The new documentary by filmmakers Joe and Harry Gantz explores the lives of Oregonians struggling to survive poverty By Jake Thomas, Staff Writer The Great Recession began nearly five years ago. Since then, economists and the media have produced a string ...
14 Mar 2013 - Jake Thomas
By Jake Thomas, Staff Writer Raymond Thornton turns 48 this month, but there was a time he wasn’t sure he’d see another birthday. He spent three years on the streets, battling alcohol and substance addictions before he arrived at the Clark Center in 2011. ...
18 Mar 2013 - Jake Thomas
Central City Concern staffers design a new bed bug-resistant bed with nationwide appeal By Jake Thomas, Staff Writer Richard Klosterman had heard about them. The lady across the hallway from his apartment had them. And then he had them. Several years ago, ...
22 May 2013 - Jake Thomas
The Nation’s Greg Kaufmann dispels the myths about poverty in America and the politics behind it According to the last census, there were 46 million Americans living in poverty — more than the entire population of California. But despite the large mass of ...
3 Jun 2013 - Jake Thomas
Know Your City is a civic engagement group that wants you to — well — know your city. But not in the conventional, boring pamphlet sort of way. Formerly the Dill Pickle Club, the nonprofit seeks to educate the public through tours, colorful lectures, publ ...
18 Jun 2013 - Jake Thomas
For people who use a federal housing voucher subsidy to rent an apartment, one phrase has been a constant barrier: “No Section 8.” Under Oregon law, and despite a whole list of equal rights protections for renters, landlords could legally bar anyone who r ...
27 Jul 2013 - Jake Thomas
If marijuana has a chance of becoming legal in Oregon, Roy Kaufmann is the man to see it through It’s going to happen. Marijuana’s legalization is inevitable. But inevitable does not have a time line, as Oregon voters demonstrated in 2012 when they turned ...
29 Aug 2013 - Jake Thomas
Street Roots looks at the Convention Center Hotel, years of affordable housing planning Metro, the regional government for the tri-county area, has long known that the region has a problem: Rents are soaring, there is a real lack of affordable housing and ...
4 Sep 2013 - Jake Thomas
They were given a bus ticket along with a few days worth of medication and food. They traveled long distances to cities in California where they arrived as strangers. Their journeys have sparked outrage and lawsuits. Now there are calls to find out if it ...
4 Oct 2013 - Jake Thomas
Oregon is suing the Drug Enforcement Administration for sticking its nose into pharmaceutical records — yours We all thought our phone records and credit card transactions were private. Think again, the feds told us. But our medical records? That’s sacred ...
24 Oct 2013 - Jake Thomas