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 ...
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 ...
