Opinion
OPINION | The costs of inequality are higher than you think
Pretty much everyone accepts that inequality is a big problem in the United States. But it is doubtful that most people grasp how successfully U.S. elites have captured the benefits of economic growth and, as a result, how much the resulting inequality has cost them. Here is one estimate of that cost — according to…
OPINION | Searching for the Christmas spirit in prison
Christmas was my favorite holiday growing up. It was natural for me, as a little kid who still believed in Santa Claus, to feel “the Christmas spirit.” The merriment of those days and the joy that only the innocence of a child can truly express were things that I anxiously waited for all year long.…
Kaia Sand | Peace at Home turned motels into shelters
The clear light of Umpqua Valley streamed through the Douglas firs and the cedar trees. This view surrounds people who seek to escape violence through motel-based housing provided by Peace at Home. Peace at Home has advocated for people experiencing family violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking for more than 40 years. I couldn’t…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile | Connecting with customers and community
Vendor Zale L. has been selling Street Roots for only two months, but already he captures the magic of Street Roots. And he’s made a big difference in his community as well. “I had been homeless for about six months. I had asked another vendor about Street Roots — that’s how I found out about…
News
Deterrents and ‘hostile architecture,’ who gets to claim public space?
Laurelhurst Park is a beautiful, tree-lined park with running trails and a duck pond that sits at the heart of the Laurelhurst Neighborhood, straddling the border between Northeast and Southeast Portland. It’s also a hotspot for intense spats about how local leaders have handled Portland’s homelessness crisis at large. A recent $500,000 plan from city…
