Democrats’ redistricting plan embraces insidious status quo
Thousands of barrels of ink have been spilled by American newspapers decrying the partisan gerrymandering of legislative and congressional districts every 10 years, based on new census figures. And in ...
Native Americans worthier than wayward 15th century mariner
Christopher Columbus, anglicized version of the Latin Christophorus Columbus and Italian Cristoforo Colombo, never set foot in North America. He landed on Caribbean islands on all four of his voyages of ...
Editorial warnings of the past come true in three local cases
The juxtaposition of National Newspaper Week and a trio of news stories breaking on the local front prompts us to take readers on a tour of editorial memory lane. Admittedly, there’s a thread of ...
Blackface incident leaves yet another ugly blemish
Here we go again. Republicans from Oregon’s far right fringe have begun wading into non-partisan local elections of late, and the infusion of money, manpower and ideological fervor is increasingly ...
Keeping our children safe should be a priority for all
More than 50 million children from 14,000 districts have headed back to school for face-to-face instruction — or soon will — for the first time since March 2020. But the timing is fraught with ...
With COVID raging at FCI, conditions deserve a look
The federal prison system is a growth industry with few peers in either the public or private sectors. When Sheridan began trying to sell itself as a future federal prison site in 1981, the system housed ...
Let’s cut the political theater; careers and lives are at stake
Dr. Rudolf Virchow, a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, biologist, writer, editor and politician, coined the term “Kulturkampf” in the 1870s in reference to a campaign by Chancellor ...
Pandemic ushers in demand for broader electronic access
In deference to the demands of the pandemic, the Oregon Legislature was forced to close the Capitol to the public early last year, shutting off direct dialogue between the Oregon citizenry and its representatives ...
New climate report bleak, but still offers some hope
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just begun releasing its sixth assessment of the potential apocalypse looming before our beleaguered planet, and it doesn’t by any stretch merit ...
Root parties and partisans out of local decisionmaking
On April 14, the Linn County Republican Party e-mailed supporters to say, “Local elections are coming up soon and we need your help! We are in position to seat solid Republicans on our school boards, ...
Mask resumption unwelcome, but numbers make the case
It’s been tempting for observers of every stripe — political leaders, newspaper editors and health officials included — to declare victory over the insidious COVID-19 virus and endorse ...
Celebrate Bottle Bill; renew commitment to recycling
As Oregonians celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Oregon Bottle Bill, we can look upon it as one of the two shiniest gems in the Oregon public policy crown. The other is the 1967 Oregon Beach Law, ensuring ...
Turkey Rama deserves another chance to recapture lost magic
“Let’s be honest,” we conceded in this space two years ago, following the McMinnville Turkey Rama festival’s tepid 2019 run. “It’s a mere shell of its former self.” If ...
Residents report fears of Evans Street ‘dragstrip’
Mac police, public works pledge steps to address the problem Northeast Evans Street crosswalks aren’t always safe zones and people drive far too fast, City Council heard from local residents ...
Commissioners do right thing in dumping Nearman for Scharf
It’s a rare day when we find ourself in agreement with Yamhill County Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer, as she tends to be woefully long on ideology and short on pragmatism. So count this as a rare ...
