VETO DRUNK!

It seems like the city's "Time, Place, and Manner" (TPM) ordinance is back in play. Under the ordinance, the OLCC can shut down or fine any club or bar that receives three complaints from neighbors in one month. Drinking establishments have complained that the ordinance gives too much power to a cranky neighbor who simply wants to run a bar out of the neighborhood.

During this past legislative session, it seemed as if bar owners had rid themselves of the pesky rule—in its final moments, the state legislature passed a bill that quashed the TPM ordinance.

But last week, under intense lobbying and begging from city commissioner Randy Leonard, Gov. Ted Kulongoski declared that he would veto the bill—and, therefore, bring the TPM back to life. Leonard had complained to the governor that doing away with TPM would weaken the city's ability to deal with "problem" bars. The governor has vetoed about a dozen bills since the session closed. PB

NEVER TRUST A HIPPIE

"I feel personally shaken down and out of $160," one potential attendee of last weekend's Shakedown Music Festival emailed to the Mercury.

Just hours before beginning, the weekend-long concert—with hippie music by the likes of Mickey Hart and Spearhead—was canceled. On Friday, when concertgoers arrived at Columbia Meadows about 30 miles north of town, they were turned away instead of being allowed to set up camp for the weekend.

Explaining the cancellation, promoter Hal Abramson posted a lengthy note on the concert's website. In that posting, he blames the venue owners, Vancouver-based Lowell MacGregor Group, for yanking the plug. Abramson writes, "We all just got fucked."

But the venue owners see it differently. They say that Abramson didn't have enough money to cover basic expenses, and claim that Abramson didn't even show up on the first day of the festival—and has been unreachable since.

"We're not the ones who skipped town," said Ken Deans, a partner with the venue owners. During the past five years of operation, he added, Columbia Meadows had never before canceled a concert.

TicketsWest is refunding tickets, but it remains to be seen if those who bought passes directly from the concert's website will be refunded. PB