back to top

Columnists

BOB BROWN: “Portraits of the Human Person”

On the night of June 21, 2025, President Donald Trump said all seven B2 Bombers had safely returned from an unprecedented successful attack on Iran’s fortresses of nuclear weapon...

BECKY MAUPIN: The After Bedtime Search

Picture this: You manage to get everyone fed and the dinner aftermath cleaned up. Then...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Israel’s Second Sum Of All Fears

I first heard about a dirty bomb in early September 1993 when an IBM coworker,...

BOB BROWN: What Happened to Happiness?

We can quibble about the origin, even the definition or meaning of “happiness,” but I’m...

FRED FIRST: Homeward Bound

It would happen: the trip back to Floyd. And then it wouldn’t. And then it...

Someone’s to Blame

There hasn’t been a time since the second term of Franklin Roosevelt that a President has been faced with so many critical issues at...

The Happy Chef: Snowstorm Lamb Kabobs

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW!!! We love it! We have this great big hill a few doors down from our house that is most excellent...

In Search of Wildness

Emily Dickinson was right to see that a prairie might consist of only one flower and a bee. When my childhood world was small,...

A Perspective on Turning 40

I turned 40 last week.  That’s 14,600 days old – in case you are counting.   According to the experts humans walk an average of...

Life’s Wondrous Variety

One of my all-time favorite film scenes is from the 1991 adventure, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman.  In...

Not the Best reason to Come to Roanoke

What draws people to move to this beautiful valley we call home? Is it the grandeur of the mountains, or perhaps the friendly nature...