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Columnists

FRED FIRST: Go West At Last, Old Man

Decades of frugality have come abruptly to an end. I have made the choice to spend on myself some of what remains of that squandered but shrinking nest egg....

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Bring Back The War Department

President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a prescient and heartfelt speech in Chautauqua, New York, on...

FRED FIRST: Changing of the Guard

The theme for the Lenoir Words Writers Group this month is AUTUMN. And since I...

BOB BROWN: The Truth About Lying

Everyone lies! That’s the truth. Most people are relatively honest most of the time. The average...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Hurricane Erin Is Our Future – Part II

Unfortunately, the U.S. is not the only country experiencing climate change. It is a global...

A Great Line Can Always Be Improved

by Mike Keeler Take, for example, the Battle of Trafalgar, fought 206 years ago this week.  Horatio Nelson had been ordered to find and...

Wilson Memorial – A Unique High School

by Mary Jo Shannon In September 1948, students from four Augusta County high schools were joined together in one huge consolidated high school.  That...

Fed by Ravens by Gary Robbins

When I was a youngster, I would sometimes find myself outside in late April or early May when it began to rain.  These...

Time and Space, and How to See a Tree

by Fred First Browsing the web one recent morning, a “space exploration” site displays two images side by side on my monitor. On the...

Best Avoided – E.R. Still Provides Interesting Window on Life

by Joe Kennedy Never spend a night in the emergency room. Not if you can avoid it. Drive safely, behave soberly, follow your doctor's...

Washington D.C. in Squishy Shoes

by John Robinson Yesterday began early as we boarded the Smart Bus at the Roanoke Civic Center, destined for the Lynchburg Amtrak station. A...