January 1, 2012

Portland: thus far and no farther

Like many an explorer before me, Portland, it turns out, is the point at which I turn around and begin the long trek back east.

I’ve been on the road for 32 straight days now and have only 15 more left on my Amtrak pass. So when I opened my computer this morning and started to plan the next leg of my journey, I decided to head south towards Los Angeles instead of further north to Seattle and perhaps eventually Vancouver.

Thanks to an extended stay here in Portland, my clothes, at long last, are finally clean. But my bones…

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December 30, 2011

OWS holiday travelers help movement to better work together

Before getting down to the business of its spokes council session Thursday evening, Occupy Portland activists took some time to hear announcements from some of the 60 or so people at the meeting. Mentioned were the upcoming port protest in Longview, Wash., potential lawsuits against the Portland police for the shutdown of their encampment, an idea for a healthcare group and campaign and a seed exchange.

But the announcement that garnered the most excitement came from an activist who called himself Yikes, who said he was from Occupy Wall Street, and wanted to talk with people from Portland about…

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December 29, 2011

Occupy Portland slows down for the holidays

It may be one of the most progressive communities in the country with an unemployment rate, at about 10 percent, as high as any major city in the country. But still the Occupy movement seems to have taken a sort-of Christmas break here.

“It’s gotten cold and the holidays have come so things have slowed down,” said Cammie Ground, who was one of about a dozen people who came and went from Occupy Portland’s 24-hour vigil in front of City Hall to protest their lack of a legal ability to have an encampment. “It’s getting difficult for people. There’s only…

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