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Columnists

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, and it has been hard to figure out where and how to jump back...

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...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Sometimes President Trump Needs To Think Before He Speaks – Part II

Contrary to what President Trump believes, I think that Lakanwal was adequately vetted before September 2021,...

Of Power and Passion

by Hayden Hollingsworth Once again, we are flooded with more information than we need to have about the private lives of the rich and...

Recipe of the Week: Memorial Day American Flag Cake

by Leigh Sackett I have discovered recently that being ignorant to my nation’s history is like being given a wonderful birthday present and not caring...

Still Searching . . . But Keeping My Sense of Humor

by Jon Kaufman It is day sixty-four of unemployment and friends; I am still desperate and jobless.  Like many Americans, I am experiencing the...

“Oh, That Is Just The Way Kids Are!”

by Keith McCurdy How many times have you heard a statement like, “that is just the way kids are” or “teenagers are just like...

Not Sure? Just Look It Up!

by Mary Jo Shannon “I know what a raccoon is! I don’t need to look it up in the dictionary!” my son Harry shouted,...

A Final Epitaph For Our Dear Rock

by Lucky Garvin Our nine-year-old Dobermann, Rock, lay on the screen porch one afternoon two weeks ago. A car came up the driveway, and...