Local government can only do so much. We expect more from our national leadership. H omelessness looks very personal. And it is, in the way that all tragedies are personal. While it’s a national crisis — created over generations by local and federal polic ...
21 Oct 2020 - SR editorial board
As tragedies unfold all around us, we cannot neglect one need without jeopardizing them all Summer ended this week, and what a summer it’s been. But if the trials of 2020 have shown us anything, it’s that we are standing on common ground. That may seem ha ...
23 Sep 2020 - SR editorial board
The mayor's response to the protests is underwhelming. It's time for city leaders to unite for meaningful change. There is intense national focus on the nightly unrest in Portland. The protests are often framed as violent, and this weekend, our ...
2 Sep 2020 - SR editorial board
Oregon is covered in racist slurs and iconography, and we are all to blame In Portland and many other cities, we’ve come to a time where it’s becoming commonplace to recognize the Native tribes whose land we stand on and from which we prosper. It demonstr ...
10 Jul 2020 - SR editorial board
Portland should begin the process of transitioning to equitable emergency response and away from an oppressive system of violence that’s proven it’s unsalvageable There’s a reason protests in Minneapolis following the police killing of George Floyd resona ...
5 Jun 2020 - SR editorial board
Street Roots endorses Measure 26-210 Tens of thousands of people are unhoused in this region, and many more are on the brink of homelessness. That was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Record unemployment levels point to drastic increases in severe poverty ah ...
1 May 2020 - SR editorial board
Going beyond triage to long-term solutions, Oregon can look to other jurisdictions that are placing thousands of houseless people indoors amid the pandemic State and local leaders must create a plan to move all unhoused Oregonians into hotels and motels t ...
26 Apr 2020 - SR editorial board
A proposed ballot measure to impose a progressive tax on our region's highest earners would help level the playing field If the Legislature is in session, then people are complaining about taxes. You can’t have one without the other. Taxes and who pa ...
21 Feb 2020 - SR editorial board
A statewide state of emergency could lead to real solutions without fear standing in the way This week, in our latest installment of Life on the Streets, vendors share their thoughts about fear — being fearful and being feared. “People either respond wit ...
24 Jan 2020 - SR editorial board
That's why Street Roots is 'for those who can't afford free speech' In wrapping up our celebratory 20th anniversary year, Street Roots continues to contemplate our role in the community. At the very surface, we look at how we tell our ...
3 Jan 2020 - SR editorial board