The nonsense that goes on after a police officer shoots and kills someone defies belief. Here's a story out of Spokane that just screams.

Without it, he claims, there will be "a revolution in the financial system." Really? What do we have to do to get that here?

Portland City Hall just gets stranger and stranger. I love canning and the people who do it, but forgive me if I'm tired of paying taxes to be preached to about it. All the while advertising for commercial outfits, of course. Thanks, Sust

Let's just fix up the wonderful city we already have.

In all our years in Portland, we'd never gone to see the swifts at the Chapman School in the northwest part of town. Apparently, they've been showing up for about 16 years now. But the other n

We blogged a month ago about political consultant Len Bergstein getting into the fray against the Lake Oswego streetcar. Today we learn for whom he is fronting -- a

Shocking, I know -- but apparently people aren't that enthused about bringing back a 63-year-old retread whom everybody thought had been term-limited out of office. Between Kitz and Wyden, there may not be a clothespin strong enough for

Here we go again.

We noted last week the over-the-top behavior of the Federal Aviation Administration toward an air ambulance operator down in Medford. Now Greg Walden is helping the c

One of the fascinating things about my boyhood haunts in northern New Jersey was how homeowners would paint some of the concrete around their properties green. From an airplane, it looked like grass -- and maybe it kept the house a tiny bit cooler in the blasting heat of the summer. Here in Oregon, we haven't quite reache

I just tried to download some updates to some iPhone apps. Before I could do so, Apple insisted that I agree to the new version of iTunes's "terms and conditions." O.k.... At the bottom of the first page of legalese that constituted such "terms and conditions," I noted that it was "Page 1 of 55." I could read all 55 pag

A wonderful day to start the month, with a downpour, a brilliant clear sky for sunset, and good work done. The highlight of the day was celebrating with Ricardo his win in our World Cup Soccer bracket contest from earlier this summer. As he savored h

The Republican senator from New York sure has done well on a public servant's salary. Even the O is catching on.

It is worth asking what was accomplished by spending tens of billions of dollars to prop up the market for a bit over a year with these tax credits. First, this allowed millions of people to sell their home over this period at a higher price than would have otherwise been the case. The flip side is that more

When the United States initially advanced the Bush family's mindless vendetta by invading Iraq, the common wisdom was that our country's military could never withdraw from that land without starting a bloodbath. But now, seven and a half years and thousands of young American lives later, we're declaring our "combat role" i

Oregon's minor political parties don't want their party names abbreviated on the ballot. Since Secretary of State Kate Brown and her election folks are planning to do just that for the November election, the whole thing is goin

Back in New York City, where a debate rages about whether the city's water system needs to be filtered, somebody's taken out a microscope and looked at what comes out of the tap. And they've found -- yikes! --

In the war of the Bald Eagles vs. the Port of Portland Bulldozers out on Hayden Island, the wildlife and its defenders have scored at least a modest victory. Now the City of Portland and the state DEQ say they are taking a

A reader in central Portland writes: Little Miss Ella needs a home! She's now 3 months old, has had first two series of shots, etc. She is very sweet, smart and affectionate. She loves to play and will keep you laughing! She was suppo

Dang, that's a lot of bud.

It's been a rough few days here in the

It happened to them, it can happen to anyone.

Will there be shortcuts in workmanship, or massive cost overruns? Hard to believe that this rush-rush project will be completed without one or both of those

I need a few grains for this report: Oregon's economy is "recovering."

Portland police officer Ronald Frashour, who killed Aaron Campbell last winter, has been placed on leave, and a review board has recommende

The nice folks who put out Oregon Business magazine have been sending me free copies of their monthly print publication for a while now, and it's always a good read. This month they have a fine feature abou

At

The road fights back.

A first-time reader writes: I was scammed earlier this evening (8/30/2010) on SW 11th and Yamhill. He started out with the usual line "Have you heard of Welches?" He told us his truck was stolen and he needed cab fare to get home. I totally thought he was legit and

The Portland school board says it will burn $22 million in reserves rather than cut services any further in the coming school year. Let's hope their financial picture doesn't get any worse.