Ken Dollinger: A life-long love affair with local newspapers

It was just one failure too many. As a 1963 freshman at Oklahoma State University, I chose chemistry as a major, hoping to please my chemical engineer father while ignoring my unsuitability for science. Late ...

Whatchamacolumn: Businesses may close, but memories aren't lost

Change is inevitable. Businesses come and go. Entire industries fade from memory, from typewriters to phone booths, pagers to print encyclopedias, film photography to VHS tapes. While we embrace changes ...

The Conversation: Can feds compel cooperation with immigration crackdown?

By CLAIRE WOFFORD Of the College of Charleston President Donald Trump has begun to radically change how the U.S. government handles immigration, from challenging long-held legal concepts about who ...

State sanctuary law protections

State sanctuary laws, codified in ORS 180.805, 180.810 and 181A.820 to 829, bar Oregon public bodies and law enforcement agencies from inquiring about immigration status or aiding in federal immigration ...

Investigating the Bible: Responding to evil

Fred Lockley wrote in “Conversations with Pioneer Men” about a crooked gang at the Northwest’s Fort Wrangel in 1898. They invited a 60-year-old man to a three-shell game.

Rachel Thompson/News-Register##Quinn Coomer plays the title role in the new Gallery production. As Tevye says, “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as ... as a fiddler on the roof!”

Letter to Readers: ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ provides timeless themes, great melodies

Tevye, to God: “I know, I know: we are the chosen people. But once in a while, can’t you choose someone else?” The ironic humor in lines such as this from “Fiddler on the Roof” ...

Racheal Winter/News-Register##Concrete imprints vary greatly in form and content; someone might have gotten in a hurry on the old Spruce Street.

Quirk of the Week: There is Balm in Gilead, and there was such a street in Mac

For good reason, McMinnville residents love their street trees. Then there are tree streets. Where Quirk comes in is the proliferation of concrete sidewalk stamps marking past tree-named streets, and ...

Rusty Rae/News-Register##

Rusty Rae: Struggling Oregon newspapers desperate for a helping hand

It’s unbelievable to me that nearly two out of three citizens of these United States believe newspapers are doing well financially, according to a 2024 survey by the Poynter Institute.

Whatchamacolumn: Time for city to focus on a new aquatic center

New political leadership — as seen daily on the national scene — can bring new sets of eyes to challenges of best serving the public interest in a democratic society, and not always for the ...

Investigating the Bible: The power of doubt

It was a dramatic scene. A distraught father came to Jesus with his son terribly afflicted with seizures and attempts at self-destruction. “And they brought the boy to him and when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.

Photo illustration: Rusty Rae##

Ellie Gunn: Music that moves me as I keep on truckin'

A lot of my views of the world are connected to music. So this is my view of my life through my experience with music — one that really began with Buddy Holly, though I never saw him in concert, just heard him on the radio.

 

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##On a cold and slippery Thursday morning, Breanna Heady of McMinnville runs on Riverside Drive, where she reported the kindness of a driver stopping to alert her to the slick road surface ahead.

Letter to Readers: Finding the bright side of the road can still be slippery

“Take a different way to work” is a friendly piece of advice I have long tried to follow, and to pass along to colleagues. A different way, that is, from the one you typically go. The happy ...

Tongliang Liu: How a small Chinese AI company is shaking up U.S. tech heavyweights

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek has sent shockwaves through the tech community, with the release of extremely efficient AI models that can compete with cutting-edge products from U.S. companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

 

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection photo##A Chase Bank branch burns Jan. 8 on Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades.

Gary Yohe: California insurance crisis threatens national economy

The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles have made one threat very clear: Climate change is undermining the insurance systems American homeowners rely on to protect themselves from catastrophes. This ...

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##A sort of street-side still life was visible for about 48 hours at Southeast Ford and First streets.

Quirk of the Week: Viewed streetside, two power pole presentations

Two recently seen “roadside attractions” exemplify a sub-category of Quirk: temporary things that might disappear as quickly as overnight. As opposed to signage, fences, buildings or yard ...