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Columnists

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Is Phase Two Of Trump‘s Peace Plan In The Gaza Strip Doomed To Fail? – Part I

Phase one of Trump‘s twenty-point peace plan in the Gaza Strip, which began on October 9, called for a ceasefire, cessation of military operations, along with a hostage and prisoner...

FRED FIRST: Approaching the Longest Night

Yes, you’re right—if you’ve even noticed—that this space has been neglected for some weeks now,...

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

Shirley Padgett Lester of Vinton went to her heavenly reward October 4. Below is the...

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...

COVID-19 in VA: Statistically Speaking You’re Very Unlikely to Be “A Statistic”

After TWO MONTHS of government imposed economic shutdown the VA Dept of Health and the John’s Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center confirm that as of...

SCOTT DREYER: Whom Are You Serving?

"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender." - Proverbs 22:7 (NIV) In 1979 Bob Dylan released his huge hit...

BARBARA LEACH: COVID-19 Lessons from the Garden

These times are unlike anything in recent history and have challenged us to reevaluate and reinvent ourselves.  Those of us who are already gardeners...

CONGRESSMAN MORGAN GRIFFITH: Congress Amid the Coronavirus

The coronavirus outbreak has upended many of the ways we go about our lives. As a Member of Congress, I believe it must not...

STUART REVERCOMB: Paving The Road To A Different Kind of Hell

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to...

MIKE KEELER: Pandemic Special – A Story of Dark Times and Enlightenment

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born just outside Madrid in 1547 - about a half century after the discovery of the New World -...