Environment
Reducing waste and empowering people in poverty
It was while working with the homeless population in her hometown of Portland that Taylor Cass Talbott started the collaborative series of art exhibits and workshops called “Live Debris,” using trash art to highlight the value of waste and the people who survive from its recovery. The exhibits explore “art committed to understanding the confluence…
News
Reducing waste and empowering people in poverty
It was while working with the homeless population in her hometown of Portland that Taylor Cass Talbott started the collaborative series of art exhibits and workshops called “Live Debris,” using trash art to highlight the value of waste and the people who survive from its recovery. The exhibits explore “art committed to understanding the confluence…
Shining brightest in the dark: A concert in Portland’s Shanghai Tunnels
The present is reaching back to heal the past deep in the subterranean passageways beneath Portland’s Old Town. Across from the Street Roots office on Davis Street is one entrance to the Shanghai Tunnels. Regular tours lead visitors down dank passageways past barred cells, opium dens with bunk beds and discarded boots, allegedly from the…
Remembering Andy Howard: ‘His greatest super power was his optimism’
How do I write something that captures the essence of my dad? How do I find words to describe his depth, his character, his soul? There are no words to describe how my dad made people feel. He was an angel on this Earth who did God’s work in miraculous ways. My dad was funny.…
Oregon Legislature to revisit mortgage subsidy reform
State Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer (D-Portland) said she will revisit Oregon’s largest and most popular housing subsidy in the 2019 legislative session. The problem is that the much-debated mortgage interest deduction favors wealthier homeowners, while the poorest state residents struggle to keep a roof over their heads. That’s not how housing dollars should work, said Keny-Guyer,…
Remembering David Testawich: Farewell, my friend
The memorial outside Trader Joe’s on Glisan Street for David Testawich, a Street Roots vendor who died earlier in the week. I had known Dave over 15 years, and it truly saddens me knowing he is no longer with us. I miss being able to take him coffee and visit at Trader Joe’s. I never…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile: ‘Working as fast and as hard as I can’
When Kitty Hernandez sits down at Street Roots, she is tired and her back hurts, but she is beaming with good news. “I’ve been holding down two full-time jobs, plus selling Street Roots and saving up money, money, money to get an apartment for me and my kids,” she said. Kitty works two jobs at…
Culture
Shining brightest in the dark: A concert in Portland’s Shanghai Tunnels
The present is reaching back to heal the past deep in the subterranean passageways beneath Portland’s Old Town. Across from the Street Roots office on Davis Street is one entrance to the Shanghai Tunnels. Regular tours lead visitors down dank passageways past barred cells, opium dens with bunk beds and discarded boots, allegedly from the…
Housing
No, Portland’s not sending all its homeless people to small Oregon towns
It’s a story Street Roots reporters heard again and again as they traveled to small towns around Oregon: “Portland is sending all its homeless people here on buses.” The rumors began when the city of Portland launched its Ticket Home pilot project, then-called Homeward Bound, two years ago. At the time, The Washington Post ran…
Oregon Legislature to revisit mortgage subsidy reform
State Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer (D-Portland) said she will revisit Oregon’s largest and most popular housing subsidy in the 2019 legislative session. The problem is that the much-debated mortgage interest deduction favors wealthier homeowners, while the poorest state residents struggle to keep a roof over their heads. That’s not how housing dollars should work, said Keny-Guyer,…
Opinion
SR editorial: We won’t give up on truth and free speech
Remember when the phrase “alternative facts” was laughably absurd? It was the term coined by a White House spokesperson a few days after the Trump administration took office – way back when lying about the size of the inauguration audience was the most pressing item on the agenda. Today, the assault by the president against the…
