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Columnists

BOB BROWN: “Portraits of the Human Person”

On the night of June 21, 2025, President Donald Trump said all seven B2 Bombers had safely returned from an unprecedented successful attack on Iran’s fortresses of nuclear weapon...

BECKY MAUPIN: The After Bedtime Search

Picture this: You manage to get everyone fed and the dinner aftermath cleaned up. Then...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Israel’s Second Sum Of All Fears

I first heard about a dirty bomb in early September 1993 when an IBM coworker,...

BOB BROWN: What Happened to Happiness?

We can quibble about the origin, even the definition or meaning of “happiness,” but I’m...

FRED FIRST: Homeward Bound

It would happen: the trip back to Floyd. And then it wouldn’t. And then it...

STUART REVERCOMB: Loving Thy Neighbor Comes Later

A ministerial friend of mine recently asked their congregation to “take on the character of Jesus” while imploring them to “do more good things”...

MIKE KEELER: The Magic Monkish Word

After months of being stuck at home, you've probably cleaned out your closets, explored the dark corners of your fridge, rooted through your pantry...

SCOT BELLAVIA: Words Matter

One of the primary things my wife appreciated about me in the first few months after we started dating was how careful I was...

SCOTT DREYER: Outrageous – VA Dems Releasing Violent Criminals

Thou Shalt not murder.   -- Exodus 20:13  (The Sixth Commandment) Thanks, Roanoke Times, for running two pieces on August 13, 2020 exposing the Virginia...

BARBARA LEACH: Betwixt and Between

How’s your garden doing?  This is the time of year that my mom used to call “the betwixt and between.”  Most perennials have gone...

MIKE KEELER: The Man Behind The President

This is a story of a populist President, political favors, fake news and the United States Postal Service. The year is 1835. Most of us...