John A. Charles: Tolling people on to Portland’s highways
Earlier this year the state legislature passed a bill requiring the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) to apply for federal authorization to implement “value pricing” on two regional highways: ...
Jeb Bladine: Obsession blurs lines of propriety
Obsession is a dangerous trait. Just ask J.W. Millegan of McMinnville. We don’t know exactly why a swarm of FBI agents stormed Millegan’s downtown McMinnville home Wednesday morning, except ...
Daniel Wojcik and Robert Dobler: Mourning and celebration
What ancient cultures teach us about grief, mourning and continuity of life
Jeb Bladine: Online map shows Mac crime reports
McMinnville is experiencing a spike in thefts, burglaries and property crimes, providing yet another reminder for residents to lock their cars, deadbolt their homes and stay alert. The most prominent ...
Luke Westphal: Care for Cozine Creek
Upcoming restoration projects continue McMinnville stream’s storied history
Jeb Bladine: Complex laws set deadly force rules
The shooting of a home intruder this week sparked debates about rights of self-defense. As Capt. Rhonda Sandoval points out in today’s news story, Oregon laws on the use of deadly force are complicated. First ...
Camilla Sumner: Gap year reflections
It’s been almost three months since I returned home from Cambodia, and it was the best year of my life. After I graduated from high school in June 2016, I didn’t feel like college was the right ...
Jeb Bladine: Good time to revisit the First Amendment
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1791, underpins America’s most important individual freedoms. Every so often, it’s pertinent to remember that one simple, but very complicated, ...
Elliot Berkman: Healthy choices are neither good nor bad; only thinking makes them so
Doing healthy things can feel like a battle between the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. The devil impels me to order the bacon burger for lunch, but the angel nudges my hand toward the ...
Jeb Bladine: ‘This isn’t the time to talk gun control’
A demented mass murderer killed at least 58 people Sunday night in Las Vegas during 10 minutes of near-automatic gunfire from high above an outdoor concert venue. We still don’t know exactly how ...
William Deacy: Swapping fish for fruit
After several years of studying brown bear ecology on Alaska’s Kodiak Island, I grew used to walking up streams into scenes of carnage. Where bears had killed and eaten spawning sockeye salmon, streambeds ...
Jeb Bladine: Projects responding to anticipated growth
Driving around town this year, it feels like significant growth in McMinnville: more traffic; lots of construction; field work marking approval of a 278-unit subdivision. And there are so many planning ...
Dennis Richardson: Standing at the crossroads
I grew up in the era of big cars with big engines. If a Chevy 396 cubic inch motor was good, a Chrysler 426 Hemi was even better. Today, for most of us, what we value in a car is different. Concern about ...
Jeb Bladine: As media moves on, victims still need aid
Victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have begun rebuilding their lives and communities. Meanwhile, after nearly three weeks of nonstop hurricane coverage, television news is moving national attention ...
Robert Mason: Enhancing food security in Yamhill County
Hunger is stalking Yamhill County. This is occurring in the face of the economic recovery from the great recession of 2008. Unemployment is down and income tax revenues are up enough to trigger the state ...
