Governor’s clemency crusade violates all sense of decency
Early on, we became deeply disappointed in Kate Brown's stewardship of the governor's office she inherited from John Kitzhaber in 2015. We found her secretive, autocratic, partisan and uncommunicative. ...
Calling all candidates: This is a banner election year locally
This is shaping up as a virtually unprecedented election year in Yamhill County. If there’s ever been a local electoral menu carrying as much importance, intrigue and novelty, it’s long ago ...
Case strong for new facilities, but siting remains unsettled
Reading the 129-page report presented to the city council Tuesday, the urgency of McMinnville's community center, aquatic center, library and senior center needs is virtually irrefutable. They demand addressing ...
National blood crisis demands Americans rise to the challenge
For Americans, COVID's global supply chain disruption had remained more abstraction or inconvenience than potentially life-threatening reality. But that all changed when blood, platelets and plasma ...
Tribe takes care of its own, and helps take care of us, too
The waves of European immigrants streaming to America’s Atlantic Coast and eastern interior in the 1600s and 1700s, and pushing on west toward its Pacific Coast in the 1800s, regarded the people ...
Fate of our democracy rests with voters at the ballot box
Good news is in perilously short supply in these troubled times, but here’s one nugget we can cling to and potentially build around as we move toward the next round of national balloting: 88% of ...
2021 was year best forgotten; let’s commit to better in 2022
Lest we forget, the year 2021, set to crawl into the recesses of richly deserved ignominy as the midnight hour strikes tonight, opened with high hopes. A national and international vaccine rollout promised ...
District awash in chaos can’t afford hasty school chief move
It’s hard to grasp the almost incalculable damage done to our neighboring Newberg School District in recent months by four fringe zealots empowered in low-turnout elections by naively unsuspecting ...
Special session a landmark in meaningful achievement
House Speaker Tina Kotek, a leading Democratic candidate for governor in next fall’s general election, called several months ago for the convening of the special Oregon legislative session finally ...
Secrecy seldom warranted in the workings of government
The free flow of public information is a cornerstone of our nation’s two-century experiment with democratic governance. It is the only way to ensure an informed society and electorate, and to hold ...
It’s time county made parks a much higher local priority
The Yamhill County parks system is rudimentary in almost every way. It has never enjoyed even the semblance of priority status for funding, staffing or development. To the extent grudging progress has ...
Habitat's remarkable impact stands tribute to our humanity
News-Register reporter Starla Pointer recently told the story of McMinnville Habitat for Humanity’s first 30 years through the eyes of Becka Morgan. And her words painted a powerful picture. To ...
Berschauer continues flouting norms of reasonable conduct
There she goes again. We refer, of course, to embattled County Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer, who can’t seem to resist pursuing her own personal and political agendas at the expense of any and ...
Downtown showstoppers not a matter of mere coincidence
The hits just seem to keep on coming for McMinnville’s locally cherished and nationally heralded downtown. The latest is the announcement last week that a group of deeply rooted locals have banded ...
Delivering on decriminalization requires a complete turnaround
Editor's Note: Several numbers were substantially off in this editorial due to a faulty interpretation applied to the initial set. Fortunately, those numbers, corrected here, did not affect the underlying ...
