A key question facing Americans as the second Trump administration looms is this — for what purpose does Donald Trump see tariffs?
Editorials
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 ...
Record revenue projected, but record need lies in wait
Oregon’s December revenue forecast — which the Legislature will be using as a budgeting guide during the long odd-year session set to convene 11 days hence — promises to support a $39.3 ...
Looking back instructive, looking ahead constructive
In Monday’s news space, we indulged in the deeply rooted newspaper tradition of looking back on the past year to assess its challenges, breakthroughs, warnings and revelations after the fact, in ...
Oregon's new laws call more for fine-tuning than retooling
Every new year ushers in a gusher of new laws, all across the country, from West Coast to East. It just comes with the season, as surely as pumpkins at Halloween and turkeys at Thanksgiving. Like New ...
Danger signals on rec bond suggest a pause to reassess
There’s always a good time to lock up land for future development, and it’s always right now, as far in advance as possible. If you don’t, you’ll inevitably find on down the road ...
County's OMI purchase promises big dividends
The lead headline on last Friday’s front page, “County to buy OMI campus,” serves to answer an editorial call we’ve been sounding for more than 20 years now. If we had to reduce ...
To fluoridate or desist rises to the fore again
A movement fueled by dentists and dental health researchers in the 1930s and ‘40s led the Michigan city of Grand Rapids to begin fluoridating its water in 1945. By 1960, 50 million Americans were ...
Supermajorities in the offing: let's see they aren't abused
Marion County’s House District 22, which encompasses Woodburn, Gervais, Brooks and the northern reaches of Salem, is arguably the most distinctive legislative district in the state. It has also been ...
YCAP performs key function demanding support from all
The Yamhill County Board of Commissioners appeared to solve a major interagency communications problem last week — at least for the immediate future — with allocation of $650,000 in federal ...
Floodplain hue and cry much ado about very little
A July notice from the Federal Emergency Management Agency imposed a Dec. 1 deadline on Oregon cities and counties for adoption of updated flood management regulations. The local jurisdictions are saying ...
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: Jan. 17, 2025
Lamenting lanes loss A Joni Mitchell lyric in the song “Big Yellow Taxi” warns, “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” That will be true this ...
Letters to the editor: Jan. 10, 2025
Signage blizzard redux? Don’t count Lindsay Berschauer out just because she lost her re-election bid to Bubba King. There’s a rumor circulating that she plans on running again in about 18 ...
Letters to the Editor: Jan. 3, 2025
Clear the way Since the Yamhelas Westsider Trail right of way is owned by the county, we ask the county to clear the brambles so county residents can walk sections of the trail and judge for themselves ...
Letters to the Editor: Dec. 27, 2024
Alternate facts I was having a conversation with an office mate last week when I violated one of the third-rail rules: Never talk religion or politics at the office. I waded in because I thought we could ...
Letters to the Editor: Dec. 6, 2024
Another option I agree with Erik Halstead that a roundabout at the junction of Highway18 and the Lafayette Highway is a poor solution. A grade-separated intersection would be ideal, but is unlikely to ...
Letters to the Editor: Nov. 29, 2024
Mad in McMinnville I’m mad. Mad as hell. Today we learned that the murderer of Laken Riley was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole. He should have been executed. I, for ...
Letters to the Editor: Nov. 8, 2024
Taxed to death I was reading the article about the homeless saying they are being ignored. As a hardworking taxpayer, I am tired of my property taxes increasing. Nothing is free. That money has to come ...
Letters to the Editor: Oct. 25, 2024
Better grasp Relatively new here, I’ve made it a priority to understand how our city operates. Having met Mayor Remy Drabkin several times, I’ve been impressed with her professionalism, dedication ...
Letters to the Editor: Oct. 18, 2024
Leader we need Having known Kim Morris for many years, I’ve witnessed her dedicated leadership as the founder of the McMinnville Community Task Force. Kim has actively listened to and supported ...
Commentary
Ken Dollinger: Hatch and release
With help of volunteers, local students look after salmon and trout from eggs to fry stage
Whatchamacolumn: City budget transparency faces information overload
A newly constituted McMinnville City Council took office on Tuesday, that following Saturday’s council goal-setting retreat. Along the way, discussion of the sprawling city budget produced an interesting ...
Letter to readers: Firefighters are all about a quick response time
Trying to reach people for comment, questions or confirmation of something is a daily routine for reporters and can sometimes be frustrating when it’s a deadline day and you just need that one last ...
Investigating the Bible: Overcoming discrimination
Jan. 20, 2025, honors Martin Luther King Jr. In one of his sermons he said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” In the Old Testament is a story of racism and how a brave woman and man intervened with God’s help to stop the evil.
Scott Gibson: Trump love affair with tariffs could end up wielding havoc
A key question facing Americans as the second Trump administration looms is this — for what purpose does Donald Trump see tariffs?
Quirk: On College Ave., a vacant house, a cinderblock structure and a Villa
Somewhat coincidentally (for those things are elemental to Quirk) this week’s focus begins just around the corner from last week’s entries, on College Avenue at Linfield University. Quirk ...
Letter to Readers: ’24 Hours: A look back at last year’s cycle of round-the-clock stories
This was a series that made the clock come alive. The News-Register started ‘24 Hours on Jan. 15, 2024, and concluded the series on Dec. 18, 2024: We told 24 separate stories about life in Yamhill ...
Offbeat Oregon: Soggy, primitive Hug Point Road may have saved Oregon beaches
Sometime around 1908, a resident of south Clatsop County — probably from the hamlet of Arch Cape — got sick and tired of dealing with Hug Point, and decided to do something about it. It was ...
Randy Stapilus: What turned the 5th blue? Anatomy of a House flip
Although Oregon mostly held to its usual political patterns this election, that doesn’t mean nothing changed. The pre-eminent example of change came in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, ...
Whatchamacolumn: Scammers come at us every day in every way
Here’s a disquieting New Year’s thought: Every day, in every way, criminals are preying on vulnerable people via phone, mail, texts, email; all manner of print, digital, video and audio misrepresentations; ...
Quirk of the Week: Looking back at the Quirk that got away
This week we take up where Calendar of Quirk left off at the end of 2024. We rebrand it Quirk of the Week (clever, that!) because, generally, we’ll look at just one Quirk at a time, or a few that ...
Investigating the Bible: New insight, new behavior
The late Stephen Covey, in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” described his experience on a New York subway when a man and his young children boarded. The children began to run around, being loud and rude to all the passengers.
Barrett Rainey: It takes shared commitment to foster renewal in America
What will we be like — what will this nation be like — on the other side?
Whatchamacolumn: Family displays Oregon drug treatment failures
We can only wonder how John Kyle Donnahoo was available for criminal duty two weeks ago in Newberg, with charges now including robbery, kidnapping, coercion, theft, unlawful weapon and delivery of a controlled ...
Letter to Readers: Jimmy Carter, a man of peace, will be long remembered
I wrote the following letter to readers in February 2023, when former President Jimmy Carter entered hospice care and was expected to die soon. He lived almost two more years, outliving his wife, Rosalynn, ...
Investigating the Bible: What about resolutions?
Many of us make resolutions this time of the year. Johnny Hart, the artist of the B.C. comic strip, drew a cartoon with two ants talking: First Ant–”This year I resolve to quit gambling.” Second Ant–”You’ll never keep it.” First Ant–”You wanna bet?” Harmful addictions and behaviors are hard to drop. The Bible is the textbook for Christian resolutions.
Whatchamacolumn: Looking backward is necessary for looking forward
Another year gone, another to come. It’s been the same for 2,070 years of the Julian Calendar, 45 B.C. to 1582, and Gregorian Calendar ever since. And while the Gregorian is off by about 43 minutes ...
Nir Kshetrig: Ghost guns a growing threat both in the U.S. and abroad
Police investigating the Dec. 4 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson say the suspect used a 3D-printed gun. Several high-profile crimes in recent years have involved this kind of homemade weapon.
Christine Bader: Personalized holiday cards kindle cherished connections
Growing up in the 1970s and ’80s, my family would visit our local bookstore every January and pick up boxes of deeply discounted holiday cards. In December, we’d dig them out of the back of the closet, write notes inside them to friends and family, address the envelopes, lick the stamps, and deposit them in our corner mailbox.
Calendar of Quirk: St. Nick lore, ‘shot skis’ and steampunk taps conclude the year of Quirk
How else could Calendar of Quirk complete its year except with some Santa Claus and some steampunk? Here’s the final week’s set, with a few last Yuletide trimmings leading the way: Dec. 25 ...
