Ossie Bladine: Will a third party emerge?
With many clamoring for a break in the two-party system, libertarians hoping to be legitimate
Jeb Bladine: Election without bumper stickers
How strange is this year’s presidential election? Let me count the ways. It’s no secret that candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have the highest combined unfavorability ratings of ...
Omig Johnson: Musings of a gym devotee
In writing this Viewpoints I feel compelled to note that for most of my life I couldn’t even spell gym. I didn’t know a gluteus from an ab. In fact, I always assumed a gluteus had something ...
Karl Klooster: Staying on the same page
Active newspaper readership leads to concerned, aware participation on hometown issues
Jeb Bladine: Like giving drugs to Oregon addicts
In February we asked: “How long will Oregonians allow the excessive cost of PERS to drive our ship of state?” It’s time to change that rhetorical question to something slightly more impudent: ...
Joan Paddock: Starting with a rhythm
People may know me as a professor of music at Linfield College, as conductor of the college band or as a trumpet player at churches and concerts in the community. A newer, somewhat related, interest of ...
Jeb Bladine: Consider who gets Measure 97 billions
An attorney from Portland and a citizen-politician from Klamath Falls win this week’s nod for thought-provoking commentary about state financial management and the call for an unprecedented tax increase. James ...
Jeb Bladine: Countdown starts for another election
Counting this week, there are 10 Viewpoints sections before election day, so get ready for a steady stream of letters, editorials and commentary about candidates and issues on the November 8 ballot. When ...
Tom H. Hastings: Time for nuclear disarmament
When I turned 12 on October 27 1962, I asked my dad if he thought I’d live to go to high school. The memory of him looking at me — he was a Navy veteran of World War II in the Pacific and spent ...
Mary Stern: Inspired for the Aspire development
I am thrilled to introduce myself as the new executive director at the McMinnville Area Habitat for Humanity. As many of you know, I served for many years as a Yamhill County commissioner and was deeply ...
Jeb Bladine: Marijuana stories populate the news
Who would have thought, a few short years ago, that marijuana would become one of the most prominent 2016 story topics in the News-Register? After Oregonians voted in 2014 to legalize recreational marijuana, ...
Jeb Bladine: It’s tough to have an original thought
I don’t know why anyone tries to write creative commentary about Donald Trump — it’s all been written before. This week, The Donald couldn’t stop himself from wondering aloud if ...
Gene Policinski: What is 'free speech’ on the web?
Digital etiquette and the first amendment — in theory and in practice — in social media
Jeb Bladine: Law enforcement via 'civil exclusion'
Civil exclusion laws have a dark history in Oregon, where “white utopia” policies once banned all black people from entering the state. Today, though still controversial, civil exclusion laws ...
Chip Hutcheson: We count on the mail
I got the mail today. A couple of bills. A greeting card. Some catalogs. A newspaper. One package that my wife grabbed right away. (Wonder what that was?) Guest Writer Chip Hutcheson is president ...
