Doug Cruikshank: Reflections of a Habitat for Humanity volunteer
After more than 17 years helping build houses for McMinnville Habitat for Humanity, I’ve decided it’s time for me to hang up my tools. I wish to preface my personal reflections of my years ...
Jeb Bladine: Busy police need help from citizens
McMinnville homes, vehicles and buildings make lucrative targets for thieves, including individual and organized car prowls. That popular violation of our personal space and possessions has spread to Carlton, ...
Jeb Bladine: Past connections open door to whole new set
My recent peek into one family attic produced much nostalgia, and, ultimately, recognition that genealogy is a complex pursuit. I wouldn’t call genealogy a hobby, but I do enjoy delving into records ...
Jeremy Field: Vote ‘Yes’ for Small Business and #ShopSmall Nov. 24
Your vote may already be cast and counted in this year’s election. Your wallet, however, contains another valuable “vote” this holiday season: where you spend your money.
This Saturday, Nov. 24, is Small Business Saturday. I invite you to join consumers across the country to lend your support to local jobs and economic growth by shopping small.
John Rennie Short: Gerrymandering thwarts will of people
November’s midterm elections were some of the most eagerly awaited, closely watched and hyper-partisan of recent years.
But the results for many congressional House seats were already known in advance, because of rampant gerrymandering.
Eric Schuck: What sort of homecoming?
Post-deployment, I didn’t know what to expect. Would I still be the same professor I’d been before I headed overseas? All the seniors I’d known had graduated, and in their place stood ...
Scott Gibson: The myth of a mental health solution
Once again, our country has been traumatized by a mass shooting, this time a synagogue in Pittsburgh. And once again, we have heard calls for America to fix its “broken mental health care system.” But ...
Justus Armstrong: Is our Department of Justice for hire?
By JUSTUS ARMSTRONG Of the Cascade Policy Institute Last June, former Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick was hired by the Oregon Department of Justice as a Special Assistant Attorney General. What ...
Jeb Bladine: Or, I suppose, we can wait and watch
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum (EASM) continues its quest for $420,000 in promised donations from landlord The Falls Event Center (TFEC). It’s a long shot — and getting longer — ...
Jeb Bladine: Technology driving more secret tapes
Oregon’s mountain of state laws is complexity personified. Just last year, about 750 bills added, deleted or amended laws we already didn’t fully understand. Quick: What’s the minimum ...
Gregory V. Jones: Climate change, agriculture and society
The recent U.N. report on climate change highlights the same story society has been hearing for a while now — do something to be better stewards of our planet before climate change gets away from ...
Jeff Knapp: Booming tourism spells economic opportunity
It’s boom time in Oregon tourism. Never before have more people from around the globe been interested in visiting. According to Travel Oregon, the annual impact of tourism runs $11.8 billion. ...
Jeb Bladine: Robocall enlivens Mac council race
At a time when explosive devices are being mailed to critics of the Trump administration, it seems trivial to complain about an irritating robocall in a McMinnville City Council campaign. But that’s ...
Pro/Con: Measure 105, repeal sanctuary state law initiative
Jim Ludwick, author of the supporting Measure 105 argument, and Miriam Vargas Corona, author of the opposition argument, have two things in common. Both hail from immigrant families and both reside in McMinnville.
Jeb Bladine: Words too often taken out of context
Harry S. Truman was a mass murderer. Now, there’s a statement taken “out of context!” It’s an age-old human tendency to turn complex information into sound bites, removing words ...
