Opinion
Street Books: What I learned from Ben
My friend Ben likes chess and bad puns, and he cooks a mean pot roast on Sundays. He is a seasoned Dumpster diver, and his scores include a taxidermied armadillo (whom he calls Armando), and an ancient Spanish-English dictionary. He has a funny, wry wit and keeps a neat apartment. The apartment is important to…
What we already know about domestic and sexual violence
If it didn’t involve famed NFL player Ray Rice, and if it wasn’t under the unblinking eye of today’s omnipresent elevator cameras, the incident of a man beating his fiancé to the point of unconsciousness would be just another case of horrific abuse. Just another case — like the tens of thousands reported each year…
Talking about the vision of Street Roots
What is the vision of Street Roots? At the heart of Street Roots and every street newspaper are the vendors selling the newspaper. Providing people the opportunity to earn a dignified income is at the heart of everything we do. People from all walks of life and backgrounds come to Street Roots in search of…
Down and out in Old Town/Chinatown
Looking up from 75 feet away I could see the three-day notice taped to my door. So on the ninth anniversary of nine eleven I’m eighty-sixed. Coincidence? You decide. The shock of the sudden transition: In Old Town with a few spare clothes and a couple blankets. One measure of how far gone I was…
News
Eddie Izzard on Radar, phone bugging, death rays and always those pesky Nazis!
It is the last day of filming on “Castles in the Sky.” We are in Eddie Izzard’s trailer, in a car park in Edinburgh. It is sparse, no home comforts here, with just an iPhone, a pair of headphones and a script on the table to hint that it is in use. “You’re from The…
Captain Morgan: navigating the Willamette’s unconventional society within a Superfund site
Each day Sean Morgan wakes up just as the light of morning creeps into view — a habit he picked up from years of working as a concrete finisher. He turns on his stove, boils water in a teakettle and then pours it into a French press with three scoops of grounds. He sips his…
Gandhi’s early years
The death of Karamchand Gandhi in 1885 would have momentous consequences. At the time, his son Mohandas was in his teens and already married. In the wake of his father’s death his mother Putlibai became the family’s matriarch. She must have been remarkable. Indian society was caste-ridden, and the roles of women were strictly determined.…
For the record: Sept 12-25, 2014
-2013 salary of Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian: $72,000 -2013 average salary of principal executive officials in the Bureau of Labor and Industries: $94,685 -Percent of Oregon wage and salary workers with union membership in 2012: 15.7 -Percent of Oregon wage and salary workers with union membership in 2013: 13.9 -Average percent of union membership…
Batter up! Friends of Baseball’s Nova Newcomer on supporting youths through America’s favorite pastime
Street Roots recently sat down with Nova Newcomer, a lover of baseball, and the first Executive Director with Friends of Baseball to talk baseball and community. Friends of Baseball, a nonprofit founded in 2005, works to not only promote the game of baseball and softball, they work to empower kids and adults of all ages…
Drawn to sex: Erika Moen lays it all out on the story board in the sex-positive world of comics
Erika Moen is a Portland based illustrator and cartoonist, who also happens to be really fascinated by sex. Moen and her husband of six years, Matt Nolan, began the wildly popular web comic, “Oh Joy Sex Toy” (OJST). Essentially the duo provide a comic formatted review of sex toys and sex positive topics. Moen, who…
Vendor Profiles
Vendor profile: A spiritual awakening
The first thing I notice about Betty Jo Griffiths is more than just her immediate smiling personality or her kindness. It’s the joyful calm of her spirit. So much so that I forget what questions I have planned to ask that day. Betty Jo’s youngest child had just moved out when she was laid off…
