THE FIGHT OVER Portland's water and sewer services isn't just the province of frugal industrialists and angry activists. Two Portland property management companies have ponied up $30,000 in the last month to line the war chests of Portlanders for Water Reform, the committee hoping to put the fate of two city bureaus in the hands of an elected board rather than city council. One of those companies, American Property Management, is landlord for Portland Bottling Company, the initiative's largest backer to date. The other, Commerce Properties, is just looking out for its residential tenants, President Malcolm McIver tells the Mercury. "We are very aware of the skyrocketing costs of sewer and water." DIRK VANDERHART

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WITH DULCET TONES for the meeting, but a dagger of a letter in his hands, Police Chief Mike Reese managed to fend off what would have been a rare Portland City Council hearing on a police misconduct case. Floyd McCorvey, 62, had accused Officer Todd Tackett of rudeness after Tackett accused him of being a pimp during a pedestrian stop last year—filing an appeal when bureau commanders decided the charge was unproven. The Citizen Review Committee sided with McCorvey this summer, urging the cops to "sustain" McCorvey's complaint after noting Tackett and a trainee officer couldn't agree on basic details. Reese, however, refused and offered, by way of explanation, a letter detailing McCorvey's criminal history. Some CRC members said that was "ugly," but it didn't matter. The panel couldn't muster a majority vote to send the dispute to council last Wednesday, October 2, giving Reese his wish. DENIS C. THERIAULT

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IF A NEWLY INSTALLED Montavilla crematory is spewing plumes of harmful mercury into the air, it's not yet showing up a block or so away. In light of neighbors' concerns over Gable Funeral Chapel and Cremation Services (formerly Cremation and Burial Care of Oregon), at NE 80th and Everett, Portland Public Schools recently paid $1,500 for an environmental analysis at nearby Vestal School. Rather than turning up elevated mercury levels, the study showed less mercury in the soil at Vestal than in much of the rest of Portland. "If significant and measurable quantities of mercury were emitted by this crematorium, one would expect to see more consistency in the levels of mercury detected in all the samples," the report said. The funeral home has sat on the corner for decades but—under new ownership—didn't begin cremations until February. DVH