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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,...

A Multi-Layered Tragedy

by Hayden Hollingsworth Everyone is in agreement about the terrible event in Tucson: It was a very public tragedy. How ironic that it should...

Nothing is Impossible

by Mary Jo Shannon One of the most inspiring women I have ever met was Frances Landers, a housewife from El Dorado, Arkansas who...

Saved From Becoming Too Spiritual by Mark Graham

I had the blessing after Christmas of taking a fourth pilgrimage journey to Israel—the Holy Land, the Promised Land. I keep thinking that...

College Boys and K-Nines Create “Atmosphere”

by Jon Kaufman Friends, when last we spoke a congregation of teenaged hooligans were plundering my home, seizing any and all consumables they could...

Rack of Lamb with Warm Apple & Lentil Salad

by Leigh Sackett Now that we are in the 3rd week of January to most  Christmas is a distant memory but I mourn the...

No Need to Worry – Just Write It Down and You’ll Do Fine

by Mike Keeler Or so says the University of Chicago.  They recently completed a study in which they asked college students to take a...