Randy Stapilus: The right to water
We humans are better at devising legal systems to decide who gets access to water, than we are coming up with . . . more water. Water in the United States is governed primarily by the individual states ...
Jeb Bladine: Nation's unsettling teacher shortage
Our nationwide shortage of teachers — a trend mirrored in Oregon — is unsettling as America’s children return for another school year. Whatchamacolumn Jeb Bladine is president ...
Frank Sheridan: West Valley business
It is hard to write the beginning of a story until you know the end, and the end of this story is jobs. The prosperity and well-being of people are dependent upon continued employment, development, growth ...
Jeb Bladine: Reunions a fresh look at who we are
It’s high school reunion time — in McMinnville, throughout Yamhill County, all across America. Our newspaper reunion calendar reports that two weeks hence, there will be reunions of the Yamhill-Carlton ...
Jeb Bladine: Fire safety requires public responsibility
“Your help,” implored Oregon State Forester Doug Decker on Wednesday, “is critical in preventing the next wildfire.” The words scarcely had left his computer when yet another wildfire ...
Ossie Bladine: The Oregon Trail Generation
A few months ago, News Editor Don Iler and I were explaining to a couple of more seasoned members of the News-Register staff about our annoyance at being labeled Millennials. It turns out we’re not ...
Scott Gibson: End of life decisions
I recently had an older couple, currently in good health, come in for an office visit. As part of their appointment, they brought in their POLST (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment) forms for ...
Jeb Bladine: Stories stay alive in lawsuit after lawsuit
Sad stories don’t just go away; to the dismay of many, they play out again and again in the courts. That observation received several exclamation marks this week, ensuring that some of the most ...
Martha Meeker: The McMinnville way
I’ve lived in more than a few cities during my 28 years in the Air Force and in most, I got to know and interact with their community leaders. I got to know the citizens around the bases I worked ...
Jeb Bladine: A sorry tale of the lost state tax credit
Oregon Legislature Democrats were so desperate to raise taxes this year that their end-of-session ploy was too toxic even for some of their political brethren. Still, they managed to sneak through one ...
Jan Iversen: The fighting side of love
First, identify the styles of you and your partner, then gain skill and awareness that leads to effective fighting, which can be a healthy aspect of any romance.
Important to admit if 'unsure of obligations'
Misinterpreting Oregon’s public records/meetings law — as in a letter from county Commissioner Mary Starrett — can be a mild offense given the complexities of that law. However, we’ve ...
Sal Peralta: Oregon legislative review 2015
The 78th regular session of the Oregon legislature concluded its business earlier this month. In the 2015-17 biennium, the legislature had an additional 10 percent or $1.8 billion to spend, as a result ...
Jeb Bladine: Mixed implications of downtown parking
There is a mixed bag of implications from the creation of 26 new on-street handicapped parking spaces in downtown McMinnville. A first thought is that accessibility to important areas of the core city ...
Jeb Bladine: Regulatory costs strangle economy
Tunnel-vision regulations enacted by Congress and state legislatures are strangling our economy. Too many lawmakers either don’t understand or simply choose to ignore the extreme costs of their complex ...