News
Iowa foster care system changes prove positive and effective
As part of Street Roots’ ongoing solutions-based reporting on the foster care system, Street Roots took a deep dive into the national and local data on placement stability and disruptions for young people in foster care. With funding and collaboration from the Solutions Journalism Network, Street Roots searched for positive deviants, or unique programs, showing…
Portland author’s award winning novel rereleased
Della’s mind is on fire. She’s just returned to a city that resembles Portland, putting her career as a paleontologist on hold to wait tables at a vegetarian restaurant called Rise Up Singing. It’s got a “we all work in hell but that’s okay cause we don’t have to take out our piercings” sort of…
Opinion
OPINION | Noncompete agreements restrict employment freedom for workers
Between 28% and 47% of all private sector workers are subject to noncompete agreements according to an Economic Policy Institute report. Noncompete agreements (or noncompetes) are provisions in an employment contract banning workers from leaving their job to work for a “competitor” that operates in the same geographic area for a given period of time.…
OPINION | Among narratives of fear, an ode to Old Town
I have been at a loss for words as I listen to fearsome descriptions of Old Town on some media outlets and from the video screens displaying city council meetings. I do not write to discount immense suffering, but this portrait of fear, accompanied by calls for more security and more police, becomes a caricature of…
Housing
Federal rent relief may be short-lived
The Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program (OERAP), plagued for months by technical glitches, staffing issues and poor communication with applicants, is now distributing funds full steam ahead. The issue, however, is the state may run out of money if the federal government doesn’t release more funds. In an Oct. 6 press release, Executive Director of…
