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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...

MIKE KEELER: The World’s First Telecommunications Center

"Tel Aviv, this is Telephone Pole calling. Telephone Pole calling, come in, Tel Aviv"...hmm, they're not answering... the line must be dead. But not so...

SCOTT DREYER: Maynard Keller Offers Strong Alternative For Roanoke City Council

But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds,...

JOHNNY ROBINSON: Chemotherapy: What’s it All About, Anyway?

It really was not part of my ambition to get Diffuse Large B-Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, but I sure did. It's a kind of cancer...

SCOTT DREYER: 7-7: Irrelevant Proselytizing? Or Honest Truth?

Many folks have a renewed interest in George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984,” where the people of England live under the all-seeing dictator “Big Brother.”...

SCOT BELLAVIA: Justice Will Never Satisfy

Full justice will never be realized in this world. Justice is the meting out of what is deserved for good or bad deeds. In...

MELINDA MYERS: Fall Lawn Care Tips

As summer transitions into fall, it is time to help lawns recover from summer stress. Let the weather and the condition of your lawn...