"Welches" con man update (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on August 2, 2007 11:06 AM. The previous post in this blog was Reader poll: Will Merkley and Novick reach the finish line together?. The next post in this blog is An audience with the Chimp. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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« Reader poll: Will Merkley and Novick reach the finish line together? | Main | An audience with the Chimp »

Thursday, August 2, 2007

"Welches" con man update

Margie Boulé of the O adds some details about the slick, sick "flooring contractor" who will hit you up on the street for car fare. He was in North Portland last weekend. Don't be a victim!

Posted at 11:06 AM | Permalink

Comments (14)

Too bad Margie didn't note that Portland DOES have a good alternative to giving cash or doing nothing: Sisters of the Road.

Sisters is a lunch cafe where homeless and down-and-outs can work in exchange for meal credits at a real, licensed restaurant, and it offers access to services and support to help these people get their lives together.

You can buy meal coupons for a meal at Sisters (they're cheap) and give them out when someone like David approaches you for a handout.

They need support and volunteer help always, and they also need publicity. Of course they don't buy paid ads in the O very often, so maybe that's why Margie doesn't deign to notice them. But a blog like this should definitely help get the word out. Sisters is literally a lifesaver for many.

Posted by George Seldes | August 2, 2007 11:23 AM

Dang, you can even buy the meal coupons ($2) on line!

https://payments.auctionpay.com/ver3/?id=w004955

Posted by George Seldes | August 2, 2007 11:25 AM

I bought some of those coupons. Whenever I gave one to someone asking for cash, they looked at me as if I had put excrement in their hand.

Posted by Bark Munster | August 2, 2007 11:31 AM

I bought some of those coupons. Whenever I gave one to someone asking for cash, they looked at me as if I had put excrement in their hand.

Thats because that coupon wont buy booze, cigs, or meth...

Posted by Jon | August 2, 2007 1:00 PM

Saw your story in the "O". Thanks for the info and the picture of the scammer.

Regards

Posted by Paulette | August 2, 2007 1:04 PM

Sisters has some tips on their page for using the meal coupons; I would be inclined to trust their advice.

And, as the commenter above noted, if someone turns up their nose at a good meal at a restaurant that serves good food, they weren't going to do anything good with your money anyway.

Posted by George Seldes | August 2, 2007 4:12 PM

This guy is on Mississippi as of 5:30pm tonight. I was on a bike at the time and he didn't have anyone cornered, but I can't imagine he was up to any good.

Posted by Michelle | August 2, 2007 5:41 PM

I thought the coupons were a good idea, but was surprised at the negative reactions from prospective recipients. Just plain no seemed to more acceptable to some. Even if it is taken and throw it away, Sisters of the Road gets the money.

Posted by Bark Munster | August 2, 2007 7:08 PM

Sisters was one of our charities on Buck-a-Hit Day last December. They're real, and good.

Posted by Jack Bog | August 2, 2007 7:39 PM

Potter is considering providing street drugs for all of Portland's needy. He's provided about everything else they need to subsist.

Posted by Lee | August 2, 2007 10:29 PM

Nice follow up.

Posted by Kelly | August 2, 2007 10:41 PM

Ya know the food at Sisters of the road is really good for the price.

Posted by Lc Scott | August 3, 2007 12:40 AM

That and any panhandler asking for money for food is a lier. For anyone to starve in Porkland the would have to be bound, blindfolded, gagged and tossed into a dumpster yet after all that some one is likely to toss some food on you.

Posted by Lc Scott | August 3, 2007 12:55 AM

Speaking of long time street scam artists:
Has any seen the guy who asks for money for diapers for his mother? He apparently
worked in SE Portland for some time and was reported in the Tribune a few years
ago.

Posted by tom | August 6, 2007 4:39 PM

In Vino Veritas

Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007

The Occasional Book

Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269