Kirby Neumann-Rea: '6 7' becomes digital era touchpoint
News item: “In-N-Out Burger has eliminated use of ‘67’ for orders in its restaurants, due to a viral meme causing disruptive outbursts when the number is called.” The list grows. We ...
Jeb Bladine: Step up in the resolution game: Adopt a cause
It has been a rare — and fleeting — opportunity to write columns in back-to-back print newspapers published on Christmas and New Years eves. Last week’s “Season of Hope” messages ...
Quirk of the Week: Operator, give us a number of year-end oddities
This year’s-end grab bag of revisits and newly found Quirk might give new meaning to “phoning it in.” Plenty of cool indoor items deserve a look this week, starting with an elephant. There’s ...
Commentary: Thanks where thanks is due
By LES HOWSDEN Things I have not been thankful for in 2025: - Blanket clemency for the almost 1,600 individuals convicted or awaiting sentencing in the Jan. 6 insurrection. - DOGE, which destroyed ...
Jonah Goldberg: How can we solve our scourge of crackpottery?
Candace Owens has a very popular internet show in which she trots out deranged conspiracies. Among other things, they include the demonic nature of Jews, the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk ...
Investigating the Bible: Big decisions
The new year brings new choices and resolutions for change. The gospels include a story about a big decision in the life of a young, rich ruler. It demonstrates three steps needed to follow Jesus. ...
Quirk of the Week: Wall full of mail in waffle haven of Amity
In Amity, waffles get a wall full of mail. Common Cup cafe upholds the old-school mail tradition of postcards. Owner Jeannie Coelho and staff encourage the community to keep in touch via postcard with ...
Barrett Rainey: These are just kids, or so it would seem
At my age of going on 90, it’s too late for a mid-life crisis. So, it must be a “late-life crisis,” coupled with occasional “senior interludes.”
Randy Stapilus: At college, is bigger better?
Willamette University is located across the street — State Street, in Salem — from the statehouse, and that has sometimes been a good metaphor for its status in Oregon.
Jeb Bladine: Before year in review, it’s still season of hope
Come New Years, media will look back at the most prominent stories of 2025, many of them disturbing reminders of sad news, bad weather, tragic events, and conflicts with local, state, national and international ...
Jonah Goldberg: Does either party want to win Senate race in Texas?
One of the worst features of the primary system in our polarized “Red vs. Blue” time is the tendency of primary voters to flock to the candidate they most want to see “destroy” the other party, not the candidate best positioned to do so.
Robert AppleBaum: Congress still deadlocked as health cost crisis looms
Dec. 15, 2025 — the deadline for enrolling in a marketplace plan through the Affordable Care Act for 2026 — came and went without an agreement on the federal subsidies that kept ACA plans more affordable for many Americans. Despite a last-ditch attempt in the House to extend ACA subsidies, with Congress adjourning for the year on Dec. 19, it’s looking almost certain that Americans relying on ACA subsidies will face a steep increase in health care costs in 2026.
Investigating the Bible: After Christmas
Catholic Priest James Keller wrote about an American teacher who traveled to Germany after WW II. He found a colorful and illustrated book of Christmas carols published by the Nazis. Not one song mentioned Jesus’ birth; they cut out the core of Christmas. Bible scholar William Barclay observed three reactions to the birth of Jesus.
Jeb Bladine: The two sides of 'Trump Derangement Syndrome'
A lifetime of television, film, and other media can make certain artists, athletes, actor-directors, politicians, and other public figures feel strangely personal —parasocial bonds with people we’ve ...
From the Conversation: COVID vaccines eyed for fighting late-stage cancer
By ADAM GRIPPINOf the University of Texas& CHRISTIANO MARCONIOf the University of Florida The COVID-19 mRNA-based vaccines that saved 2.5 million lives globally during the pandemic could help spark ...
