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`Willamette Week' takes its muckraking seriously, to say nothing of literally
IF READERS OF THE ALTERNATIVE WILLAMETTE Week claimed the Portland, Ore., newspaper is publishing garbage, they wouldn't be far off. A recent reporting gambit, which had two journalists sifting the trash of local officials, has sparked a dispute over the legality, or at least the ethics, of a paper perusing city leaders' waste. Portland Mayor Vera Katz has even threatened legal action. "It's unscrupulous behavior, it's unethical," she told E&P.
The trash talk began in March when Portland police were investigating alleged drug use by Officer Gina Hoesly. During their investigation, officers found traces of illegal drugs in garbage outside Hoesly's house and used it as evidence...