Opinion
The politics of shattered jaws
I didn’t plan on making Victoria my home; it just kind of happened. I was going to move to a bigger city once I was done school, but I love the Island too much. The sea is always close here, and I can walk everywhere. Political candidates fight over who’s more “green.” Whenever a bus…
Tusko the elephant’s 1931 Christmas crusade
In December 1931, a most curious guest was in our Portland environs. A really big, 7-ton guest. His name was Tusko, and he gave himself a memorable Christmas present. Billed as “Biggest Beast That Walks the Earth,” Tusko was an Asian elephant that had toured the nation with circuses and developed a really bad reputation.…
Director’s Desk: Portland’s housing crisis, today and tomorrow
People ask Street Roots why we aren’t covering more of the housing crisis in the newspaper. It’s a simple answer for a complex problem: We pride ourselves on publishing original content. Every media outlet in town is covering the issue. Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Portland Mercury, the Portland Tribune, Willamette Week and The Oregonian —…
News
American Legion writing program is therapy for Portland-area veteran
Army Spc. Kevin Pannell grew up in Dierks, Ark., a town where a lot of people have never travelled more than 100 miles from home. They are good people, Pannell said – very strong, with hard opinions about things with which they have no experience. But Pannell always felt he was different, and joining the…
Photo gallery: Family Preservation Project participants reunited for the holidays
Click or tap the image for a gallery of photos by Joe Glode. In celebration of the holiday season, participants with the Family Preservation Project enjoyed a performance of The Nutcracker on Dec. 20, courtesy of the Oregon Ballet Theater. It was a special reunion for FPP members, all of whom are mothers who served…
Notable and quotable: Our favorites from 2015
Pope Francis in an interview with the International Network of Street Papers: “Jesus came into our world without a home, and he chose poverty. The church seeks to embrace us all and says that it is a right to have a roof over your head.” Words of wisdom – and then some – from our…
North Portland neighbors test a new economic model
Perry Gruber is taking a free-market approach to eliminating the market entirely. Just as the cassette tape edged out the 8-track in the early 1980s, he said his software-based system for exchanging goods and services, called Copiosis, will eventually send capitalism the way of the VCR. Like any other new technology that replaces the status…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile: Steven Pease is home for the holidays
Steven Pease will be home for the holidays. This week, he got keys to a shared apartment in Gresham Heights. “It’s a ways out, but other than that it gets me away from downtown. Nice, quiet, peaceful. I love it.” Just a few months ago, Steven was sleeping in a Transition Projects shelter and working…
Poetry & Art
‘Twas the Protest Before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the jailNot an inmate was stirring, 'cept those who made bailPhone calls were made to the girlfriends with care,In hopes commissary money soon would be there;The children were nestled all snug in Juvie hall;Including that one kid stuck in there since fall;And the sheriff in his armor, and…
