Sixty-four seems a pretty insignificant number. And yet it struck me mightily when the Press Herald reported that was the number of homeless people who died in Portland in 2020. What the devil is wrong with us? It can’t be that we are unaware of tragedy, that we are unmoved by such a happening among […]

In a Dec. 27 letter, Steven Hedlund writes, “The world’s problems (disease, climate change, etc.) cannot simply be solved by eating more vegetables and less meat and seafood.” Current scientific studies refute this opinion. The majority of grains grown in the U.S. go to feeding livestock animals, not people. Globally, according to the U.N. Food […]

Tuesday’s letter supporting Preble Street’s proposed 40-bed wellness shelter quotes a Sept. 14 news article stating that “the project calls for knocking down most interior walls of the second floor to create an open concept design where shelter staff would be on hand around the clock for a limited roster of approved clients.” All those […]

In October, when asked about the referendum proposals drafted by People First Portland, our city councilors danced around their substance. The proposals were called an attempt “to pass the Democratic Socialists’ agenda without consideration by local elected officials or members of the general public” – a bizarre claim about public ballot initiatives – that could […]

This was a Christmas like no other, distanced from my brothers. I joined my family via cellphone, singing Christmas carols while standing in the snowy wood alone. Reminded of a poem by Frost invoked by another Robert long lost, this one possessing the last name Kennedy, to remind us of our duty to each other. […]