Story and photos by Pete Shaw Call me Plum. Golden Plum. My Friend’s four year old daughter, Grape, declared it so. As did her mother, Pear, and her 17 month old brother, Lemon who, holding on to Mother Pear’s leg, looks upon me with wonder and smiles. For a time, I had been Peach. I…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw When I was growing up, I knew my neighborhood’s mail carrier. He is in some of my earliest memories. He was portly, with a closely cropped beard, and in the Winter he sometimes wore a thick hat with ear flaps. My mother talked often with him, and during the…
Story by Pete Shaw Since declaring himself a candidate for the presidency of the United States, Republican Donald Trump has made clear his disdain for migrants. On the day he announced his candidacy, Trump declared that all Mexicans were criminals, particularly inclined toward rape and drug dealing. Trump quickly followed this by saying he assumed…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw On Tuesday November 13, as the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding whether the Republican Trump Administration could rescind the protections provided by President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, over 200 people gathered in Terry Schrunk Plaza to demand the policy be continued,…
Story by Pete Shaw On Wednesday October 23, Burgerville workers throughout Portland walked off the job and launched the largest strike in the history of the Burgerville Workers Union (BVWU). Workers from the Convention Center, 92nd and Powell, Hawthorne, and Montavilla Burgerville locations walked off the job Wednesday morning, saying they would remain on strike…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw The French novelist Honoré de Balzac is often credited with having written that behind every great fortune there is a crime. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, the ubiquitous company that seems able to sell everything to everyone, everywhere, has surely amassed a great fortune. He is the richest…
Story by Pete Shaw Nine years ago, near the corner of NE 6th and Halsey, Keaton Otis was murdered in a hail of 23 bullets fired by a clutch of police officers of the Portland police’s Hot Spot Enforcement Team. In video capturing the event, it appears to be an execution. Otis had been profiled…
Story by Pete Shaw Thanks to Commissioners Jo Ann Hardesty, Amanda Fritz, and Chloe Eudaly, the Portland City Council voted on Wednesday, February 13 to remove Portland from the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The 3-2 decision marks the second time Portland has decided the risks of using its police in cooperation with the…
Story by Pete Shaw The corner of Northeast 6th and Halsey is hallowed ground. It is not the site of a mosque or a temple or a church or any other house of worship. There have been no reports of visits by the Blessed Virgin Mary or other religiously affiliated revelations, whether out of thin…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Always bring a crowd. In many cases, that is sound advice. A month ago, when Francisco Aguirre was checking in at the administrative offices of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) which are located in the ICE prison on SW Macadam, two people accompanied him to his appointment.…
