The City of Roses, as natives of Portland, Oregon like to call it, has a long history of crime and corruption, starting as far back as the post-Civil War frontier days, and then leading into the mobster-infused decades of the twentieth century when prohibition, prostitution, gambling, and hard drugs besieged the town. The so-called "Great Portland Vice Scandal of 1956-57" spilled into national politics, with hearings before the Senate Rackets Committee. When the '70s rolled around, members of the police's narcotics squad were caught red-handed wearing expensive leather jackets and driving brand new motorcycles to work. This Northwest city, known best today for its punk rock and hipster comedies like Portlandia, was once overrun with corruption and foul play. Author Phil Stanford ( Portland Confidential and White House Call Girl ) was a well-known personality when we wrote a column for Portland's daily newspaper The Oregonian in the 1980s and '90s. Now he's back to haunt the scene of the crime to remind its citizens of the town's criminal history, and what a sordid scene it was.