Franken: Jim Crow returns in new guise
By BOB FRANKEN Former CNN Reporter Jim Crow is not a real person. He’s a fictional character invented by a white guy for demeaning performances in minstrel shows. But for generations of Black Americans, ...
Laven: Big chickens rig the voting in Georgia
By WIM LAVEN Political science professor When I first moved to Georgia, I received a quick education on a different way of life. As an icebreaker for my first day of teaching at Kennesaw State, I asked ...
Kulla: Reform Oregon land use to make system fair and just
One foundation of society entails property rights. It starts with the right to do what you want with your land. The flip-side is the right to not have a neighbor’s protected activities extend past ...
Rutledge: GOP must restore its roots in principled conservatism
By STEVE RUTLEDGE “What hath the light to do with the darkness?” asked the apostle Paul. In 1972, my parents took their only trip abroad together. They traveled to Denmark and Norway ...
Jeb Bladine: Three reminders of local good works
Sometimes we take people for granted – like they will be around, doing good things, forever. We do that despite daily reminders it just isn’t true. Too often, those reminders result from an ...
Company isn’t the ogre it’s been made out to be
By RICH LOWRY Syndicated columnist This past year was a terrible one for the American worker. But there was one notable bright spot, courtesy of one of the tech firms in the crosshairs of regulators ...
Amazon union drive being watched around the world
The Conversation Several thousand Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, just finished voting on whether to form the retailer’s first-ever American union. Results should be announced any day now. The ...
Deumling: Part of the problem
As a business owner and rural landowner, I followed the rural Amity bakery case closely as it moved through the land use planning process. I can relate to the aspirations, intentions and ideals of Wesley ...
Franken: Campaigning as a thoroughly disagreeable guy
By BOB FRANKEN There’s a word for great pleasure derived from someone else’s misfortune: schadenfreude. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, long known as a royal pain, is once again winning the contest for ...
Jeb Bladine: Build local bench for Forrest Gump
We may gain control of COVID-19, but we still must confront STUPID-21. For those paying attention, our news pages are rife with reports of the symptoms. Here are three examples. Whatchamacolumn Jeb ...
Farming diversity good for Oregon
By ANN MARIE MOSS Of the Oregon Farm Bureau In honor of National Ag Week, celebrated March 21-27, I’d like to share a few things I’ve learned during my 17-year tenure with ...
Jeb Bladine: A great story that most of us missed
Movies are a real source of life metaphors, as occasionally mentioned here. But never in the guise of a review or recommendation – I leave that to the experts. So, as evidence of a broader interest, ...
Associations call for nursing home reform
By BETH MARTINO Of the American Health Care Association Two major national senior care associations, the American Health Care Association and LeadingAge, are teaming up to promote a reform agenda triggered ...
Hold officials accountable
By KEN PAULSON Of the National Newspaper Association When government fails, it’s the rare public official who says, “Oops. My fault.” That’s human nature, particularly for officials ...
Oberst: How to become a novelist
Trying to be a novelist? Here’s one way: You’re born to two Oregon coast natives — one the eldest of seven who couldn’t wait to have her own brood, the other a preacher who, before ...
