Story by Pete Shaw Early 2014 saw a marked upsurge in the number of mothers and children fleeing violence in Central America. Troubles with family, gangs and drug cartels (to name a few) in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala has pushed these families to seek asylum in the United States–the country ultimately responsible for much of…
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Torturous Path of the Trans Pacific Partnership: Legislation Creeping Toward Passage
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Story and photos by Pete Shaw The good news is that Senator Ron Wyden keeps backtracking on his support for Fast Track legislation that would let the Congress abdicate its constitutionally mandated authority over trade and give that power to President Obama. The bad news is that he is backtracking further toward the multinational corporations…
15 Now Rally Riding Momentum of Worker Pressure to Raise Wages
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Story and photos by Pete Shaw Building janitors, City workers, and supporters held two coordinated rallies in downtown Portland on June 17 demanding a raise in the minimum wage to $15 an hour and greater respect for workers’ rights to unionize. The rallies marked the most recent of many local actions and were also part…
Second COAB Town Hall: Police Accountability: Reforms Remain an Elusive Dream
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Story and photos by Pete Shaw The second Community Oversight Advisory Board (COAB) town hall took place on May 27 at Portland Community College’s Cascade Campus. While it was a decidedly more sedate and better planned affair than the first town hall held in early April, it once again highlighted significant structural problems with this…
Keaton Otis Memorial Marks Five Years in Ongoing Struggle for Justice, Police Reform
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Story and photos by Pete Shaw “How on God’s green earth does justice reconcile it?” Emmett Wheatfall asked that question at least three times while reading his poem at a memorial service marking the five years that have passed since the Portland police executed Keaton Otis at the corner of NE 6th and Halsey. The…
New School Breakfast Program a Healthy Alternative to Dominant Culture Pablum
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Story by Pete Shaw Of all things that bring people together, food is among the most potent. Beyond it being necessary for survival, eating can be pleasurable. When done as a community, those pleasures expand and further buttress the values that support that community. Sharing, caring, and understanding—just to name a few—are fostered. Conversations develop…
Sweetness and Light
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by Peter Shaw May Day, 2015, 2:12 AM Let us sing songs of remembrance Let us praise great people Not the ones in the great books But the ones of the great stories The stories we tell The stories we write The stories we create and re-create My Friend Greg does not have…
Workers Expose Cruel Underbelly of Portland’s “Friendliest” Store
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Story by Pete Shaw The friendliest store in town is not so friendly after all. At least not to its workers. That was the message sent by a crowd of over 30 people outside the New Seasons on SE Hawthorne on April 21. Coming together on April 21 in support of raising Oregon’s minimum wage…
15 Now Rallies Workers for National Day of Action, Awareness
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Story and photos by Pete Shaw Over 300 Portland workers rallied on April 15 in solidarity with workers from 230 cities who took to the streets in a day of awareness, action, and strikes in support of increasing the minimum wage to $15 and fighting for the right to form a union. The event followed…
Portland Commission Gives Propane Company Free Rein to Trample Environmental Conservation Zone
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Story by Pete Shaw Despite the overwhelming number of people testifying in opposition, the Portland Planning and Sustainability commissioners voted 6-4 on April 7 to approve a zoning change that may pave the way for a propane storage and export terminal at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 6. Prior to the vote, the land upon…
