Opinion
Fare is fair, but this level of penalty is foul
TriMet – our region’s flagship public transportation system – provides an esssential service in our community. In addition to its assets to the whole of Portland, it is even more so a lifeline for people who have no vehicle of their own; who work one or more jobs to stay afloat: People who have low…
Saving lives, money and resources, 10 percent at a time
In 2013, Oregon lawmakers changed our public safety course, putting us on track to create safer, healthier communities. The Justice Reinvestment Act (HB 3194) of 2013 averted our need to start building a new prison in Oregon, saving taxpayers an estimated $300 million over the next five years. The savings from averted prison growth are…
City should meet affordable housing goals in North Macadam URA
A proposal now in front of Portland’s City Council will have a dramatic impact on the nature of the community being created in the North Macadam district through the use of public funds. At issue is whether current city elected officials will fulfill commitments made in 1998 when a Comprehensive Plan was passed to insure…
News
TriMet Exclusions: One wrong step
This past July, at the Tigard Transit Center, Chris Tejero was arrested and slapped with two misdemeanor charges after he boarded TriMet’s WES Commuter Rail line without paying for a ticket. He was arrested despite the fact that the conductor gave him permission to board because the ticket kiosk wasn’t working properly. During trial, a…
Dylan Moran: Musings from the flip side of youth
I’d tell my 16-year-old self not to take everything so seriously. I’m stunned when I look back at how monumentally important I thought everything was. I was incredibly intense, ridiculously up myself. I was the lone horseman. It was all about me, and books and poetry. Not that those things aren’t important to me any…
It is a lot of people’s story
Megan Kruse came of age as a queer youth in quasi-rural Washington – outside of Tulalip to be exact. And like many youths, she gravitated toward Portland. Between college and grad school, Kruse moved here mainly for the queer community. She worked for three years in domestic violence intervention — an experience that she says…
Homeless phone-charging “thief” wanted security
There are common misdemeanor offenses and then there are the obscure. This past July, a homeless Portland woman was charged with third-degree theft when she plugged her cellphone charger into an outlet on a sidewalk planter box in Old Town. Cases in which people are charged with theft for plugging electronic devices into private outlets…
