GOVERNOR JOHN KITZHABER has put aside months of ruminating and decided to run for a state-record fourth term in office—an announcement that came Monday, December 9, at a Southeast Portland elementary school. Not that it was much of a surprise. Kitzhaber had already raised nearly $250,000—more than either of his likely Republican opponents—despite his uncertain campaign status. The media alert for his press conference Monday also gave things away, arriving on some obvious letterhead: "John Kitzhaber for Governor 2014." Kitz's lead GOP foe, State Representative Dennis Richardson, has already tried painting the governor as anti-business—forgetting Kitzhaber's been a big booster for the intensely contentious Columbia River Crossing highway project and two sweetheart tax deals for Nike and Intel. DENIS C. THERIAULT

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THE CITIZEN PANEL in charge of hearing Portland police misconduct appeals ruled against the police bureau in a domestic violence case last Wednesday, December 4—urging commanders to punish a cop accused of menacing his ex-wife and her husband at their home last year. The Citizen Review Committee, voting 5-0, said accusations that controversial cop Jason Lobaugh violated the bureau's professional conduct policy should have been ruled "sustained" instead of merely "unproven." Lobaugh has a long history of tort claims and use-of-force complaints. He admitted he angrily confronted his ex-wife three times in a six-day span in 2012, part of a custody dispute—at one point calling the woman's new husband a "little bitch." If Police Chief Mike Reese refuses to reconsider discipline, the case could go before the Portland City Council. DCT

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PORTLAND'S PENSION FUND for cops and firefighters—which for years mistakenly paid some retirees too much—now faces allegations it's been screwing members out of a pay bump. Those claims came to light in a class-action lawsuit filed against the Fire and Police Disability and Retirement Fund last week. The suit, filed by two retirees on behalf of nearly 300 people, says the fund should have bumped up benefits for older workers—those who retired before 1990—way back in 2007. Those pensioners are part of a now-defunct benefits system that's supposed to pay out 60 percent of the current top salary for a firefighter. They say the city should have also raised their benefits when it gave firefighters a pay increase just for being certified to drive a fire truck—something required of all firefighters. The city says the raise amounted to a premium payment, and didn't apply to pensioners."The firefighters are entitled to be paid," says Greg Hartman, an attorney representing the group. DIRK VANDERHART

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PORTLAND'S EQUITY DIRECTOR is calling on the Portland Police Bureau to redouble its racial sensitivity efforts, after video emerged showing an officer using a racial slur aimed at African Americans during a confrontation with a group of men this fall. The video, first posted publicly on the Mercury's Blogtown on November 22, shows Officer Michael Hall clearly uttering the word—although it doesn't make clear if he said it first or was parroting the word back. Hall nonetheless is the subject of an investigation, launched only after the Mercury sent bureau officials a copy of the video. The bureau's policy on "courtesy" does not allow cops even to repeat the word while on the street. "People will argue that it is a double standard because some black people use the word," says Dante James, director of the Office of Equity and Human Rights. "This is not an argument about who gets to use the word. This is an opportunity for [the police bureau] to remind its staff that ANY pejorative of this type is unacceptable." DCT