"Whatchamacolumn" by Jeb Bladine
The News-Register publisher writes about the community; people; local, state and national affairs; and sometimes whimsey.
Whatchamacolumn: Head-scratching Medicare choices
**Editor’s Note: Dec. 15 is an application deadline to enroll for new Medicare services under the Affordable Care Act. However, the deadline to change below-described plans for MedAdvantage coverage ...
Whatchamacolumn: Car crash boosts development plans
Belated thanks to the 80-year-old driver who, in June, accidentally slammed through a back wall of the county Planning Department building at Fourth and Ford streets. You were unidentified in the news, ...
Whatchamacolumn: Understanding the taxation 'black box'
Break out the checkbooks, it’s property tax time! The basics: Taxes are limited to $5 per $1,000 valuation for education, $10 per $1,000 for general government, plus added levies for voter-approved ...
Whatchamacolumn: Homeless camps back in the news
It’s clear, as reporter Scott Unger continues News-Register coverage of homelessness in McMinnville, that the laws of physics have analogies in human behavior: When you squeeze one part of a balloon, ...
Whatchamacolumn: IRS auditors track ineligible tax claims
Many employers, perhaps unsuspectingly, are walking through financial minefields of their own making. Nationwide, 3.6 million businesses and organizations have filed claims for IRS “Employee Retention ...
Whatchamacolumn: Uncertain outcome for 'war of survival'
It’s impossible to overstate the horror felt toward this week’s slaughter of Israeli citizens by Hamas forces from Gaza. It’s almost equally sad to contemplate the impending deaths of ...
Whatchamacolumn: Another chapter in Cashman shootout
We weren’t surprised that Dillan and Sarah Cashman filed a tort claim notice to protect their rights to sue McMinnville Police Department and Yamhill County over the July 2022 exchange of gunfire ...
Whatchamacolumn: Enforce speeding, plus intersections
Local residents wasted no time this month advising McMinnville Police Department about where to focus new speed enforcement efforts. State grants are helping MPD finance enhanced enforcement of laws related ...
Whatchamacolumn: America must stop trilateral drug trade
Americans were shocked last week when a 1-year-old child died from exposure to fentanyl kept under a nap mat at a New York City nursery. Investigators found a kilo (2.2 pounds) of fentanyl, enough to produce ...
Whatchamacolumn: Speculators miffed by Fox stock losses
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around this week’s lawsuit against Fox Corporation by New York and Oregon pension funds. New York Times and Associated Press reports provided the framework ...
Whatchamacolumn: West Coast losing athletic traditions
The 2023 word for college athletics is realignment. Let’s start with some history of the Pac-12 Conference, now in final disintegration stages of a cultural embarrassment. West Coast college athletics ...
Whatchamacolumn: Time to advise city on taxes, services
August is history; school has started; Labor Day weekend will soon be gone. There is, however, one great season-ending activity available — the ninth annual Walnut City Music Festival, live this ...
Whatchamacolumn: Political courage to fight polarization
It seems that partisan politics will dominate national public discourse for the foreseeable future. As evidenced this week, eight Republican presidential candidates were asked if they would support Donald ...
Whatchamacolumn: It's time to chop downtown trees
Part 2 of a recent column about McMinnville trees begins with a provokement: It’s time to start aggressively removing trees in downtown McMinnville. Astonishing? Outrageous? If so, you haven’t ...
