Hello! I'm Lillian Mongeau Hughes, the homelessness and mental health reporter for The Oregonian. I cover everything from how much we spend on homelessness, to where homeless people in the area are originally from, to why our region doesn't seem to be able to dig itself out of this problem. Most recently, I completed a project on why Multnomah County and Portland officials are closing about a third of the shelter system they just finished building.

My guiding principles as a reporter are to shed light, elevate voice and not be a jerk*. That means I work hard to share facts in a clear and easily digestible way, platform voices from across the Portland area spectrum and to treat everyone I report on with dignity and respect, whether they are a local politician, a medical expert or a person experiencing homelessness.

My reporting jam is connecting policy and systems level reporting to the actual people those policies and systems affect. I did this for over a decade as an education reporter and it has been my honor to do it for the past two years as a reporter for The Oregonian.

Before this role, I was an editor at OPB and a reporter-editor at the national education publication The Hechinger Report. I have also worked as a freelance writer and editor for parts of my career. My work has appeared in The Atlantic online, The New York Times, KFF Health News and on several public radio stations, among other publications.

I live in Portland with the requisite cute dog, two kids, electric car and garage full of outdoor gear we don't use as much as we like to think we do.

I look forward to answering your questions and hope we can have a helpful and facts-based conversation about the topic Portlanders consider the biggest problem in their city.

*Re: jerk - I usually use a ruder word, but am trying to be extra polite in public ;)

Proof: https://imgur.com/a/N72g0pe

Anyone else getting power flickering, I'm down in Milwaukie near the mall

Beneath this FM there are several spooky tunnels. I was told this by someone who worked there. The store itself is quite the vortex of chaos. Meat thievery, people barfing up blood, parking lot bare knuckle fighting, mean old men and ladies. No dog action though. That seems to be confined to the Interstate FM where I once saw a very distraught pit bull being pushed in a basket.
Got a FM story? Feel free to post. Remember Eve’s?

Y'all I am on a bus and just spotted a dog running loose on the street. White and camel colored hound mix, at a guess. Last saw it running west across the street and then south from around Holladay. That's all I got, but maybe it'll help someone.

Its a day or so early, but was that in the air this morning?

Kudos to the Portland Redditor that shared the simple 4-filter box fan idea. It's a lifesaver of a little cube. That smoke came in so fast yesterday. By the time I saw the AQI had shot up to like 200 the inside of my apt was already stinkin and giving me a headache. Only took about 10 minutes for the filter cube to get the indoor particulates down to green levels. Is this a win in the post-climate change hellscape?

At least we are getting some ☔️ almost a whole month earlier than last year. Hope it dumps in the mountains too.

It's that time again!

EMPLOYERS, what jobs do you have available? EMPLOYEES, what positions are available at your place of business?

Please feel free to post links to job sites as well as general job search advice here. You may solicit for resumes, but please do not post personal information; keep that to PM. Public company email addresses are okay. Also check out r/PDXClassifieds, you are welcome to post local job listings there too.

If you are seeking a job, use the "HIRE ME" thread. Link is in the top menu and on sidebar, under "JOBS".

It's that time again!

JOB SEEKERS, what kinds of work are you looking for, what are your qualifications, and what location interests you?

Write a quick bio of what you're looking for. Please do not post personal information such as a direct link to your own resume; keep that to PM.

If you are hiring people, use the "HIRE ME" thread. Link is in the top menu and on sidebar, under "JOBS". Also check out r/PDXClassifieds, you are welcome to post local job listings there too.

Seriously

Anybody else agree?

My husband and I decided to go to Kelley Point Park last week. Long story short, we were walking along the river barefoot, he stepped on something (perhaps a barb of some kind) that he felt had a venomous feeling to it. moments later, he went into anaphylaxis, tongue, face, feet, hands swelling, turned red, hives and all. We went to the ER and he is fine now, but still experiencing symptoms when the steroids wear off. We are just so confused by what it could have possibly been that he stepped on.. the doctors didn’t seem to have a clue. No known allergies, he is not allergic to bees or anything like that.

If anyone has any information or idea what this could have been that he stepped on, ai Would love to hear. Thank you.

A lot of smoke came in the city fast so went to PurpleAir and did a double take at our little bubble we got going on. Rain can’t come soon enough.