Daily Digest: Portland's high homeless death rate, BC national parks are free & a book of Rupert Kinnard's comics

Are Portland sweeps increasing homeless death rate?

Street Roots has an excellent, detailed report looking at the rates of death of people living without shelter in Multnomah county (which mostly encompasses the city of Portland) and the data are sobering: the Portland area has one of the highest rates of death among its homeless population of any metro area in the US. This is occurring just as the city is shifting from an emphasis on increased supportive housing and shelters to a ramp-up of sweeps. In related news, the Seattle Times reports that affordable housing organizations are selling off projects and the rate at which affordable units are being built has declined steeply in the past two years. Real Change reports on the annual King county ceremony honoring 400 people who died "indigent deaths" including homeless people – which have increased in the past few years.

Oregon lawmakers increase school funding

OPB reports that the Oregon legislature passed an $11.3 billion K-12 education budget, an increase of 11 percent – but advocates for public education say it's not enough to fix serious problems in the state's public education system. Meanwhile, Washington State Standard reports that Washington state is seeing a steep increase in lawsuit payouts (half a billion dollars) – in part because of flaws in the state's foster care system.

BC's national parks are free this summer

The Narwhal reports on some great news: Canada has decided to make its national parks free this summer, and to reduced camping fees as well. Guess it's time to to start ticking off that list of amazing national parks in British Columbia, from Pacific Rim to Kootenay. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is planning on funding its tax cuts for billionaires by selling off millions of acres of public lands across the West. The Wilderness society has an interactive map. I can actually think of no one Trump policy that has more power to normalize Cascadia independence than selling off our region's natural landscapes to private interests.

Rupert Kinnard, Portland's iconic queer Black comic artist

The Portland Mercury has a great feature on Rupert Kinnard, who has been creating queer Black comics – including the queer superheroes Brown Bomber and Diva Touché Flambé – for fifty years. The occasion is the publication of a retrospective collection of his art and the Cathartic Comics he wrote for alt-weeklies in the 1980s & 1990s. Kinnard will be in person at a book launch on Saturday, June 21 from 5 to 7 pm at Floating World Comics, 1223 Lloyd Center in Portland.

--Andrew Engelson