Approaching his first anniversary in office, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, who ran most prominently on grappling seriously with the city’s homelessness, just made a major course shift. It may — and should — indicate more to come.
Editorials
Bond deserves another go with centerpiece retained
At this writing, a final, official reckoning is still not yet available for the $98.5 million parks and rec bond appearing on McMinnville’s November general election ballot. The most recent tally ...
Ending shutdown just a start on restoring American values
At this writing, we finally appear poised to close the books on the longest federal shutdown in American history, exceeding that even of the 35-day closure marking the first Trump presidency. But in addition ...
Political storm rakes nation, but gives Northwest a pass
A political storm brought thunder and lightning raining down on America’s east and west coasts Tuesday, and vast swaths of the heartland lying between. Almost everywhere, the results were delivered ...
Expecting the unexpected and solving the unsolvable
So much of what local government entities do for their constituents is so mundane and routine it seldom gets any attention until things go wrong. Then a hue and cry arises. Everyone wonders why someone ...
Suicide prevention a cause we can all come to embrace
In the face of troubling social issues, our first instinct has traditionally been to simply keep them out of the public eye, thus avoiding the messy necessity of addressing them. When that fails, our fallback ...
Bond right-sized for Mac, deserves support at polls
We have but one issue before us on ballots mailed to us this week in connection with Oregon’s Nov. 4 general election. The question is: Can our community afford to spend $72.5 million on a new combination ...
Local government doesn't get the credit it actually deserves
If you limited your local government exposure in these parts to online forums and social media channels, you would find yourself subjected, in large measure, to a torrent of highly charged and sharply ...
Transportation bill serves as starting point on rough road
Until Sept. 29, Oregon hadn’t enacted a major new transportation funding package since 2017. In the world of politics and public policy, that’s a veritable eon ago. Over the course of the ...
City needs to remember it's not paying the piper
Big box shock? Pardon us, but we don’t find it shocking at all that national chain discounters, operating on a high-volume, low-margin basis, would be looking for McMinnville Landing building spaces ...
State faces big challenges; we need to step up locally
This isn’t your father’s Oregon anymore. And that isn’t a good thing, not by any stretch. During the last 25 years of the 20th century, plentiful stores of land and energy, a superior ...
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: Nov. 21, 2025
Yes on Yamhelas Trail I am now a senior rider, after decades of being a cyclist for both recreation and transportation at different periods in my life. And I feel much safer on a trail away from the increasingly ...
Letters to the Editor: Nov. 14, 2025
It’s on us I want to thank each and every one of you for participating in marches against the man in the White House. With the help of the Supreme Court, he created a hopeless atmosphere of despair ...
Letters to the Editor: Nov. 7, 2025
No sense of mercy? I volunteer at the Soup Kitchen at St. Barnabas, and on the Tuesday evening of Oct. 28, we served 80 plates in the first 30 minutes. Are we people choosing to have a country without ...
Letters to the Editor: Oct. 31, 2025
Long tradition Citizens of McMinnville helped pay for public facilities long before I moved here in 1978. In fact, since McMinnville’s naming in 1856 and platting in 1876, its residents have most ...
Letters to the Editor: Oct. 24, 2025
Places to thrive Over the summer, I spotted something different happening around McMinnville. I began to see young people with fishing poles in their hands instead of phones. On an early fall paddle ...
Letters to the Editor: Oct. 17, 2025
Living within means This November’s ballot includes a $98.5 million bond for a new recreation facility, along with improvements to the library, senior center and park system. The bond will increase ...
Letters to the Editor: Oct. 10, 2025
Chance to be heard Attention Yamhill County citizens: Please attend upcoming hearings to let Commissioners Mary Starrett and Kit Johnston know they aren’t fooling anyone with their Oct. 2 attempt ...
Letters to the Editor: Oct. 3, 2025
Destroying democracy Thank you, Mayor Kim Morris, for putting a stop to the intellectual lynching of Sal Peralta. But sadly, this is not over. It didn’t take long for Season 2 of the Trump Show. ...
Letters to the Editor: Sept. 26, 2025
Just keeping pace I am not a landlord, but found it amusing reading the article about how rent prices have risen 54% from 2014 to 2024. The article stated the median apartment rent in 2014 was $847, ...
Commentary
Jeb Bladine: AI gives partial thumbs-up to op-ed commentary
This week’s column is built around information from artificial intelligence (AI) — intertwined (hopefully) with splashes of human intelligence (“HI”). In today’s unprecedented ...
Jonah Goldberg: Has Trump already lost Latino vote for the GOP?
For generations, foreign policy eggheads debated the question, “Who lost China?” I’m wondering if election analysts might soon ask, “Who lost the Latinos?”
Randy Stapilus: The mayor and his mission with Portland's unhoused
Approaching his first anniversary in office, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, who ran most prominently on grappling seriously with the city’s homelessness, just made a major course shift. It may — and should — indicate more to come.
Investigating the Bible: When to be thankful
Fred Lockley interviewed a pioneer woman named Valeda Smith Ohmart in 1934. She remembered a story about Tabitha Brown, the founder of Oregon’s Pacific University. Mrs. Brown was a devout and s
Quirk of the Week: Mac’s Ford Street takes a strange turn
In keeping with Thanksgiving, next week’s Quirk will be a smorgasbord; more straight-ford is this week’s. This week, we look at a single Quirk. It involves strips of yellow paint, on Ford ...
Quirk of the Week: Hands up if you like interesting side streets
Kirby Street, no relation, is one of those odd ones in town. It has two stretches of two to four blocks each, separated by a dozen or more blocks. Same with its neighboring Northeast Logan, Irvine and ...
Jeb Bladine: Who won, or lost, the national game of chicken?
Our national game of chicken paused Wednesday night when Congress and President Trump approved a compromise plan to fund the government for another 79 days. I don’t work for the federal government, ...
Leland Thoburn: Acts of kindness can prove catching in the community
In 1998, volunteer organizations from around the world joined together to designate Nov. 13 as World Kindness Day and celebrate it annually.
Janice Allen: Citizen support critical for footbridge project
Attention nature lovers: Please attend an open house Wednesday, Nov. 19, to show your support for a walking bridge across the creek at Ewing Young Park.
Jonah Goldberg: Can socialism ever be more than just a passing fad here?
Here we go again.
Socialism is making a comeback, according to friend and foe alike.
Investigating the Bible: Belief rekindled
In 1921, Swedish missionaries David and his wife Svea Flood traveled to a region called N’dolera, deep within Africa. Jim Cymbala told their story in his book, “Fresh Power.”
Jeb Bladine: Lesson-learning campaign, bad timing: Regroup!
The election math spells likely defeat for McMinnville’s $98.5 million recreation bond proposal — more on those numbers below. Historically, McMinnville voters rarely rejected any bond measure ...
Dennis Goecks: The death of democracy being greatly exaggerated
Over the last month I have seen much regarding the No King rallies, specifically the pictures and information in the News-Register. I asked myself how I would explain all this to a civics class.
Scott Gibson: Society's sense of morality forged through interaction
I recently read a thoughtful Washington Post commentary by Utah governor Spenser Cox and Harvard philosopher Ian Marcus Corbin warning of “the consequences of America’s moral drift.” Their thesis is that many Americans, awash in consumerism and unprotected from corporations that target our psychological weaknesses, have fallen into lives of addiction and meaningless self-indulgence.
Jonah Goldberg: Trump is not a dictator, but may be set on worse
Julius Caesar still casts a long shadow. We have a 12-month calendar — and leap year — thanks to Julius. July is named after him (though the salad isn’t). The words czar and kaiser, now mostly out of use, simply meant “Caesar.”
Investigating the Bible: Extraordinary compassion
Nov. 11, 1918, Armistice Day was established to honor the soldiers of World War I. Veterans Day now honors the men and women of our armed services for their willingness to serve and sacrifice for our country. During New Testament times, Roman soldiers ruled the world. One soldier in the Bible was extraordinary.
Quirk of the Week: Celebrating unique holiday scares, smiles
Call it a Quirk-tet. Four scenes in this post-Halloween week are worth observing. They may well all be gone by publication time, but they livened the scene while they were here. We start with a unique, ...
Jeb Bladine: No Republicans or Democrats – only swimmers
Today brings an admittedly odd combination of topics: 1) Launch of a new politically conservative column in our Viewpoints section; 2) McMinnville’s proposed $98.5 million bond to build a new aquatic/community ...
New Viewpoints feature debuts
New Viewpoints feature debuts Times are tough in the newspaper business, as Brier Dudley’s piece in today's N-R amply illustrates. Never tougher, for that matter, nor do they show promise of ...
