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Columnists

BECKY MAUPIN: Overwhelmed Doesn’t Mean Ungrateful

If you’re on social media for any amount of time, you pretty quickly see that there is mixed content. Some of it is positive and gives you really good...

BOB BROWN: When the Underdog Bites Has Rabies, and a Mean Owner

We have a strong human urge to identify with the “underdog.” There is nothing new...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Is Phase Two Of Trump‘s Peace Plan In The Gaza Strip Doomed To Fail? – Part II

Unfortunately, Trump’s present ceasefire as of October 9 is analogous to the armistice signed between...

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...

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,...

New Generations Change the Face of Churches Over Time

Last month I took you on a journey back to an era 50 years ago, taking a look at church life in the...

Never Heard of FAFSA? Just Wait!

Greetings friends!  If you are the parents of a college bound junior in high school, seek shelter immediately, for a storm is creeping...

The Happy Chef: Mother’s Day Strawberry Pound Cake

Years ago, when my children were toddlers, my husband would give me the day off on Mother’s Day and I could do whatever...

Do You Ever Feel Invisible?

Do you ever feel invisible? Ann Masters was a well-known and much beloved woman in the Roanoke Valley.  After beginning her career as a...

An April Walk Along A Creek and Back Through Time

I have hiked Rock Castle Creek trail a few times since we moved back to Virginia in 1997, but not in April—not until...

My One Moment of Praise

Whenever Louie leaned into the ball, all his 240# transmitted to his bat. But he never learned to get “under” the ball, to...