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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,...

Directionless Dad Knew What Was Important

This is a bitter-sweet time of the year for me.  Spending Father's Day with son Will and my wife Janet is an annual...

Recipe of the Week: Grilled Surf-and-Turf with Spicy Garlic-Shallot Butter

Most father’s would agree you can’t easily beat this Father’s Day meal. And ladies your dad and husband will be real impressed with...

Fathers: Looking Back . . . Looking Forward

I remember the TV newsman, David Brinkley, once commented on the qualifications of a particular political candidate: “He says he’s a tax payer...

“And The Darkness Did Not Overcome It . . .”

John Will Creasy, a local artist missed by many, designed a specialized and symbolic cross for his church many years ago.  Overlapping the...

A Subterranean Invasion – Groundhogs!

As early as 1674 settlers in Virginia became acquainted with this burrowing rodent. Attempting to spell its Indian name, they joined two English...

Things Happen . . .

You remember the tag line from the old movie “Jaws?”  Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water ....