Past Issues :: 2007 May 1 :: Contents
Cover Story
Una VOZ
Day laborers in inner Southeast are experiencing pressure from police and business owners to move out of the inner eastside without many alternatives. VOZ (which means voice in Spanish), the worker’s rights education project, and day laborers are working to create face-to-face dialogues. We got the chance to set down with VOZ director Romeo Sosa to talk about what’s happening with day laborers in Portland.
Act Now
Tell your lawmaker to reel in payday loan sharks
Fifty-one million dollars — that's how much money payday lenders collected in 2005 through their predatory fees of Oregon families desperate for cash.
Editorial
Loyalty gives way to the reality of workers
Horoscope
Astro logic
Street Poetry
Poems
Columns
Director’s Desk
Street Roots, along with the North American Street Newspaper Association, is featured in the Utne Reader this month. The article is a great look at the growing movement of street papers in North America and around the globe.
Paul Boden
Locals always lose in HUD’s three-card monte game
For the latest example of politics trumping progress, we bring you this year’s McKinney allocations from the federal government to local communities.
Memoirs of a Vietnam Vet
One step forward, two steps back in this crazy VA dance
I would like at this time to give you, my valued readers and Street Roots supporters, an update on what has been happening with my disability pension claim.
Zeke Martin
Broadcasters serving a starvation diet for local voters
It is often said that democracy is not a spectator sport. Yet, for participation to be possible, citizens must have access to at least a minimum amount of relevant election information. The ability of citizens to make informed decisions is essential to a healthy democracy.
Street Culture
In memoriam
Recently I met Calvin, an activist since the anti-war resistance of Vietnam. He told me about folks he knew who served and who refused to serve. It brought back flashbacks of my son who was on the same path for many years.
Ghosts in the Flophouse, Conclusion
Whether he was drunk or not I can't say for sure, but he had a fire in his eyes that was hard to ignore. He knew of the motherless child, he loved her. She haunted his days and nights as much as did his memories of past wars.
The gunsmith from New Sharon, Maine
The memories were like monsters beneath the surface, occasionally leaving subtle swirls to indicate they were there but otherwise invisible until the booze or whatever brought them to the surface and they showed what really owned the lake. What the war had really won for American patriotism.
News
Access center delays changes to homeless proposal
Difficulty in creating a day access center for the homeless has led business leaders and the mayor to throw more money into the effort, while those coordinating the project are considering a modified version of services with a new version of the law.
Pangaea Project targets a change for homelessness
Elizabeth Bogue, 18, is keenly aware of the homeless situation in downtown Portland. She sees the people sleeping in doorways and in the parks. She doesn’t like the way they are treated, and she’s preparing herself to do something about it.
Viewpoint
Open letter on improving police oversight
At its April 11 meeting, the City Council postponed a vote to fund four non-sworn positions of “Internal Affairs Investigators” for the Police Bureau. Apparently, the idea is to move four sworn Sergeants out on the streets from the Internal Affairs Division (IAD) and hire four “civilian” investigators to take their place.
Civic Action Group delivers outside voice
Sharing power is what a democracy is supposed to be about, but most people have no idea how to be involved with the democratic process.
The future of City Hall
Street Roots couldn’t help but weigh in on the City of Portland’s ballot measures. While the measures aren’t exactly sexy, we hold the future of Portland in our votes. If by chance you are not voting in this year’s election — wait, that’s just not going to happen, right?
