Jeb Bladine: City talks coming on vacation rentals
When Charles Hillestad first warned fellow McMinnville planning commissioners about the proliferation of vacation home rentals, he spoke from personal experience. Hillestad moved here from Cannon Beach, ...
Jeb Bladine: Eclipse & president astound Americans
It’s been quite a week. Americans saw one breathtaking solar eclipse and one dumbfounding version of Donald Trump. Most agreed both experiences exceeded their wildest expectations.Long before Monday, ...
Sheriff Tim Svenson: Moving the office forward
The duties of the office of sheriff are far-reaching—from overseeing patrols and investigations throughout the county to managing the jail, as well as implementing a range of civil responsibilities. ...

Gene Policinski: ‘Freedom’ is best response to white supremacy hatemongers
Let them march in Charlottesville. Let them speak. Hate-propagating neo-Nazis and bottom-dwelling white supremacists — the dregs of our open society — have and should have First Amendment ...
Jeb Bladine: There’s a scam for every season
Songwriter Pete Seeger, referring to Solomon’s Book of Ecclesiastes, made this phrase famous: “To everything there is a season … ”Unfortunately, for every season there is a scam. ...
Ossie Bladine: Trivial passions
I am admittedly not that great at trivia. But after five years of hosting twice-a-month pub trivia events, I’ve become a pretty darn good quizmaster. Live trivia games at local taverns were ...
Dr. Marvin McMillen: Music as medicine
A hard-working young man somewhere in Yamhill County has a few too many beers on a Friday night. He runs his pickup off the road into a tree at 50 mph. He survives, but breaks his shoulder, his collarbone, ...
Jeb Bladine: Listen to the experts; ‘get thee to the path’
Solar eclipse fever is rising. When the dusk settles on Aug. 21, will your experience live up to the hype? Here is some important eclipse-watching information, but first, a few statistics from the exact ...

Ron Noble: Triumphs, disappointments from first legislative session
About 18 months ago I announced my campaign for House District 24. As I traveled the district, everywhere from McMinnville to Carlton and Hillsboro, the message I continually heard was the same: We are ...
Gene Policinski: More Americans see less media bias, but why?
Attention, you so-called “enemies of the people” and alleged purveyors of biased reporting: There’s reason to think fewer people than last year might see you that way, despite the ongoing, ...

Jeb Bladine: Baby Boomer Band just plays on and on
America’s population bulge is moving through the chart of U.S. census statistics with relentless impacts on many areas of our lives. It’s one thing to recount the raw numbers of Baby Boomers ...

Matt Johnson and Erika Marksbury: Whose side are you on?
Downtown McMinnville congregations strive to move past the blame game on homelessness
Jeb Bladine: Health care debate on a whimsical ride
America — albeit through backroom deliberations by a single political party — is struggling to design an efficient, humane and affordable health care system. As that national controversy continues ...
Lata Nott: Still Going Strong After 225 Years
By Lata Nott Special to the News-Register Common practice for liberals and conservatives now is to take turns calling each other enemies of the First Amendment. The results of this year’s “State ...
Jeb Bladine: ‘Maintaining a safe, livable environment’
There are many roles in solving the problems of a growing homeless population — local and state government, social service agencies, religious and humanitarian institutions, and volunteer citizens, ...