The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

Some months ago, I was sitting backstage in the Sweet Home High School auditorium, awaiting my turn to perform in the Gala Concert put on by SHOCASE. As I sat there, it occurred to me that while we had one high-schooler on the program to perform,...

The longest walkout in Oregon’s history ended last week as GOP senators returned to give the Senate the voting quorum it needed to resume its business. For any who might be unsure what this was all about, it was essentially about 10 minority...

Most Republican members of the Oregon Senate have refused to participate in floor sessions since May 3, in a show of opposition to Democratic leadership. As a result, hundreds of bills are waiting for floor votes, which may never be taken before the...

Class of 2023 graduates, you face many new challenges. You’re moving into an adult world that’s becoming increasingly topsy-turvy, thanks to a lot of things – COVID hangovers, social media weirdness, new rules (or lack thereof) for social and...

Memorial Day kicked off what’s shaping up to be a very active summer for Sweet Home, as the city, the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations have a lot of things planned – many of them brand new. Although we haven’t reported on all of thes...

Wow. Another topsy-turvy week in the state capital – the city. One thing we’ve noticed this year is that there seems to be more communication coming from the capitol – the building – and that’s a good thing in some ways. In fact, we’re...

The public disclosure, reported on page 1, that a neighbor of Foster School shot bullets which struck the school building on a Sunday morning in March, has stirred emotions in Sweet Home. Certainly, it’s sparked some energetic conversations. And...

By Jami Cate A major piece of legislation, sponsored by all but four Democrat legislators serving in Salem, is working its way through the Legislature. On the afternoon of April 14, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means met to deliberate and vote on...

Hearing the City Council and staff discuss their plans for the future stirs ... hope. Planning is a good thing, and the city’s planning efforts are pointing, we think, in a good direction for Sweet Home. But, of course, that depends on how much...

A bill that’s making progress in the Oregon state Legislature is one that every rural Oregonian needs to pay attention to and weigh in on. Senate Bill 803, currently being heard by the Senate Committee on Energy and the Environment, would...

Devoted Disney fans may know that in the original “Bambi” movie, a mistake slipped onto the big screen. (There were a number of “mistakes,” but this one stands out.) In the original version of the film, following the great fire scene, a racco...

By Dr. Caleb Fuller “Economics,” wrote Henry Hazlitt, “is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man.” True. No epoch is immune to the scourge of economic illiteracy. Yet, we find ourselves in a moment of especially...

Many rural Oregonians have DNA that includes a streak of “don’t tread on me” and that’s certainly true in Sweet Home. But, as we’ve seen from the deliberations emanating from City Hall, “live and let live” sometimes must needs have limi...

By Therese Bottomly Ever heard of Pappy Van Winkle before this past month? Me, neither. But lots of people apparently covet the high-end bourbon, including some managers of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. Their insider scheme came to...

Creating a solution for Sweet Home’s homeless problem has been a long road, which is still leading us to new places for our community. It’s a relief that the Family Assistance Resource Center was finally able to get all the boxes checked that...

The title above might seem self-serving, but it reflects an increasing concern in Oregon, and not just for newspaper publishers. I’ve heard from readers, from government officials, from businesses who are worried about where the state’s...

Editor’s note: Although we are a nonpartisan newspaper, we think this “open letter,” written by the chair of the Oregon Republican Party, highlights concerns shared by Linn County’s rural residents, so we’re giving it some space. Dear Gov....

If you got the feeling, as you opened your newspaper this week, that it is a little smaller than last week, you’re correct. This is the latest chapter in the 90-plus-year history of The New Era, in which a lot of recent adjustments have been...

Editor’s note: As letter writers (and those who read the guidelines in the gray box below) are well aware, we nearly always require writers to identify themselves for publication on The New Era’s opinion page. However, given the situation...

Wow, hard to believe it’s already that time of year. Light displays, colorful decorations, evergreen boughs and trees, delicious treats, the Christmas spirit. I particularly enjoy hearing some of the old Christmas carols at this time of the...

I consider myself very well-versed in dealing with moving vehicles. I’ve been a runner for 40-plus years – though a bit slower now – and I’ve shared the road with cars all over the world. When I was a kid, I lived in Japan, where I delivered...

If last weekend was any indication, we feel pretty safe in saying that Sweet Home is really moving on from those two years of COVID experience. The Singing Christmas Tree pulled off three successful performances, for the first time in as many years....

By Rich Lowry New York Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered one of the most memorable lines of the midterm debates when she said she didn’t know why her Republican oppo-nent, Lee Zeldin, cared so much about locking up criminals. Hochul’s highhandedness en...

The 400th anniversary of what is generally considered the birth of our Thanksgiving holiday actually took place last year. But a lot of us were still fighting our way out of the COVID pandemic then and, well, we kind of missed that moment. Fact is, i...

We’ve just finished an election in which campaigning, at least by some candidates, has seemed particularly mean-spirited and less-than-truthful than even what we’re used to in these affairs. So now that the votes are in, what’s next? How about...