Opinion
Tax reform: What to fight for — and against
Game On! The first thing to understand is “we” are already behind. The tax reform “game” in Oregon is already late in the third quarter and our team bus has yet to arrive at the stadium. Not only have right-wing, anti-tax groups been at this game 24-7 for over thirty years, Governor Kitzhaber, who decided…
A snowstorm, a tent city and Portland Police Chief Mike Reese
What a week on the homeless front. A partnership between some of the most powerful interests in the city and a group of homeless activist, a snowstorm and the Portland police chief announcing a plan to address homelessness downtown. Wow. I haven’t even mentioned that there’s a plan in the works to potentially move a…
Make a big impact on the world, grassroots on up
People often ask me, what motivated you to get into this line of work and to be engaged with politics. There’s a lot of different ways I could answer that question. Growing up in rural-industrial America, my first relationship to anything even remotely political was being a pot advocate. In my late teens, I was…
Improvements welcome, but new water bureaucracy is not
Portland’s water and sewer bureaus have an interesting year ahead of them. Alleged illegal use of ratepayer funds, controversial expenses on projects seemingly beyond the scope of the bureau’s mission, along with questionable public recourse on rate decisions, have residents crying foul of the current system that charges one of the highest combined sewer and…
Embracing the social work profession, not the over professionalization
The goal of social work is to work yourself out of a job. A simple statement that I heard in my first social work class at Temple University from one of the leading anti-poverty advocates in the country. It is a statement that resonates with me and focuses my work. I spend the bulk of…
Is there new hope for Portland black’s economic future supported by the Portland Development Commission?
The controversy about the Portland Development Commission’s decision to sell property on the northwest corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and NE Alberta to an out of state developer opens up a ton of questions about the economic future of Portland’s black citizens. The developers intend to build a Trader Joe’s store on…
News
Food as a human right: how cuts to food stamps are hurting the next generation
Every few years, when Congress turns its watery eyes toward the nation’s subsidy-rich Farm Bill, it chomps hard on the bit that is food stamps. This year was no exception. Between the Democrat plans for $4 billion over 10 years, and the Republican goal of nearly $40 billion over the same period, a compromise —…
City Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade sits in the other corner office
LaVonne Griffin-Valade doesn’t mince her words. Nor would she. As a former elementary school teacher and aspiring fiction writer, she values the precision of perfect grammar. As the city’s auditor, she values the ability of a well-written, researched — and sometimes, snappy-sounding — report to change, in some way, how the city functions. As auditor,…
Animals in conflict
Caught in battles, animals are often displaced and, sadly, many get killed in crossfire. This series offers some startling photography, highlighting both the pain of war and how compassion can survive in the most horrific of circumstances. These photos were taken by some of the world’s most gifted and courageous photographers, providing an insight into…
For the Record: Jan 31-Feb 13, 2014
• Average income needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Multnomah County: $17,720 • Average annual Social Security payment for retired workers in Multnomah County: $12,861 • Number of hours per week a worker earning minimum wage must work to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Multnomah County: 71 • Meals served to homeless and at-risk…
Developers pitch buyout of R2DToo lot, and $850,000 toward rest stop’s future home
Pearl District developers want Right 2 Dream Too out of their neighborhood, so much so that they’re willing to pony up more than $846,000 toward the homeless groups future home. City Council will vote next week on whether to accept the money. Pearl Hotel Investors LLC, fronted by developers Homer Williams and Dike Dame, has…
A conversation with Benedict Cumberbatch — star of “Sherlock”
Sherlock lives! And judging by viewing figures in excess of 10 million and Twitter going wild to the tune of 260,000 tweets per hour during the episode “The Empty Hearse” on New Year’s Day, the return of Benedict Cumberbatch’s lanky sociopathic detective will remain a highlight of 2014. For the 37-year-old actor, it marks the…
Vendor Profiles
Downtown’s dynamic duo on the pitch
Ask any Street Roots vendor and you’ll learn there’s more to selling the paper than you may think. Take Sean Sheffield and Rebecca Moran, for example. The dynamic selling duo dominates the corner of Southwest Fifth Avenue and Morrison Street, and if frequenters of the area don’t recognize the two, they may remember hearing them.…
