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...

Dragonfly Pest Control: A Free Global Service

by Fred First Even after being a biology watcher for decades, I learned something very interesting a few years ago when I chanced upon...

Music Takes Us Back and Moves Us Forward

by Joe Kennedy When the earth moved last Tuesday afternoon,  I did what Americans do -- I tried to  decide whom to blame. I've...

In Pursuit of Manners

by Keith McCurdy What is the biggest problem with kids today?  When I ask that question to a group of parents, I get many...

Tough Times

by Hayden Hollingsworth As Woody Allen famously said, “The bad thing about dying is that you don’t get to practice.”  True, but one can...

Treason Against The Planet

by H. Bruce Rinker, Ph.D. As a scientist, I am baffled by two “head in the sand” negative attitudes manifested these days by a...

Offended at the Wrong Things? By Tim Harvey

I hope that before you read this article, you’ll take a moment to read Jesus Parable of the Prodigal Son.  For the purposes of...