Morning Press: Bishop sentencing delayed; waterfront setting sail; psychedelic exhibit

Can we expect more rain this week or will the sun break through? Check our local weather coverage.

In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories from the weekend:

Bishop gets short reprieve; federal judge delays sentencing until Monday

SAN DIEGO — Former Living Hope Church pastor John Bishop sat shocked at the defendant’s table as a judge late Friday afternoon ordered that his bail bond be revoked in his drug smuggling case and he be taken into federal custody. After spending the weekend in jail, he is now to learn his fate Monday morning.

Bishop stood and turned to embrace his estranged wife, Michelle, giving her a quick kiss and whispering in her ear. As he was escorted out of the courtroom, he said “I love you.”

Heavyset, with short gray hair, the 55-year-old former Vancouver pastor showed up on schedule Friday morning at a San Diego federal courthouse to hear his sentence, after attempting to smuggle nearly 300 pounds of marijuana into the United States from Mexico in December.

Read more in series: Fall From Grace

Bomb squad investigates suspicious bag in Esther Short Park

A portion of Esther Short Park was closed Friday afternoon as bomb squad officers investigated a suspicious package in the downtown park.

Police were called to the scene about 1 p.m. to investigate a report that a suspicious-looking person had placed a handbag next to a tree and walked away, according to a bulletin from the Vancouver Police Department.

“Officers located the bag next to a large tree on the east side of the park but could not locate the person who left it there,” the department said. “Several witnesses reported the man was wearing a mask and behaving strangely.”

The Waterfront Vancouver setting sail

Standing at the prow of the Grant Street Pier suspended above the Columbia River, Barry Cain took on an aura of a conductor facing the orchestra. Cain, the developer of The Waterfront Vancouver, relished the crescendo.

There, he says, that new building on the left is home to Twigs Bistro & Martini Bar. Next door, Maryhill Winery. Upstairs, Barlow’s Public House.

And there, the other building. That’s home to WildFin American Grill. Yes, the second floor is vacant. More on that later, he says. Stay tuned.

‘Portland Psychedelic’ exhibit a return to hippie heyday of ’60s

“The dream of the ’90s is alive in Portland,” the satirical TV show “Portlandia” proudly sings — that dream being to form a rock band and save the planet while letting your precious individualism hang out in all its eclectic glory. Cover yourself with artistic tatoos, go to clown school and clamber up on that double-decker bike — why not?

Maybe the dream of the ’90s is really the recycled dream of the psychedelic 1960s, when rock bands and revolution — both political and personal — became a way of life. And Portland, a West Coast way station between Seattle and San Francisco, not only drew bands like the Beatles (in 1965), the Doors (in 1968) and Led Zeppelin (in 1972) — it also grew its own grass-roots musical and counter-cultural scene.

After 40 years, Life Flight Network continues to expand, add members

If you’ve never seen a helicopter take off, it’s something to behold. No matter how many action movies you’ve watched, there’s a visceral thrill to seeing it in person: the high-pitched whine as the engine comes to life, the sharp stench of jet fuel, the sheer force of the wind kicked up by the rotor, ruining hairdos and making breathing impossible. And when the helicopter leaves the ground, it looks like a special effect.

For Jodi Franzman, that never loses its thrill.

“The first flight I went on, the adrenaline rush I got, that’s what did it,” she said. “I love it, and I still love it. I love coming to work, and I still get that excitement every time the rotor blades start spinning, and you smell that Jet A fuel, and you take off.”

Franzman is 10 years into her career as a flight paramedic for Life Flight Network, the largest not-for-profit air ambulance service in the country. In that time, Life Flight has grown from only a handful of locations in Oregon to 25 bases with 550 employees across the Pacific Northwest. Franzman normally flies out of the base at the Southwest Washington Regional Airport in Kelso, but on Sept. 6 she paid a visit to Aurora, Ore., the site of Life Flight’s headquarters at Aurora State Airport.