Steve Duin: Exodus of major corporations leaving barren wake in Oregon
You might think Don Vollum would have made peace by now with the slow vanishing of Oregon-based corporations.
Then came the March announcement that the new owners of Tektronix would move the headquarters of Oregon’s legendary technology company from its Beaverton campus to Raleigh, N.C.
Yara Asi: Israeli policies are creating catastrophic starvation risk
After 18 months of punishing raids, airstrikes and increasingly restrictive siege in Gaza, the United Nations issued an urgent warning in late May about the ongoing humanitarian crisis. It estimated 14,000 babies were at risk of starvation without an immediate influx of substantial aid, especially food.
Jeb Bladine: Tragic Texas flooding delivers universal lesson
Today’s instant multi-media bounces our eyes, ears and brains fleetingly from one disaster to the next, assaulting our senses and emotions, then moving on. In the wake of those continual reports, ...
Investigating the Bible: Serenity in suffering
The Serenity Prayer is a tradition in the Alcoholics Anonymous organization: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” One man in the Old Testament learned serenity through painful life setbacks.
Quirk of the Week: Still missing the big picture
The weekly focus on Quirk continues what feels like a multi-week arc involving public art. The works are all around us and, as creative expression, are often imbued with charm and other odd aspects. And ...
Charles House: City, state, college helped blaze trails in electronics
About the writer: Charles House, then HP’s corporate engineering director, first visited McMinnville in 1983. He was drawn by contributions of the HP McMinnville Division team, successor to FEMCOR, ...
Jeb Bladine: Constitutional ideals gain holiday importance
President Donald Trump in January ordered a suspension of asylum access at the southern U.S. border. On Wednesday, July 2, a U.S. District Court judge from Washington, D.C., declared Trump’s January ...
Kirby Neumann-Rea: Should we not ask if fascism could, indeed, happen here?
About the writer: Longtime Oregon journalist Kirby Neumann-Rea retired earlier this year as managing editor of the News-Register. But he keeps his fingers nimble on the keyboard, his mind nimble at the ...
Investigating the Bible: Freedom neglected
Alice Day wrote in the Reader’s Digest about her state trooper husband who stopped a motorist for speeding. The man quickly admitted he had exceeded the posted speed limit, but still insisted on a court hearing. On his day in court, the state trooper was present and watched as the man pled guilty and then happily paid his fine.
Billy J. Stratton: Danger lies not in AI robots, but in human programmers
In 2014, Stephen Hawking voiced grave warnings about the threat of artificial intelligence.
Investigating the Bible: Life in heaven
A little boy walked along a path with his mother one early evening near their home in the country. He looked intently at tall trees, flowers, and nearby homes. When they stopped to rest, he gazed up into the sky.
Jeb Bladine: Politics deals defeat to news-sustaining plan
Initially slim hopes of sustaining Oregon newsrooms with “big tech” dollars sprouted with 2025 evolution of SB 686 in the Oregon Legislature. Tuesday, those hopes were dashed after a flurry ...
Quirk of the Week: Taking a sidelong glance at odd sights, some fortunately fleeting
Quirk has always been about some things gone sideways, in good ways. Yet, at a year-and-a-half into the chronicling of Quirk in this publication, this is a good time to examine sideways as … not ...
Gary Conkling: Tariffs won't reshore jobs because they never left
About the writer: Gary Conkling started writing stories as a child and publishing them on his own hand-cranked printing press. Little did he know digital technology would make it possible to repeat the ...
Jeb Bladine: Oregon likely to change tourism funding split
Chaos and angst are among this week’s catchwords in Salem as the Oregon Legislature approaches mandatory adjournment by June 29 amid rumors that legislators may leave town by early next week. One ...
