SECRETARY OF STATE VISITS A5
Stopping By Mac’s state Shakespeare champion uses comic, musical talents to explore iambic pentameter A2
Yamhill County’s
Friday March 21, 2025 $2
KEEPING YOU CONNECTED SINCE 1866
McMinnville, Oregon 160th year, No. 34
‘Setting the table’ for Innovation Campus Public weighs in on cityguided plans for commercial development along Hwy. 18 By SCOTT UNGER Of the News-Register
McMinnville residents gave feedback on plans for a 200-acre employment and retail development on Highway 18 last weekend during a community forum hosted by the city. Plans for an Innovation Campus and retail center on most of the land between McMinnville Municipal Airport and Willamette Valley Medical Center were developed initially by the Mac Town 2032 Economic Development Strategic Plan and were adopted in 2022 as part of the city of McMinnville’s Three Mile Lane plan. The campus aims to “serve the community’s future needs of commercial development and high density, upwardly mobile employment opportunities,” according to city officials. The city hired architectural firm Walker See CAMPUS, A9
Chemeketa makes case for bond request CCC officials stress that the levy is not new, but would replace an existing one By SCOTT UNGER Of the News-Register
Chemeketa Community College leadership has made the rounds in an effort to promote its proposed $140 million bond issue on the May 20 ballot, address- INSIDE ing McMinnville City Council and the Yamhill County board Board of Commission- opts against Chemeketa ers in recent weeks. The bond would bond support Page A3 replace an existing bond set to retire in 2026. The new bond would cost taxpayers the same amount as the old one, 27 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation. The owner of a $300,000 house would continue to pay $81 per year if the new bond passes. See BOND, A3
Rachel Thompson/News-Register
From left, Kathryn Kaelin, Miriam Villa Sendejas and Evelin Martinez-Medina harvest cilantro from a raised bed in the Duniway garden. Students also have been growing — and tasting — kale and a variety of lettuces, and now have bulbs in the ground and marigolds and zinnias ready to plant.
A GROWING PASSION Students grow vegetables, and skills, in Duniway garden By STARLA POINTER Of the News-Register
The best thing about Duniway Middle School’s new gardening class is getting to plant vegetables, watch them grow and getting to eat them, eighth-grader Jayden Vargas said. He likes the classroom sessions, in which they learn about topics such as permaculture or the history of agriculture. But Jayden, a nature lover, said he really looks forward to being outdoors in the fresh air to work in the garden behind the school.
“I wanted to move my body,” he said, happily digging up grass to expose more dirt for planting and paths. He’s one of about three dozen students in the year-long class, which meets every other day at Duniway. Anna Barsotti, Brent Cartier and Jacob Sanders are teaching the course for the first time; earlier, they led an afterschool club on gardening. Guest speakers, such as a representative of Edible Landscapes of Yamhill County, visit from time to time, and students take field trips to sites such as the Yamhill County Heritage Center. Lowe’s, Wilco and other businesses and individuals have assisted in making the
A new Pace at Mac hospital New CEO impressed with culture, offerings at Willamette Valley Medical Center By STARLA POINTER Of the News-Register
Willamette Valley Medical Center’s new CEO, Dewane Pace, has been in the medical field in Florida and Colorado. Now he’s completed his migration across the country, and is happy to be living in Oregon. Pace, who said he hopes to be at WVMC at least 10 years, joined the McMinnville hospital in February. He said he’s taking the time he needs to get to know the facility, its people and the structure provided by its parent company, LifePoint Health.
“There’s a lot to learn,” said Pace, who joined the LifePoint system after working in hospitals in Colorado, and before that, his native Florida. “This is meaningful work,” he said. “What other industry can say we improve the quality and quantity of other people’s lives?” Pace was a lifeguard at Disney World when he was growing up. He graduated from high school in Titusville, where his father worked at the Kennedy Space Center during the “space race” of the 1960s and early ‘70s. He was interested in space, but chose a
garden possible, the teachers said. In September, New Energy Works will add a covered structure to the site. Parents like Edwin and Marissa Martinis have helped, as well. The garden itself is still under conSee GARDEN, A7
COMMUNITY EVENTS MCMINNVILLE SOROPTIMIST Parking Lot Sale; Saturday, April 12th, 9am-3pm. At First Federal (118 NE 3rd St.) Sale located between 3rd & 2nd Streets, along Adams Street. Items for sale include collectibles, tools, dishes, garden objects, linens, kitchen, purses, jewelry, clothing & more! Come for the “deals” and leave with “treasures”. OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS No diets, no weighins, no fees. Meets Sundays, 2:00pm, McMinnville Cooperative Ministries (544 NE 2nd St.) For more info, or details about Tuesday Virtual meetings, call: 971-267-0058. HILLSIDE ADVENTURES IN LEARNING Tues, April 8th 2:00 pm. “The History of Del Mar Villa” a luxury Italian Chateau-inspired villa on 46 acres in Dundee. Fred Fusitua and April Buckner, Inkeepers. Admission $5.00. Service Provided by Macy & Son Funeral Directors 135 NE Evans, McMinnville | 503.472.6151 macyandson.com
VINTAGE See CEO, A8 PHOTOS B6
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