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Columnists

BOB BROWN: AGING POETICALLY, PART I

Too often, the human race is a race against time. Until recently, I was a sprinter in this race. Nowadays, blessed by the gift of a long life, my...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Twenty Reasons For Regime Change in Iran

1. The kidnapping of 66 Americans at the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979,...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: When Is Trump’s Promise To Iran That “Help Is On The Way” Finally Going To Happen?

There was a horrific, chaotic carnage in the streets of Iran during a nationwide protest on January 8...

FRED FIRST: Missouri’s Capitol City: First-Time Tourist

I could not possibly do justice to my first visit a half hour south of...

BOB BROWN: The Triumph of Terrible Feelings Over Judgment

Today, our way of life is dominated by powerful, fast-moving, extreme emotions — especially anger,...

Exercise . . . And So Much More

by Mary Jo Shannon When I joined the Salem Family YMCA in January 2000 and enrolled in a water aerobics class, my main concern...

Becoming Good Soil by Tupper Garden

“Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone who has ears,...

Vacation Bible Schools Change With The Times

by Frances Stebbins As church activities slow down in the hot weeks of summer, Vacation Bible Schools enliven many a congregation. Though they've changed...

Unfortunately, I Nailed It

by Robert Adcox I had a great childhood. When I was seven or so, I used to watch with fascination as my dad built things...

Recipe of the Week: The Next Best Bacon Lettuce and Tomato

by Leigh Sackett My tomato plants are not doing well this year and several other people I have talked to are having the same...

Changing of the Carilion Guard

by Hayden Hollingsworth I remember when Nancy Agee, then Nancy Howell, was a first-year student nurse at the erstwhile Roanoke Memorial School of nursing.  She...