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, ...
Editorials
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 ...
We need to all pull as one to solve our housing crisis
Oregon has been caught in the grip of an escalating housing crisis for at least 10 years now. As a result, it has become one of the least-affordable states in the nation for both home ownership and apartment ...
Trying to draw some lessons from Robert Pamplin demise
It’s easy to celebrate the downfall of a liar, cheat, bully and philanderer — an evil force setting out to trample anyone getting in the way of his wanton plundering. But Robert B. Pamplin ...
Dayton Landing transfer would best serve public
For centuries on our nation’s Eastern Seaboard and Midwest Heartland, cities tended to treat rivers as gritty industrial alleyways out back instead of scenic recreational boulevards out front. And ...
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: 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 ...
Letters to the Editor: Feb. 7, 2025
Save our democracy Most of the world, like me, was shocked when Trump won the election. I hoped he would be a better president this time, but that hope was soon dashed. He is the same arrogant, vindictive ...
Letters to the Editor: Jan. 31, 2025
Mail balloting attack Many people have been attempting to blame Kamala Harris’ loss in the 2024 Presidential election on one group of people or another, thus further dividing us. The actual culprit ...
Letters to the Editor: Jan. 24, 2025
Transit looking up Thank you, Cynthia Thompson and the Yamhill County commissioners, for approving a two-year plan to use state funding to improve local public transportation. Adding more routes between ...
Commentary
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, ...
Investigating the Bible: Recognize anger, don’t bury it
Anger is usually easy to recognize. Sociologists found that anger’s facial expression is universal. They traveled to a remote tribe in New Guinea and their photograph of an angry native man showed a furrowed brow and clenched jaw. When seen in others or felt ourselves, the Bible offers guidance on anger.
Quirk of the Week: Running the table of element-inspired names
It’s a case of widespread Quirk this week — the large number of local businesses named for earth, wood, water and other elements. We mean from the soil to the sky: literally, from The Ground ...
Whatchamacolumn: Trump creating needed jobs in national media
As a news reporter, Donald Trump would be warned and monitored, then fired; as a newspaper editorial writer, he simply would be terminated for cause. But as president of the United States, he is creating ...
Anna Marrant Barsotti: Lamenting loss of rangers to unlock nature's wonders
I was recently at the beach, just approaching the Yaquina Head visitor booth, when a “hydrologic event” hit. The ranger apologized that the normal hours had been shortened, as half of the frontline ...
Investigating the Bible: A child became the teacher
Draymond Green is a six-foot-six-inch powerhouse player on the Golden State Warriors. For his many fights, fouls, and floppings (pretending to be fouled), he was indefinitely suspended by the NBA.
Quirk of the Week: Yoda, Barbie, Buzz and Mickey charm kids, and staff, at local Bottle Drop
Rows of familiar faces — dinosaurs, monkeys, princesses, trolls, ponies, dogs, hedgehogs, and more — are found in an unlikely place in McMinnville. But it’s not a toy store, collectibles ...
Barrett Rainey: Echoes sound from detention of young Japanese classmates
A long time ago — 1942 to be exact — I was in the second grade at East Wenatchee Grade School in Washington. Remember your second-grade classroom? A wall of windows, a wall of blackboards. ...
Whatchamacolumn: Yet another raid on legal notices in newspapers
It’s time for the annual raid on legal notices that have been published in Oregon newspapers for more than 150 years — the subject of a full-page display in today’s News-Register. In ...
The Conversation: Motorists of color still stopped more frequently
By WENFEI XU, DAVID LEVINSON, MICHAEL SMART & NEBIYOU TILAHUNA team of university researchers Traffic stops by Chicago police have more than doubled over the past nine years in what the American Civil ...
Investigating the Bible: Age doesn't matter
By DAVID CARLSON PASTOR Two older women were in line for movie tickets and requested the senior citizen discount. When they started to look in their purses for their driver’s licenses, the ...
Starla Pointer: Alone with my thoughts, invited to record them
For the first time in ages, I could pay attention to the voices in my head — a very good thing. Instead of being distracted by daily life or my work — which I love; don’t get me wrong ...
Whatchamacolumn: Actual numbers belie claims of ‘massive mandate’
It was no surprise to see protest rallies nationwide on Presidents’ Day, or as activists proclaimed, “Not My President’s Day.” Demonstrations, including those in Portland and Salem, ...
