[August 19th 3:14pm] Who Was Responsible For $3.1 Million Mistake? City Has No Clue

About half of the 1,800 pensioners enrolled in Portland's Fire and Police Disability and Retirement Fund have been getting overpaid by an average of $60 a month for more than a decade, city officials said this afternoon in a meeting with reporters. Since 1995, when officials believe a "miscalculation" in benefit payouts was introduced into the controversial system, the overpayments have totaled about $3.1 million. The amount of individual overpayments varies. Mayor Tom Potter, a former police...

[August 19th 5:39pm] Taste of Tanasbourne Attracts Unexpected Visitors

If you were out and about during last weekend's heatwave, you may have heard about the Taste of Tanasbourne, an outdoor festival created to showcase local Hillsboro and surrounding area businesses. Put on by P-Town Productions, the event featured local musicians and vendors selling handmade arts and crafts, food and wine. The festival was located in a field directly where the new Kaiser Permanente facility will be built on the corner of 194th Terrace and Venetian Drive in Hillsboro and took...

[August 19th 3:37pm] Bye Bye Becken's: Or, Where to Get Your Fix Tonight

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission reports that it has proposed the cancellation of the liquor license for Becken's Winning Hand Tavern at 5917 and 5919 Southeast 82nd Avenue. We don't know why Becken's has two different addresses for its storefront between Monique Salon and Liberty Buy-Sell, but it sounds like a rockin' joint. From the press release (emphasis ours): The liquor license for Becken's Winning Hand Tavern is held by Timothy M. Becken. The license is being proposed for...

[August 19th 3:01pm] Changes to the City Ombudsman? Never Mind (Updated with comment from Saltzman office)

So much for City Auditor Gary Blackmer asking the City Council to put a measure on the November ballot that's designed to improved the independence of the city's ombudsman office. Blackmer wanted city voters to decide this November whether the ombudsman's post would be enshrined in the city's charter instead of in the city code, which can be changed by the City Council. Sounds wonky, huh? But good-government types like Blackmer say putting the ombudsman in the city's governing...

[August 19th 2:36pm] Local Zinesters get Chatty at Zinesters Talking Series

Zinesters aren't supposed to talk! They're supposed to write quirky stories and draw awkward images, then print them in black and white and sell them for $3 to people who then feel ultra-indie because they own a zine. But at the Zinesters Talking series, local zinesters will break code and get vocal. The series will be held every Tuesday evening through September at one of the four Multnomah County libraries (Central, North Portland, Hollywood and Belmont) sponsoring the series. The...

[August 19th 1:36pm] To Obama's V.P. Vetters: You May Want to Look at the Videotape of Tim Kaine Pushing My Mom

In a storage locker not too far from the Las Vegas Strip sits a potential land mine for Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, one of three people presumed to be Sen. Barack Obama's top picks for vice president, according to published reports. Back in the late 1990s, when Kaine was mayor of Richmond, Va., my mother — who now lives in Nevada but then lived in Richmond — began attending City Council meetings. To her surprise, she soon discovered the council was regularly holding unannounced meetings...

[August 19th 12:38pm] Cover Me: Blazer's Steve Blake in The O(MIGOD)regonian

"Stripped" across the cover of Tuesday's Oregonian sports page was this unique photo of the "alternative workouts" of Trail Blazers point guard Steve Blake, with a story by Jason Quick. The particular workout depicted here is a crotch-squishing jujitsu hold. We couldn't find Bruce Ely's, um, unusual photo on Oregonlive.com, so we scanned the image from today's paper for all the non-subscribers out there. It raises an urgent question: Where do we sign up for jujitsu?

[August 18th 5:12pm] Gee, Thanks, Wal-Mart—World's Biggest Company May Donate One 421-Millionth Of Its Revenues To Portland

At its Wednesday meeting, the Portland City Council will likely approve a $900 grant application by the Police Bureau to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. No, there's no zeroes missing in that figure. And there's absolutely nothing weird or pathetic about the city asking Wal-Mart for spare change. The $900 grant "will allow two Crisis Response Team volunteers to attend a certification program presented by the Oregon State Victim Assistance Academy (SVAA)." "Sounds good to me," said Mayor-elect Sam...

[August 18th 4:10pm] Exploding PDX Fashion: Explode La Mode at Someday Lounge

Photo: Explode La Mode fashion show @ Someday Lounge, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2008 Explode La Mode : PDX Fashion show served with a side of fabulous “That designer is a genius. People will look at that at just go. ‘Wow. Cool Hoodie.’ But they don’t understand how ridiculously difficult that is to do.” The guy behind me, directly behind me—the Someday Lounge this Saturday night is packed tighter than a can of StarKist tuna—has an Erhart sticker on his lapel and is, like...

[August 18th 3:48pm] Updated: Smith Frozen Foods Repeats Water-Quality Violation

With new comment from Smith Frozen Foods attorney Tom Lindley and Sen. Gordon Smith's spokeswoman below. For the second time in about a year, wastewater from the frozen-foods plant owned and operated in Eastern Oregon by the family of U.S. Sen Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) overflowed into a nearby creek in violation of state environmental regulations. Smith Frozen Foods, a multimillion dollar operation, processes peas, corn, carrots and lima beans for companies like Campbell Soup using heavy...

[August 18th 12:10pm] Much-Anticipated Local Blog-Off Begins; Judge Says 'Eff The Olympics' (Updated)

Why, you ask? Because it's summer (or was until this thunderstorm). Because any Web traffic is good Web traffic. Because we can. Portland Mercury newsie Amy Ruiz and I are judging what is almos' def' the first event of its kind, a "Blog-Off" between the City of Portland Water Bureau's Water Blog and the Cross Blog, by the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross. The bloggers' first task, assigned this morning, was to base an organizationally relevant post on this article. Another,...

[August 18th 11:13am] Wyden and Obama's Oregon Strategy

Oregon? No problem. That was the message in a half-hour conference call this morning with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Barack Obama's strategy for holding his ground in the Beaver State. Wyden and state campaign director Rob Hill said they're confident Obama can carry the state Al Gore won by just 6,700 votes and John Kerry took by 36,000. Hill called Oregon "potentially a huge part of our strategy for winning" in November. After Wyden's chief of staff, Josh Kardon, led Hillary...

[August 17th 10:33pm] TOME RAIDER: Q&A with Amanda Boyden

How do you get New Orleans down on paper? One might as well ask, with the nuns at Nomberg Abbey, how do you find a cloud and pin it down? In real life, it takes twin catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the federal levies to get the entire city moving in one direction. As an artist’s object, the Big Easy defies description. Most of the time, that is. Author Amanda Boyden is the exception: her novel Babylon Rolling just about nails New Orleans. A tale of five...

[August 16th 9:59am] Trailer of the Week: Happy-Go-Lucky

bipolar \(')bi-'po-ler\ adj 1: Making this movie: and then making this movie: Happy-Go-Lucky is rated R and opens October 10 in the U.S. Image of writer-director Mike Leigh from the British Film Institute

[August 16th 9:58am] BEIJING STREET REPORT: The Man with the Metal Balls

Jason Simms continues his reporting on the games outside the Games in Beijing (read earlier dispatches and watch videos here, here and here): The mission of the English, baby Olympic team was to travel to Beijing and challenge those we met in competition. We didn't count on those we met challenging us. Outside the water cube, we discovered a large Chinese man putting on a show. He rotated metal balls of increasing size in his hands until the balls got so big that one of them rested on...

[August 15th 5:13pm] BEIJING STREET REPORT: Simms Engages in Ping-Pong Diplomacy, Races Bike in Short-Shorts

Further emailed adventures of Jason Simms during his visit to Olympic-fevered Beijing for the website English, baby! (Read earlier dispatches here and here.) Attending actual events wasn't really a high priority for the English, baby! team in China. We figured everyone would be covering those, so we'd cover the culture around the games. But the one thing I knew I couldn't miss—the only ticket I bought in advance—was for that most mighty of Olympic sports: Table tennis. That's right,...

[August 15th 12:30pm] HIP TO BE SQUARE: KGW-TV launching Evening Broadcast from Pioneer Courthouse Square

Watch out Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart, here comes Stephanie Stricklen. As first reported here, KGW has announced it's launching a new show called "The Square Live at 7pm." According to KGW President and General Manager DJ Wilson the show will broadcast from KGW's new HD Studio at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Produced by KGW's news department, Wilson says don't expect it to look anything like the Cheryl Hansen hosted 1970's and 80's PM Magazine, or other more product placement-driven...

[August 15th 11:52am] Hutt's Tomb: Clone Wars Reviewed

Perhaps seeking a more receptive audience for his odious droid humor, George Lucas has finally made Star Wars a kids’ movie. Don’t look so hurt; that time is long past. I cried for The Phantom Menace – what a mess – but Clone Wars was unable to elicit so much as a single tear from my tired old eyes. It’s a fact that each of these new Star Wars movies is worse than the one previous. In that regard, at least, Clone Wars doesn’t disappoint. An intergalactic war rages between the...

[August 14th 4:44pm] Dino-mite! Lil' Beijing Blinger Walks Away with Gold

OK, so we first featured this way back in WW's 2007 Gimme Guide. But after watching all the drama and over all weirdness coming out China right now, we thought now would be another good time to share this little Bejing blingy thing that is...well..."unique." A repurposed dinosaur doll, this hybrid dino-dragon we got last fall at Cargo (380 NW 13th Ave., 209-8349) features a handmade costume over a run-of-the-mill shuffling T-Rex and plays "Dong Fang Hong," the de facto anthem of...

[August 14th 4:40pm] Phix Needs Some Fixing... Steer Clear

Phix is a fixer-upper. The "all natural herbal supplement" comes in powder-form (Tropic and Teaberry flavored) that when mixed with 12-16 ounces of water, tastes like the bastard child of water and diluted Tang. Phix is a Seattle-based company that claims their drink powder will boost energy and be a healthy replacement for that afternoon cup of coffee or pre-workout energy drink. But the bottom line is that Phix tastes like filth, and there are many theories about what makes the concoction...

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