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street roots
April 1, 2012
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Media roundup 2012
B B I P W
All the news that causes fits
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New homeless tours available
today
ocal non-profits hoping to
piggyback on a growing number of
interested social work students
and young people from around the region
have created a new tourism program aimed
at watching homeless people in Old Town.
The new program called “Homeless
Watching” will be aimed at high school and
college immersion groups, social work and
anthropology programs.
The program includes eating lunch with
the homeless at local soup kitchens,
sleeping out on the streets or on a local
social service agency’s floor, and doing
roundtables about how it must feel to be
homeless.
“It’s a great way to raise awareness,”
said one local executive director. “We’re
partnering this year with the birding
community and giving students binoculars
and notepads and asking them to observe
the homeless in new ways. We will also be
doing a scavenger hunt and teaching a
class on equity and white-guilt called,
‘Homeless people: Should we feel bad?”
Homeless residents of Portland have
responded by offering tours of Portlandia
“as seen on TV.” The tours begin at
Stumptown Coffee and offer a wonderful
opportunity for visitors to view hipsters in
their natural habitat. Participants learn
skills such as making sure their food is
local, pedigreed, and organic, as well as
how to walk slowly and hold up traffic. “For
an extra fee, your guide will put a bird on
you,” says local guide Soup Can Sam.
For more information on the immersion
classes or a Portlandia tour contact a social
service agency near you, call 211info at 211
or contact the Rose City Resource at www.
rosecityresource.org.
n annual look at the highs, lows, and
midland potential of our regions’
inest newsy source-like outlets:
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The Oregonian has decided after
several years of high-unemployment rates,
thousands of foreclosures and a rising
number of people on the streets to start
reporting on the subject of housing and
homelessness.
“After careful consideration,” a recent
editorial from the Oregonian noted, “we
realized that we do actually care about
people who have lost everything. We’re not
yet ready to blame the banks and still
believe we shouldn’t raise taxes under any
circumstances, but we do care.”
The Willamette Week did not report
about Street Roots screwing things up this
year. The editorial team has decided to wait
to slam the organization until Street Roots
goes weekly, or wins first prize at the
Society of Professional Journalists awards,
whichever comes first. It’s thought that
Editor Mark Zusman will go “ballistic” if
SR, a left-wing commie rag, receives any
kind of journalism award in front of the
WW.
A local blogger reported that The
Portland Mercury and Street Roots
produced the most news in the city last
year with the smallest editorial staffs.
Publishers, editors, reporters and staff at
both publications are thought to have any
number of ailments, such as attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-
compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress
Blue Oregon, an online propaganda tool
for progressives, has officially put its
readers to sleep. The online publication has
been highly acclaimed by faithful readers
who spend every minute of their waking
life in front of a computer, but has failed to
attract anyone who has a life outside of a
small group of backslapping, micro-brewing,
N E E D T O G O S E R V IC E
inding down his
term on city
council,
Commissioner Randy
Leonard has proposed a
new sign, his final salvo in
the imaging business, to
grace the West Hills.
It will say: “West Hills.”
The sign is the latest
brainchild of Leonard, who
helped create the expansive,
neon “Portland, Oregon”
sign at the west end of the
Burnside Bridge. That sign
replaced the “Made in
Oregon” sign, and retains
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Meet Your Local Branch Manager:
^Communities aren’t ju s t streets and build
ings. Communities are thriving places
where cultures, commerce and souls grow
stronger together.”
-M a ry
EQUAL HOUSiNS
LENDER
Due to subscription requirements The
Portland B usiness Journal remains the
most half-read online newspaper in the city.
BY LOO PORTLAND
Vendors are regular
contributors to Street
Roots content, as
columnist, poets and
artists. Look for your
favorite vendor's
writings in each
edition o f the paper.
M em ber
A recent newspaper survey revealed that
Portland Monthly has the most read
cover page in the city, while also being the
least read publication. One media insider
says, “Thousands of people in checkout
stands across the city enjoy reading the
cover of the Portland Monthly, but couldn’t
care less about what’s inside.”
insider Democrats.
Popular blogger Byron Beck has been
seen around town this week snapping
photos of anything with two legs and a
drink in its hand. Bike Portland continues
to report on white people on bikes, while
Portland Afoot will be presenting a special
series this month on foot fetishes on the
bus. Jack Bog’s Blog is still mad at the
city, for what we’re not exactly sure of.
Some in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered community mourned, while
others rejoiced the fact that Just Out
magazine closed shop this year. Gay men
blamed lesbian women for the closure,
while lesbian women blamed gay men for
everything else. The transgender
community blamed both groups for leaving
them out of the decision. A new publication
titled PQ Monthly launched last month
with many of Just Out’s former employees.
The launch party was reported to be very
gay.
The Portland Tribune has reported
that the good guys are really good, while
the bad guys are really bad.
Fox 12 News reported every single
news tip that came across its desk, offering
a range of important stories on car crashes,
rain storms and how dog owners are
manipulating the city. Not to be outdone,
the morning news team at KOIN 6 ran a
special series this week on dog owners who
have car crashes in the rain.
Leonard’s legacy unknown, looking fo r a sign
W
Mary Edmeades
Social Impact Banking
503.445.2155
medmeades@albinabank.com
disorder, and any number of addictions due
to the grueling publication schedule. Both
editors (Theriault, Zuhl) are thought to be
on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Asked by a local blogger why the
newspapers sometimes have similar
coverage, the spokespersons (Humphrey,
Bayer) at both publications reacted
similarly, barking weird incoherent opinions
about money, duty and deadlines. One of
the publishers was dressed in leather chaps
with a rainbow t-shirt and scarf; the other
was wearing soccer socks with long Adidas
sports shorts, and, oddly enough, a rainbow
scarf. Both mumbled profanities not meant
for print and appeared to be visibly
disturbed.
At Albina Community Bank the most ordinary
financial transaction can have an extraordinary
impact on our local community.
You’re going to bank somewhere,
why not let your banking make a difference in
the places where you live and work?
the “White Stag” from a
previous sign. Leonard also
shepherded through the
neon rose now glowing on
top of what looks like a
1970s abandoned Crab
Shack in Tom McCall
Waterfront Park.
And Leonard himself has
been the inspiration for a
few impromptu signs
downtown.
Leonard presented his
proposal, which includes an
artist’s rendering of a blue
neon sign with a white
outline glowing over
Downtown Portland, to city
council this past week.
“What the hell, Randy?”
said Mayor Sam Adams,
confused. “We don’t have
money for this.”
With that, Leonard left
the room and hasn’t been
seen since.
Leonard was seen days
later at a Portland Loo in
the Pearl trying to convince
residents that it was a nice
public restroom, regardless
what the neighborhood
assocation had to say.
City Hall will be holding
hearings on the “West Hills”
sign tomorrow at 2p.m. in
the Rose Room.