‘Mom, what’s a curmudgeon?” asked 11-year-old me. I’m pretty sure I pronounced it “CARmudgeon” and I’m also pretty sure she didn’t correct me. This was ...
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Editorials
Council on right track in suspending tax authority
The city of McMinnville and McMinnville Rural Fire Protection District now have all the wheels in motion for a May 16 merger election. It would create a new McMinnville Fire District with its own taxing ...
Support your local newspaper; our democracy depends on it
Jackson County’s Medford Mail Tribune ended more than a century’s reign as one of Oregon’s biggest and best daily newspapers last fall when it announced it was ceasing print publication. Earlier ...
Rich stew of local cultures worth accepting, embracing
Yamhill County’s almost 110,000 residents will get a chance to help their Asian-heritage neighbors celebrate the Lunar New Year Saturday at the Mac Market, cornerstone gathering place in McMinnville’s ...
Let's make this the dawn of a new political day here
The Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes, written in Hebrew some 180 to 450 years before Christ, or more than 20 centuries ago, asserts there is nothing new under the sun. That certainly rings true for ...
Editorial: Oregon's public defense system need a top-to-bottom overhaul
Oregon has been caught in the ever-tightening grip of a public defender crisis for decades, but has failed to address the issue in any meaningful way. Now, thanks in large measure to the havoc wrought ...
It's good to see new leaders embrace spirit of collaboration
It seems we often find more to lament than laud each week as we survey the political landscape in our nation, state, county and community. But the political powers that be sometimes surprise us by reaching ...
Vacation rentals a good thing if concentration kept in check
“Too much of a good thing, if it’s not regulated, is going to be a problem,” former city librarian Jill Poyer said at a planning commission meeting five years ago. She was referring ...
Stars aligning for airport; it’s time to seize the moment
We’ve been writing editorials for years urging McMinnville and its aviation community to do more to capitalize on one of the city’s most underutilized assets — its 650-acre, dual-runway ...
What happened to concern over the heavy hand of government?
Less than a month after her November 2020 election to a term on the county board of commissioners, Lindsay Berschauer promised to make “helping working families” and “protecting working-class ...
Renewed prevention steps in order as RSV patients fill beds
For the first time in months, a “masks required” proviso accompanied an event announcement. Call it hasty or overly-cautious, or call it a sign of the times. It’s different, of course, ...
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: February 3, 2023
Work for keep The conversation about what to do about homeless people in McMinnville, being driv- en by Mayor Remy Drabkin, has the poten- tial to turn our town into a deadly ghetto like Portland. Adding ...
Letters to the Editor: January 27, 2023
Taxing concerns How do we know that the fire district merger is popular with people who live in Mac? This is a question I’ve been trying to answer for several months. I think the idea of improving ...
Letters to the Editor: Jan. 20, 2023
Unnecessary risk If the litmus test for preserving a historic building is whether or not it would provide more revenue than a six-story luxury hotel, then every historic building on Third Street would ...
Letters to the Editor: January 13, 2023
Chaos on display The Republicans lose again, this time within their own caucus. I guess we can blame Hunter Biden and Anthony Fauci. OK, I say that in jest. You have a score of Republicans who are insurrectionists, ...
Letters to the Editor: January 6, 2023
Rate hike ahead? A regional newspaper based in Portland reports that Portland General Electric and Pacific Power are raising electricity rates on their customers. Presumably McMinnville Water & Light ...
Letters to the Editor: December 30, 2022
Holiday heroes We have an amazing community, and it was highlighted last week by a couple of heroes — Dave and Jami Queener, owners of Two Dogs Taphouse. Along with their manager, Brady Martin, ...
Letters to the Editor: December 23, 2022
Looking out for us Should we fault Yamhill County Commissioners Mary Starrett and Lindsay Berschauer for balking at accepting money from the Oregon Health Authority? Their hesitation just showed they ...
Letters to the Editor: December 16, 2022
Placing trust Lindsey Manfrin, public health administrator and director of health and human services for Yamhill County, makes decisions based on her education, training and command of current factual ...
Letters to the Editor: December 2, 2022
Unkind and harmful The homeless have to move once a day. After 12 hours, they are allowed to return. Some have pulled structures together to protect from deadly weather elements. Some may have a tent, ...
Commentary
Jeb Bladine: Reclaim downtown; ensure public safety
I’m remembering movie character Howard Beale’s famous monologue in the 1976 film, “Network” — a passionate assessment of social and cultural ills ending with this appeal to ...
Back and Forth: For warm and fuzzy, you can't top kittens
N-R shares string of feel-good feline stories Positive response from readers is always welcome, and it felt good to see a couple of praiseful letters to the editor about our recent story on kittens visiting ...
Ag Committee assignment promises payoff for district
By U.S. REP. ANDREA SALINAS Of Oregon’s 6th Congressional District As a freshman member of Congress, you learn pretty quickly that time is of the essence in Washington, D.C. Wasted moments on the ...
Law: Tongass wins reprieve from grader and saw
By Beverly Law Ask people to identify the world’s rainforests on a globe, and most will probably point to South America. But North America is home to rainforests too, and like their tropical counterparts, ...
Matt Meador: Deaths, disasters, Mike Royko and my road to curmudgeonry
‘Mom, what’s a curmudgeon?” asked 11-year-old me. I’m pretty sure I pronounced it “CARmudgeon” and I’m also pretty sure she didn’t correct me. This was ...
Whatchamacolumn: Response insists on follow-up story
My column last week about financial intrigue at the Oregon Firearms Federation was not intended as Part 1, but OFF Executive Director Kevin Starrett insisted on a follow-up. Starrett was angered by the ...
Analysis: Shrinking population threatens China socially, economically and politically
By FENG WANG Of the University of California at Irvine Through much of recorded human history, China has boasted the largest population in the world — and until recently, by a significant margin. So ...
Back, and Forth: The night a fine fellow did a favor with fervor
I saw him only twice, but I considered Bill Schonely my friend. We met under unique circumstances, allowing me to see the beloved Voice of Blazer Nation for the showman and gentleman he was. His Jan. ...
Gun rights: How safe can we really be?
By ROBERT KOEHLER It was the guacamole’s fault! That’s the guy’s defense, anyway — that plus his right to carry four handguns, an AR-15 and a 12-gauge shotgun into a supermarket ...
Randy Stapilus: Kotek might emulate Harding in her effort to unify Oregon
Gov.-elect Tina Kotek has promised to visit Oregon communities to bring the state closer together. Nearly a century ago, one of Oregon’s smallest communities was declared “the capital of the ...
Perspectives: Walters was a groundbreaker, but other influences abound
When television journalist Barbara Walters died in January, some people asked me about the influence she had on my own career. None, I told them. Of course, in a global sense, Walters was a groundbreaker. She ...
Jeb Bladine: Saga continues for gun law opponents
Perhaps Yamhill County should pony up $75,000 to Portland attorney John Kaempf for legal costs in the fight against gun regulations Oregonians approved in November. That kind of financial commitment makes ...
Gun violence: How does a child become a shooter?
By BRAD BUSHMAN Of Ohio State University & DAN ROMER Of the University of Pennsylvania In the aftermath of a shocking incident in which a first grader shot and seriously injured a teacher ...
Climate change: Record low water levels on the Mississippi
By RAY LOMBARDI, ANGELA ANTIPOVA & DORIAN BURNETTE Of the University of Memphis Rivers are critical corridors that connect cities and ecosystems. When drought sets in, water levels fall, making river ...
Back, and Forth: Slow-thinking our way to fastening connections
My college days seem close at hand, living in McMinnville. Slow-thinking, I recently had the chance to sit in on a lecture by a Linfield University professor for the first time in 43 years. This was ...
Kiesa: Midterms were marked by near-record youth turnout
The November 2022 midterms have come and gone, but there are still some lasting implications that could influence the next election season.
Thoburn: A primer on reparations
Reparations: The making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Reparations have a basis in ...
Pokhrel & Felfelani: Two-thirds of Earth's land now under threat to go dry
By YADU POKHREL & FARSHID FELFELANIOf Michigan State University The world watched with a sense of dread in 2018 as Cape Town, South Africa, counted down the days until the city would run out of water. ...
Hampton: Local sawmills facing challenging times
Last year, Hampton Lumber celebrated its 80th Anniversary. Our Willamina mill, purchased in 1942 by my grandfather, was our first mill. So I spent much of my career in the forests in and around Yamhill ...
