Jeb Bladine: Evergeen-related stories still swirling
People have asked about the lack of recent updates on various sagas still swirling around the Evergreen campus. The best answer is legal conflicts evolve slowly, often with lengthy gaps between newsworthy ...

Thompson Morrison: Mustering the courage to re-imagine education
The world is changing. Fast. We are transitioning, at breakneck speed, from an industrial economy to an innovation economy. Soon, more than half of all jobs we have today will no longer exist. They will ...
Cassie Sollars: Broader background checks a point of consensus?
The nation’s collective grief felt tragically and achingly familiar after last month’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Fourteen students and three teachers ...
Matt Nelson: The collected moments of 50 years
Friday night, I went to Gallery Theater for the opening night of “The Wizard of Oz.”
In my youth, it was called Gallery Players. I grew up doing shows there. It’s been 23 years since I walked through those doors, but everything came whooshing back.
Jeb Bladine: President ignores consequence ‘laws’
At press time Thursday, we were awaiting word on President Donald Trump’s plan for tariffs on steel (25 percent) and almuminum (10 percent). Earlier in the week, bending to diverse pressures, Trump ...
Jeb Bladine: Counting stripes a path to patience
Patience appears on many lists of our most important virtues, but it’s not exactly a human norm. Roadways are filled with impatient people. To best see that impatience in action, just follow the ...
Scott and Melody Gibson: Vietnam - Lightning in a Bottle
After a brief recent visit, we have concluded today’s Vietnam is much like lightning in a bottle. Its people are ambitious, industrious, highly educated, largely young and eager to show what they ...
Marie Vicksta: Protecting topsoil crucial for farming
Agriculture has been the lifeblood of the Yamhill County economy for generations. The diversity of what can be grown or raised here — grass seed, livestock, nursery stock, hazelnuts, grapes and high-value ...
Jeb Bladine: An apt inspiration for culture change
A culture can change its laws, but laws don’t necessarily change the culture. For proponents of cultural change, it’s most disturbing when the offending laws themselves are unassailable. That ...

Jim LeTourneux: Looking to the intent for guidance
The Second Amendment, consisting of 27 words written and ratified by our Founding Fathers in 1791, continues to be an obstacle for those who want to see certain guns banned. With the latest school shooting, ...
Steve Bagwell: Please drop us a line
We receive scores of comments online, but not so many in print. Maybe it’s the ease of posting. Maybe it’s the instant gratification. Maybe it’s the anonymity. Maybe it’s just ...
Jeb Bladine: One grain of sand in environmental war
State and local governments around America are being pressured to ban carry-out plastic bags at retail establishments. The campaign worked in McMinnville. A local ban began in September at large retailers ...
Tom Henderson: Immigration sweeps a stain on American honor
“Only Nazis get to be Nazis.” I said that frequently 10 years ago, when my son, then barely out of elementary school, protested “the madness of King George.” That was when he ...
Bob Franken: Tainting intelligence panel with partisanship
I covered Capitol Hill during my CNN phase. That was quite a while ago, but to this day, I have friends among veteran members of Congress, including members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Flu outbreak exposes critical danger
By MORTEN WENDELBO and CHRISTINE BLACKBURNOf the Snowcroft Institute The current flu season is one of the worst on record in the U.S. By early January, overall mortality was already double that of last ...