THE SLATE of compelling candidates who might challenge Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler in the race for Portland's mayor is growing ever smaller. The latest name you can cross off the list? Multnomah County Chief Operating Officer Marissa Madrigal.

After weeks of speculation—and reports she was seriously considering running—Madrigal took to Facebook on November 9 to announce she's happy where she is.

"Running for mayor, or any office, isn't something one does alone," she wrote. "There is a cost to family that isn't calculated in dollars and cents."

Madrigal was one of the last local officials seriously discussed as a potential threat to Wheeler. She'd even been urged to consider running by Mayor Charlie Hales, who announced last month he won't run for re-election.

Another candidate might still emerge, but right now Wheeler looks like he'll waltz into office. DIRK VANDERHART


PORTLAND POLICE killed a man outside a Northwest Portland hospital last week, in what the state medical examiner's office has called a suicide by cop.

According to the Portland Police Bureau, officers were dispatched to Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center on NW 22nd on the morning of November 6 after reports of a man in the parking lot with a gun to his head.

Officers with the bureau's Crisis Negotiation Team attempted to calm the man, 51-year-old Michael Gregory Johnson, the bureau says, but he fired two shots toward the ground.

When Johnson fired a third shot in the direction of police, officers Russell Corno and Chad Daul shot him, according to the bureau.

It's the sixth officer-involved shooting in the city this year, and the third to result in a death.

As is the case with all police shootings, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office will review the incident and decide whether to file charges. DVH