Nella Mae Parks is a young farmer, wife and mother from Union County. She does a little writing when she’s not busy running her farm, homeschooling, building a house and doing volunteer work. Read more
The wildfires burning through Oregon’s forests this month have already devastated many communities, and will be burning for weeks to come. As of this writing in mid-September, the largest fires — Riverside, Beachie Creek, Lionshead, Archie Creek and Holiday Farm — are only partially containe… Read more
The economists, ivy tower types and, ahem, journalists, who think about this sort of thing refer to the potential phenomenon of a “pandemic migration” resulting in “Zoom towns.” Read more
It's safe to say that all Oregonians are living in a different space than they were just a few months ago. Read more
A few years ago as an Uber driver I gave a ride to a man and his children who were competing in a wrestling tournament in Portland. I asked where they were from, and he said Nyssa, then said I might not know where that was. Read more
On social media this spring, a Willamette Valley farmer noted one of the few upsides of the COVID-19 outbreak: Traffic dropped dramatically, by 40 percent in some cases, as school, job, retail and recreational closures took hold and people stayed home. Read more
The Thursday lunch menu at the John Day Senior Center earlier this spring called for meatloaf, scalloped potatoes and vegetables. With birthday cake donated by the local funeral home in case anyone might be celebrating that month. Read more
A lot has happened since our last issue came out in late December. Read more
When we first started working on The Other Oregon nearly two years ago our goal was to bridge the urban-rural divide. Read more
This magazine about rural Oregon is so exciting because it is relating the many things that are happening and showing that our agricultural area is doing a lot for growing crops in better ways that preserve our environment. I think that the many businesses that inhabit our rural Oregon are h… Read more
A year has passed since the first issue of The Other Oregon was published. We’ve enjoyed hearing from people all over the state about how this magazine is a much-needed publication to help bridge the urban-rural divide, which is gratifying since that is our primary mission. Read more
There’s an urban process for doing things and a rural way for getting things done. And never the twain shall meet. Read more
Two years ago I was covering an ag technology conference in Pendleton and was surprised to run into the publisher of Willamette Week, the Portland alternative paper. WW wouldn’t normally be considered an ally of conventional agriculture, but the publisher was there with eyes open, and I was … Read more
Athena, Ore., is the largest gathering of humans I’ve lived with in the last 50 years. By most measurements it is a small town. Read more
I‘m not a native Oregonian. I came to Salem 10 years ago from Illinois to work at the Capital Press, a newspaper that covers agriculture and natural resource issues in the Pacific Northwest. Read more
At age 18, the imagined made-for-TV movie of my life features a whip-smart young woman leaving her podunk, backwards town to get educated and completely change the world. Read more
