Chris Spika Browne hadn’t heard of McMinnville in 1978 when she applied for the job of Chamber of Commerce director. Forty-three years later, it’s hard for her to imagine not being part of ...
Reviews (More)
book review The Dutch House
Danny Conroy’s father is a self-made man who parlayed an eye for rentable property into a fortune. Unfortunately, his discriminating eye failed him when he purchased a home for his wife ...
Book: The Little Paris Bookshop
“The Little Paris Bookshop” begins with a mystery: Monsieur Perdu (“lost” in French) shoves aside a bookcase and opens the door to a room he hasn’t used in 21 years. Stepping ...
Book: Beautiful Ruins
This is a delightful, laugh-out-loud, maybe cry-a-little novel that sweeps through time and around the globe — from World War II to the present day, from Beaverton to Hollywood to the Italian ...
Book: Button Holed
The protagonists of cozy mysteries usually have interesting professions or hobbies they pursue while solving crimes on the side. Hannah Swenson bakes cookies while helping the police in Joanne ...
Book: The Camera Never Lies
Australian author David Rawlings gives readers an intriguing premise in “The Camera Never Lies”: What if photographs revealed the whole truth, emotional as well as physical, rather ...
Book: The Revisioners
Ava has moved in with her paternal grandmother in the opening paragraphs of “The Revisioners,” Margaret Wilkerson Sexton’s novel about women’s relationships and one family’s ...
Book: The Country Guesthouse
Hannah Russell has a miserable time at a work retreat: Her phone and computer are locked away, and her coworkers envision the long weekend as a time to drink and play, rather than bond and improve ...
Book: Word to the Wise
Librarian Lindsey Norris enjoys a great life as director of the Briar Creek library as Jenn McKinlay’s “Word to the Wise” begins. She has a great dog and an even better fiance, ...
Book: Out of the Past
Carmona Leigh is a plain young woman with a modest trust fund. Her neighbor, Alan Field, is a striking young man with a love of money, but no cash of his own. As “Out of the Past” ...
Book: Due for Discard
In “Due for Discard,” author Sharon St. George gives us a likeable mystery that will make readers think twice about social problems — and solutions, such as a restaurant that ...
Features
Offbeat Oregon: Treasure of lucky ‘beach gold’ prospectors may still be out there
Imagine you’re a gold prospector from the Willamette Valley, on your way to the California gold fields in the first year of the 1848 gold rush. You’re a little late to the party, and you’ve ...
Stopping by: Mac mayor moves on
Scott Hill leaves for Utah, with a fond look back at years of service to a town he’s loved for three decades For Scott Hill, McMinnville will always be home. He and his wife, Donna, soon ...
Stopping by: Robin’s swan song
Retiring McMinnville High School music teacher Robin Pederson said she’s looking forward to seeing — and hearing — former students at her final concert in May. Pederson, ...
Stopping by: Messages in the Magic
Lisa Loo Lindman calls her children’s books “her magical world.” But maybe that applies to her whole world, not just the stories she puts on paper. “I’ve always been ...
Offbeat Oregon: Oregon’s largest uranium mine was discovered by amateur rockhound
During the go-go years of the uranium-mining rush of the early 1950s, the character of the uranium prospector became iconic. He was basically the gold-seeking “miner 49er” updated for the atomic ...
A centenarian who served
Veteran Peggy Lutz delights in surprise 100th birthday parade and reception Peggy Lutz didn’t have to think very long before she made a wish and blew out her 100th birthday candle Saturday, ...
Stopping by: Competitive camaraderie
Navy and Coast Guard veterans served up bacon, biscuits and gravy, and a hefty serving of humor at their edition of the McMinnville American Legion’s Battle of Branches breakfast April 2. “I’m ...
Rohse: From papyrus to pixels, libraries exist to serve all
Once upon a time, some libraries were described as dark, musty places, not altogether pleasant. But, oh, how libraries have changed. Today, there are lists of the most beautiful libraries, the largest, ...
Zines for all seasons
Fall, winter and now spring come to life in a new “zine” created by two Yamhill County women who grew up with the miniature magazines. The seasonal publications feature drawings of ...
Stopping By: Ready to dig into gardening
Edible education sprouts for Jan Allen, as a love of plants grows along Alpine Avenue Jan Allen is looking forward to planting and tending one of Edible Yamhill’s big container gardens along ...
Rohse: When steamboats plied the Yamhill
If President Millard Fillmore had come to visit, Yamhill County could not have been more agog. One day in May 1851, settlers flocked to LaBonte’s Landing, Dayton, and Lafayette to see the happening: ...
Stopping by: Spokes of giving
Why does Cami Nyquist devote her time to a company that collects used items, sells them to raise money for charity and, in doing so, trains individuals and nonprofits how to use the Internet to ...
Rohse: Where does the time go?
I have a gift, a wonderful gift, a phenomenal gift. It isn’t gift-wrapped, so I know what is in it. It contains time — leisure time — hours and hours of time to use however I want. It’s ...
The doctor wears many hats
Dermatologist Stephanie Campbell is looking forward to opening her McMinnville practice April 1. Dr. Campbell, who has lived in McMinnville about three years, is taking over the Yamhill County ...
‘Proof’ of live theater
“Proof,” the story of a mathematician who gives up her work in order to care for her ill father, will open Friday, March 25, at Gallery Theater. “It’s even more poignant ...
Stopping by: Violin maker
Woodworker David Dalton uses the tiniest planer imaginable, not much bigger than the end of his thumb. He needs it for the delicate work of shaving and shaping the smallest pieces of a violin. He ...
Playing the market: Mac students try stocks virtually
McMinnville High School students have a chance to play the market — using virtual money to invest in stocks — in an economics and personal finance class with curriculum supported ...
Rohse: There’s still gold out there, if you’re of a mine to find it
If you’ve always wanted to go treasure hunting or hoped for a new gold field so you could go prospecting, yours indeed is a universal desire. Gold lures mankind down many and varied strange paths.
Stopping By: Looking out for her veterans
Debra Godwin, Oregon District president of the American Legion Auxiliary, works with and for people who’ve served their country. She never refers to them as “the veterans.” Instead, ...
A taste of normalcy: Classic returns with big numbers after two-year hiatus
Confirming favorites and introducing new pleasures, McMinnville Wine & Food Classic drew thousands to Evergreen Space Museum last weekend. The 30th annual event was a fundraiser, as with every ...
