ESOL News Oregon. Written by Eric Dodson.

Text of article:People in Portland are protesting police violence against black people. Since Friday, May 29th, thousands of people in Portland and more than 200 other cities in the US and around the world, have come together on the streets. They want police and society to change.

Police use violence on Black people and other people of color in the US more often than white people, according to national statistics from Washington Post. For example, since 2015, police shot and killed 1,262 black men and women, and 887 latino men and women in the US. This rate of violence is higher than for white people.

On May 25, George Floyd, an African-American man, was killed when a police officer choked him during an arrest. Floyd said “I can’t breathe.” The officer choked Floyd for eight minutes, and three other police officers watched. This happened in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the Midwest of the US. The video of the violence went on the internet, and many people saw it.

In Portland, thousands of people have come together because they want police and the government to stop this kind of racist discrimination and violence. Many groups have joined the protests, including religious groups, black community groups, other community groups, political groups, and anti-fascists.

In response, police in Portland have used force and violence to control the protests. Police have used military vehicles and armor to show their power. They have hit people with sticks and shields. They have used flash bang grenades on people. They have shot people. They have used tear gas and pepper spray on people.

Some people in the streets have thrown objects at the police, and some have smashed windows and started fires. However, most of the protesters are not violent, and most people do not want the protests to fight the police or destroy property. Many people have stopped violence because it is not the right way.

What do they want? Change.

One business owner in Minneapolis said that he was sad that his business was burned, but human life and justice were more important.

Often, police who kill or hurt people can continue working as police, and do not have criminal charges. In Minneapolis, the officer who choked George Floyd was charged with murder on May 29th .

George Floyd’s brother, Philonise, gave these comments in an interview with CNN:

“They're tired of seeing black men die constantly. I see why people are doing it. I don't want them to lash out, but they have pain, "Philonise Floyd said during the interview." I want everything to be peaceful, but I can't make everybody be peaceful.

"To the police, I want them to get everything right. Start doing your job the right way ... I haven't been seeing it. Black lives matter, too."

Read by Eric Dodson. CC BY-NC-SA.

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ESOL News Oregon, by Timothy Krause

Text of article:JANUARY 26, 2020) Residents of Portland use the Multnomah County Library a lot. Books are popular, but so are digital materials such as e-books.

According to the Willamette Week newspaper, Portland residents checked out about 3 million audio books and e-books from Multnomah County Library in 2019. The library uses an app called Libby. According to the makers of the app, Portland's public library has the sixth largest digital circulation in the country. And it has the seventh largest digital circulation in the world.

What was the most popular e-book of 2019? It was Michelle Obama's book titled Becoming.

According to the library's website, the Multnomah County Library is the oldest public library west of the Mississippi River. It started in 1864. Today, it has a Central Library in downtown Portland and 18 other neighborhood libraries. It offers more than 2 million books and other library materials. It is Oregon's largest public library.

In 2018-2019, Multnomah County Library patrons checked out or renewed 18.3 million items. That's an average of 22.6 items per person. Checkouts of books, e-books, media and other library materials have increased 5% over the past 10 years. The library was visited online and in person 7.3 million times — that's more than 21,000 visits each day. Volunteers donated 67,000 hours of their time to the library, the equivalent of more than 8,400 eight-hour days.

Read by Davida Jordan. CC BY-NC-SA.

From ESOL News Oregon by Timothy Krause.

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ESOL News Oregon, by Timothy Krause

Text of article: (JANUARY 26, 2020) Renting an apartment in Oregon (especially Portland) is not cheap. Although apartment rents in Oregon are lower than other places in the country, the cost is still rising. It is just rising more slowly than before.

According to an apartment rental website, rents in Portland have increased 3.3% compared to last year. The largest increase was in Tualatin (6.8%), while the smallest increase was in Happy Valley (0.9%). The data show that Lake Oswego is the most expensive place to live in Oregon and Keizer is the cheapest.

Some reports say that rents in Portland are now increasing more slowly. They say that is because there are many new apartments. The average price of a one-bedroom apartment in Portland was $1,436 in 2019.

"It's simple economics. Increased supply is doing a better job of meeting demand," says ABODO, a rental market analysis company. "Last year, apartment construction reached a 30-year high, with much of the growth concentrated in major cities such as Dallas, Houston and New York, but also expanding into smaller, extremely popular cities like Denver, Portland and Austin. We anticipate that the rent growth might begin to slow in cities like Portland because of the huge boom in multifamily construction and luxury developments coming to market."

Read by Davida Jordan. CC BY-NC-SA.

From ESOL News Oregon by Timothy Krause.

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ESOL News Oregon, by Timothy Krause

Text of article:(FEBRUARY 8, 2020) Most cafes have coffee. One cafe in Portland also has cats. It is called Purrington's Cat Lounge.

Purrington's Cat Lounge is in Northeast Portland. The cafe serves coffee, tea, beer, wine, and food.

Purrington's also has a lounge area with several cats. Customers can visit the cats. They can also adopt a cat.

30 minutes with the cats costs $6. One hour with the cats cost $12. The lounge also offers 90 minutes of yoga with cats ($20).

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From ESOL News Oregon by Timothy Krause.

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ESOL News Oregon, by Timothy Krause

Text of article:(DECEMBER 1, 2019) Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated on December 25 every year. For many, it's a religious holiday. For others, though, it's about family, friends, and giving. For most, the holiday traditions include displaying a Christmas tree in their homes.

The traditional Christmas tree is an evergreen tree, such as a spruce, fir, or pine. People decorate the tree with ornaments and garland. Some people even add edible decorations such as candy canes. Most trees have lights.

Oregon is the state that grows the most trees in the country. Farmers in Oregon sell about 4.6 million trees every year. The average price was $78 last year, which was a few dollars more than in 2017.

However, prices are higher this year -- maybe as much as $20 more. Why? The hot and dry summers in Oregon destroyed many seedlings and young trees. When there are fewer trees to sell, the price goes up.

Chal Landgren works for Oregon State University. Landgren says many Christmas tree farms are no longer in business. This is true outside of Oregon, too.

"Across the country we're in the same boat, North Carolina is the second biggest producer and they're having a bit of a shortage as well," says Landgren.

Read by Eric Dodson. CC BY-NC-SA.

From ESOL News Oregon by Timothy Krause.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

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ESOL News Oregon, by Timothy Krause

Text of article:(NOVEMBER 15, 2019) Citizens of Oregon often speak with pride about the state's recycling efforts. However, a new report has bad news. It says:

Oregonians are producing more trash (more than 7 pounds of trash per day)

The state recycling rate is doing down

Fewer East Asian markets are willing to take our waste

The report's title is "The State of Recycling in Oregon." It was published by U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment Oregon Research and Policy Center.

“The reality is plastics are so hard to recycle and so low value that we could only consistently afford to collect and recycle it when China was willing to buy it," said Celeste Meiffren-Swango. She is the state director for Environment Oregon Research and Policy Center. “Now we are left to deal with it ourselves, and plastic is choking our recycling system."

The report also mentions some ways to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills or is burned. However, the strategies are not new to many Oregonians. They are the same three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle.

“It’s entirely within our power to fix the system, but what is missing is the necessary sense of urgency,” said Alex Trulove. He works for U.S. PIRG Education Fund. He is one of the report's authors. He adds, “Recycling, composting and waste reduction efforts will need to play an important role in the fight against microplastic pollution, climate change and other environmental challenges.”

Read by Eric Dodson. CC BY-NC-SA.

From ESOL News Oregon by Timothy Krause.

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ESOL News Oregon, by Timothy Krause

Text of article: (MAY 13, 2019) A new store in Portland sells unusual ice cream. The store does not make the ice cream with milk from cows. Instead, it uses milk from beans.

The store is called Little Bean. Its website says, "We ‘milk’ chickpeas to create our frozen treats. What’s leftover is refined into the gluten-free flour that makes our waffle cones and cookies that much healthier."

The ice cream is vegan because it uses no animal products. It is also gluten-free. Therefore, more people can eat the frozen treats.

Chickpeas are also called garbanzo beans. It has other names, too. People also call the bean gram or Egyptian pea. Many people use chickpeas to make Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. They include hummus, chana masala, and falafel.

India produces the majority of chickpeas in the world. However, Little Bean gets its beans from farms in Washington state.

Read by Eric Dodson. CC BY-NC-SA.

From ESOL News Oregon by Timothy Krause.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

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ESOL News Oregon, by Timothy Krause

Text of article:

(FEBRUARY 11, 2019) Not everyone wins the lottery. But when you do, you have to make a big decision. What do you do with the prize money? It might be hard to choose.

It was easy for Victor Salazar. He lives in Salem. He recently a lottery game. He will receive more than $45,000. He knew immediately what to do.

“My father needs a liver transplant and insurance won’t cover it,” Salazar says. “This money is going to help him pay for the transplant he needs.”

The liver is an organ in the middle of our bodies. It has many important jobs. For example, the liver makes bile. This is a liquid that helps digestion. The liver also makes and stores glucose. That is a sugar that our bodies use for energy. The liver removes wastes from our blood.

A liver transplant can save lives. Doctors remove the old liver. The replace it with a new liver. The new liver comes from a living person or someone who recently died.

There were about 7,200 liver transplants in the U.S. in 2014. About 330 livers came from living donors. Nearly 15,000 people were still waiting for a liver transplant at that time.

Oregon citizens voted to create the lottery in 1984. The Oregon Lottery earns a lot of money for the state -- over $11 billion ($11,000,000,000) since 1985. That means it is the second largest source of money for the state budget Only personal income tax bring in more money. The money is used for many things. These include state parks, the environment, schools, and services for veterans.

Read by Eric Dodson. CC BY-NC-SA.

From ESOL News Oregon by Timothy Krause.

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ESOL News Oregon, by Timothy Krause

Text of article:

(OCTOBER 12, 2019) Jermaine Massey came to Portland for a concert. He stayed at the DoubleTree Hotel in the Lloyd District. Now he is suing the hotel because of something that happened.

To sue someone means "to take legal action against someone and try to get money from them because they have harmed you," according to Cambridge Learner's Dictionary.

Massey says he was in the lobby. He was talking on his cell phone with his mother. A hotel manager called a security officer. The security officer asked Massey a lot of questions. They thought he was loitering ("to stand in a place or walk slowly around without any purpose," often illegally).

The security officer and hotel manager called the Portland police. Two police officers took Massey to his room to get his things. Then they took him out of the hotel.

Massey is African American. He says the hotel's action was discrimination because of his race. He says it was harassment. He made a video of his experience on his cell phone.

The hotel apologized. It fired the manager and the security guard. It provided employees with training about discrimination.

Massey is suing for $3 million for emotional damages (such as mental stress and anxiety) and $7 million in punitive damages (punishment) against the hotel. The lawyer says this will help to prevent future discrimination at all of the company's hotels across the nation.

Since Massey posted his video on social media, many more African American people have reached out about similar experiences.

Read by Eric Dodson. CC BY-NC-SA.

From ESOL News Oregon by Timothy Krause.

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ESOL News Oregon, by Timothy Krause

Text of article:Most Oregonians love the state's election system

(OCTOBER 26, 2018) A new survey by DHM Research says Oregon voters like the state's election system. This includes both the "vote by mail" and the Voters' Pamphlet.

The "vote by mail" system sends election ballots in the mail to registered voters. A "ballot" is the piece of paper used to mark choices in elections. Voters then have several weeks to complete their ballots at home. They send the ballots back to the government by mail, or they drop the ballots off at a collection site, such as a library. This system began in Oregon in 1987. 71% of voters prefer to vote by mail. 18% say they prefer to vote in person on election day, which they can do at county elections offices. Other states have different systems.

The Voters' Pamphlet is a paper booklet with information about both candidates and ballot measures. The state has been printing these pamphlets for over 100 years. They come in the mail, and they are available at public locations, like libraries and schools. The Voters' Pamphlet is also available online from the state at https://sos.oregon.gov/voting/Pages/current-election.aspx. Spanish and audio versions are available.

DHM Research asked Oregon voters about these things. The results are interesting:

63% of Oregon voters read about all the candidates and measures on their ballot

32% of Oregon voters read about candidates and measure only if they are confused or uncertain

5% say they don't usually read the pamphlet at all.

"Comments from voters show the pamphlet appears to not only be helpful but to have a cultural role in voting in Oregon," says Adam Davis of the research firm.

Read by Eric Dodson. CC BY-NC-SA.

From ESOL News Oregon by Timothy Krause.

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