MURMURS

Portland's Gossip Rototiller

. Congressman Earl Blumenauer is investigating reports that PDX nemesis
Attorney General John Ashcroft tried to block the Oregon Medical Cannabis
Awards banquet. The banquet, hosted by the state chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, had been--and still
tentatively is--slated for Nov. 22 at the Lloyd Center DoubleTree. But on
Saturday the organizers called speakers telling them the hotel might back
out. A hotel representative and NORML organizer Madeline Martinez would not
discuss what the problem was, but Martinez says things appear back on
track. Citing unconfirmed reports that the feds threatened the hotel with
criminal charges, Kathie Eastman of Blumenauer's office says, "We're
looking into it."