http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/index.php Portland and surrounding area community news and information http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134562623335300 It appears that Matt “The Law” Lindland will be the Republican seeking to keep Patti Smith’s House District 52 seat in party hands, and Suzanne VanOrman will be the Democrat facing him in the November general election. Lindland, the Eagle Creek mixed-martial artist, defeated his ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134691621938600 The race to fill the Portland City Council seat vacated by Sam Adams appeared headed for a November run-off election Tuesday night with none of the six candidates receiving the more than 50 percent of the votes needed to win it outright. Nurse and neighborhood activist Amanda Fritz was leading the ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121138757001692300 Portland has $4 per gallon gasoline for the first time ever. A Chevron station on West Burnside raised its prices just after 8 a.m. Wednesday from $3.99 to $4.09 for a gallon of regular unleaded. Neighbors say the station is usually one of the most expensive places to fill up in the Portland ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134667206007700 Holding off a surprisingly strong challenge from Democratic activist Steve Novick, Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley defeated Novick on Tuesday in the Oregon Democratic primary for Gordon Smith’s U.S. Senate seat. With most of the statewide ballots counted Wednesday morning, Merkley had ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121133919589957300 Commissioner Sam Adams was elected the next mayor of Portland Tuesday when his major opponent, businessman Sho Dozono, conceded less than an hour after the first results showed Adams leading with more than 50 percent. In his victory speech, Adams called Dozono a worthy oppoent and asked the crowd ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134435508893200 A big change is on the horizon in the contentious race for Beaverton’s top job. City Councilor Dennis Doyle claimed an early lead with 10,114 votes to Mayor Rob Drake’s 8,427 votes. Those numbers continued to climb throughout the night as ballots were tallied. “I hope the trend ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134905052128800 The race for District 3 on the Multnomah County board of commissioners appears headed toward a November runoff between former state legislator Judy Shiprack and former county employee Mike Delman. Shiprack was leading a six-candidate field with 38 percent of the vote. Delman has 17 percent of the ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134091328731800 Milwaukie Mayor Jim Bernard will face West Linn's Ron Adams, a former state house representative, in a runoff for the newly created Clackamas County Board of Commissioners Position 5. Two percentage points separated Adams from three other candidates vying for second place in the race. Adams won a ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134439675880000 A November run-off election in the race to become East County’s new county commissioner appears likely. With 11,300 votes, or approximately 48 percent, Gresham Police Chief Carla Piluso came up 3 percentage points short, as of press time, of claiming the full majority needed to take District ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134491873957800 Democratic House District 49 candidates Nick Kahl and Barbara Kyle took distinctly different approaches to election night. While Kahl checked online results, listened to live music and shared homemade food among 50 or so supporters at the Teamsters Local 162 hall in East County, Kyle attended to ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134971905816800 Wilsonville Mayor Charlotte Lehan captured an overwhelming plurality in the race for Position 4 on the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners, taking almost double the votes of the next closest candidate. Lehan took 47 percent of the vote, while Dave Mowry, a resident of unincorporated Clackamas ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134920709352900 State Sen. Kurt Schrader earned the Democratic nod in Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District in a landslide victory Tuesday night. The senator from Canby bested his closest rivals, Steve Marks of Turner and Nancy Moran of Oregon City, collecting 54 percent of the vote with more than half of ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134789238801300 Former federal prosecutor John Kroger will be Oregon's next Attorney General, besting state Rep. Greg Macpherson by a 10-point margin. With 54 percent of the precints reporting, Kroger had topped 200,000 votes, or 55 percent, while Macpherson had more than 161,000, or 45 percent. "We took ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134809833576300 Lake Oswego businessman Mike Erickson overcame a last-minute charge by his challenger Kevin Mannix to win the Republican nomination for the open 5th Congressional District seat. Erickson will face Democratic state Sen. Kurt Schrader in the November general election. The race changed dramatically ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134505637674700 Portland lawyer Nick Fish is projected to win the race to fill the City Council seat vacated by Commissioner Erik Sten. Fish was leading with over 60 percent of the vote in the early returns, far more than the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a run-off election. At his victory party, Fish ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134591764986000 Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama was in Iowa tonight but his heart was in Oregon, where he won big in the primary election over rival Sen. Hillary Clinton. Early returns gave Obama about 63 percent of the statewide vote, to Clinton’s 37 percent. The numbers will be updated ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121134483392781600 Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts won re-election in a lopsided victory on Tuesday. “It’s truly an honor and humbling to have that kind of support,” Roberts said of his win, in which he took 79.8 percent of the votes. “When I think of the commitments we’ve made ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121080595502896400 Armed with his e-mail list of about 1,000 people, SW Trails head Don Baack is turning on the heat at Portland City Hall to try to fund a project that would create the final link in the six-mile pedestrian trail from Hillsdale to Lake Oswego. The effort comes as the Bureau of Environmental ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121089343488863700 Community members hoping to see a replica of the city's Old Schoolhouse may have to wait a little longer than expected. Incoming City Manager Jim Patterson says the city's request for proposals on the vacant downtown site has turned up empty. "We didn't get any," Patterson said ... http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121123916134703000 It was, as the candidate noted after he’d said “wow” three times, a “spectacular rally” at Waterfront Park Sunday afternoon. And as he quickly added, “It doesn’t hurt that it’s a perfect day, too.” He’ll get no argument on that score, ...