Jeb Bladine: Politics deals defeat to news-sustaining plan
Initially slim hopes of sustaining Oregon newsrooms with “big tech” dollars sprouted with 2025 evolution of SB 686 in the Oregon Legislature. Tuesday, those hopes were dashed after a flurry ...
Quirk of the Week: Taking a sidelong glance at odd sights, some fortunately fleeting
Quirk has always been about some things gone sideways, in good ways. Yet, at a year-and-a-half into the chronicling of Quirk in this publication, this is a good time to examine sideways as … not ...
Gary Conkling: Tariffs won't reshore jobs because they never left
About the writer: Gary Conkling started writing stories as a child and publishing them on his own hand-cranked printing press. Little did he know digital technology would make it possible to repeat the ...
Jeb Bladine: Oregon likely to change tourism funding split
Chaos and angst are among this week’s catchwords in Salem as the Oregon Legislature approaches mandatory adjournment by June 29 amid rumors that legislators may leave town by early next week. One ...
Investigating the Bible: Mistakes in judgment
When Mike Huckabee was the governor of Arkansas, his 12-year-old son decided to bake a cake. The rest of the family left on a shopping trip and when they returned he proudly showed his father the cake, which looked delicious. Huckabee bit into a forkful of the dessert and quickly spit it out.
Quirk of the Week: Winging it this week
Pardon the pun, but bird forms are aviary-where. This week’s Quirk concerns the multitude of our fine feathered friends. We find a veritable flock of sculptures, yard art and images of eagles, poultry, ...
Ken Dollinger: Approaching aging with an adventurous attitude
By KEN DOLLINGER As I enter my eighth decade circling the sun, now the oldest male in my family going back three generations, I find myself being nagged by an increasing amount of introspection. I guess ...
Offbeat Oregon: Second-largest city, Camp Adair, built in six months
By early 1941, the U.S. Army knew it was about to get sucked into at least one of the wars that were already raging around the world. The Selective Service and Training Act had passed the previous fall, ...
Jeb Bladine: Maintaining connectivity among local leaders
McMinnville’s history includes eras with long-serving leaders integrated throughout what admittedly was a smaller, more cohesive community in less complex times. That history wasn’t without ...
Madilynne Clark: House Water Resources bills assess double what's needed
By MADILYNNE CLARK Of the Cascade Policy Institute House Bills 2808 and 2165 seek to address the Oregon Water Resources Department budget shortfall of $875,000, but through different methods. Instead ...
N-R editorial: Jobless benefits for strikers violates standard of fairness
Extending unemployment benefits to striking workers in both the public and private sectors — a national first the Oregon Legislature now seems poised to sign off on — is a bridge too far for ...
Letters to the Editor: June 13, 2025
Putter in place What if they throw their “really big show” and no one shows up? What if all those who would protest against the parade get really smart. Instead of walking into a set-up that ...
Investigating the Bible: A father’s forgiveness
By David Carlson Pastor As a father, President Harry S. Truman, gave this guidance: “I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them ...
Quirk of the Week: Where the sidewalk oddities begin
From arm-span vineyards to imbedded bricks, we return this week to sidewalk scenes, a seemingly-endless Quirk resource. Sidewalk surfaces, wherever you go, are themselves examples of Quirk, on several ...
Charles House: Stop rewriting history to downplay the pandemic
The lunacy continues. Now the demented head of HHS, clearly beset by his own brain worm, has decided for all of us that we basically should not have free rights to the Covid vaccines unless we are over 65 with other unspecified underlying conditions.
