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ROBERT L. MARONIC: Is Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) Running For President in 2028? – Part I

I strongly suspect that the self-assured and arrogant Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is going to be a presidential or vice presidential candidate in 2028. Unfortunately, her foreign policy credentials are extremely weak, especially regarding national defense and security. Her...

FRED FIRST: But Is It Art?

I have mentioned before that I have recently found pleasure and pleasant distraction in the...

BECKY MAUPIN: A New Season, New Expectations

Motherhood, I'm learning, is a series of seasons. None of them are truly easy; they're...

BOB BROWN: Aging Poetically, Part II

Jan called today. “Ed died Thursday… he is in a better place.” Ed, a retired...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: The US Media’s Monomaniacal Obsession With Nancy Guthrie’s Kidnapping

I do not mean to downplay the tremendous tragedy of the kidnapping of Savannah Guthrie's...

Exercise . . . And So Much More

by Mary Jo Shannon When I joined the Salem Family YMCA in January 2000 and enrolled in a water aerobics class, my main concern...

Becoming Good Soil by Tupper Garden

“Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone who has ears,...

Vacation Bible Schools Change With The Times

by Frances Stebbins As church activities slow down in the hot weeks of summer, Vacation Bible Schools enliven many a congregation. Though they've changed...

Unfortunately, I Nailed It

by Robert Adcox I had a great childhood. When I was seven or so, I used to watch with fascination as my dad built things...

Recipe of the Week: The Next Best Bacon Lettuce and Tomato

by Leigh Sackett My tomato plants are not doing well this year and several other people I have talked to are having the same...

Changing of the Carilion Guard

by Hayden Hollingsworth I remember when Nancy Agee, then Nancy Howell, was a first-year student nurse at the erstwhile Roanoke Memorial School of nursing.  She...