From sit-lie laws to the housing crisis in rural Oregon, here are highlights of Street Roots' coverage over the past two decades
► 1998-99December 1998
“14.08.250 Violated Downtown”
The Portland city ordinance referred to in this headline was known as the “anti-camping ordinance.” In an act of civil disobedience, Portland’s Campaign for Legal Places to Sleep, of which Street Roots was a part, camped out at the intersection of Southwest Morrison Street and 12th Avenue.
November 1999
“The Battle in Seattle”
When no one else was delivering firsthand accounts of the now-infamous 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, Street Roots distributed, for 25 cents a copy, the diverse perspectives of participants. Street Roots was only 1 year old at the time, but it was with this issue that the Portland community began to take Street Roots seriously as a journalistic institution.
December 1999
“Homeless camp sweeps create greater problem”
Street Roots has long addressed the hardship that camp sweeps create among the homeless community. In this story, proponents point to camps as magnets for petty theft, drug use and health hazards. Critics of sweeps say they lead to property seizure and wrongful arrests. As they are today, sweeps in 1999 were often conducted in response to complaints from housed neighbors.
► 2000
April
“Mayoral candidates weigh in on poverty”
Since the beginning, Street Roots has taken local political candidates to task, demanding they answer ques-tions about their plans for poverty and homelessness. In this issue, Mayor Vera Katz pointed to growing in-come inequality as her top concern. She also referenced her successes as mayor, such as increasing invest-ments in affordable housing from $13.1 million to $65.4 million over the previous five years and increasing shelter spending from
October
“Camping ban overturned”
This headline marked a landmark victory for Portland’s homeless community. A Multnomah County judge had overturned the city’s 19-year-old anti-camping ordinance that housing activists, such as those at Street Roots, had been fighting. The case involved Norman Wickes Sr. and his son, Norman Wicks Jr., who had racked up 40 citations for sleeping in their vehicle over a short period of time.
► 2002
September
“Standing on sidewalk to bring 6 months in jail”
Two years after the city’s anti-camping law was found unconstitutional, city leaders found another way to target homeless folks. In this article, staff writer Jacose Bell laid out Mayor Vera Katz’s plan to begin en-forcement of a controversial ordinance known as the “sit-lie-stand law,” which prohibited any group from standing in a stationary manner, or any individual from sitting or lying on a pedestrian right-of-way. Violation of the code was a class B misdemeanor, punishable with jail time and a $500 fine.
► 2003
June 16
“You snooze you lose”
While a judge had found the camping ban unconstitutional, Portland officials refused to take the ordinance off the books and used it to shuffle homeless folks around the city, often causing them to be sleep deprived. A new advocacy effort called “Right to Sleep” popped up, with Crossroads, Sisters of the Road, Street Roots, SAFES and others in the homeless advocacy movement behind it.
Sept. 12
“Workers in waiting”
Street Roots has long reported on the challenges facing immigrants living in Oregon. This piece followed a group of Latino day laborers through their morning as they waited for work on the sixth and seventh blocks of East Burnside. Reporter Stephen Voss told their stories of crossing the border and of the rough working condi-tions they often face performing odd jobs for Americans.
► 2004
Oct. 15
“Life on the rods”
This piece about the lives of modern-day rail riders was syndicated from the North American Street Newspa-per Association, of which Street Roots editor Joanne Zuhl was a board member. The organization brought together 47 street papers during its existence from 2007 to 2013 and provided content and support to members. In January 2019, former Street Roots Executive Director Israel Bayer announced that he’s heading up a new iteration of this former partnership called INSP North America. It will operate as a bureau of the International Network of Street Papers.
► 2005
June 17
“Dragonslayer”
Israel Bayer and Joanne Zuhl teamed up to write this article addressing the toll heroin was taking on Portland’s streets and the potential of a new alternative to methadone, buprenorphine. “Seven people experienc-ing homelessness and poverty died, purportedly to heroin overdoses, during one week in early June,” they wrote.
► 2006
Oct. 13
“Housing crisis”
Ongoing and significant cuts to federal housing and assistance programs going back decades have greatly contributed to the crises we see on our streets today. In this report, Editor Joanne Zuhl highlighted the corre-lation between rising homelessness and the dropping level of investment the federal government was making in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
► 2007
April 1
Special Edition: New Orleans – Eighteen months in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
In this special issue, Street Roots reporters featured the struggles of hurricane survivors who had resettled in Portland, as well as the aftermath still going unaddressed in Louisiana, such as the affordable housing that “receded with the floodwaters.”
Nov. 16
Special Edition: Food and Poverty
In this issue, reporters explored the safety of GMO seeds, problems with the city’s community garden program, and how much of the food donated to food banks is processed and unhealthy. The relationship between hunger and poverty in Oregon has been a recurring theme within Street Roots’ pages throughout the years.
► 2008
Sept. 5
“Tensions heat up for Eastside campers, neighbors and businesses”
Israel Bayer reported the Central Eastside Industrial Council had contracted with Portland Patrol to expand its services to the east side of the river to police homeless camps. “A group of organizations, including Street Roots, pushed for public oversight of Portland Patrol Inc. in early 2008, with no avail,” he wrote.
Dec. 12
Street Roots and a team of reporters published this special edition dedicated to explaining the complex world of affordable housing, the history of federal and local spending trends, and discriminatory lending practices known as redlining.
► 2009
June 26
On June 19, Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Stephen K. Bushong ruled the city’s ordinance preventing people from sitting or lying on public sidewalks between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. is unconstitutional. It was a huge win for homeless advocates, including Street Roots’ advocacy arm, which since 2002 had fought against the ordinance and its earlier incarnations.
July 10
A regular customer gave Street Roots vendor John Allen $10 for a doctor’s co-pay 10 days before this vendor profile ran in the newspaper. He would discover he had life-threatening blood poisoning. This is just one of many examples of Street Roots customers making real and lasting differences in the lives of their favorite vendors.
Sept. 19
Reporter Amanda Waldroupe shadowed a heroin user for this award-winning article about the resurrection of heroin’s popularity in Portland.
► 2010
March 5
In 2010, Portlanders knew people were dying on the streets; they just didn’t know how many. Reporter Amanda Waldroupe pointed out how in King County, having similar data had sparked political will to address affordable-housing shortages. The following year, at Street Roots’ urging, the Multnomah County Medical Ex-aminer added “Domicile Unknown” to its database to track the number of people who died each year on the streets of Multnomah County. Since then, Multnomah County has partnered with Street Roots each year to produce a “Domicile Unknown” report.
Sept. 17
When the Catholic Campaign for Human Development threatened to pull its funding from Street Roots’ Rose City Resource guide unless we delisted Planned Parenthood, two things happened: We lost CCHD funding when we refused, and it prompted editor Joanne Zuhl to investigate how politics and religion mix in the world of charitable giving. Despite the loss in funding, Street Roots has continued printing the guide, which outlines resources for low-income people in the Portland area.
► 2011
June 10
In this groundbreaking series, reporter Stacy Brownhill showed why diagnosing traumatic brain injuries on the streets matters. Her work built on research conducted by Street Roots staffer Kate Cox. “Many emergency departments have yet to implement screening and referral for (TBIs). ...This is a widespread phe-nomenon and may explain the poor functioning of some persons who fall into homelessness without clear abuse or neglect histories,” she wrote. Both Cox and Brownhill were honored by the Society of Professional Journalists Oregon Chapter for their work.
Nov. 25
In this stunning photo package from photojournalist Leah Nash, an intimate portrait of Willie Rates, a boy with Asperger’s syndrome, emerged. He was just one of five people living with the syndrome that Nash doc-umented for a project of Street Roots and the Regional Arts & Culture Council in 2011. Her work was displayed at I Witness Gallery and was honored in The Best of Photojournalism 2012.
Dec. 9
“Forum raises candidates’ views on housing, homeless policy”
Through candidate questionnaires in the newspaper and through co-sponsoring debates, such as this, where mayoral candidates Jefferson Smith and Charlie Hales faced off against other contenders, Street Roots has always made sure issues around poverty are not over looked in local elections.
► 2012
Jan. 6
Reporter Sarah Edmonds showed how war veterans were returning home to Portland only to do combat against unemployment, health care needs, and the looming prospect of poverty and homelessness.
May 25
This four-part series examined the complex personal toll of domestic violence. It was the result of a 22-month research project, funded through the Gates Foundation. At the time, the author, Rosette Royale, was the assistant editor of Street Roots’ sister paper in Seattle, Real Change .
July 6
Staff writer Alex Zielinski (now news editor at Portland Mercury) reported on her ride along with Central City Concern’s CHIERS program, which picks up inebriated Portlanders and takes them to a sobering station. Taking a closer look at the services in place to support people struggling with poverty, mental health and substance use disorder is an important part of Street Roots’ news coverage.
Dec. 21
On a rainy night in December, a team of reporters went out and collected the stories of people on the streets over the span of 24 hours. Around the clock, we tweeted their impressions – 1,700 tweets in all – giving a panoramic view of homelessness in Portland.
► 2013
Oct. 21
Reporter Nathan Gilles revealed Multnomah County Jail was honoring requests from ICE to hold undocumented immigrants for deportation, despite then-Sheriff Dan Staton’s reversal of his cozy relationship with the federal agency after protest from the community.
► 2014
March 12
When Safety Net of Oregon, a nonprofit entrusted with managing money for its nearly 1,000 low-income and disabled clients, came under investigation, Street Roots reporter Jake Thomas broke the news. More than 300 beneficiaries were owed a total of $1.4 million that, according to the nonprofit’s ledgers, should have been in its account but wasn’t.
Dec. 6
In this award-winning article, reporter Emily Green highlighted the struggles of a Portland woman who is among thousands of Army veterans who say they were poisoned while training at Fort McClellan.
► 2015
Jan. 2
In our first-ever weekly edition of the newspaper, we broke the news that the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office had signed a contract with Securus Technologies Inc., in which it agreed to fully replace in-person visit-ation at its jails with video visiting. This issue of the newspaper sparked outrage, and eventually the sheriff’s department renegotiated its contract.
March 10
An examination of the commonly issued “interfering with public transit” charge issued on TriMet properties revealed a system that disproportionally affected marginalized communities with overly harsh criminal charges for minor infractions. Street Roots followed this report with an editorial blasting TriMet for going too far. Two years later, all three district attorneys in Portland’s tri-county area agreed to no longer prosecute this charge.
May 8
The journey of Geovani Rodriguez, who was 21 when he sailed away from Cuba on a homemade raft, was the first featured in a periodic and ongoing series called Planet Portland, profiling individuals within Portland’s immigrant communities.
Oct. 22
In this award-winning piece, Street Roots took the U.S. Forest Service and Bark, an environmental advocacy organization that was suing it, into some disputed areas of the Mt. Hood National Forest to hear why each side thought certain projects were helping or harming the forest.
Nov. 13
“Pope Francis”
When Pope Francis granted an interview with Netherlands street paper, Straatnieuws , it was reprinted in just about every street paper around the globe, including Street Roots. The pope discussed the importance of treating people experiencing homelessness with dignity and of holding back judgment.
► 2016
Jan. 28
Editor Joanne Zuhl broke news that one of downtown’s last havens for Portland’s homeless was closing. The city and county responded to this report by purchasing the hotel to preserve its affordability.
Feb. 5
This three-part series by reporter Emily Green revealed the dire working conditions and exploitation of Oregon’s many immigrant forestry workers. The reporting eventually led to an Oregon Senate hearing, in which many of the voices featured in this in-depth report were given the chance to share their experiences with lawmakers in Salem.
April 1
Street Roots continued its critical reporting on the devastating consequences of Oregon’s Measure 11 manda-tory minimum sentencing law with this report on how it affected the lives of four Grant High School students.
May 5
Street Roots went inside three Oregon Youth Authority prisons to interview youths doing serious time for gang violence, including armed robbery and murder. The newspaper served as a platform to tell their stories, in their words, in an attempt to share insights that might help others from following in their footsteps.
Aug. 19
With reporting from Stephen Quirke, Street Roots stepped up its coverage of issues pertaining to Oregon’s Indigenous communities. In this piece, Quirke documented the Paddle to Nisqually, a canoe journey that showcases skill and strength while preserving Native customs and values.
Oct. 7
Following the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, we interviewed Jessica Campbell, co-director of Rural Organizing Project, to find out more about Oregon’s homegrown patriot movement emboldened under Trump’s rhetoric.
► 2017
Jan. 6
Street Roots took an in-depth look inside Oregon’s prison education and work programs in an attempt to determine whether inmate labor is exploitation or opportunity. Today, this series is used as course material for some Inside-Out prison classes.
Feb. 3
Less than one month into Donald Trump’s presidency, the executive orders had already begun to roll in. In the years that have followed, Street Roots has been steadfast in its mission to give a voice to those threatened most under this administration’s policies and attacks.
April 28
Reporter Emily Green took an intimate look at what it meant to grow up undocumented in Oregon for this award-winning article featuring three Dreamers whose futures were once again in question as the DACA program hung in the balance.
July 21
We dedicated an entire issue to the environmental impact of Oregon’s booming beef and dairy industries and how it fits in with global climate change.
Sept. 15
With this article we began featuring some of Portland’s religious social justice warriors, and the Faith & Justice series was born, highlighting religious leaders and groups in Portland’s resistance movement.
Dec. 1
With a grant from Meyer Memorial Trust’s Affordable Housing Initiative, Street Roots reporters traveled the state following this introduction to our rural housing series. The award-winning series brought issues in rural areas to the forefront, helping to inform policymakers leading up to a historic legislative session for statewide housing rights in 2019. Explore this series through an interactive map.
► 2018
Nov. 9
In this award-winning two-part series, we examined how punitive fines and fees in Oregon are exacerbating poverty and keeping poor people tied to the criminal justice system.
► 2019
Jan. 4
This was the first of three issues highlighting the history and culture of Portland’s Old Town Neighborhood, where the Street Roots office is located. Through the years, Old Town has served as home to Portland’s most marginalized and despised communities.
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