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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...

Terra Sapiens: On Our Beholding to the Soil

by Fred First After a recent and welcomed early spring rain, I stood in the soggy garden and stirred aimlessly with my boot at...

Japan and Our Reaction

by Hayden Hollingsworth I recently came across an article in Newsweek entitled, “The Myth of Gracefully Growing Old.”  The title says it all: it is...

Here’s A Little Serving Of Mashed History

by Mike Keeler The Andes were not made for farming.  It’s cold and rainy, and the soil is rocky and thin.  But when the...

The Trinity Tree by Stuart Revercomb

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains, from whence cometh my help . . ."  Psalm 121:1 This is one of my...

“What Type of Parent Am I?”

by Keith McCurdy I heard a great quote the other day: “Having children may make you a parent, but it doesn’t make you good at...

Remembering Miss Ethel

by Mary Jo Shannon I believe that certain people come into our lives at particular times for particular reasons, of which neither they nor we...