News & City Life

Do Gooders

The 15th Annual Light a Fire Winners Are Here

Honoring the people making our city and state better for all

10/23/2019 Edited by Fiona McCann

Lifetime Achievement

This Portland Illustrator and Activist Has Been Working for LGBTQ Rights Since... Well, Forever

Rupert Kinnard joined the Portland Town Council, the first LGBTQ-rights umbrella group in Oregon, in the early ‘80s as its first black member.

10/23/2019 By Fiona McCann

Young Leader

This Woman Is Making College a Possibility for a New Generation of Portlanders

Margarita Gutierrez Lemus is the cochair of College Possible’s joint Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

10/23/2019 By Brendan Nagle

Extraordinary Volunteer

This Volunteer Has Fostered 18 Guide Dogs for the Blind Just Since 2016

Says Debi Hays: “They give me the dogs that are a ‘challenge.' I call them misunderstood.”

10/23/2019 By Kelly Clarke

Caring for Our Planet

How a 30-Year-Old Conservation Group Is Thwarting Developers and Protecting Pristine Forest Land

Columbia Land Trust now controls 45,000 acres along the Columbia River—where nothing will ever be built

10/23/2019 By Marty Patail

Most with the Least

This Tiny Group Makes Oregon Schools Safer for LGBTQ Students

Oregon Safe Schools is advocating for the city's LGBTQ students.

10/23/2019 By Margaret Seiler

Exceptional Community Contribution

This Portland Charter School Is Closing the Achievement Gap for Black and Brown Kids

KairosPDX is already seeing results.

10/23/2019 By Conner Reed

Best New Nonprofit 2019

How One New Portland Nonprofit Amplifies Immigrant Voices

The Immigrant Story shares the stories of some of the area’s new (or not so new) arrivals from afar.

10/23/2019 By Tiara Darnell

Game Changing Project

Meals on Wheels People Made a Hip, Midcentury-Mod Diner for Seniors

The nonprofit café serves community connection along with Reubens and house marionberry pie.

10/23/2019 By Kiva Hanson

Extraordinary Executive Director

Shari Dunn Helps Empower Oregon Women for Professional Success

Since 2015, Dunn has steered Dress for Success Oregon, offering women career coaching, interview and résumé preparation, and access to a professional wardrobe.

10/23/2019 By Tiara Darnell

Extraordinary Board Member

Becky Blumer Delivers Groceries and Kindness to Seniors and People with Disabilities

“I grew up in a small community where it felt like a given that people took care of each other.”

10/23/2019 By Conner Reed

People

Two Oregon Pilots Are Preparing for a 9,000-Mile Flight from Patagonia to Florida—On Vintage Airplanes

An airplane mechanic and a filbert farmer team up for a 9,000-mile journey.

10/23/2019 By Rich Reece Photography by Rick A. Brown

Editor's Note

We’ve Honored More than 200 Nonprofits with Light a Fire Awards Since 2005

The real winners in this annual nonprofit and volunteer spotlight? All of us.

10/23/2019 By Fiona McCann

News

Prepare to Pay for the New Prestige Apple, the Cosmic Crisp

Is this big-budget branded apple the Honeycrisp killer of which prophecy foretold?

10/23/2019 By Jennifer Krazit

Transportation

These Super-Fast Future Trains Could Get You from Portland to Vancouver, Canada, in Under Three Hours

New stats suggest that high-speed rail could transform the Northwest.

10/23/2019 By Zach Dundas

Education

Is Reed College’s New President Too Cool to Be a University Administrator?

Audrey Bilger is a gay trailblazer and pop culture pundit with an absolutely baller vinyl collection.

10/23/2019 By Jason Cohen

Retail

How She Bop Changed the Sex Shop Game

You know we had to call it an “oral history.” Hey, it is one!

10/23/2019 By Kiva Hanson

Sports

Old Portland Had Its Own Super-Cool All-Japanese Baseball Teams

Fuji Athletic Club is now a retro-hipster design find—with eerie historical echoes.

10/23/2019 By Zach Dundas

Sports

Portland’s Winningest Team Isn’t Just About, Well, Winning

Junior hockey’s Winterhawks aim to develop pro talent. The league trophies are cool, too.

10/23/2019 By Brendan Nagle

Earthquake

How Ready Are You for the Big One Really? Let’s Find Out.

The Portland Monthly Earthquake Preparedness Personality Test can help.

10/23/2019 By Stephanie Gehring Illustrations by Hawk Krall

Portland Monthly