Politics

What Will Portland’s ‘Residential Infill’ Plan Do? We Asked the People Behind It

📸: Hector Chacon “I embrace progress. I’m not a curmudgeon. I understand the city needs to increase revenues and all that to function. I just think the city could do it a little more kindly. To me, it looks like the city is doing a money grab and giving developers carte blanche.” That’s how reader […]

/ February 4, 2019

Meet the People Making a Difference on Portland’s Homeless Crisis

If you feel compelled to help solve Portland’s homeless crisis, these are the people and organizations you can connect with to help make a difference.

/ January 29, 2019

Here’s One Way Portland has Almost Solved Homelessness

Multnomah County became the first West Coast community to reduce veteran homelessness to “functional zero.”

/ January 29, 2019

Why Portland is Getting Less Affordable

A Portlander asked us, “How has the ratio of affordable housing in the area kept pace (or not kept pace) with the population increase?” So we answered.

/ January 29, 2019

Just How Big is Portland’s Homelessness Problem?

Quantifying homelessness depends a lot on your definition of what it means to be homeless. Here’s what we know about those numbers in Portland so far.

/ January 29, 2019

What Should Civic Engagement Look Like in Portland?

We’ll spare you the full history of the Office of Community and Civic Life, its name change, and its evolving mission. The bottom line is this: The city agency responsible for engaging and listening to Portlanders of all stripes hasn’t always nailed that, and we want to help them get it right. Here’s the agency’s […]

/ December 13, 2018

Q&A with Eli Saslow, Author of ‘Rising out of Hatred’

Oregon Humanities’ new Think & Drink series is focused on the theme of “Journalism and Justice,” and Eli Saslow, author of “Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist,” was the featured guest in October. We caught up with Eli after the event to ask him some of the audience questions that got cut for […]

/ November 6, 2018

Here’s Who Portland Media Are Endorsing In November’s Election

The Oregon voters’ pamphlet is full of endorsements from every organization under the sun, but few of them do as much to break down the races and explain their endorsements as local media. Here’s a round-up of the editorial endorsements made by Portland media outlets so far. Note: We’re only including endorsements for contested local and […]

/ October 30, 2018

Why Are Innocent Kids Pleading Guilty in Oregon? Blame Measure 11.

(📸: Lessa Clayton) For juveniles, Measure 11 creates injustice from start to finish. Approved by Oregon voters in 1994, Measure 11 requires mandatory minimum prison sentences for a list of felonies, and it mandates that juveniles aged 15 and older are tried as adults if charged with these crimes. The harsh penalties of Measure 11 […]

/ August 14, 2018

In Oregon’s Justice System, Who Deserves a Second Chance?

Eastern Oregon Correctional Institute. (📸: Sam Beebe/Flickr) Trevor Walraven was 14 years old when he stepped in front of a car in rural Oregon, held up the driver at gunpoint, ignored his pleas for mercy, and then killed him. At his trial for aggravated murder in 1999, Walraven might have seemed like an irredeemably lost […]

/ August 1, 2018