“All my life, I seen the world through a window called television, and that’s the only thing I know.” Interlude I t was over a few grocery-store items that Billy Baggett forfeited another six years of his life. It was dinnertime in Portland on Aug. 2, 201 ...
27 Dec 2020 - Emily Green
“After two or three months went by, I started thinking, it ain’t death I want; I want to live.” [R e ad Part I] Into hell A n avid yarn spinner, Billy Baggett often told animated stories about his childhood hijinks and the exploits of his father, whom he ...
27 Dec 2020 - Emily Green
“He was like a king in his kingdom.” [R e ad Part I] [Read Part II] The curtain falls B illy Baggett knew that smoking cannabis would likely get him kicked out of the Hotel Alder, but he said he could breathe easier when he was high. The second time he ...
27 Dec 2020 - Emily Green
“As the reporter who shadowed him closely from his release to his death, I was eventually confronted with a choice. I would have to choose between my own journalistic integrity and being there for a fellow human being when he needed it most.” On shadowing ...
27 Dec 2020 - Emily Green
FROM THE EDITOR | To tell this story, Street Roots’ Emily Green immersed herself in the world of an ex-prisoner In 2019, more than 600,000 men and women were released from prisons across the United States. William “Billy” Baggett was one of them. Like mos ...
9 Dec 2020 - Joanne Zuhl