back to top

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...

SCOTT DREYER: “Wars Are Not Won By Evacuations”

During the Spring of 1940, much of the world watched in horror as the Nazi German war machine rolled almost unopposed through much of...

H. BRUCE RINKER: The Underpinnings of A New Shoah?

What is Shoah? In Hebrew, the word signifies ‘catastrophe.’ The term specifically means the murder of nearly six million Jews and members of other...

SCOTT DREYER: Angels in Lewis-Gale ICU

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? -- Hebrews 1:14 (NIV Bible) It's amazing what you can learn...

SCOTT DREYER: Open The Spigots!

Many years in my history classes when I taught about the early days of WWII, I explained that the US, in order to punish...

James Finck: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

As I watched the news last night of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it scared me as it probably has scared many of you wondering...

SCOT BELLAVIA: Drug Store Fiction

Most customers come in and out of Walgreens. They know what to get and can generally find it fast. The lost and in a...