Jeb Bladine: Snippets of useful news at the end of summer
Here’s another occasional episode of “News You Can Use” (NYCU) – snippets of information sprinkled with small bits of gratuitous comment, offered during this annual transition time ...
Free District of Columbia from military occupation
On Aug. 11 of 2025, Donald Trump ordered the secretary of defense to mobilize the D.C. National Guard to combat what he claimed was “an epidemic of crime in our nation’s capital,” even though earlier that year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office had announced crime there had fallen to a 30-year low. In fact, according to the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime had declined 26% the previous year alone.
Mark Olalde and Jimmy Tobias: Public land grazing overhaul brushes public interest aside
About the writers: Mark Olalde covers environmental issues in the American Southwest for ProPublica. He previously held staff posts with The Desert Sun, Arizona Republic and Center for Public Integrity ...
Jonah Goldberg: Beware the moral panic on AI centers
Don’t look now, but we seem to have a moral panic on our hands.
Investigating the Bible: Words count
Johnny Cash nicknamed his drummer, W.S. Holland, “Fluke”; all his successes seemed to come by luck. However, Fluke’s luck nearly ran dry in San Francisco. With Johnny Cash and his wife, ...
Quirk of the Week: McMinnville rocks
A collection of strange sights this week from around McMinnville: call them streetside distractions, starting with a rich collection of items seen in southeast McMinnville (and, full disclosure, in the ...
Jeb Bladine: If city council can’t consider safety, who can?
The last time I testified before McMinnville City Council related to a proposed hotel project that would have replaced three Third Street buildings, including two owned by our family. The project included ...
Kirby Neumann-Rea: Pesto memories
Savoring the early days of Nick’s, a Willamette Valley culinary capital newly closed
Investigating the Bible: Success hidden in failure
In August 1976, Ronald Reagan needed 1,140 votes to win the Republican presidential nomination. At the end of the night, he lost to Gerald Ford, the incumbent, who won by a small margin. As their campaign ...
Jonah Goldberg: Everyone's touting affordability that they can't deliver
Remember the “affordability” mania of 2025?
A young, charismatic democratic socialist candidate for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, became a viral sensation that year. His secret? “Affordability.”
Quirk of the Week: The Grand Tour
This week we honor Grand Island, a land close by but set apart, a place full of Quirk to go with its quiet dignity and bucolic abundance. Two brief, recent mentions are all we’ve had from this area ...
Nathan Weyand: What does America deserve?
I have made an exercise of asking people I meet what they think America deserves. The answers range.
Erma Vasquez: Have we lost our way? Let's honor our values
About the writer: After many years as a teacher and social worker, Erma Vasquez capped her career serving as director of the Oregon Youth Authority. She makes her home in McMinnville with her husband, ...
Jonah Goldberg: Try voting on basis of character
I often am asked for my advice on how to vote. I’m the first to concede these requests come from a very niche slice of the electorate — that tiny remnant of people who know who I am, value my opinion and share my exasperation with both parties.
Jeb Bladine: New systems identify and track moving vehicles
Thirty-year-old technology designed to help police identify license plates has evolved into controversy over allegations that vast, warrantless databases of vehicle movements amount to continuous surveillance ...
