Editorials
Down hours, missed days cripple educational results
By virtually every metric, Oregon’s public schools are falling behind their counterparts in other states. Considering how poorly American public schools compare to more rigorous and disciplined ...
State housing intervention doing us no favors locally
When McMinnville completed its richly detailed and documented City Center Housing Strategy in March 2020, it assured us it knew exactly where it was going and how it intended to get there, in terms of ...
Cybersecurity threat rising with no relief now in sight
Willie Sutton, one of the most prolific and incorrigible bank robbers in American history, boosted more than $2 million from more than 100 banks during his colorful criminal career. Though it may well ...
Flurry of initiatives indicates course ahead at air museum ahead
In Act 2, Scene 2 of his play Romeo and Juliet, celebrated English bard William Shakespeare observes, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” That ...
What lies beyond the public disapproval of data centers?
Oregonians — ninth among states with about 900 megawatts of commercial colocation data-center capacity — are taking action to slow the growth of massive data campuses. However, as demand for ...
Food, music and fun fare show promise downtown
What do fine art, wine and dining, street-vendor craft and food fare, vintage garage-sale finds, live local music, brewpub and taproom beer, custom street rods and local field and orchard bounty have in ...
Trio of new bills goes too far in greenlighting new projects
When the Oregon Legislature established the groundwork for Oregon’s restrictive, contentious and litigious land use system in 1973, it made major construction projects significantly more costly and ...
Wine is an economic driver that we can't afford to ignore
The wine industry seems to have lost some of its luster in the last few years — regionally, nationally and even internationally. That’s bad news for the community long heralded as the hub of ...
Commissioners miss chance to better serve public at large
County Commissioners Mary Starrett and Kit Johnston missed a sterling opportunity last week to opt for competence over cronyism in filling one of the three lay seats on the county’s six-member budget ...
Prosperity Council delivers workable roadmap for state
Gov. Tina Kotek’s 15-member Oregon Prosperity Council released its 452-page prescription for Oregon’s ailing economy to great fanfare last week. Cutting through the report’s massive scope ...
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. This ...
Letters to the Editor: Sept. 4, 2026
Noxious noise I continue to be astounded that this city sanctions an event where a small group of people is allowed to take over the downtown and surrounding area for several hours to create an environment ...
Letters to the Editor: Aug. 28, 2026
Drain the swamp The MAGA/Make America Great Again movement has been nothing more than a marketing scam. It was a scheme to create a political base by pandering to a disaffected portion of our population, ...
Letters to the Editor: Aug. 21, 2026
Trampling on rights McMinnville, we feel your pain In sleepy little Monmouth, your neighbor 26 miles south, more than 150 people appeared before our city council in April to voice disapproval of plans ...
Letters to the editor: Aug. 14, 2026
Affordable housing If McMinnville would like to stand out and create a self-sustainable model, it wouldn’t settle for apartment complexes owned by out-of-town corporations. Population growth has ...
Letters to the Editor, Aug. 7, 2026
Deja vu I was glad to see the McMinnville Historic Landmarks Committee was willing to work to restore the historic brick wall in City Park. Unfortunately, eight months after the first accident, another ...
Letters to the Editor: July 31, 2026
A cheaper way Are you cringing when you fill up your car or truck? My small SUV costs me less than 2 cents a mile for fuel. How? I own an all-electric car — not a hybrid, as they still burn gasoline. My ...
Letters to the Editor: July 24, 2026
Every vote counts So, you think your vote doesn’t count or make a difference. Well, you are wrong. I recently read a short article, taken from the book, “This is the Plan,” by Ben Wikler. Wikler ...
Letters to the Editor: July 17, 2026
GOP restraint? Jonah Goldberg’s “Right and Left Need to Confront Their Own Radicals” has a central false assumption. Namely that there is still a moderate right/Republican faction willing ...
Letters to the Editor: July 10, 2026
Showing his colors Another great News-Register, except for the always annoying and deceptive column by Jonah Goldberg, who exposes his MAGA leanings with every one. There are enough lies, fabrications ...
Commentary
Jeb Bladine: Mail ballot controversy plays out on deadline
Writing “on deadline” can be risky business, particularly when a story depends on simultaneous court adjudication activity. Consider this week’s high-stakes tale of federal plans to assume ...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump’s wars both intended as oil heists
So, it was a war for oil after all.
On social media Friday, President Trump announced the United States and Venezuela had struck an agreement for “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY.”
Mel Gurtov: President’s threats sowing discord around the globe
As global crises descend around him, Donald Trump seems increasingly incapable of a rational response. He rants, rails and threatens, indulges in delusions, then retreats to one or the other of his vanity projects.
Investigating the Bible: Ben Franklin and the Bible
Benjamin Franklin’s likeness graces $100 bills. As a founding father of our country, he helped draft and then signed our Declaration of Independence. Before these, he became famous for publishing ...
Quirk of the Week: On the move
“Well my time went so quickly I went lickety-splickly out to my old ’55 As I drove away slowly, feeling so holy God knows, I was feeling alive” — “Ol’ 55,” ...
Jeb Bladine: Snippets of useful news at the end of summer
Here’s another occasional episode of “News You Can Use” (NYCU) – snippets of information sprinkled with small bits of gratuitous comment, offered during this annual transition time ...
Free District of Columbia from military occupation
On Aug. 11 of 2025, Donald Trump ordered the secretary of defense to mobilize the D.C. National Guard to combat what he claimed was “an epidemic of crime in our nation’s capital,” even though earlier that year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office had announced crime there had fallen to a 30-year low. In fact, according to the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime had declined 26% the previous year alone.
Mark Olalde and Jimmy Tobias: Public land grazing overhaul brushes public interest aside
About the writers: Mark Olalde covers environmental issues in the American Southwest for ProPublica. He previously held staff posts with The Desert Sun, Arizona Republic and Center for Public Integrity ...
Jonah Goldberg: Beware the moral panic on AI centers
Don’t look now, but we seem to have a moral panic on our hands.
Investigating the Bible: Words count
Johnny Cash nicknamed his drummer, W.S. Holland, “Fluke”; all his successes seemed to come by luck. However, Fluke’s luck nearly ran dry in San Francisco. With Johnny Cash and his wife, ...
Quirk of the Week: McMinnville rocks
A collection of strange sights this week from around McMinnville: call them streetside distractions, starting with a rich collection of items seen in southeast McMinnville (and, full disclosure, in the ...
Jeb Bladine: If city council can’t consider safety, who can?
The last time I testified before McMinnville City Council related to a proposed hotel project that would have replaced three Third Street buildings, including two owned by our family. The project included ...
Kirby Neumann-Rea: Pesto memories
Savoring the early days of Nick’s, a Willamette Valley culinary capital newly closed
Investigating the Bible: Success hidden in failure
In August 1976, Ronald Reagan needed 1,140 votes to win the Republican presidential nomination. At the end of the night, he lost to Gerald Ford, the incumbent, who won by a small margin. As their campaign ...
Jonah Goldberg: Everyone's touting affordability that they can't deliver
Remember the “affordability” mania of 2025?
A young, charismatic democratic socialist candidate for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, became a viral sensation that year. His secret? “Affordability.”
Quirk of the Week: The Grand Tour
This week we honor Grand Island, a land close by but set apart, a place full of Quirk to go with its quiet dignity and bucolic abundance. Two brief, recent mentions are all we’ve had from this area ...
Nathan Weyand: What does America deserve?
I have made an exercise of asking people I meet what they think America deserves. The answers range.
Erma Vasquez: Have we lost our way? Let's honor our values
About the writer: After many years as a teacher and social worker, Erma Vasquez capped her career serving as director of the Oregon Youth Authority. She makes her home in McMinnville with her husband, ...
Jonah Goldberg: Try voting on basis of character
I often am asked for my advice on how to vote. I’m the first to concede these requests come from a very niche slice of the electorate — that tiny remnant of people who know who I am, value my opinion and share my exasperation with both parties.
