What a difference three months make. In December, the City Council voted to provide a $10.5 million guarantee to the Armory project, a deal which will see Portland Center Stage move from Newmark Theatre to the historic Pearl District structure. (See "Great White Hoax," WW, Jan. 7, 2004.) At the time, Mayor Vera Katz singled out her former chief of staff, Sam Adams, for his leadership. But Adams, now running for City Council, last week told a City Club audience that had he been in office, he would have voted against backing the Armory.
* Mayor Katz, who's taken more than her fair share of knocks for her fashion sense--showed herself to be one of Portland's first ladies of style when she attended the annual Seaplane Fashion Show Saturday night. Held in a grimy, industrial Southeast warehouse, the event featured the mayor sitting near the runway surrounded by a few of her gal pals and what she called Portland's "young and the restless," watching as local indie designers paraded their latest togs.
* One can forgive the social scientists at Portland State University's Regional Research Institute for Human Services if they've turned their attentions to something a bit far afield--like ark construction. After yet another eruption of raw sewage on March 18, one denizen of Ondine Hall dashed off a scathing letter to PSO Prez Dan Bernstine: "However, raw sewage is an entirely different matter."
* Rumblings from the lavender frontlines: Calvin Fleming, the Northwest media manager for Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, has quit his post in Los Angeles. His departure letter to media contacts was vague, but word is he's applied for a position as the development director for Basic Rights Oregon.
* Get out your Sharpie and put a big red circle around April 19. That's the day the leading mayoral and City Council wannabes face off in Candidates Gone Wild! The raucous and informative political exchange--live and uncensored at the Aladdin Theater--is sponsored by the City Club, the Bus Project and this newspaper. Doors, and taps, open at 7 pm. Tickets are $2. Call (503) 243-2122 for details.
WWeek 2015