My brother, Tim, died a few weeks ago at the age of 69.
He’d been diagnosed with bile duct cancer that had metastasized to his liver. He was gone in less than two months, so quickly he didn’t even have the chance to try chemotherapy in hopes of buying him some more time
Editorials
Garvin fits the mold as interim manager of the city
Before being named city manager in McMinnville in 2017, Jeff Towery had already served four tours in upper-level city management posts, dating back 30 years. He had also earned a master’s degree ...
Fair has come a long way to enjoy sustained success
In previewing this year’s edition of the Yamhill County Fair & Rodeo with the Board of Commissioners last week, Manager Gary Wertz said: “Oregon’s oldest fair is ready for you. Just ...
County takes first step in making parks a priority
Imagine, if you will, an alternative universe where the Yamhill County Parks system included: - The Stuart Grenfell Park County Campground, attracting RVers and others to West Valley for overnight ...
Airport finally taking flight in the skies over City Hall
The future has never looked brighter for the 650-acre, dual-runway airfield the city inherited from the military in 1943, at a time when World War II was still raging in both the European and Pacific theaters. Over ...
Massive mixed-use venture moving to forefront in Mac
Fasten your seat belts, McMinnville dwellers. You will soon be hearing and seeing a lot about another major local development project — one the city council got its first formal look at in conceptual ...
Legislators left a mess that demands a prompt cleanup
The Oregon Legislature opened this year’s session with three tasks towering over the rest: - Balancing the budget in the face of worrisome economic slippage and continued economic uncertainty. - Developing ...
City gets budget passed; bond showdown up next
The McMinnville City Council laid one contentious financial issue to quiet, anticlimactic rest Tuesday night — a proposed $121,454,284 budget for the new fiscal year it will be ushering in next week. The ...
Immigration raids violating our nation's proud heritage
As long as federal immigration policy remains nothing more than fare for political debate in Washington, D.C., it may seem a matter of little consequence to people immersed in their daily routines in other ...
N-R editorial: Jobless benefits for strikers violates standard of fairness
Extending unemployment benefits to striking workers in both the public and private sectors — a national first the Oregon Legislature now seems poised to sign off on — is a bridge too far for ...
Cool heads and wise choices called for in manager search
Jeff Towery’s decision to leave McMinnville after putting in a bit over eight years as city manager here, presents the community with both a challenge and an opportunity. We hope local leaders will ...
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: Aug. 8, 2025
Our Mad King Tyrants can’t handle the truth. They invent their own version, insist their subjects subscribe to it and punish those who refuse to go along. One of the first jobs of an up-and-coming ...
Letters to the Editor: Aug. 1, 2025
A special place I recently received literature from Henderson House indicating President Trump’s administration has proposed a 50% cut in assistance for domestic violence. My sister, Mary Henderson, ...
Letters to the Editor: July 25, 2025
Better with less Regarding the article from July 18 about the county parks situation, which raises some questions and need for comment. First, ask us if we want more parks and are willing to pay for ...
Letters to the Editor: July 18, 2025
Stuck with bill I watched the president talking about tariffs on TV. He said the United States had collected somewhere in the neighborhood of $65 billion from his tariffs so far. He said this was money ...
Letters to the Editor: July 11, 2025
The true picture Open letter to Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano: Poverty does not equate with stupidity, Mr. Bisignano. Those of us living chiefly on Social Security are not ...
Letters to the Editor: July 3, 2025
Fireworks sanctuary? Open letter to McMinnville mayor and council: Please seriously consider a total ban on sale and use of all fireworks within the city limits — year around. Please seriously ...
Letters to the Editor: June 27, 2025
World beyond war About 10 years ago, I took on an extensive research project to learn more about America’s wars — how they came to be, the background on both sides, the cost on both sides, ...
Letters to the Editor: June 20, 2025
Who will be next? I attended the McMinnville “No Kings” protest on June 14. I was happy to see so many people standing up against tyranny. Now what? We have so much more to do. We can start ...
Letters to the Editor: June 13, 2025
Putter in place What if they throw their “really big show” and no one shows up? What if all those who would protest against the parade get really smart. Instead of walking into a set-up that ...
Commentary
Quirk of the Week: Curiosities found in Gaston and north Yamhill County
One more north Yamhill County tour of Quirk, starting with a brief journey in and around Gaston (as promised): Checking these out might come with a visit to the 28th annual Wapato Car Showdown and related ...
Stephanie Baker: I lost my brother to our broken health care system
My brother, Tim, died a few weeks ago at the age of 69.
He’d been diagnosed with bile duct cancer that had metastasized to his liver. He was gone in less than two months, so quickly he didn’t even have the chance to try chemotherapy in hopes of buying him some more time
Jeb Bladine: Banks add fraud warnings to cash withdrawals
Banking customers, of course, can withdraw small or large amounts of cash from their accounts. However, in today’s world fraught with fraud, banks have adopted new communications seeking to warn ...
Investigating the Bible: Contentment in all circumstances
Chip and Joanna Gaines, of Waco, Texas, are founders of the home décor business, Magnolia Market. Joanna likes perfection. She explained in her book, “The Magnolia Story,” that when their four children were young, she plopped down to rest on their old sofa with the new white slipcover: “I made the mistake of looking down. My beautiful, brand-new, snowy-white slipcover was covered in little black fingerprints.”
Kirby Neumann-Rea: Is Mac truly trapped in time, or is it just the travel writer?
“McMinnville looks like something out of a Christmas card and its history dates back to the mid-1800s. McMinnville’s picture-perfect Third Street is lined with buildings built between the late 1800s and early 1900s.”
Mel Gustov: Scientific research is being gutted in the U.S.
There was a time not too long ago when American scientists and research facilities were the envy of the world. In those days, our scientists typically swept Nobel and other international prizes.
Jeb Bladine: Palestinian state? AI assists in report of debate
Heart-breaking images of starvation in Gaza are at least reminiscent of unspeakable modern-era examples of genocide described at www.genocideeducation.org. The stakes of that debate expanded this week ...
Investigating the Bible: Assumptions and facts
In the Reader’s Digest, Don Jentleson explained that he gave his 16-year-old son a prepaid cellphone and asked him to use it if he was ever out beyond his curfew. One Saturday evening, Jentleson dozed off in front of the TV and awoke beyond his son’s curfew time, with no sign of him and no call. He was irate. He called his son’s number and demanded, “Where are you and why didn’t you call?”
Quirk of the Week: Weird yard art keeps surprising
Following a few weeks of Quirk-diversions into the gone, the returned, the awry — or somewhere between — let’s settle into a happy look at things one can definitely see. These are bright ...
Rep. Cyrus Javad: SNAP and Medicaid 'freeloaders'? Are you talking about me?
Let’s begin with a little honesty: If you’re picturing an “illegal immigrant” lounging on a couch, collecting food stamps while dodging Border Patrol and watching Netflix, you’ve probably been lied to, or at least misled by too many Facebook memes.
Jeb Bladine: Evolving message for city rec bond: It’s time!
Voters will decide in November if McMinnville will develop a new community recreation and aquatic center overlooking Joe Dancer Park — a proposal supplemented by improvements to other civic facilities. Finally, ...
Arlyce Menzies: ‘American poor’ not a past to welcome back
I grew up poor. That is, American poor.
I fantasized about food at night — mashed potatoes, buttery dinner rolls, raspberry cheesecake. I would wake up and imagine a breakfast of strawberry waffles with whipped cream and cold orange juice, then talk myself toward accepting what I knew was actually there — toast with peanut butter and usually milk — as my dad did not tolerate ungratefulness.
Investigating the Bible: Truth and consequences
There’s a story in Reader’s Digest’s “Life in These United States” of a couple who enjoyed their drive along a Pennsylvania turnpike for its bucolic landscape views.
Quirk of the Week: Winging it, with a first or last look at the here and gone or back again
Quirk can be that which was here and gone — or just goes on display. “Greetings from 1986” reads the sign on a Reagan-era Mackintosh Plus monitor seen at Primisys computers. The display ...
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.
Jeb Bladine: McMinnville's founder left an interesting will
We newspaper people tend to be packrats of history. It shows in our weekly “Memory Lane” articles, “Vintage N-R” photographs and backroom stacks of newspapers dating into the 1800s. ...
Marian Rose Lucas: Lack of empathy is heartless and cruel
Open letter to Yamhill County Commissioner Mary Starrett:
I am writing in response to your incredibly offensive and completely out of touch statements regarding the locally devastating federal cuts to SNAP and Medicaid as a result of Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Investigating the Bible: Misusing the Bible
There was a woman who was very devout in her faith. She wanted to follow God’s will every day and she asked God to lead her. To receive his answer, she’d close her eyes, open her Bible, flip through the pages and place her finger on a random page.
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.
