By Jim Heffernan I think it was the words “safety net” in the title that drew me this to book. I’ve long felt that the deterioration in our society could have been…
Category: Guest Column
THE OCEANSIDER: Capitalizing on Oceanside …
By Jerry Keene, Editor The Oceansider The Village found itself the subject of several news stories this week, all of which focused on ways that some hope to generate more revenue from…
WORDS OF WISDOM: Leading with Integrity
By Neal Lemery, For the Pioneer This community’s latest lesson in morality and integrity has come from members of the Tillamook High School girls varsity basketball team, who expressed their views and…
CIVIC SATURDAYS: Sermon #1 – Join Local Community Members Civic Saturdays on Zoom
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Pioneer’s prolific book reviewer and “I’ve been thinking” columnist Jim Heffernan was inspired by Eric Liu’s “Become America” and Liu’s series of “Civic Sermons” that he gave following the…
THE OCEANSIDER: What is PUD Doing about Those Power Outages?
By Jerry Keene, Editor, The Oceansider Oceanside has already experienced multiple power outages this season, and the winter is young. They have served as a pointed reminder that the Netarts-Oceanside area (Tillamook PUD Region 2)…
I’ve been thinking … “Civic Religion” – Join Me for Civic Saturdays, starting Sat. Jan. 4th on Zoom
EDITOR’S NOTE: There’s been lots of talk about the lack of “civics education” that a lot of people don’t even really know how our government structures operate and serve us, or how…
WORDS OF WISDOM: The Kindness of Others
By Neal Lemery “Every time you do a good deed, you shine the light a little farther into the dark,” — Charles DeLint. My world recently brightened up, all due to the…
THE OCEANSIDER: Oceansiders Come Through! Fundraising Goal Exceeded for New Emergency Generator; Turtle Rescue at Short Beach
By Jerry Keene, Editor, The Oceansider The Oceanside Protection Society and OVERT have announced that they received donations totaling $7075 over the past two weeks, exceeding the $6000 fundraising goal in its year-end drive to…
BOOK REVIEWS: Jim Heffernan’s Top 20 (22) Books for 2024
By Jim Heffernan I take it as point of pride that I’m promiscuous. Not that way. I’m very proud of 58 years as a faithful husband, but I am promiscuous for books. …
I’ve been thinking … Working Families Party & Civics Sermons in 2025
By Jim Heffernan I’ve been thinking a lot about the Working Families Party and what it represents. My historic affiliation is to the Democratic Party and will remain so. But it’s plain…