back to top

Columnists

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Trump‘s Decision To Release The Epstein Files Is Overdue

I read an article in the New York Post on November 16 entitled “Trump says House Republicans should vote to release Epstein files in stunning reversal: “‘Nothing to hide, ’” written by Zoe...

ANDY PITZER: Amtrak Trek: Lake Shore Limited/Southwest Chief/Empire Builder

NYC TO CHI: Lakeshore Limited (NY, MA, PA, OH, IN, IL) The first leg of the Amtrak train...

BOB BROWN: The Recent Sale of the Brooklyn Bridge, Part One

The 2025 election results in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Seattle are troubling to...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Trump’s “Great Gatsby Party” At His Mar-a-Lago Club on October 31 Was In Poor Taste

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is our country’s largest anti-hunger program for men,...

FRED FIRST: Winter is Coming: Make Ready!

Though a few poetic souls and tree-hugging types like me will make soft cooing noises...

Recipe of the Week: Watermelon Banana Split

I was cutting a watermelon for a cook-out at my neighbors and it occurred to me very suddenly, that watermelon is such a...

Wretched Bits of Being

In the great outdoors of the Roanoke Valley, have you noticed all those odd yellow, orange, or gray patches on alpine rocks or...

How Do You Keep Going When Things Get Tough? By Carey Kinsolving

"By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's, I mean," wrote Mark Twain. If you're reduced to human resources, there's...

Walter Cronkite . . . Please Come Back

“And that’s the way it is.” When he signed off the nightly news with those words, we all went to bed believing that was...

Routines, Ruts and New Experiences

I have to start this article with a big praise to all of the folks who coordinated the “Diamond Dash” in downtown Roanoke...

Off the Beaten Path in La Dolomiti

“Buon giorno.” We’ve passed many day hikers today –the Italians love their mountains and love hiking among the high peaks- but the woman in...