"Whatchamacolumn" by Jeb Bladine
The News-Register publisher writes about the community; people; local, state and national affairs; and sometimes whimsey.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Whatchamacolumn: Land use law ‘adjustments’ for housing projects
Many people were shocked to learn that a new Oregon law guarantees “adjustments” to local design and development standards for high-density residential developments. I was more shocked that ...
Whatchamacolumn: Businesses may close, but memories aren't lost
Change is inevitable. Businesses come and go. Entire industries fade from memory, from typewriters to phone booths, pagers to print encyclopedias, film photography to VHS tapes. While we embrace changes ...
Whatchamacolumn: Time for city to focus on a new aquatic center
New political leadership — as seen daily on the national scene — can bring new sets of eyes to challenges of best serving the public interest in a democratic society, and not always for the ...
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 ...
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; ...
Whatchamacolumn: City governance to represent all the people
McMinnville City Council’s final 2024 meeting on Wednesday began with extended, well-deserved accolades for long public service by Mayor Remy Drabkin and outgoing council members Kellie Menke and ...
Whatchamacolumn: Producing history with downtown development
There are several well-known, foreboding quotes about failure to learn from history, but my favorite is the lighter touch provided by Mark Twain: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often ...
Whatchamacolumn: Local election results are short on details
Taking a deep dive into election results is fun for some, boring for others … for me, it’s a deep-seated habit from 50-plus years of writing news and commentary about election outcomes. Computers, ...
Whatchamacolumn: Drug programs ‘building the plane while it’s flying’
Oregon’s experiment with drug decriminalization became a governmental, political, social and financial fiasco. But for better or worse, the money keeps on flowing. It’s impossible to quickly ...
Whatchamacolumn: Investigative reporting on ills of Measure 118
Readers today will see the newspaper’s strong opposition to Oregon Ballot Measure 118, a major tax increase disguised as a magnanimous government handout to every Oregonian regardless of need. One ...
Re-do revealed on downtown development plans
McMinnville’s Third Street Improvement project, long a topic of controversy about trees, design and parking, became a source of background murmurs earlier this year. It first came to my attention ...
