News
Buffy Sainte-Marie is still doing it her way
With the release of her debut album, “It’s My Way!,” in 1964, Buffy Sainte-Marie was named Billboard Magazine’s best new artist. It was the same year the United States was “invaded” by the Beatles and was in the midst of the Vietnam War. Soon after, with political songs like “Universal Soldier,” “Now That the Buffalo’s…
Mary Katsilometes: A face for social justice
In Mary Katsilometes' small studio at the back of her house in Westmoreland, a wooden icon leans against the wall. It is unfinished, and I find Mary studying it, as she puzzles over a technical problem: In the story of the paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof for Jesus Christ to heal him,…
Beating a different drum
"You have three months to live.” Jesse Sandoval knew his lifestyle would catch up with him eventually, but this soon? The doctor’s words hit him like a slap in the face. He was only 38. It was the culmination of a downward spiral that was sparked several years earlier when he was fired from the…
Past pot convictions get little relief under new statute
Gov. Kate Brown signed House Bill 3400 Tuesday, adding a long list of new provisions and amendments to ballot Measure 91. However, missing from this extensive, 111-page document, or any other bill that’s been signed into law to date, is a provision to reduce the sentences or exonerate of people currently incarcerated in Oregon prisons…
Farewell, Randy-boy
Many of you probably have seen me and my dog the past two years selling Street Roots at Whole Foods and Powell’s Bookstore. I am saddened to tell you Randy was laid to rest June 17 due to health issues. Randy loved to go to work because usually someone would give him a treat. I lost…
Opinion
City of Portland’s Climate Action Plan avoids region’s biggest climate issue
Last week, Portland City Council approved an update to the Climate Action Plan. As a candidate for City Council, I would like to weigh in with some ideas for how we can achieve a sustainable and equitable community. For context, I have worked closely with grassroots organizers to oppose the Pembina propane export terminal and…
Solution to the housing crisis starts with us
There’s a lot of reason to celebrate this Independence Day. July Fourth is a time to look back on the founding of the United States and the documents that shape and control our democracy. We saw the system at its best during the last days of June: the Supreme Court ruled to uphold recent gains…
Incentive for developers would spur affordable housing
This spring, the Portland Housing Bureau published the 2015 State of Housing in Portland Report, our first comprehensive look at the current state of Portland’s housing market. Quite frankly, it paints a stark picture for many of our fellow Portlanders trying to buy or rent housing in our city. Portions of our city that were considered…
Director’s Desk: Street papers worldwide unite around common mission
Did you know that Street Roots is part of a growing global movement? The International Network of Street Papers (INSP), based in Scotland, supports more than 115 street newspapers in 35 countries in 24 languages. Our collective grassroots network is giving more than 12,000 vendors at any single time a hand up through the sales…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile: Brian Castor
Brian Castor is houseless and a model neighbor. “I keep my roll military-tight, so everything is straight and even. Both me and my girl have OCD,” Brian says. “So everything is clean. We make sure we’re washed. We make sure our stuff’s washed and everything is neat, organized, put away. We keep a garbage bag;…
