News
Timber’s fallen: The plight of immigrant forestry workers
This is Part I of a three-part series on the working conditions and treatment of immigrant forestry workers. Any Oregonian who watches network television is probably familiar with periodic campaigns of state-sponsored ads boasting “strong laws” in Oregon that require replanting after logging and other healthy-forest management practices. These ads are paid for by taxes collected from…
Willamette University’s daily food waste weighs in at 219 pounds
On Oct. 14, Willamette University’s Food Recovery Network collected the food discarded from students’ plates and weighed the results: 219 pounds of food wasted. It was one of several similar events the network conducts at the university to demonstrate how much food is thrown in the trash. The Willamette University chapter is part of the…
Jonathan Bloom wants us to rethink food waste
It’s at the intersection of squandered natural resources, wasted money, worsening climate change and persistent social injustice, and it’s sitting in your refrigerator (probably at the back). It’s food waste, and the United State has a lot of it. To me, it’s absolutely ludicrous to have 40 percent of our food supply being wasted while…
Multnomah County installs needle disposal bins
Responding to what it called a significant increase in heroin and other injection drug use, the Multnomah County Health Department has installed two large sharps containers along Portland’s Eastbank to encourage the proper disposal of used syringes. The containers – located under Burnside Bridge and on the Eastbank Esplanade near Salmon Street – are part…
Portland homeless family shelter offers a refuge in the storm
Three weeks ago, Jake P.; his wife, Christina; and their 8-month-old child became homeless. One month ago, B.J. Coney, 39, chose to become homeless rather than continue to live with her husband, who she said verbally and physically abused their four children. In mid-November, Jerri Menard, 44, and her 12-year-old daughter, Raven, became homeless after being…
Opinion
A whole-system perspective on why justice matters
Long before coming to Oregon, I watched with fascination the evolution of what eventually became Partnership for Safety and Justice. I remember thinking, “What a brilliant name! Finally, a policy reform organization labeled to reflect both what it stands for and what it does” – or something like that. Ten years later, writing this now…
Street Roots Editorial: Lawmakers have a chance to make progress on housing
Talk of addressing the region’s housing crisis has taken the form of several bills heading through the Oregon State Legislature this short session. Among them are several that raise the issue of inclusionary zoning, each promising various intentions and outcomes. Other efforts center on giving renters more time when hit by no-cause evictions or rent…
