News
Our sinking suburbs
If you want to know what homelessness looks like in the 21st century, you have to look beyond the familiar hoods and urban alleys. You have to head out to the ‘burbs. Nationwide, there’s been a tipping point: The suburbs are now home to more people experiencing poverty than our nation’s cities, with the population…
Bearing Witness: War correspondent Marie Colvin
It’s a very chaotic room. But the baby’s death was just heartbreaking, possibly because he was so quiet… the doctor said there’s nothing we can do. We just watched this little boy, his little tummy heaving and heaving as he tried to breathe. It was horrific. My heart broke.” These were some of Marie Colvin’s…
One man’s trash …
An old oil can has been transformed into a cello, a fork rescued from rubbish supports strings on a violin and spoon handles act as keys on a saxophone. This is not a description of a fantasy world or a tale from a children’s story. These are instruments played for real by the Recycled Instruments…
This is black Portland
As Portland continues to shine in the national arts and culture spotlight, it drags along with it the tired portrait of who is or is not the “typical Portlander.” Photographer Intisar Abioto breaks up this static representation with her blog and photo project The Black Portlanders (theblackportlanders.com) on which she showcases her portraits of the…
Right 2 Dream Too eyes options in Old Town
Right 2 Dream Too, the homeless way station at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Burnside, will square off with city attorneys next week for perhaps the final round in their 20-month standoff. On July 11, a motion to dismiss by the city will be considered in circuit court, and if granted, could signal another…
Saltzman promises a “fresh set of eyes” at housing bureau
Portland Mayor Charlie Hales shocked City Hall watchers when he announced his bureau assignments in early June. With few exceptions, each commissioner walked away with a new portfolio of responsibilities. It shuffled the balance of power in City Hall, and gives each commissioner a lot to learn. City Commissioner Dan Saltzman takes over the Portland…
Local Voices: Suburban poverty
“We are seeing more and more calls coming to City Hall. Our staff get three to five phone calls a week from people seeking help of various kinds. Prior to the recession we did not get any calls like that. One person called and said she lost her job three years ago after working for…
Opinion
Sometimes, finding a good friend in the rain is just Ducky
I had been in Portland for about a month looking for a place to sell my Street Roots. I was on the MAX when I noticed Trader Joe’s in the Hollywood District. I decided to try my luck. Standing in front of Trader Joe’s, my sales were going great. Then one of the workers from…
Paying it forward still an inspiring way to live
Feeling overwhelmed by my busy week at Street Roots, I was reminded last week by vendor John Michael of a simple message — that all anyone really needs is to know that they’re loved. I stopped in my tracks. He smiled at me and gave me a hug. We each shared a story with one…
Heavy lifting still needed to solve City’s budget problems
On March 6, KATU conducted a poll of Portlanders, asking their views on various options to help close the City’s deficit. The poll found that 85 percent were opposed to closing “the Clark Center, a 90-bed homeless shelter.” The idea of closing the Clark Center drew the opposition of more Portlanders than any other cut…
Sometimes happiness comes from accepting the roll of the dice
I don’t believe in soul mates. At least, not in theory: I think of my life, my reality, as the one that won out among many possible realities that could be entirely different if I’d made one infinitely small decision elsewhere. As it happens, I decided to work on a creative nonfiction essay about Raymond…
Street Biography: Sheri Hobbs
Sheri began living on the streets when she was 12. She was running away from an unsafe home where addiction led to abuse. The streets were a safer place to be. In the streets she was taken in by other houseless people who made a home for her and protected her. “My street family believed…
We need to update our perceptions about poverty
Time was that moving out of the city and into the suburbs was a mark of success, a move solidifying a family’s foothold in the middle class and a future of upward mobility. In the 1960s and 70s, the federal government encouraged suburban living, investing in incentives for homebuyers to fill row upon row of…
Vendor Profiles
Vendor Profile: Rain or shine, George Ellars is on duty
Every day of every week, George Ellars wakes up, gets dressed, and goes out to sell Street Roots outside the Burnside door of Powell’s. He holds issues of the paper in a plastic case around his neck and, if it’s not raining, he’ll hold a copy in his hand to make buying it even easier,…
Poetry & Art
Horoscopes: June 21-July 4, 2013
Gemini (May 21-June 20) Big Brother PRISM is watching you. Re-read Orwell’s “1984” and freak out. Embrace the dystopian future! Cancer (June 21-July 22) OK, so we can’t trust the government with our personal information. Not exactly a forehead smacker that one. But you have to trust someone, especially about that thing with the hoodag…
