Recently, Oregon’s Chief Education Officer (CEO) Rudy Crew wrote an editorial in the Portland Tribune purportedly distancing his plans for education “reform” from the much-maligned standardized testing regime being foisted upon our youth. Here are some comments on his editorial I made in an email exchange that I’ve chosen to publish as a free standing...
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By Portland Teacher (writing anonymously out of fear of reprisal) Just months after angry parents, students, and teachers forced Portland Public Schools (PPS) officials to back down from closing several neighborhood schools, PPS has found a new target: teachers. Negotiations between the school district and Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) began this month...
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On Tuesday, April 30th 2013, a semi rig hauling a massive trailer collided with the CL line streetcar on Martin Luthur King Jr. boulevard at Market street. There were no injuries. The massive truck was attempting a left-hand turn and swung wide across all four lanes of moving traffic before slamming into the streetcar, completely...
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By Sasha Ross If you live in Oregon, you are familiar with the spectacle of greenwashing at the highest levels of political theater. As Portland gears up to host the UN’s World Environment Day, the international attention almost obscures the plans for multiple freeway expansions, a Nestle water bottling plant, huge timber sales (whispers...
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Thursday, April 11, 2013 • Portland, Oregon Wednesday night’s debate to discuss the pros and cons of adding fluorosilicic acid (aka fluoride) to the Bull Run water supply that Portland depends upon saw an excess of 240 concerned citizens pack the Matt Dishman Community Center’s auditorium. The event was sponsored by the Multnomah County Democrats. Moderator...
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Monday, April 8, 2013 • Portland, Oregon With the amount of media blitzing that’s bombarded Portland’s airwaves, interwebs, and neighborhood front yards, you’d have thought the dual campaigns for and against fluoridating Bull Run fresh water had been going on for years. In fact, this fight started in earnest just last fall, when the...
Read more →What Happened This past weekend, Veloprovo had its inaugural ride. It was quite an awesome experience — a long, educational ride throughout the city, culminating with a radically positive direct action. Afterwards, we gathered for a celebratory beer, before heading our own respective ways. It was a positive, uplifting experience. Some of the people...
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Two days ago I demonstrated outside the Portland Business Alliance in downtown Portland. There are lots of good reasons to demonstrate against the PBA, but on this occasion my friends had learned that Earl Blumenauer, an alleged “climate hawk” and ally in Congress, was attending a luncheon sponsored by TransCanada. TransCanada, of course, is...
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Wednedsay, March 27 2013 • Portland, Oregon Several weeks ago, the Portland Business Alliance (PBA) posted notice for one of their semi-regular luncheons where cherished bicycle infrastructure and livable cities proponent U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer would be the noted speaker. For many who were informed of this notice, the idea of Earl speaking in front...
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Saturday, March 23, 2013 • Portland, Oregon Like this Monday’s previous Tar Sands Blockade solidarity ‘Worst Polluters‘ tour, Friday evening saw a second critical mass of activists taking to the streets to challenge the corporate status quo and speak two-wheeled truth to corrupt capitalist power. Once again the meet up point was Northeast Portland’s...
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