Epicureans have their excesses, but efforts to avoid pain and suffering have led to great advances

 

Editorials

 
Spirit of compromise fosters major breaktrhoughs in Salem

What a difference a year makes. Last year, rancor ruled throughout the 160 days set aside for odd-year legislative sessions in Oregon. Senate Republicans staged a walkout that halted work outright for ...

 
Community educational efforts key to countering youth suicide

“It takes a village to raise a child” is an ancient proverb originating with indigenous tribal cultures in West Africa. It’s based on the premise that successful child rearing requires ...

 
Is Hastings Village a model worth emulating around here?

An array of churches, schools, nonprofits and social service agencies manage, by tackling different aspects of the problem in a largely if loosely collaborative fashion, to do a lot to help the unhoused ...

 
Leave medical choices to us, without political interference

In democratic republics like ours, we rely on a broad array of guardrails, be they legislative, judicial, constitutional, moral, ethical or social in nature, to prevent political demagogues from seizing ...

 
Timing ups the ante for diversity and equity push

The city of McMinnville is riding a powerful state and regional tailwind, but bucking a powerful national headwind, in moving toward adoption of a comprehensive diversity, equity and inclusion program ...

 
Legislature feeling heat over homelessness and addiction

The Oregon Legislature embarked Monday on its most ambitious 35-day even-year short session ever. Housing, homelessness and addiction figure to dominate the agenda, but thorny budget issues, including ...

 
Keeping public in the dark eternally inviting for some

Here we go again. It seems government never learns. We refer to two hot new public records cases boiling up in Oregon.Typically, such cases involve a news outlet taking action in pursuit of a record the ...

 
Small step for Water & Light a big step for our community

The McMinnville Water & Light Commission unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding last week on the sale of a 27-acre Marsh Lane site to the city for a new recreation center — an edifice ...

News-Register file photo##McMenamins Hotel Oregon has been a symbol of downtown revitalization efforts that span many decades. Those efforts continue today.

 
Reflecting on downtown successes as Hotel Oregon celebrates anniversary

McMenamins has become an iconic corporation in the Northwest with its unique decor, abundance of entertainment options and penchant for giving new life to historic, abandoned buildings. Restoration and ...

News-Register file photo##The former Ultimate RB site, on Alpine Avenue between Northeast Eighth Street and Northeast 10th Avenue, now belongs to the city of McMinnville, which will be seeking development proposals for the property later this year.

 
City moving with purpose on Alpine redevelopment

When the late Ron Bogh bought John Klaus’ one-man tire recycling operation in 1985 — and it began operating under his initials, first as RB Rubber and later as Ultimate RB — he ...

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: March 15, 2024

Another view My response to the president’s State of the Union address consists of takes on four items he didn’t mention or glossed over: 1) Fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East With ...

 
Letters to the Editor: March 8, 2024

Educate and vaccinate As a retired physician, I have to ask, what are our county commissioners thinking? Vaccination has saved more lives than any other medical invention. It leads any list of the top ...

 
Letters to the Editor: March 1, 2024

Losing our way My greatest good fortune was to be born into an ascendant America, a proud nation of immigrants that had just led an alliance to defeat fascism in Europe and the Pacific. During the post-war ...

 
Letters to the Editor: February 23, 2024

Don’t be so sure Everyone knows? This statement, from last week’s “Pure hypocrisy” letter, misleads, divides and keeps us from civilly discussing important issues. I belong to ...

 
Letters to the Editor: February 16, 2024

20-minute neighborhoods I was excited to read in the Jan. 22 News-Register that the McMinnville Planning Commission included the concept of 20-minute neighborhoods in its priority projects for the next ...

 
Letters to the Editor: February 9, 2024

Working together As a long-time resident of Newberg, I’m supportive of the various public and private ways we in Yamhill county can come together to support fellow residents in times of need. In ...

 
Letter to the Editor: February 2, 2024

Make it affordable In last week’s Whatchamacolumn, lamenting the unsettling decline of letters to the editor, Jeb Bladine suggested various local issues deserving of comment. They included “McMinnville ...

 
Letters to the Editor: January 19, 2024

No one wants to work I don’t want to get into a debate on who is best for the position of the U.S. presidency with the clearly Democratic Biden writer Phil Forve (a characterization Forve emphatically ...

Letters to the Editor: Jan. 12, 2024

Shorted on sports Sports coverage was missing from the first paperless issue of the News-Register on Wednesday, Jan. 3. And I was disappointed to learn this was by choice, not chance. Having sports coverage ...

Commentary

Bladine: Is there enough electricity for our tools?

I’ve been thinking about replacing my gas-powered leaf blower with a modern electric model. That idea got a boost this week when Portland City Council approved a phased-in ban on gas blowers, which ...

Investigating the Bible: Scriptures abound with moments of joy, humor

Some may think it sacrilegious to suggest the Bible could include humor. It deals in serious matters of eternal life and death. Comedy in our culture is often frivolous and vulgar. However, the Bible honestly portrays humans who sometimes were witty. We miss the funny moments because ancient stories are familiar and from the Bible’s lean writing style — no descriptions of laughing crowds. Here are some examples:

 

Hunnicutt: Hemmed in by too-strict boundaries

Fortune magazine recently published an article on Oregon Senate Bill 1537, legislation Gov. Tina Kotek managed to push through this year’s Legislature in a scaled back form.

Letter to Readers: Runaway paper bags and grocery store ‘gallantry’

We should all have at least one humorous and humbling public experience every month or so. On a recent Saturday I had two. They were 20 minutes apart. Both were funny for me, and they must have been ...

 
King: Getting old enough to join the aging club

Seventy, maybe. But it wasn’t until 80 that I began to take my age seriously

 
Calendar of Quirk: Weird? Random? Obsolete? This week’s Quirk checks all the boxes

From overhead water bottles to rows of indoor umbrellas. Calendar of Quirk has it covered. March 11 Pair of water bottles tied together and looped over the power line on Southeast Ford, have remained ...

 
Thoburn: Lest you think that it can’t happen here

About the writer: Leland Thoburn is a retired business consultant. He has been a writer all his life, but didn’t start writing professionally until 2007. He has had more than 100 articles and short ...

 
Futornick: Streetscaping vital element of downtown Mac rebuild

I would like to express my support for McMinnville’s Third Street Improvement Project, and especially its inclusion of trees and shrubs. I live outside the city, but have for many years enjoyed the vibrant downtown.

 

 
Bladine: Legislative session ending with a bipartisan flurry

Unlike Congress, Oregon’s 2024 Legislature is winding down with a strong showing of bipartisan attention to public interest legislation. Thursday, as this column goes to production, the Oregon Senate ...

Investigating the Bible: Let’s instead say, ‘Spare the rod; school the child’

The toddler threw a tantrum. His father gently carried him to an empty corner of the dining room so he wouldn’t hurt himself. However, the tike began spitting on the linoleum floor. This continued for several minutes and then silence. His father asked: “Are you ready to come out now and behave?” The child yelled, “No! I’m waiting for more spit!”

 

 
Calendar of Quirk: ‘Toma un libro’ and other worthy oddities found all around Yamhill County

Another week’s worth of oddities, from legacy ceramic tiles to badminton on carpet: March 4 We mentioned the Dayton-area Highway 18 moose in recent weeks; we should also mention the deer statue ...

Letter To Readers: Remembering Nex, seeking respect for non-binary people

When tragic incidents happen time zones away we tend not to focus on how they affect us or anyone around us. Some might feel that way about the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict after they were attacked ...

Investigating the Bible: Love of money: ‘don’t pay too much for the whistle’

Joe Louis is one of the greatest boxers ever, the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949. When he was asked in retirement who hit him the hardest in his career, he replied, “Uncle Sam.” As we prepare to pay income tax, we may agree with Joe. Does the Bible consider income and money evil?

 

 
Schuck: U.S. must remain steadfast in repelling Russian hegemony

The 1998 National Defense Authorization Act awarded “Cold War Recognition” certificates to uniformed and selected civilian personnel who supported the Department of Defense between 1945 and 1991. While trivial to some, these certificates are important mementos in my family, and with good reason.

 

Williams: Don’t let affiliations thwart lifesaving medical decisions


A practicing physician’s response to the county commissioners’ request for information about vaccines:

Thank you for the opportunity to speak of the impact of vaccinations. As a frame of reference, I was born in 1955 and have experienced directly or indirectly many of the illnesses now prevented with vaccines, both personally and as a practicing physician.

Bladine: Attention now turns to downtown trees

Trees, particularly downtown trees, are important to McMinnville, and public angst erupts when talk turns to removal of existing downtown trees as part of future redevelopment. With an expanding timeline ...

 
Offbeat Oregon: Oregon’s real-life Indiana Jones

In the summer of 1981 a little action-adventure movie titled Raiders of the Lost Ark came out, and fans have been speculating ever since on who the character of Indiana Jones might be based on. The most ...

 
Gibson: Maybe we should learn to appreciate hedonism

Epicureans have their excesses, but efforts to avoid pain and suffering have led to great advances

 

Bladine: No harm from a little bit of public scrutiny

Private agencies, even if spending millions of public dollars, can fly under the radar with closed meetings and private records. Sometimes, lacking experience being fully in the public eye, they can respond ...

Investigating The Bible: Following the child’s example

Jesus gave an urgent message involving children, which is recorded in three of the gospels. “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:17, New International Version; used throughout). What did Jesus mean when he said children must be role models for anyone who would enter the kingdom of God? The answer may surprise us.