Environment
Saving the bees: Blumenauer aims to stop use of common pesticide linked to colony decline
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) announced plans to reintroduce the Save America’s Pollinators Act this morning during a press conference at Northeast Portland’s Sabin Elementary School, home of the tickle bees. This will be the fourth time he’s introduced this piece of legislation, which is aimed at saving the nation’s honey bee populations by suspending the…
She documented a Valve Turner and the grief that drove him to action
On Feb. 4, four people used bolt cutters and a cell phone to shut down two tar sands pipelines in Itasca County, Minnesota. In a signed statement released the same day, the group said it was compelled to act by the latest United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report showing that “the threat of…
News
Saving the bees: Blumenauer aims to stop use of common pesticide linked to colony decline
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) announced plans to reintroduce the Save America’s Pollinators Act this morning during a press conference at Northeast Portland’s Sabin Elementary School, home of the tickle bees. This will be the fourth time he’s introduced this piece of legislation, which is aimed at saving the nation’s honey bee populations by suspending the…
How technology is harming our ability to feel empathy
Empathy can be learned, and it can be lost. Every time a person chooses to communicate through text message, email or social media rather than face-to-face, many of the neurological keys to feeling empathy are missing from the exchange. “Little by little, this sort of shallow interaction chips away at our empathic capacities,” writes Dr.…
Life on the Streets: Surviving the cold
As soon as the Street Roots office door is unlocked at 7:30 a.m., vendors – the people who sell the newspaper – quickly duck in, seeking relief from a night of cold wind, snow and sleet. After a few minutes in the heated building, exhaustion sets in for many and it’s hard for them to…
Harmful pesticides found in common store-brand foods
Random samples of conventional store-brand foods purchased in 15 states, including Oregon, contained varying levels of three common but controversial pesticides, according to a report from Friends of the Earth. Rainier apples, dried pinto beans, applesauce, fresh spinach and toasted 0-shaped oat cereals were purchased at Costco, Walmart, Kroger (Fred Meyer) and Safeway-Albertsons stores. From…
Culture
Dolly Parton: A regular person, just doing my thing
“As a writer, I have to leave my heart open,” Dolly Parton begins. “That’s why I have always said I never could harden my heart, even against hurt or anything. Because as a writer, if you harden your heart, you’re not going to feel all that emotion you need to feel, and you won’t be…
She documented a Valve Turner and the grief that drove him to action
On Feb. 4, four people used bolt cutters and a cell phone to shut down two tar sands pipelines in Itasca County, Minnesota. In a signed statement released the same day, the group said it was compelled to act by the latest United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report showing that “the threat of…
Opinion
SR editorial: Joint Terrorism Task Force decision honors Portlanders’ rights
This week, for the second time, the city of Portland withdrew its partnership with the Joint Terrorism Task Force, an outcrop of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that dates back to the mid-1990s. This was not an easy decision, but it’s the right one, in these times, under the authoritarian tenor of this administration. Portland…
