Once upon a time, I wrote a column for The News-Register called “Raising the Hardy Boys.” It always published with the caveat that it was most certainly not a “how to” parent situation. ...
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Editorials
Keeping our children safe should be a priority for all
More than 50 million children from 14,000 districts have headed back to school for face-to-face instruction — or soon will — for the first time since March 2020. But the timing is fraught with ...
With COVID raging at FCI, conditions deserve a look
The federal prison system is a growth industry with few peers in either the public or private sectors. When Sheridan began trying to sell itself as a future federal prison site in 1981, the system housed ...
Let’s cut the political theater; careers and lives are at stake
Dr. Rudolf Virchow, a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, biologist, writer, editor and politician, coined the term “Kulturkampf” in the 1870s in reference to a campaign by Chancellor ...
Pandemic ushers in demand for broader electronic access
In deference to the demands of the pandemic, the Oregon Legislature was forced to close the Capitol to the public early last year, shutting off direct dialogue between the Oregon citizenry and its representatives ...
New climate report bleak, but still offers some hope
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just begun releasing its sixth assessment of the potential apocalypse looming before our beleaguered planet, and it doesn’t by any stretch merit ...
Root parties and partisans out of local decisionmaking
On April 14, the Linn County Republican Party e-mailed supporters to say, “Local elections are coming up soon and we need your help! We are in position to seat solid Republicans on our school boards, ...
Mask resumption unwelcome, but numbers make the case
It’s been tempting for observers of every stripe — political leaders, newspaper editors and health officials included — to declare victory over the insidious COVID-19 virus and endorse ...
Celebrate Bottle Bill; renew commitment to recycling
As Oregonians celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Oregon Bottle Bill, we can look upon it as one of the two shiniest gems in the Oregon public policy crown. The other is the 1967 Oregon Beach Law, ensuring ...
Turkey Rama deserves another chance to recapture lost magic
“Let’s be honest,” we conceded in this space two years ago, following the McMinnville Turkey Rama festival’s tepid 2019 run. “It’s a mere shell of its former self.” If ...
Residents report fears of Evans Street ‘dragstrip’
Mac police, public works pledge steps to address the problem Northeast Evans Street crosswalks aren’t always safe zones and people drive far too fast, City Council heard from local residents ...
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. 17, 2021
Stand back and wait Dear Gov. Brown: Push has come to shove in the vaccination debate and no good will come of it. May I urge everyone to please take three giant steps backwards and cool off? Government ...
Letters to the editor: Sept. 10, 2021
Water action needed Yamhill County is in a water emergency, as the county commissioners have stated. Why is this and what can be done about it? Some of the reasons are: too many new homes allowed in ...
9/11 20 Years Later: Readers respond
News-Register asked readers to write about the impact of 9/11 on their lives. Our thanks to the respondents. Here are their words, as submitted: City of caring I am a Navy veteran and I was stationed ...
Letters to the editor: Sept. 3, 2021
Responsible lung owners I’m going to put this in terms some of my anti-mask and anti-vax friends can understand. We need the good guys with the lungs to help us take care of the bad guys trying ...
Letters to the editor: Aug. 27, 2021
In the dark I was attracted to the boldfaced headline on the left-hand column of Tuesday’s front page, “Board OKs resolutions opposing governor’s mandates.” But 35 column ...
Letters to the editor: Aug. 13, 2021
Stealth candidates A year ago, I noticed an influx of very vocal candidates who had either recently moved here or whose resumes reflected little or no experience in governance. They tended to be highly ...
Letters to the editor: Aug. 6, 2021
Unfortunate and divisive Eristic: argumentative as well as logically invalid; arguing to discredit, not seek the truth. If you don’t like the message, shoot the messenger. These definitions describe ...
Letters to the editor: July 30, 2021
Errant reasoning Sloppy thinking can have deadly consequences. Two recent examples come from meetings of the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Mary Starrett likened the mandate to wear ...
Letters to the editor: July 23, 2021
Standing for inclusion I have two sweet young kids in the Newberg School District, one going into middle school and one into high school. As a parent, I know that these are amazing and trying years for ...
Commentary
Bladine: Tell people it's time for vaccine
The rant below has a target audience, but all readers should feel free to eavesdrop on preliminary observations about current realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, McMinnville expected to see ...
Wilder: Doubling Pell is best bet to keep college accessible
By BRENT WILDER The Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges and Universities urges Congress to double the amount provided for Pell Grants to income-qualified students. Doubling Pell is not only the most ...
Wallace: Correctional officers driving the pandemic in our prisons
By DANIELLE WALLACE Of Arizona State University Prisons and jails have hosted some of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S., with some facilities approaching 4,000 cases. In the U.S., which has ...
Hardy: Finding ways to do better – together
Once upon a time, I wrote a column for The News-Register called “Raising the Hardy Boys.” It always published with the caveat that it was most certainly not a “how to” parent situation. ...
09/11: Letter to Readers
In those shocked, bewildering days after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, people did what they could -- attending a vigil, honoring the flag, laying a wreath or donating blood. Adding flowers to a ...
Jeb Bladine: Breakthrough cases add confusion
Easily, the most confusing COVID-19 stories lately are reports on “breakthrough infections” contracted by fully vaccinated people. Breakthrough statistics have been inconsistent and suspect ...
Back and Forth: Remembering Richie, the Morning Thunder man
“We were never more here, expanse getting broader …” — “The Dire Wolf,” by The Tragically Hip The first time I ran across Richie Chavez, he looked up at me, waved ...
Efforts to ban mask mandates mirror resistance to integration
By DUSTIN HORNBECK Of the University of Texas When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision, which struck down segregated public schooling, white Southern politicians ...
Rusty Rae: 9/11 20 years later: Letter to Readers
For me, 9/11 is perhaps the most surreal day of my life. I woke, like many of you, to images of commercial jetliners crashing into the Twin Towers. These were images that simply did not compute. We later ...
Meador: After 9/11 attacks, disaster united us
‘Look, that building’s on fire,” my wife said, waking me. “They think an airplane hit it.” That last bit got my groggy attention. It was before 6 a.m. on a bright September ...
Bladine: Mixing wars with humanitarian aid
Leaders of USAID don’t know what to say about Afghanistan. The agency’s last statement was a June 4 announcement of another $266 million in humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan: “This ...
McCracken: Will your kids remember you for protecting or posturing?
By LISA McCRACKEN Children are resilient, but they have very long memories. Ask yourself which childhood moments were imprinted on your own memory. It’s a good bet some of those long-ago events ...
Sherman: Are we all hawks now?
By ERIC SHIERMAN Of the Oregon Catalyst National security is a policy issue that tends to lack ideological grounding. It is highly partisan only because cold water is poured on the other party’s ...
Gibson: Geoengineering: Our best hope?
On June 28, the temperature in Portland peaked at 116 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than it has ever been in Houston, New Orleans or downtown Los Angeles. The only other major U.S. cities to have registered ...
Jeb Bladine: A continuing ride on COVID coaster
It seems unlikely that approaching autumn will soothe our summer of madness. Whatchamacolumn Jeb Bladine is president and publisher of the News-Register. > See his column That ...
Back and forth: Beneath a leafy cornice awaits rubus fruticosus
If you’re going to be in over your head with anything, you might consider blackberries. Blackberries in February are the best way to bring a bit of summer into winter. Of course, you have to either ...
How did a superpower fail so in Afghanistan?
By ARIE PERLIGER Of the University of Massachusetts The speed and efficiency with which Taliban forces were able to complete the occupation of most of Afghanistan, as well as the quick collapse of the ...
The Afghanistan debacle was always destined for failure
By MEL GURTOV Of Portland State University Over a nearly 20-year period, the war in Afghanistan is estimated to have cost about $2.2 trillion and resulted in more than 240,000 deaths, military and civilian, ...
Stapilus: What if there’s no frontrunner?
The contest for Oregon governor in the coming year has been described, often, as the most wide-open in a long time. And a riffle back through Oregon political history shows that’s true. Guest ...
