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Columnists

A Life Well-Lived: Shirley Padgett Lester (1947-2025)

Shirley Padgett Lester of Vinton went to her heavenly reward October 4. Below is the powerful eulogy her daughter Kelly Kiser wrote and calmly delivered at the memorial service...

BOB BROWN: How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden “Presidency”

Permit me to think out loud as an old-fashioned person who respects authority, history, and...

JOHNNY ROBINSON: The Gratitude Perch

On the old road up Mill Mountain, part of Roanoke’s fabulous greenway system, there’s a...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Sometimes President Trump Needs To Think Before He Speaks – Part II

Contrary to what President Trump believes, I think that Lakanwal was adequately vetted before September 2021,...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Sometimes President Trump Needs To Think Before He Speaks – Part I

I read an article in the New York Post written by Ryan King on November 27 entitled...

SCOTT DREYER: Make A Plan To Get Debt Free

“Go, sell the oil and pay your debts.” --2 Kings 4:7a In a recent column “Use what you have,” we saw how a desperate widow about...

MELINDA MYERS: Cool and Refreshing – Cucumbers

Add a cool refreshing twist to your meals, beverages, appetizers, and snacks with cucumbers.  These popular vegetables are grown worldwide, adding anti-inflammatory vitamin K,...

SCOTT DREYER: Use What You Have 

“Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”   --2...

SCOT BELLAVIA: People in Suits and Human Nature

During my quarter-life crisis, a phase from which I still carry residual angst, I developed a hatred of authority. Professors and employers alike were...

MIKE KEELER: Sing Us A Song, Piano Men

Here’s a little post-pandemic musical realization. When springtime finally comes and it’s warm enough to go out in your garage and pore through the...

JOY SYLVESTER-JOHNSON: Pennies From Heaven

Grief comes to those of us who have buried loved ones. And even though there is talk of the “stages of grief” and finding...