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Columnists

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Trump’s “Great Gatsby Party” At His Mar-a-Lago Club on October 31 Was In Poor Taste

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is our country’s largest anti-hunger program for men, women, and children. 42 million poor Americans lost their SNAP benefits (f.k.a. food stamps)...

FRED FIRST: Winter is Coming: Make Ready!

Though a few poetic souls and tree-hugging types like me will make soft cooing noises...

BOB BROWN: “I don’t see how I can go on like this”

The round, sad Asian American face of the 26-year-old single Soldier sitting uncomfortably in front...

SCOT BELLAVIA: God in the Library

Talking to strangers about God is a muscle I don’t work very often. But I...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Antisemite Zohran Mamdani Will Be An Economic Disaster For New York City – Part IV

As Gabrielle Fahmy wrote in the Post, "in its most recent platform, the group blasts...

Never Heard of FAFSA? Just Wait!

Greetings friends!  If you are the parents of a college bound junior in high school, seek shelter immediately, for a storm is creeping...

The Happy Chef: Mother’s Day Strawberry Pound Cake

Years ago, when my children were toddlers, my husband would give me the day off on Mother’s Day and I could do whatever...

Do You Ever Feel Invisible?

Do you ever feel invisible? Ann Masters was a well-known and much beloved woman in the Roanoke Valley.  After beginning her career as a...

An April Walk Along A Creek and Back Through Time

I have hiked Rock Castle Creek trail a few times since we moved back to Virginia in 1997, but not in April—not until...

My One Moment of Praise

Whenever Louie leaned into the ball, all his 240# transmitted to his bat. But he never learned to get “under” the ball, to...

Fright vs. Terror: What’s the difference?

Everyone has known the feeling of fright but few of us have ever known true terror.  The differences between the two are vast. When...