Over the past two years, historians and analysts have compared the coronavirus to the 1918 flu pandemic. Many of the mitigation practices used to combat the spread of the coronavirus, especially before the development of the vaccines, have been the same as those used in 1918 and 1919 — masks and hygiene, social distancing, ventilation, limits on gatherings, quarantines, mandates, closure policies and more.
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Editorials
National blood crisis demands Americans rise to the challenge
For Americans, COVID's global supply chain disruption had remained more abstraction or inconvenience than potentially life-threatening reality. But that all changed when blood, platelets and plasma ...
Tribe takes care of its own, and helps take care of us, too
The waves of European immigrants streaming to America’s Atlantic Coast and eastern interior in the 1600s and 1700s, and pushing on west toward its Pacific Coast in the 1800s, regarded the people ...
Fate of our democracy rests with voters at the ballot box
Good news is in perilously short supply in these troubled times, but here’s one nugget we can cling to and potentially build around as we move toward the next round of national balloting: 88% of ...
2021 was year best forgotten; let’s commit to better in 2022
Lest we forget, the year 2021, set to crawl into the recesses of richly deserved ignominy as the midnight hour strikes tonight, opened with high hopes. A national and international vaccine rollout promised ...
District awash in chaos can’t afford hasty school chief move
It’s hard to grasp the almost incalculable damage done to our neighboring Newberg School District in recent months by four fringe zealots empowered in low-turnout elections by naively unsuspecting ...
Special session a landmark in meaningful achievement
House Speaker Tina Kotek, a leading Democratic candidate for governor in next fall’s general election, called several months ago for the convening of the special Oregon legislative session finally ...
Secrecy seldom warranted in the workings of government
The free flow of public information is a cornerstone of our nation’s two-century experiment with democratic governance. It is the only way to ensure an informed society and electorate, and to hold ...
It’s time county made parks a much higher local priority
The Yamhill County parks system is rudimentary in almost every way. It has never enjoyed even the semblance of priority status for funding, staffing or development. To the extent grudging progress has ...
Habitat's remarkable impact stands tribute to our humanity
News-Register reporter Starla Pointer recently told the story of McMinnville Habitat for Humanity’s first 30 years through the eyes of Becka Morgan. And her words painted a powerful picture. To ...
Berschauer continues flouting norms of reasonable conduct
There she goes again. We refer, of course, to embattled County Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer, who can’t seem to resist pursuing her own personal and political agendas at the expense of any and ...
Letters
News-Register Letters Policy
The News-Register welcomes written opinions about issues of public interest and about the content of this newspaper. Letters from non-local writers are accepted only if they focus on local issues. Letters ...
Letters to the Editor: January 21, 2022
Sunday sandwiches Maybe you didn’t know that your hungry neighbors have been getting brown bag lunches every Sunday since June because of a small group of dedicated individuals, lots of donations, ...
Letters to the Editor: January 14, 2022
Home cures galore Thank you, Commissioners Starrett and Berschauer, for demanding home-treatment alternatives to evidence-based, scientific public health information on the county website. It’s ...
Letters to the Editor: January 7, 2022
Not acceptable Our rural home accesses the internet only through very expensive satellite services. So we were excited to learn that money was being spent to increase reasonable cost internet services ...
Letters to the Editor: Dec. 31, 2021
Protection needed As the vociferous agitator who inspired Rep. Ron Noble to introduce HB 3200, I feel compelled to comment on Yamhill County’s failure to regulate marijuana processing. HB 3200 ...
Letters to the Editor: December 24, 2021
Just the beginning After reading, “Commissioners decline to address marijuana processing restrictions,” I felt it was important to note affected citizens have been meeting with commissioners ...
Letters to the Editor: Dec. 17, 2021
Parks need help As a member of the Parks Advisory Board, I too lament the sad history of Yamhill County parks and hope to encourage our commissioners to do better. The new master plan, the first in 10 ...
Letters to the Editor: Dec. 10, 2021
Feed the good wolf A recent writer objects to children being exposed to political or other ideologies in schools. In fact, children are continuously subjected or exposed to varied ideologies, opinions ...
Letters to the Editor: Dec. 3, 2021
Reopen meetings I urge the city council and county board of commissioners to resume meetings the public can attend in person. I completely agreed with the remote format before we had vaccines for COVID. ...
Letters to the Editor: Nov. 26, 2021
All the best No matter where I have lived, I have always subscribed to the local newspaper. It is a way of knowing my community. That way, I have a better understanding of issues, concerns, celebrations ...
Commentary
Bladine: Pandemic disturbs the days of our lives
Two destructive forces – uncertainty and disruption – continue to converge among people experiencing and suffering from the COVID-19 virus. Uncertainty breeds fear, and fear creates all sorts ...
Trenberth: Oceans warming for 60 years with no end anywhere in sight
The world’s oceans are hotter than ever recorded, and their heat has increased each decade since the 1960s. This relentless increase is a primary indicator of human-induced climate change.
Bladine: ‘Right stuff’ needed for downtown work
It was heartening this week to see the level of civic engagement and commitment to the next great phase of McMinnville downtown development. The Third Street Improvement Project has been launched with ...
Stapilus: Oregon helped pioneer the recall
The months-long campaign to recall Yamhill County Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer, accompanied by a pair of school board recall efforts in Newberg, may suggest to some residents of our county that recalls are a commonplace part of the political scenery.
Hughes: Democracy erodes in a thousand unseen ways
Now that a full year has passed since the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, the 2020 election and the republic, it’s evident that the attack never really ended. Instead, it spread out to other, less visible, more vulnerable targets.
Back, and forth: Thankful for testing opportunity even with hours of web-free wait
The last time I spent that much time behind the wheel, car inching forward a few feet at a time, was getting out of a Van Morrison concert in George, Wash. Great concert, but Van’s become a bit of ...
Roberts: How the U.S. Census came to drive computer development
The U.S. Constitution requires that a population count be conducted at the beginning of every decade.
This census has always been charged with political significance, and continues to be. That’s clear from the controversies in the run-up to the 2020 census.
Sun: Seasonal insomniacs in a time of climate chaos
It finally snowed. We’d been waiting for months, restless and agitated.
Meador: No life is ever beyond redemption, recovery
She’s clear-eyed and focused. She’s confident she knows what she’s doing and where she’s going. I suspect this quality characterizes most aspects of her life, from her long-term personal goals to her daily work ethic.
Bladine: Newspaper views areas of change
Change is in the air — in here, out there, everywhere. We know the famous line, “The only constant in life is change.” That idea traces back to Heraclitus, a pre-Socratic philosopher ...
Pointer: Cemetery restoration project a show of respect
Respect.
That’s what volunteers worked this year to give the Malone Cemetery, a tiny plot in McMinnville that dates from the 1850s. And they did, clearing away storm damage, removing old boards and debris, replacing the gate, restoring grave markers and adding roses and other plants.
Bladine: Another year of looking away
Well, this has been some year. A year of upheaval in every sense of the word – disturbance, commotion, disorder, confusion, turmoil, mayhem, bedlam, pandemonium, havoc and even anarchy. It was ...
Apel: Desmond Tutu - The rainbow man
Nowhere are rainbows more beautiful than in sub-Saharan Africa. At Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, I have stood in silence and amazement before the roaring mist and multiple rainbows produced by the cascading Zambezi River.
Blumsack: Long power outages aren’t inevitable after a disaster
A busy 2021 Atlantic hurricane season was still in full swing as some residents in the parts of Louisiana hit hardest by Hurricane Ida back in late August were still waiting for their power to be restored. And thousands of Texas residents endured multi-day outages after Hurricane Nicholas struck in mid-September.
Pointer: Traveling the world through others
We arrived in Oxford, England, on the evening of Jan. 2, 1982, having flown out of Seattle at midnight on New Year’s Day. We had jumped ahead in time somewhere over Greenland and gone through customs at Heathrow Airport in a daze before boarding a bus.
Back, and forth: A stranger invited to dinner on Christmas in Bethlehem
I first visited Israel 43 years ago, at the age of 20. I don’t think then that I gave much thought to the fact a severe war — one threatening the nation’s very existence had occurred ...
Bladine: Taking a look back for holiday thoughts
Looking ahead, it sometimes helps to look back. While searching for relevant words to pass along this Christmas Eve, I found a few from past columns. From 1999, a suggestion that people of any means can ...
Chef Ally Webb puts much stock in her new business
When longtime chef Allison “Ally” Webb needed to make some money for medical bills following the birth of her son, she returned to the kitchen and started stirring up soup. Now Zander is four ...
Nokes: Applegate left imprint on Oregon’s history
Prior to retirement, R. Gregory Nokes served as a reporter and editor for The Associated Press and Oregonian. He authored a trio of books on Oregon history — “Massacred for Gold; The Chinese ...
