Compromise perceived as failure when both sides irrevocably believe they, and only they, hold the moral high ground
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Passing reins to Betsy Johnson best bet for meaningful chan
We’ve made no secret of our disenchantment with Kate Brown’s reign in the governor’s office. We’ve found her secretive, partisan, remote and autocratic. The way we see it, House ...
Stephenson over Helt for labor commissioner
We find the non-partisan race for state labor commissioner an easy call. Christina Stephenson led the field by such a wide margin in the primary she nearly won the post outright. She collected just under ...
Geary has earned election to a second term on city council
When Zack Geary succeeded Alan Ruden on the McMinnville City Council in 2019, he followed a path laid out by his predecessor, and in remarkably similar fashion. Ruden spent many years investing portions ...
No to healthcare entitlement, yes to other 3 state measures
Four state ballot measures have been submitted to voters for the Nov. 8 general election, two by legislative action and two by citizen petition. Measure 114, a citizen-initiated statutory amendment aimed ...
Call to curb free expression rings sour note at courthouse
Earlier this month, the Yamhill County commissioners finally addressed a crisis in behavioral health staffing that the Oregon Legislature addressed back on March 23 with an infusion of grant money. It’s ...
Scale of illegal local grows should put us all on notice
Late last month, a consortium of nearly a dozen agencies raided a pair of industrial-scale marijuana growing and processing operations on Yamhill County farmland just outside Dayton. They destroyed ...
In local districts, vo-tech gets respect it deserves
A feature story Tuesday detailed a new heavy equipment certification class being offered — to current students and recent grads alike — by the McMinnville School District. The class features ...
County can't stand more delay in meeting mental health need
It only takes three simple facts to frame the latest disconnect in beleaguered Yamhill County, which has become notorious for its often ideologically driven failures and lapses in recent years. No. ...
Alleged Sheridan prison abuses demand urgent, forceful response
The handbook at rural Yamhill County’s FCI Sheridan, a medium-security federal prison housing more than 1,500 inmates, opens its section on inmate rights and responsibilities this way: “You ...
OSU study lays out vision for 'rewilding' of American West
“Rewilding the American West,” a public lands management study led by faculty of Oregon State University’s Department of Forestry, is being widely heralded by environmental and conservation ...
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: Sept. 23, 2022
Not on my street I must register a resounding objection to proposed demolition of three historic buildings on Third Street for a big new hotel. As the owner of a downtown business lying less than a block ...
Letters to the Editor: Sept. 16, 2022
Whose safety? The public safety power shutoff should be called the investor safety power shutoff. After the horrific California fires caused by Pacific Gas & Electric’s failure to properly ...
Letters to the Editor: Sept. 9, 2022
Waste not, want not This summer, the news has been full of stories about raids on illegal, large-scale marijuana-growing operations. The stories all end with the destruction of the seized marijuana. ...
Letters to the Editor: Sept. 2, 2022
Overpasses, please Back in The 1940s, McMinnville and Dayton petitioned the Oregon Department of Transportation for a bypass. They ended up getting Highway 18, which went on to become the busiest secondary ...
Letters to the Editor: Aug. 26, 2022
It’s only $20,000 Things that cost $20,000: - Repairing 100 potholes. - Sending 40 kids to a 4-H sleepover camp. - Contracting for nine months of work at minimum wage. - Doubling ...
Letters to the Editor: Aug. 19, 2022
No to strip mall Leave Three Mile Lane as is. Don’t try to fix what isn’t broken. Putting another strip mall in that area isn’t going to change the fact that it was tried before, two ...
Letters to the Editor: Aug. 12, 2022
Law has changed This letter is in response to Sandra Ponto’s letter about bicyclists not stopping at stop signs. There has been a change to the rules for bicyclists. Starting Jan 1, 2020, bicyclists ...
Letters to the Editor: Aug. 5, 2022
Officer goes missing For a couple of years, we have had a police officer with a radar gun patrolling our neighborhood. This was no ordinary officer, as he was made out of cardboard. He dutifully stood ...
Letters to the Editor: July 29, 2022
What’s the rush? If the Three Mile Lane Area Plan has taken years to create, and was just approved by the planning commission March 17, why, oh, why is public input being rushed so? The city has ...
Commentary
Peralta: No cause to lead way on psilocybin therapy
By SAL PERALTAWard 1 McMinnville City Councilor I wanted to take a moment to respond to Yamhill County Commissioner Casey Kulla’s recent Viewpoints cover, which expressed his opinion, both as a ...
Back, and Forth: quirk helps define community, though somet
Let’s talk again about quirk, which our localities have aplenty. I wrote about it a few weeks ago, quirk meaning elements of local culture that you might not find anywhere else, elements that are ...
Meador: A dangerous gift
Compromise perceived as failure when both sides irrevocably believe they, and only they, hold the moral high ground
Bladine: Chemical weapons kill 70K Americans
Suppose that militarized crime syndicates in Mexico are manufacturing chemical weapons for delivery to launch points in the United States, where they are deployed to kill an estimated 70,000 Americans ...
Susan Brink: Baby talk spoken here — and everywhere
When most of us see an infant, we shamelessly slip into baby talk: Whooose a prettee baabee? Such a cuutiee. Our speech gets smoother, slower, higher pitched and sing-songy. Researchers call this ...
Jeb Bladine: Local debate drawn to downtown hotels
Full disclosure: The writer has a financial interest in this subject. Our family and newspaper company own two of three Third Street buildings that developers propose to buy, tear down, and replace with ...
A.R. Siders and Katherine Mach: As coastal flooding worsens, cities beating strategic retreat
By A.R. SIDERS Of the University of Delaware And KATHERINE MACH Of the University of Miami When the tide gets exceptionally high in Charleston, South Carolina, coastal streets start to run ...
Benjamin Jensen: Advance shows mastery of modern warfare essentials
By BENJAMIN JENSEN Professor of Strategic Studies, Marine Corps University Ukrainian forces, aided by Western firepower, have upset traditional military logic once again. Advancing deep into Ukrainian ...
Scott Gibson: Opening the black box of artificial intelligence
In March of 2016, a computer challenged the grandmaster of the game Go to a match. Go is an exceptionally difficult game, considered far more complex than chess. Artificially intelligent computers had ...
Kirsten Matoy: Tribal sovereignty set back 200 years in single ruling
By KIRSTEN MATOY Of Wayne State University Over the past 50 years, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court have increasingly diverged in how they view laws relating to Indian tribes. Congress has passed ...
Leland Thoburn: The case against psilocybin therapy
By LELAND THOBURN A concerned McMinnville citizen About 30 years ago, American Heritage magazine ran a feature piece showing that nearly every recreational drug scouring our culture had been developed, ...
Jeb Bladine: Abortion rights rise in Oregon campaign
Quick: What group has the largest number of registered voters in Oregon? Hint: It’s a trick question. Remembering that the reference was “group,” not political party, you might name ...
Casey Kulla: Psilocybin therapy deserves a chance
Unanimous. That’s right, the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners is united in allowing therapeutic psychedelic mushrooms in unincorporated Yamhill County. What does that mean for you? It means ...
Jeb Bladine: Cybercrime finds victims worldwide
Cybercrime, ranging from minor irritations to financial devastation, is rampant worldwide. Cybercriminals don’t know you, and wouldn’t care if they did. They are faceless, nameless scourges ...
John Logan: Labor mobilization movement seems to be sweeping America
By JOHN LOGAN Of San Francisco State University Labor Day 2022 comes smack bang in the middle of what is increasingly looking like a pivotal year in the history of American labor. The summer has seen ...
Iain Boyd: Hypersonic missiles pose a big challenge to defend
By IAIN BOYD Of the University of Colorado Russia used a hypersonic missile against a Ukrainian arms depot in the western part of the country on March 18. The technology the Russians used is not particularly ...
Back, and Forth: Connectivity finds its most rustic roost
The last credits I earned for my Linfield degree in 1980 were from an internship at The Nation magazine in New York. It was a fine experience. I met amazing people and learned a great deal. Yet it was ...
Offbeat Oregon: The McLoughlin House’s unlikely journey to local historical treasure
To the average Oregon City resident, there wasn’t much to celebrate in the vacant, dilapidated old house by the foot of Willamette Falls. The house had, until a few years before, been known as the ...
Randy Stapilus: With the Blue Dog out, what's next for the 5th?
For years, the Blue Dog Democrats in Congress have attached themselves to a piece of hard political logic: If you run toward the center, instead of toward the left, you’ll pick up more votes in ...
