Opinion
Street Roots Ballot Measure Endorsements
Measure 86 would create funds for Oregonians pursuing post-secondary educations. It would also allow the state to borrow money for a scholarship fund for Oregonians pursuing college or career training. This measure is an essential step in maintaining a healthy society that believes in giving its own citizens the skills they need to thrive in…
Community development’s golden rule: Come together
Oregon has a history of ingenuity and innovation. We have worked hard to come together and build communities and public systems — roads, schools, cities and towns — that sustain us. Yet, that central lesson of coming together is often forgotten. Let’s remember it. It may be the only way we can get out of…
Answering the big question: Why I’m here
When the dust settles following any significant change in my life — a new job, a new home, a birth, a death — my mind starts asking me questions. I blame my father for this. They are mostly his questions. My mind sometimes even poses them with his slight Korean accent. “How did you get…
News
Charles McGee III: ‘Every single day inspires me to do the work that I do.’
Charles McGee III and I sit outside a coffee shop one late afternoon, but we are far from alone. We are interrupted multiple times by passersby who know him and can’t help but say hello. He greets each one like an old friend. “And how’s your mother doing?” he asks in conversation with a woman,…
Empowering minds: Black Parent Initiative confronts the challenges facing black youths and their families
It’s warm on this summer day in the Southeast Portland art gallery, but local artist Robert Collins stands unfazed — decked out in a slate blue three-piece suit complete with matching fedora. The sun streams through two walls of windows and lands on the opposite side where Robert’s paintings hang. Robert greets the well-wishers streaming…
For the Record: Oct 10-23, 2014
-Number of sites in Oregon approved as petroleum-contaminated soil landfills: 16 -Number of contaminants found in fish eaten by tribal members in the Columbia River watershed: 92 -Number of dams in Oregon: 26 -Number of Multnomah County dams classified as a “high hazard,” meaning dam failure would likely result in loss of life: 6 -Depth…
Family values: Portland filmmaker Beth Harrington on her project documenting June Carter and Johnny Cash
Portland is such a musical town. It makes sense that the first time I met Beth Harrington, it was at a women’s music night at a mutual friend’s home. I remember she wanted to play “Dancing Barefoot” by Patti Smith. Immediately, I was smitten. It wasn’t until much later that I would realize Beth Harrington…
Where pot is concerned, legal or not, poverty’s a player
This fall, Oregon voters could make the state the third in the country to legalize marijuana for recreational use. However, what that might mean for Oregonians depends on where they fall on the economic spectrum. If Oregon voters approve Measure 91, which would legalize and regulate pot, people who live in federally subsidized housing —…
Legalize, regulate pot, says state addiction expert
Richard Harris spent much of his working life with people addicted to various substances, and he knows about drugs and what they can do to people. So when Harris came out in support of Measure 91, which would legalize recreational marijuana use if approved by voters in November, heads turned. After spending years working for…
Vendor Profiles
Living and learning — a day in a life in Portland
After being in and out of homelessness since age 26, Justin Harris finally had some steady housing in Portland through Transition Projects. But when his brother Bryan left their hometown in the Yakima Valley to join him, he moved back to the streets. “I would’ve been staying inside and my brother would’ve been on the…
