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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...

A Soupçon of Poison in the Air

Poison ivy.  Its scientific name says it all: Toxicodendron radicans,” or “an easily-rooted poisonous tree,” as farmers and gardeners know all too well. ...

Lord, It is Good to Be

“Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord, my God, you are great indeed!" (Psalm 104) I’m writing this “corner” while at the...

ZOTZ Are in Town or is This the Twilight Zone?

I have a confession to make. I have occasionally been driving all the way out to Cracker Barrel in Troutville to feed a...

If An Event Goes Unreported, Did It Ever Really Happen?

Dent McSkimming was a beat reporter for the St. Louis Star while still in high school.  He served in World War 1, came...

And Yet It Moves . . .

In the late 19th-century, Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov wrote a frantic orchestral interlude, “Flight of the Bumblebee,” for his four-act opera called The Tale...

Backwards Babel – by Tupper Garden

Do you ever wonder at the power and gift of language? We used to think that language is what set us apart from...