While crossing the street on a recent visit to San Francisco, I looked up on one of that city’s steep iconic steep hills and saw a car heading straight for me with nobody at the wheel. I leaped back toward the curb, then started on across the street as the driverless car glided to a smooth stop and waited for me to use the crosswalk.
Editorials
Sideline holdouts forfeit say about way game is played
In a June 19 letter to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, nine Senate Republicans proclaimed, “It is essential that we work together to find solutions that benefit all Oregonians,” ...
Don't look to the courts; we're in this on our own
In the end, the wait for Supreme Court clarification of the legality of outdoor camping by the homeless, via a case arising from the Southern Oregon community of Grants Pass, produced a lot more waiting ...
Multnomah poster child for failed drug policies
Oregon’s unsuccessful experiment with decriminalization of user-quantity possession of hard drugs was put out of its three years of abject misery last year via passage of HB 4002. At least it was ...
Summer festival season offers opportunities to get involved
If you missed McMinnville’s annual UFO Festival, a mid-May fixture in these parts since 1999, not to worry. The doings, which drew thousands of elaborately costumed space-alien look-a-likes to town, ...
Woes befalling Newberg should sound alarms here
Any time political and ideological purity become the coin of the realm in local school and city affairs, making qualifications, competence, character, experience and integrity all but irrelevant, disaster ...
The skies aren't falling but the trees sure are
We love our downtown trees. That is, we do as long as they don’t grow too tall, shed too many leaves, create too much mess, clog too many gutters, bust up too many sidewalks or threaten too many ...
No asset in the area offers more potential than airport
McMinnville Municipal Airport is nearing the mid-point of a two-year process designed to produce a new 20-year master plan to guide its future development. And as at least 20-year advocates of greater ...
Sober-minded moderation prevails at polls this time
There was a time when candidates like David “Bubba” King, flirting with an outright win in Tuesday’s three-way Yamhill County commission primary, fit the Republican Party mold like a ...
We don't see urgency in new stormwater program
City officials were met with “anger, interruptions and walkouts,” our story recounted, when they set out last week to engage the public on the proposed three-year phase-in of a new stormwater ...
No reason the county can't look long-term
Last week, the Yamhill County Budget Committee slashed $615,000 from the allocation for Health & Human Services Director Lindsey Manfrin, with whom two commissioners have clashed frequently. It refused ...
Letters
News-Register Letters Policy
The News-Register welcomes written opinions about issues of public interest and about the content of this newspaper. Letters from non-local writers are accepted only if they focus on local issues. Letters ...
Letters to the Editor: June 28, 2024
Fewer screens My grandmother taught me years ago that friendships sustain us, and I wouldn’t trade mine for the world. The youth of McMinnville need to make the real lasting friendships that so ...
Letters To The Editor: June 14, 2024
Long live the trees I enjoyed the recent editorial titled, “The skies aren’t falling, but the trees sure are.” The editorial was informative and well-written.I’d like to add one ...
Letters To The Editor: June 7, 2024
A clear winner There was one clear winner in Yamhill County’s recent election: apathy. In a state where it could not be easier to vote, a turnout percentage in the 30s, as of June 1, is pathetically ...
Letters to the Editor: May 31, 2024
Safe and secure For the past 16 years, through five presidential elections now, I have served the office of the Yamhill County clerk in every position in the processing of ballots.Currently I am part ...
Letters to the Editor: May 24, 2024
Fix the streets I read the recent editorial regarding the stormwater funding proposals and found it very informative. I did not realize that action by the state of Oregon could be further in the future ...
Letters to the Editor: May 17, 2024
Nothing accomplished Almost two years ago, County Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer survived her recall election by approximately 1,600 votes. The people who voted for Lindsay should ask themselves what ...
Letters to the Editor: May 10, 2024
Much at stake The May election is coming up. Ballots have been mailed and candidates are clamoring for your vote. But will you vote? Why vote in May? The big election is in November, right? Wrong! It’s ...
Letters to the Editor: May 3, 2024
The healthy choice I am writing as a concerned member of Yamhill County as well as a retired RN with more than 25 years of experience in a community hospital. I have been a resident of Yamhill County ...
Letters to the Editor: April 26, 2024
Right the wrong Our Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center is a community health care organization in Yamhill County, composed of doctors, dentists, nurses, behavioral health providers and others. We ...
Commentary
Autoimmune breakthrough holds phenomenol promise
In my 40 years of practicing medicine, I’ve been privileged to have a front-row seat to therapeutic advances surpassed only by the medical revolutions of vaccines, anesthesia and antibiotics.
Goldschmidt ‘what if’ almost 40 years later
I am a little torn about what to do with one of the mugs at my desk. Not the A&W float glass or the Linfield University one. Those I keep. This is a thrift shop purchase, a faded item dating to the ...
Whatchamacolumn: Dangerous curves on Highway 130 need guard rails
Direct to the point: The sharp curves at Upton Falls along Little Nestucca River Road — Oregon 130 — should have protective guardrails installed to prevent driver deaths. I’ve thought ...
Calendar of Quirk: Short glimpses of northeast McMinnville with its unlikely neighbors, mazes and quiet spaces
The “Compass” of Quirk turns northeast of McMinnville, after some recent southside McMinnville entries. The area just northeast of town beyond city limits is an area of Quirk strata, as highways ...
Whatchamacolumn: Surrounding the Fourth of July with political debate
This week’s column, written and published via e-edition on July 3, goes into a newspaper issue dated July 5 for mailed delivery in print on Friday. We thus are surrounding the 4th of July after experiencing ...
Calendar of Quirk: Quirk list at its midpoint is scratching the surface of unusual yard art
Calendar of Quirk reaches its midpoint with a look back, and a look around at … … Quirk that had come and gone before we could list it, such as the double-sided U.S./Oregon flag that flew ...
Mark Davis: Cut the gasoline, then the asphalt and driver
While crossing the street on a recent visit to San Francisco, I looked up on one of that city’s steep iconic steep hills and saw a car heading straight for me with nobody at the wheel. I leaped back toward the curb, then started on across the street as the driverless car glided to a smooth stop and waited for me to use the crosswalk.
Archibald-Pannone: Elder fraud soaring to epidemic proportions
By LAURIE ARCHBALD-PANNONEOf the University of Virginia Medical School Americans 60 and older lost more than $3 billion to scammers in 2023, according to the FBI. As a geriatrician — a doctor who ...
Investigating the Bible: Picturing a humble nation on the Fourth
There’s a fable of an elephant and a flea who walked together across an old wooden bridge. When they reached the other side, the flea said to the elephant, “Boy, did we shake that thing!” Human tendency is toward pride, neglecting the contributions of others. One powerful king of Israel humbly recognized his need for God and lived by that truth.
Investigating the Bible: Tests, temptations, and evil for eternity
A religious man faced some strong temptation. The enticement was winning, since he prayed, “Please Lord, give me strength to resist this temptation, but not now!” On any drive to a local store, there can be something lurking to wedge into our weaknesses: Breaking the speed limit, alcohol, tobacco, unhealthy foods, gambling, road rage, and much more. And we may face painful difficulties or illness. Jesus gave his followers a prayer that responds to the challenge of temptations and troubles.
Conkling & McCormick: Changing student needs demand funding change
Large Oregon school districts are cutting millions of dollars from their budgets, which translates into significant cuts in personnel and thus larger class sizes, as state funding has failed to keep pace with rising inflation and expanding expectations.
Higgins and Bernard: Boost your immune system with age-old hack: vacccines
There are a dizzying number of tips, hacks and recommendations on how to stay healthy, from dietary supplements to what color of clothes promotes optimal wellness. Some are based on good evidence, thus helpful, while others are not.
Whatchamacolumn: Ticketmaster and the ravages of cybercrime
Good things, said ancient Greek philosophers and Chinese numerologists, come in threes, and millennia of folklore added “bad things” to belief in that pattern. It has a name – apophenia ...
Calendar of Quirk: Graceful cedars, stained glass and ‘zines reflect the randomness of Quirk
We try to wrangle Quirk into geographical or topical connections, but the fact is that many are random elements — things we see around us unconnected to anything else. June 26 Imprinted in concrete ...
Letter to readers: Stevie can just sense the love
Stevie the orange tabby, who was named “best snuggler” in an Oregon competition and missed being named national favorite pet by a whisker, has a new mission: inspiring others who are blind. Stevie ...
Many countries have prosecuted ex-leaders
On May 30, a Manhattan jury convicted former President Donald Trump on charges he falsified business records related to the cover-up of his relationship with a porn star.
John Rickart: Oregon blazing trail for universal health care
Oregon took a significant step toward achieving universal healthcare in the state with passage of Senate Bill 1089 during the 2023 regular session.
Janice Allen: There should be a way to thwart malicious actions
There should be a way to challenge a majority vote. It would have come in really handy two years ago in stopping Dave Brown, Brian Shannon, Renee Powell, Raquel Peregrino de Brito and Trevor DeHart from crippling the Newberg School District.
Investigating the Bible: The rewards of honesty and price of lying
The country preacher said, “Brothers and sisters, my sermon this morning will be about liars. Now, has everyone read the 30th chapter of Matthew?” Half the hands in the congregation went up. “You’re just the people I want to talk to,” said the preacher. “There is no such chapter.”
Whatchamacolumn: What is 'Coolest Thing Made in Yamhill County'?
Oregon Business & Industry started the fun in 2023 with a new way to promote the state’s diverse manufacturing community. Thanks to McMinnville Economic Development Partnership and McMinnville ...
