News
PPB asks City Council to authorize emergency less-lethal munitions purchase, despite existing stockpile
The day before Memorial Day weekend began, Portland City Council abruptly scheduled a May 29 vote to authorize Portland Police Bureau, or PPB, to spend an undisclosed portion of a $1.1 million budget on less-lethal munitions and military-style crowd control shields. City Council unanimously passed the emergency ordinance May 29 after only three members of…
State environmental board declines hearing on Zenith Energy
A state regulatory board denied environmental advocates’ petition requesting the board hold a hearing regarding Zenith Energy on May 23. Ultimately, advocates wanted the board to direct the Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, to deny Zenith a crucial state air permit after a March 26 Portland City Auditor report found Zenith violated city lobbying…
Two years after default ruling on wrongful death lawsuit, Rapid Response Bio Clean wants a do-over
The city of Portland’s primary private contractor for sweeps quietly lost a wrongful death lawsuit in January 2022, court records reveal. Nearly two years later, the company hasn’t paid up, and now it wants a do-over in court. Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Judith Matarazzo entered a default ruling against Rapid Response Bio Clean in…
Opinion | Reflecting on 9 months at Street Roots
My housemates and I have a shared 424-song playlist, but somehow the same five songs always come on. Lately, Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” has been in frequent circulation. Chapman’s discography as a whole, though, explores a range of themes centered around a critique of society’s injustices. Her 1992 release “Dreaming on a World” describes what…
Environment
State environmental board declines hearing on Zenith Energy
A state regulatory board denied environmental advocates’ petition requesting the board hold a hearing regarding Zenith Energy on May 23. Ultimately, advocates wanted the board to direct the Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, to deny Zenith a crucial state air permit after a March 26 Portland City Auditor report found Zenith violated city lobbying…
Opinion
Kaia Sand | Low-income Portland State students face difficulties in this rental market
A shelter for homeless Portland State University students has been closed for almost a year for a reason far too common within responses to homelessness. The Landing, a shelter at The First Methodist Church next to the Goose Hollow MAX stop, simply does not have the funds to operate year after year. Kaia Sand is…
