美国国家公共电台 NPR--Phoenix is clearing people out of the city's biggest homeless encampment

Phoenix¹ is clearing people out of the city's biggest homeless encampment

Transcript²

Phoenix is clearing the encampment known as The Zone to comply with a court order. Another ruling orders the city to provide somewhere for unsheltered people to go. The question is where will they go?

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Phoenix has started clearing out its biggest homeless encampment. It's called The Zone, and about a thousand people have been living there. In March, a county judge said the city had to clear the camp after several downtown business owners sued. Kirsten Dorman with KJZZ has more.

KIRSTEN DORMAN, BYLINE³: On a windy morning with gray clouds hanging overhead, about a dozen people move suitcases, wooden pallets and all kinds of belongings⁴ out of the tents and other self-made structures that line the sidewalk. And then the structures start coming down. Sarah Bass⁵, who used to live in the zone, is watching.

SARAH BASS: It's like a third-world country right here - like, you know what I mean? - in the summertime.

DORMAN: The Zone sprang up around Phoenix's biggest homeless shelter and the neighboring Human Services Campus. Bass says both are overwhelmed.

BASS: That's why people originally started camping on the outside of it was because they were waiting their spot in line.

DORMAN: Nearby businesses filed a lawsuit⁶ against the city last August, saying the zone and its occupants hurt their businesses by presenting safety and health concerns. A Maricopa County judge ruled in their favor in March, ordering the city to disband the encampment by July 10. The question on everyone's minds now - where will those in The Zone go? A federal appeals court has ruled that cities can't remove homeless encampments unless they provide somewhere else for residents to go. Rachel Milne is the director of Phoenix's Office of Homeless Solutions.

RACHEL MILNE: Everything that we offer will definitely be voluntary. We're not forcing anyone to go anywhere.

DORMAN: Milne says the city is taking people to shelters and exploring creating a safe outdoor space for those who can't or don't want to go indoors.

MILNE: Moving forward, the big change is that folks will not be able to go back to the street once we've cleaned it.

DORMAN: Back on the street, Sarah Bass says the shelters people were being taken to yesterday won't be enough.

MILNE: There are only two places that they're offering to put them, which are two shelters, and those places are going to fill up fast. And then what?

DORMAN: Standing⁷ outside a barricade⁸, former Zone resident Bonnie, who doesn't want to use her last name for safety reasons, wishes the community had more empathy.

BONNIE: Rather than turn your nose up to it, maybe try to help somebody.

DORMAN: Yesterday, the city only cleared out one of the several city blocks in The Zone. It plans to clear more but hasn't yet set a date.

For NPR News, I'm Kirsten Dorman in Phoenix.

1 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

5 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

6 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。