Opinion
Kaia Sand | Sweeps are traumatic, expensive and a facade of progress
We sat down for our weekly meeting but there was no way Street Roots editor in chief K. Rambo and I could concentrate. The blue and red police lights flashed in the window at West Burnside Street and Third Avenue, and we could hear shouts of distress. We hustled downstairs and out to the corner.…
Opinion | Reckoning with history
Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence. The prisoner hierarchy is simple, good dudes at the top and bad dudes at the bottom. A “good dude” is a prisoner who has not committed a sex offense to be in prison. The absurdity of the term is not lost on any of us…
Opinion | ‘Bigger than me and larger than life’
I came back to life in a time of trouble. It was 2019, and I was sitting in my apartment on Sandy Boulevard, out of my mind, and frankly, near death. I was tied up in a hell of my own doing. My life was upside down and without any sense of direction. A surprise knock…
News
MCSO reviews challenge coin, refuses to release findings
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office says the Professional Standards Unit was “not able to confirm” what an abbreviation on a sheriff’s office-specific challenge coin stood for. The coin, first reported on by Street Roots in April, featured an illustration of a burning Multnomah County Justice Center, references to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and a…
COVID-19 protocols, high death rates prompt concerns about Oregon Department of Corrections
A total of 52 prisoners died in custody of the Oregon Department of Corrections in 2021, setting the number for the deadliest year in recent history in Oregon prisons. The corrections department was on pace to match or surpass the previous recent high of 50 deaths after an average of one prisoner died each week late…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile | Exploring what nature has to offer
Mother, grandmother, Street Roots vendor, Portlander, volunteer, Oregon travel promoter – those are some of the many hats Sharon wears each day. And each is a meaningful part of her identity. “I love it here in Portland,” she said. “I was born and raised in Portland, and I lived in Southeast Portland for most of…
