Opinion
Professional athletes are opening up about their mental health
The great basketball writer Jackie MacMullan recently stood at the front of a hotel ballroom in Tampa, taking questions after collecting a career achievement award from the Association for Women in Sports Media. I was in the audience that day. Initially, the questions focused on her early days in basketball as a reporter. But then…
Is addiction a choice? If only it were that simple
My name is Jason, and I am an addict. I am writing this to you from Dorm 11, Bunk 9 at Multnomah County’s Inverness Jail. I am here on charges that culminated as a result of my addiction, and I am finishing the last 30 days of a 90-day Multnomah County Justice Reinvestment Program probation…
SR editorial: Othering robs people of their self-worth
“What really makes me an addict is that I use drugs against my will, even when I don’t want to, and it is clear that drugs are making my life unmanageable and that they are killing me.” These are the words of Jason Everly, a periodic vendor with Street Roots who writes in this edition…
News
After false murder confession by teens, attorney seeks to clarify rights of young suspects
Author and longtime defense attorney Donald E. McInnis has a unique perspective on our criminal justice system. He has served as both a prosecutor and a defender. He understands how the other side ticks. That background served him well as he represented 15-year-old Aaron Houser, one of three boys accused and later cleared in the…
Punishment is no cure for addiction: Morgan Godvin pushes for prison reform
When her mother died of a prescription-drug overdose, 24-year-old Morgan Godvin, a four-year heroin user, continued to shoot up, sinking ever deeper into hopelessness, grief and depression. On March 28, 2014, she sold a gram of heroin to her friend Justin Delong, who overdosed and died. Godvin, indicted in federal court on charges of delivery…
Oregon Legislature passes juvenile justice reforms, overturns parts of Measure 11
Oregon lawmakers this year made major changes to the state’s juvenile system, reversing some of the ineffective “tough on crime” polices of the previous 25 years. Senate Bill 1008 overturns portions of Measure 11, which was approved by voters in 1994. Measure 11 mandated that juveniles ages 15 and older would automatically be tried as…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile: Sights on a bright future
In a life filled with instability, fire has been a thematic constant for Mari. She became homeless most recently when her boyfriend was evicted from his apartment almost a year ago. A visitor lit a lighter under a fire suppression system, causing it to go off. But fire is also her earliest childhood memory. She…
Culture
Oregon hiking guide is a salute to old-growth forests
Half of Oregon’s landscape was once covered in ancient forests, abundant in their diversity of wildlife, trees and plant species. To the west, lush rainforests full of spruce, cedar, hemlock and redwoods cloaked the coastline, bordered by Douglas fir forests in the Coast Range. Towering ponderosa pine groves thrived across the high desert, and Oregon…
Environment
Oregon hiking guide is a salute to old-growth forests
Half of Oregon’s landscape was once covered in ancient forests, abundant in their diversity of wildlife, trees and plant species. To the west, lush rainforests full of spruce, cedar, hemlock and redwoods cloaked the coastline, bordered by Douglas fir forests in the Coast Range. Towering ponderosa pine groves thrived across the high desert, and Oregon…
