The new documentary film, Sam Now, is about the complexity of family.

It’s narrated by Portland filmmaker Reed Harkness, who directed the film. And it stars his half brother, Sam Harkness. The two grew up making home movies together, but in 2000, Sam’s mom Jois suddenly disappeared.

Eventually, the two set out to find her – and made a film about it. The resulting story spans over two decades. It touches on the ways trauma can pass down through generations, and the stories we tell ourselves about why our families are the way they are.

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Beginning Monday, we’re going to see temperatures peaking into the triple digits across much of the state, and that heat is expected to stick around all week. It might be a good time to cut out of the city and get outdoors: go find your local shady river. We've got some advice and some picks of places to check out.

Portland's Albina neighborhood was once a hotbed of blues, r&b, fun, soul, and gospel music. The Albina Music Trust has been working in recent years to preserve that legacy, and introduce that music to new audiences. This weekend at the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, they're taking it live, onstage

Paseo is a free festival being put on by the Portland Parks Foundation in the South Park Blocks and Director Park this weekend. It features music, dance, spoken word and other performances, as well as vendors, activities and mutual aid groups, like Don’t Shoot Portland and Snack Bloc PDX.

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Several years of hot summers in Oregon have created fertile conditions for swarms of insects like grasshoppers and crickets. It’s bad news for farmers and ranchers already struggling with drought. In 2021 alone, Oregon, agriculture officials estimate 10 million acres of rangeland in 18 counties were damaged by bugs.

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Jan Haaken's 2020 documentary film “Our Bodies Our Doctors” focuses on the current generation of physicians performing abortions in Oregon and Washington. The film features candid conversations with medical staff and patients, along with rarely seen footage of abortions being performed. In many ways, the film foreshadows our current moment.

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For over 30 years, Leroy Sly Scott was a member of Portland’s Sunnyside community. He was houseless, but you could often find him, right there, on the stoop outside the Belmont Market. 

Leroy died in 2020, but you can still find him on that block today. The Portland Street Art Alliance recently commissioned a mural there, honoring Leroy and Portland's houseless community.

We’re approaching the time of year when rain and cloudy days give way to warmth and sunshine. 

The season brings to mind a piece of music by Portland sound artist Crystal Quartez called Sonic Blooming.

Political observers say they’ve never seen anything like the gloom Portlanders are showing about the shape of their city. The dour mood poses an interesting question in an election year that – nationally at least – appears to be headed in Republicans’ direction: What happens when residents of the state’s most fervently Democratic city decide that something is urgently wrong?

Today is Orthodox Easter. For Orthodox Christians, it’s their holiest day of the year — more than any other religious holiday. But today is also the two-month anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As the brutal war continues to intensify, the celebration will be laced with grief and uncertainty in Ukrainian Orthodox communities across the world — and here in the Northwest.

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