April 02 2021
The Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie of Northeast Portland is a minister in the United Church of Christ.
Portland has been home most of my life. Our family moved here when I was 10. At 18, I joined the Burnside Community Council board, kicking off a life in social services and ministry that has covered three decades and six Portland mayors.
All these years, I ve been in a lover s quarrel with Portland, demanding more housing and attention to civil rights to make Portland a better home for all.
At 52, like many Portlanders, I m dismayed where we are as a city and wondering if Portland, with all the Rose City has to offer, will become the new Eden, or are we on a path to becoming the new Gotham. You might be surprised to learn I m still hopeful about our future.
There s no escape from plastic.
Look around your kitchen, walk around your favorite park or beach and you ll likely find yourself in the presence of plastic pollution.
The United States produces enough plastic waste every 15 hours to fill Cowboys Stadium, the largest football stadium in the country. We eat about a credit card s worth of plastic every week because microplastics are so omnipresent in our environment. If our waste patterns continue, by 2050 the oceans could have more plastic than fish.
How did it get this way? It s not because people have been clamoring for more plastic in our lives. In fact, it s become nearly impossible to avoid plastic in packaging and consumer products.
Reader angered, saddened by OCHS equestrian coach s violations
gh School equestrian coach Angie Wacker s recent conviction of four ethics violations for a few reasons. I d heard whispers throughout the years about a bad-faith actor in the local 4-H horse community. Since I am not an equestrian, I had no idea at the time who it pertained to.
My interest was undeniably peaked when Pamplin Media Group subsequently printed the stories of the two former Oregon High School Equestrian Team (OHSET) athletes, Abigail Norton and Ashley Maestas, each describing different, but grueling, experiences on the OHSET team under this same coach (including major injuries). I contacted the Oregon Government Ethics Commission and requested a copy of the materials for myself, since they are all available to the public (with names of the minors redacted), and was absolutely stunned by what I read. I highly encourage anyone who is curious about this case to request a copy for yourself.
March 05 2021
Graham Trainor is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, the federation of labor unions representing more than 300,000 working Oregonians. Reyna Lopez is executive director of PCUN, representing farmworkers and Latinx working families.
In times of crisis, real leaders are forged.
During the year since Oregon s first confirmed case of COVID-19, countless examples of empathetic, worker-centered leadership have been showcased. When elected officials listen to workers, the policies they pass are stronger and more responsive to the needs of working families. For example, Oregon created and funded the Oregon Worker Relief Fund to ensure farmworkers who help put food on our tables and are least likely to have access to enough paid sick time could quarantine when needed.
March 05 2021
Graham Trainor is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, the federation of labor unions representing more than 300,000 working Oregonians. Reyna Lopez is executive director of PCUN, representing farmworkers and Latinx working families.
In times of crisis, real leaders are forged.
During the year since Oregon s first confirmed case of COVID-19, countless examples of empathetic, worker-centered leadership have been showcased. When elected officials listen to workers, the policies they pass are stronger and more responsive to the needs of working families. For example, Oregon created and funded the Oregon Worker Relief Fund to ensure farmworkers who help put food on our tables and are least likely to have access to enough paid sick time could quarantine when needed.