Opinion
To make it on the streets, I had to look like you: not homeless
There are people walking around downtown Portland every day who presently are or once were homeless. You would never know based on their appearance. I am one of those people. This series is a first-hand account of the struggles and successes of overcoming trauma, mental illness, addiction, homelessness and more. An investigation by The Oregonian…
Big money prevents real progress on rent stabilization
The new Democratic super-majority in the Oregon Legislature raised hopes for real progress on urgent issues, including affordable housing, climate change, an abysmal lack of support for families, and finding a progressive way to fund our declining schools. But our weak campaign finance laws let corporations get away with spending more money to block the…
How Roma is inspiring fairer treatment of domestic workers in Mexico
Mexico City, 1970. Cleo’s alarm sounds very early in the morning. She gets up and climbs down the stairs from her rooftop room in the upper-middle-class house where she lives and works. Everyone else in the house is still sleeping. Cleo gently wakes up the kids, serves the family breakfast and takes the youngest child…
A changing of the guard at Street Roots
Outside, the afternoon wind was gusting hard, branches rattling on Northwest Second Avenue. Few people were visible from their bundles of blankets. When I stopped to talk to several Street Roots vendors who stood at our doorway, preparing to go to their sales posts, they each mentioned someone faring worse than them. Inside, it was…
Culture
The art of identity: Tattoos, movement, prose at Gallery 114
David Slader and Owen Carey don’t have a spot of ink between them, but tattoos are the central theme of their co-exhibition at Gallery 114 in the Pearl District later this month, beginning on First Thursday. The idea for the show emerged after a gallery visitor told Slader the figures in his abstract patchwork portraiture…
Before Charley Crockett sang the blues, he lived them
Gettin’ paid to practice, now that ain’t bad. That thought ran through Charley Crockett’s mind the first time he strummed a guitar and somebody tossed a few coins his way. The Texas songwriter vaguely remembers the moment, sitting alone in a park just to sharpen his chops. “I didn’t think to try and play it…
How Roma is inspiring fairer treatment of domestic workers in Mexico
Mexico City, 1970. Cleo’s alarm sounds very early in the morning. She gets up and climbs down the stairs from her rooftop room in the upper-middle-class house where she lives and works. Everyone else in the house is still sleeping. Cleo gently wakes up the kids, serves the family breakfast and takes the youngest child…
Housing
Big money prevents real progress on rent stabilization
The new Democratic super-majority in the Oregon Legislature raised hopes for real progress on urgent issues, including affordable housing, climate change, an abysmal lack of support for families, and finding a progressive way to fund our declining schools. But our weak campaign finance laws let corporations get away with spending more money to block the…
Multnomah County, CareOregon step in with funding for Lincoln Hotel evictees
The Joint Office of Homeless Services announced today that Multnomah County and CareOregon are kicking in a combined $100,000 to pay for a year’s worth of rent assistance, case management, and housing placement services for the Lincoln Hotel’s 31 residents, who face eviction from their long-time home next month. The residents, many of whom are…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile: Working for a living
James McCord was born in Harrisburg, Pa., and raised in Hawaii. He remembers traveling there when he was 3, right after Hawaii became a state in 1959. “Back then, there were prop planes,” he said. “It took a long time to get there.” Surfing, diving and golf became his passions. After high school, he became…
News
How Roma is inspiring fairer treatment of domestic workers in Mexico
Mexico City, 1970. Cleo’s alarm sounds very early in the morning. She gets up and climbs down the stairs from her rooftop room in the upper-middle-class house where she lives and works. Everyone else in the house is still sleeping. Cleo gently wakes up the kids, serves the family breakfast and takes the youngest child…
