Bladine: Financial sausage in federal politics
The numbers are mind-boggling. A U.S. Senate vote approved $1 trillion for infrastructure spending, but Democrats seek $3.5 trillion while some negotiators suggest a $2 trillion compromise. Swirling around ...
Back, and Forth: Covering first fire in Mac yields insights, surprise
When it comes to new experiences, sometimes the most bewildering part is what one does not do. For years, I considered a camera part of my daily equipment on the job. But since coming to McMinnville six ...
Jeb Bladine: Protecting access to government
There’s an obvious six-letter reason we call them “public officials”: Their decisions and actions in governance of citizens’ affairs, along with all related documents, are P-U-B-L-I-C. For ...
Back, and Forth: What is old is sometimes what is new
The record store and the thrift shop were the only places to lure me off campus during the 1977-78 school year, my first at Linfield. Frequently, I would cut across Storey Park and walk three blocks up ...
An unflinching report from the front lines
By DR. MATT BLIVEN Of Willamette Valley Medical Center As I drove through downtown McMinnville on a recent weekend, it struck me that we are living two separate realities. There are those of us who ...
Space telescope for the ages set for launch in December
By MARCIA RIEKE Of the University of Arizona The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to head into space on Dec. 18. With it, astronomers hope to find the first galaxies to form in the universe, ...
Rutledge: You think science warnings are grim?
By Steve Rutledge Historians always need to consider a wide array of phenomena in assessing how and why historical events occur. Climate is at times an important part of that assessment, and plays a far ...
Bladine: Tell people it's time for vaccine
The rant below has a target audience, but all readers should feel free to eavesdrop on preliminary observations about current realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, McMinnville expected to see ...
Wilder: Doubling Pell is best bet to keep college accessible
By BRENT WILDER The Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges and Universities urges Congress to double the amount provided for Pell Grants to income-qualified students. Doubling Pell is not only the most ...
Wallace: Correctional officers driving the pandemic in our prisons
By DANIELLE WALLACE Of Arizona State University Prisons and jails have hosted some of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S., with some facilities approaching 4,000 cases. In the U.S., which has ...
Hardy: Finding ways to do better – together
Once upon a time, I wrote a column for The News-Register called “Raising the Hardy Boys.” It always published with the caveat that it was most certainly not a “how to” parent situation. ...
09/11: Letter to Readers
In those shocked, bewildering days after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, people did what they could -- attending a vigil, honoring the flag, laying a wreath or donating blood. Adding flowers to a ...
Jeb Bladine: Breakthrough cases add confusion
Easily, the most confusing COVID-19 stories lately are reports on “breakthrough infections” contracted by fully vaccinated people. Breakthrough statistics have been inconsistent and suspect ...
Back and Forth: Remembering Richie, the Morning Thunder man
“We were never more here, expanse getting broader …” — “The Dire Wolf,” by The Tragically Hip The first time I ran across Richie Chavez, he looked up at me, waved ...
Efforts to ban mask mandates mirror resistance to integration
By DUSTIN HORNBECK Of the University of Texas When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision, which struck down segregated public schooling, white Southern politicians ...
