Sometimes summer isn’t all it’s cracked up to me
I’m starting to prefer the cooler, quieter seasons. Summer is the worst. Often romanticized as a glorious time with gorgeous weather, when everybody’s sitting poolside (more likely riverside in Portland) drinking a piña colada (it’s Portland, so probably an IPA), as if we’re in a Janelle Monáe music video. But really? Summer is a profoundly…
Hot days and uncertain nights provide little relief for homeless Portlanders
For people living outside, sweeps are stressful at any time of year. In the summer, they can be devastating. Kelly Clendenon recalled how when he was homeless, there were a couple times he passed out from the heat and ended up in the hospital. His experience isn’t a rarity. A 2025 study found that…
Tenants caught in the crossfire of federal officers’ crowd control tactics left in limbo
The situation has calmed outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on South Macadam Avenue in recent months, in stark contrast to the scene for much of the past year. Federal officers’ aggressive crowd control tactics placed tenants at a nearby low-income apartment complex in the crossfire, according to two lawsuits. Clouds of toxic…
Jobs prevent hundreds of thousands of Oregonians from following health officials’ wildfire smoke advice. What do they do?
Oregon public health officials were nearly uniform with their guidance as wildfire smoke swallowed the Northwest in early August: avoid breathing smoke by staying indoors whenever possible. Particles in wildfire smoke “can cause serious respiratory and circulatory issues, including asthma, cancer, stroke, and lung and heart disease,” the Multnomah County Health Department warned. But for…
