Opinion
We all have a role in changing our environment | SR EDITORIAL
Maybe, finally, 2016 might be the year Portland creates real progress for the environment. The year has certainly presented a trifecta of environmental alarms, in soil, air and water, for the Portland metro area. First came the discovery of high levels of cadmium, chromium and lead coming from the glass manufacturers, poisoning the soil and…
Time to speak out on Willamette River cleanup | COMMENTARY
Threats to our health coming from the air and water have been exposed to the light of day. Agencies and leaders whose job it is to protect the community have been found to be lax in saying no to businesses who have treated our commons, the air and water, as their personal disposal system. The…
A sewer runs through it: The Willamette River in the 21st century
The Willamette waterfront is many things to many people – a place to sleep, a food source, a wildlife habitat, a place to swim and for others, a place to dump industrial waste. An Oregonian report from 1906 called the river a “common sewer for the entire valley,” and after a state official reported typhoid…
BTA ‘embracing a mission that’s bigger than the bike’ | COMMENTARY
Bicycle Transportation Alliance, a Portland based nonprofit organization, works to improve biking conditions throughout the metropolitan region. For the past 25 years, we have worked in partnership with citizens, businesses, community groups, government agencies and elected officials to create communities where people can meet their daily transportation needs on a bike. We’re excited to announce…
News
Local climate activists plan their response to oil train derailment
On the evening of June 6, more than a hundred climate activists met at the First Unitarian Church in downtown Portland to discuss their response to the oil train derailment in the Columbia River Gorge three days earlier, said 350PDX director Adriana Voss-Andreae. “The call for a temporary moratorium on oil trains is a call…
A conversation about public drug use
Portland, we have a public injection problem. Public parks, playgrounds and walkways frequented by drug users are littered with hazardous used syringes. People using intravenous drugs in public spaces are dying from easily reversible heroin overdoses. From 2011 to 2014, heroin contributed to a total of 284 deaths in Multnomah County, according to medical examiner…
The waters of friendship
Marili and Dave Reilly didn’t spend their winter vacation relaxing as they normally would. No, this year, they spent their winter vacation hauling cement blocks and buckets of water in the tiny rural town of Camoapa, Nicaragua. They were part of a seven-member group of retired people from St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church…
