It warms the heart to see how community responds to a crisis
It sometimes appears the digital communication channels wrought by today’s technology have become little more than cesspools of violence, racism and hate. Breeding grounds for bizarre conspiracies, ...
Berschauer conduct is indefensible
We were not surprised to see the Yamhelas Westsider Trail rejected on a 2-1 vote by the county commissioners Thursday. After all, Mary Starrett and Lindsay Berschauer both ran campaigns pledging uncompromising ...
Trail decision a detriment to parks system needing vision
Yamhill County Commissioner Casey Kulla captured our reaction to the fierce, expensive and ultimately successful Yamhelas Westsider Trail opposition almost perfectly in a post-decision post. “It ...
Resolutions and proclamations seldom worth the investment
It seems the season for local resolutions, declarations and proclamations, the vast majority having not even tenuous relevance to the adopting body’s authorized function. In response, we’d ...
Transit service is a lifeline we must all work to preserve
When it comes to the Yamhill County Transit Area, which operates an inter-city bus system serving the county at large and municipal bus systems serving McMinnville and Newberg, officials face an ...
Session lacks a set agenda, and that's mostly a good thing
Psst. Pass it along. The 81st regular session of the Oregon Legislature opened Tuesday. A session may not have commenced with less fanfare since 1848, when Oregon Country’s provisional, pre-statehood ...
Reject false prophets and the deceptions they peddle
Indulge us for a moment while we imagine a terrifying takeover of the U.S. government without thought of political philosophy. Visualize a political firebrand from the far right or the leftist fringe, ...
Oregon's vaccine rollout is lagging badly behind
In virtually every corner of the U.S., which was struck harder by COVID-19 than any other place on the planet, reality is running well behind promise when it comes to vaccine rollout. And according ...
The promise of better times lies just around the corner
Novelist Charles Dickens recalled the French Revolution this way in the opening paragraph of his “A Tale of Two Cities,” widely considered a literary masterpiece: “It was the best of ...
State and federal relief action comes at the eleventh hour
Oregon held its 41st special legislative session Monday, following a tradition from 1860, the year following statehood. This special session was the third of the year, second only to the five conducted ...
Linfield would be ideal host for a new city rec complex
When Linfield University's founding fathers needed land to establish a local campus in the 1850s, McMinnville's founding father, William T. Newby, donated wooded acreage out south of town. When ...
Finding it in your heart to help others over holidays
Philanthropy consists of private initiatives undertaken for the public good without an expectation of personal gain. Acts of philanthropy or charity represents one of the few ways individuals, ...
Centrist compromise spurs renewed virus relief hopes
The $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Relief and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act, won final congressional and presidential approval on March 27. At the time, the case count stood at 85,000 in the ...
Oregon’s economic recovery hinges on legislative action
Asked why he persisted in robbing banks, the incorrigible Willie Sutton responded, “Because that’s where the money is.” We have an equally direct reason for making American business ...
City steering safest course through state land use maze
McMinnville’s first and only urban growth boundary was adopted in 1981, when the city’s population stood at only 14,000. That boundary was designed to guide local growth through 2001. But ...
