News
For the record: December 5-December 19, 2013
According to the most recent census figures, the average unemployment rate for whites in Oregon: 8.7 percent The average unemployment rate for African Americans in Oregon: 18.4 percent Percentage of Oregonians over age 25 with a 4-year-college degree: 29 Number of winter shelters and emergency shelters in Portland and Multnomah County: 36 Additional beds in…
A good read
Do you think you know your own mind? Do you imagine yourself able to make decisions and interact with others in a fair and balanced manner, unfettered by personal bias? Think again. Authors Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald contend that almost all of us base our daily interactions on personal biases, many of which we…
Homeless campers sue ODOT over sweeps
The Oregon Law Center has taken up the case of a group of homeless people who say they have been wronged by the Oregon Department of Transportation when it cleared out their encampment in Southeast Portland. The suit maintains that the law requires ODOT to provide between 10 and 19 days notice before removing a…
Local laughs and Letterman’s couch: Matt Braunger
Though now a successful comedian, actor and writer living in Los Angeles, Matt Braunger hangs onto his Northeast Portland roots. He grew up here and his parents still live in the City of Roses. Braunger left Portland when he was 17, almost two decades ago. He’ll tell you that, corny as it sounds, life is…
The nature of politics: Bob Sallinger
The Audubon Society has long recognized that if you want to measure the quality of our environment on Earth, you have to cast your eyes to the skies. As a result, the Portland chapter of the organization has pioneered environmental conservation across land and water for more than a century in Oregon, despite challenges that…
Notable Quotables
“So, if we can reclaim the House in the election of 2014 and hold the Senate, then Harry Reid rolls back the filibuster, then we can get a lot done the last two years of the Obama presidency. That means we can’t sit around being the circular firing squad complaining about the things we don’t…
Social justice mavericks featured in new comics series
Know Your City, a Portland nonprofit that celebrates Portland’s history and culture, has created a new box set of mini-comics about local heroes. “Comics for Change! Illustrated Stories from Oregon’s Front Lines,” features stories of 10 men and women who challenge stereotypes to make Portland a leader in social justice. The organization is hosting a…
Vendor Profiles
Vendor: proudly ‘helping keep Portland weird’
If you’ve shopped at the Lloyd Center Safeway during the past few months, you’ve probably seen George Burdine selling Street Roots outside, lifting the spirits of passersby and shoppers. One of the first things one notices about George is his large spirit. Quick to jokes and laughter, George has made many friends, not only at…
Opinion
Signed team Blazer ball and killer tickets to support Street Roots
The Portland Trail Blazers along with the Willamette Week Give!Guide have teamed up to support Street Roots. Give today (12.17.2013), or tomorrow (12.18.2013) and have a chance to win a signed team Trail Blazer ball and two killer tickets. Game ball information: An NBA regulation basketball signed by all of the 2013-14 Portland Trail Blazers.…
The billionaire dollar question: Who should benefit most from the PDC?
In 1999, North and Northeast Portland was a low-income neighborhood surrounded by a food desert, and The Portland Development Commission (PDC) promised to do something about it. Fourteen years later, the PDC did — but many of the people who needed the support had already been involuntarily displaced by gentrification. The PDC spent $2 million…
Energy, nukes and geoengineering in the age of global warming
On Nov. 3, James Hansen signed an open letter addressed to environmental organizations urging them to demonstrate “real concern about risks from climate damage by calling for the development and deployment of advanced nuclear energy.” Like Hansen and some notable long-time environmentalists who have recently come out in support of nukes, I am desperate. I…
Susan Emmons one of the city’s seers
Thanks for the interview with Susan Emmons and for archiving online the important talk she gave at First Congregational Church. Better than anyone in Portland, Emmons tells the story of how this community contributed to the numbers of homeless people by destroying or repurposing the low-income rental inventory she remembers when she first took over…
