Jeb Bladine: Mail ballot controversy plays out on deadline
Writing “on deadline” can be risky business, particularly when a story depends on simultaneous court adjudication activity. Consider this week’s high-stakes tale of federal plans to assume ...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump’s wars both intended as oil heists
So, it was a war for oil after all.
On social media Friday, President Trump announced the United States and Venezuela had struck an agreement for “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY.”
Mel Gurtov: President’s threats sowing discord around the globe
As global crises descend around him, Donald Trump seems increasingly incapable of a rational response. He rants, rails and threatens, indulges in delusions, then retreats to one or the other of his vanity projects.
Investigating the Bible: Ben Franklin and the Bible
Benjamin Franklin’s likeness graces $100 bills. As a founding father of our country, he helped draft and then signed our Declaration of Independence. Before these, he became famous for publishing ...
Quirk of the Week: On the move
“Well my time went so quickly I went lickety-splickly out to my old ’55 As I drove away slowly, feeling so holy God knows, I was feeling alive” — “Ol’ 55,” ...
Jeb Bladine: Snippets of useful news at the end of summer
Here’s another occasional episode of “News You Can Use” (NYCU) – snippets of information sprinkled with small bits of gratuitous comment, offered during this annual transition time ...
Free District of Columbia from military occupation
On Aug. 11 of 2025, Donald Trump ordered the secretary of defense to mobilize the D.C. National Guard to combat what he claimed was “an epidemic of crime in our nation’s capital,” even though earlier that year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office had announced crime there had fallen to a 30-year low. In fact, according to the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime had declined 26% the previous year alone.
Mark Olalde and Jimmy Tobias: Public land grazing overhaul brushes public interest aside
About the writers: Mark Olalde covers environmental issues in the American Southwest for ProPublica. He previously held staff posts with The Desert Sun, Arizona Republic and Center for Public Integrity ...
Jonah Goldberg: Beware the moral panic on AI centers
Don’t look now, but we seem to have a moral panic on our hands.
Investigating the Bible: Words count
Johnny Cash nicknamed his drummer, W.S. Holland, “Fluke”; all his successes seemed to come by luck. However, Fluke’s luck nearly ran dry in San Francisco. With Johnny Cash and his wife, ...
Quirk of the Week: McMinnville rocks
A collection of strange sights this week from around McMinnville: call them streetside distractions, starting with a rich collection of items seen in southeast McMinnville (and, full disclosure, in the ...
Jeb Bladine: If city council can’t consider safety, who can?
The last time I testified before McMinnville City Council related to a proposed hotel project that would have replaced three Third Street buildings, including two owned by our family. The project included ...
Kirby Neumann-Rea: Pesto memories
Savoring the early days of Nick’s, a Willamette Valley culinary capital newly closed
Investigating the Bible: Success hidden in failure
In August 1976, Ronald Reagan needed 1,140 votes to win the Republican presidential nomination. At the end of the night, he lost to Gerald Ford, the incumbent, who won by a small margin. As their campaign ...
