The Northwest Power Planning Council was formed in 1981 in response to concerns in the area about the future availability of energy and the potential impact on power production on various business sectors and on the environment, especially fish runs.
Editorials
Reliable local transit a linchpin for many
We live in times marked by something akin to a crisis a day, if not an even more frantic crisis of the hour or minute. It’s so dizzying, it can numb us into a state of near paralysis. So one of ...
City's elected leaders facing times sure to try their souls
The hopes and dreams of passionate advocates have a bad habit of crashing into the realities of limited means, competing priorities and opposing views. Never has that seemed more evident, we must say, ...
Open, top-two primary would be good for what ails Oregon
Advocates of a top-two form of open primary, resembling those long serving to good effect in neighboring California to the south and Washington to the north, are taking a major run at it in the Oregon ...
Vollmer may overreach, but so does the sanction
Stories raising issues about when it may be appropriate for public officials to engage in the public process outside their core duties — and when that may seem disruptive, political, intimidating ...
Celebrating the good will still alive and well locally
For many people in Yamhill County — including, perhaps, most of the 49% who opposed presidential re-election of Donald Trump — the first few weeks of his new term have proven a disaster on ...
New fire district seems off to a sure-footed start
No social, commercial or governmental function remains static for very long, given the exponentially accelerating pace of today’s world. And that certainly includes the closely allied public safety ...
We can't just spend our way out of public defender crisis
Back in 2022, then Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, fed up with Oregon’s pathetic patchwork of a public defense system, sounded a cry of alarm over the resulting lack of criminal ...
City and county looking to state and federal partners
Cities and counties routinely seek help from their state and federal big brothers with larger projects for the constituencies they serve. And with new legislative and congressional sessions getting underway, ...
Oregon has lost its way on the educational front
A series of national public school learning assessments released recently paint a bleak picture for Oregon, despite an 80% increase in funding since state test scores peaked in 2013. Driven by such a ...
Rec plan review needs to reflect what's gone before
It was encouraging to see the way the reconstituted post-election city council came together to pause work on a major new municipal recreation complex for some soul-searching reassessment. The council ...
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. This ...
Letters to the Editor: April 11, 2025
Bread lines Historians now agree that it was not Marie Antoinette who uttered the famous line, “Let them eat cake.” It was actually Donald Trump. Stuart Gunness Sheridan Your help needed After ...
Letters to the Editor: April 4, 2025
Keep it natural As a resident of McMinnville living near Quarry Park, I am appalled the city is considering destroying a beautiful natural area by turning it into a BMX pump track. I notice other writers ...
Letters to the Editor: March 28, 2025
Healthy and wholesome As an educator, parent and youth bike coach, I’ve been saddened to read recent letters in opposition to bike trails at Quarry Park. The park is within walking and biking distance ...
Letters to the Editor: March 21, 2025
Melting down in Mac My daughter and I are from the Salem area. This was our third year attending the Meltdown fundraiser. This year, we went to eight places. We visited five on the first day, all in ...
Letters to the Editor: March 14, 2025
Cherish downtown Each day on my walks, I notice changes in town — more bathrooms closed, benches removed and public trash cans missing. In their place, overflowing trash and restricted spaces. Tennis ...
Letters to the Editor: March 7, 2025
Keep it natural I am a resident who lives near Quarry Park. I attended the Oct. 21 public information meeting regarding development of the park, presented by Susan Muir of the Parks Department and Lisa ...
Letters to the Editor: Feb. 28, 2025
Looking for answers On Sunday, I attended our junior senator’s town hall in Mac. Unfortunately, while the News-Register reported the questions asked at that meeting quite well, my questions were ...
Letters to the Editor: Feb. 21, 2025
Criminal collusion The recent “negotiations” between the Trump administration and Putin remind me of the Hitler-Stalin Pact of August 23, 1939. The pact gave carte blanche authorization for ...
Letters to the Editor: Feb. 14, 2025
Call to action We tell our kids, “Use your words.” No stomping, no piercing screams, when experiencing upset. Now is the time to follow our own advice. We need to pay attention to the destruction ...
Commentary
Randy Stapilus: Exploding electrical demand challenges region's capacity
The Northwest Power Planning Council was formed in 1981 in response to concerns in the area about the future availability of energy and the potential impact on power production on various business sectors and on the environment, especially fish runs.
Quirk of the Week: Pull up a chair and examine the odd seats of Linfield U
A couple weeks ago, QotW was all about things found on the move. This week, it’s all about sitting, at Linfield specifically. Seats, indoor and under cover, are our focus this week. I recently ...
Tarek Alexander Hassant: Trade deficit is actually sign of American strength
When President Donald Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on imported goods on April 2 – upending global trade and sending markets into a tailspin – he presented the move as a response to a crisis.
Whatchamacolumn: Learn about tariffs while waiting on the phone
Tariffs and Social Security are two excerpts from the world of Trumpism, which one political analyst describes as “what the president believes on any particular moment on any particular day about ...
Investigating the Bible: Faith of the famous
The United States has many Halls of Fame. Some are well known, like football’s in Canton or baseball’s in Cooperstown. Lesser known are the Robot Hall of Fame in the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburg, the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, the Gunfighters Hall of Fame in Tombstone, and the Idaho Potato Hall of Fame, of course in Blackfoot, Idaho. Our state has the Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor at the Evergreen Museum in McMinnville. The Bible has a Hall of Fame in the book of Hebrews.
Whatchamacolumn: It’s never too late to correct a factual error
Consider this column a much-belated correction impacting a current story that is generating local controversy. That story is the city of McMinnville’s prolonged plan to flip the former Ultimate RB ...
Investigating the Bible: Foolishness and wisdom
The snipe is a beautifully camouflaged bird with a Pinocchio beak. It inhabits marshlands in Europe, Asia, and New Zealand.
Quirk of the Week: A spin on a motley crew of local signs
A motley collection of signs serves as this week’s collection of Quirk. The list starts with a sign that no longer exists, at least not where it was photographed. Many will probably recall the beautifully ...
Ken Dollinger: Yearning for safe harbor in sea of political extremes
It is late at night, or maybe early in the morning, and my eyelids just popped open. My mind has started racing multiple thoughts around its mental track. Sleep is just not happening. One interesting ...
Whatchamacolumn: Career criminals play a role in budget deficits
McMinnville’s huge city budget deficit was on display this week, with officials trying to figure out why it evolved while grappling with how to respond. “I’m failing to understand,” ...
The Conversation: Trump's nonstop newsmaking threatens to drown out all else
By JENNIFER MERCIECA Of Texas A&M University Like many other news organizations, The Associated Press maintains a scrolling “live updates” page. It posts the latest from the administration ...
Whatchamacolumn: Caution urged with using Social Security chainsaw
Get ready for some numbers about Social Security and aging Americans — if you don’t care for statistics, you might consider skipping this article. First, let’s warm up with some figures ...
Quirk: ‘Visible spectrums,’ be they fleeting or ageless rainbows, add vivid local color
Talk of rainbows and pots of gold made the rounds this week. While no such discoveries were reported, some reliable rainbow sightings can be documented. It turns out that around McMinnville, a trove of ...
Barrett Rainey: Memories of icy Greenland belie the renewed interest
For me, the mention of that name brings back mixed memories. That’s because I spent 11 months and 14 days there some 65 years ago.
Investigating the Bible: Does each child have an angel?
Children surprise us. A young child had a school assignment. She asked her mother where she came from. Her mother said, “A stork brought you.”
She then asked, “Where did you come from, Mommy?” Her mother said, “I was found in a cabbage patch.”
The Conversation: Foundational scientific theory under attack in statehouses
Scientific theory has had a rough time in America’s public schools.
Almost 100 years ago, John Scopes was convicted of violating a Tennessee law prohibiting teaching the theory of evolution. Although his conviction was overturned on a technicality in 1927, laws banning classes on Darwin’s theory stuck around for another 40 years — until being ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1968.
Whatchamacolumn: Commentary comes easily in a turbulent world
When it comes to commentary, we are living in a target-rich environment. Let’s start local: If people contact authorities about a hybrid wolf pack prowling school playground areas and killing neighborhood ...
PeaceVoice: Good governance is a vital American value
By STEPHANIE GASIOR Growing up, my dad told me the best job I could ever have would be working for the government. He identified three clear reasons: stability, benefits and impact. Perhaps unsurprisingly, ...
Starla Pointer: Best of intentions need to be built into daily routine
I’ve had a few sunburns in my life, including while playing as a child and while covering afternoon graduations from seats on the track, rather than in the grandstand. But as a lifelong Oregonian, ...
