Story and photos by Pete Shaw Joining the growing ranks of students and teachers protesting standardized testing, over 60 Grover Cleveland High School students walked out of their classes on Thursday April 18. The students, who are members of the Portland Student Union (PSU) see the tests as an unreliable way to evaluate their actual…
Month: April 2013
Portland Water Fluoridation Debate Flows On
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Story and photo by Pete Shaw The Portland City Council unleashed a torrent of community activism last September when it unanimously voted to fluoridate Portland’s drinking water. Within a month, anti-fluoridation group Clean Water Portland delivered more than twice the necessary signatures to refer the issue to the ballot, where, on three previous occasions, Portland…
Opposition Grows Fierce to Austerity Cuts in Portland
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By Mark Vorpahl On April 11 over 400 people packed the third public Portland Budget Hearing, which was organized by the City of Portland and which left many spilling out beyond the room where the hearing took place. More importantly, for the City Council there was an unexpected critical outpouring from the vast majority who…
Cooler Heads Prevail as County Finally Cracks Old ICE Agreement
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Story by Pete Shaw Multnomah County Commissioners unanimously supported a resolution on April 4th revising the Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) plan for handling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detainers. Under the new rule, which goes into effect on April 15th, the MCSO says it will only honor ICE requests to hold prisoners it believes to…
State Legislature Lobbied to Extend Driving Rights to All
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Story and photos by Pete Shaw The Oregon DMV currently allows driver’s licenses to be issued only to documented US citizens and immigrants with work permits under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) a 2012 executive order issued by President Obama. Various immigrant rights groups and other groups supportive of immigrants’ rights have been pushing…
Activist Targets Need to Reform Unchecked Police Power
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By Pete Shaw Jo Ann Hardesty, a local activist and tireless voice in the struggle for police reform, was the featured speaker at a recent Justice Social Happy Hour. The March 12 gathering, hosted by the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation (MRG) at Portland’s Queen of Sheba restaurant, included a discussion on the movement to hold…
Occupy Portland is Moving Out
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By Daniel Hong Occupy Portland is moving, out but it’s not for certain where they’re moving to. Their last day with St. Francis Parish is April 15th, with plans to move on this International Workers’ Day, May 1st. While it might seem rushed, it’s actually been a long standing collaborative effort representing several months…
