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Columnists

ANDY PITZER: “Look Mom! No iPhone!”

A very interesting visually recorded interview showed up on my feed the other night. In 1966, several British adolescents were interviewed about their vision of the future (circa year...

FRED FIRST: There And Back Again

RECAP: I would be able to visit southwest Virginia again–home for almost 40 years, and...

SCOT BELLAVIA: Am I Proud to Be an American?

How proud are you to be an American? I posted that question on Facebook a few...

BOB BROWN: “Portraits of the Human Person”

On the night of June 21, 2025, President Donald Trump said all seven B2 Bombers...

BECKY MAUPIN: The After Bedtime Search

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

Growing Up In Prison

Most of my friends are unaware that I spent the summer in prison before moving to Roanoke in 1953. During my senior year at...

Preacher’s Corner: The Bread of Life – What Is It?

One of the strange things about us is that we have difficulty talking about what we find to be most important. And, the...

Health Care for Everyone: There Is No Quick Fix

Most believe that everyone should be covered by health insurance.  From that point on, no one agrees about anything.  That there are huge arguments...

Dr. Dad’s Not Always Right, But He Usually Gets Close

The hallmark of a truly great newspaper column is the ability to weave the important national and international issues of our day into the...

The Recipe of the Week from The Happy Chef: Tomatoes Stuffed With Goat Cheese

By Leigh Sackett Last weekend my children made my heart leap for joy and fear as I watched them traverse the rocky and steep...

There – That Was a Monster . . . Wasn’t It?

Somewhere, in a forest near you, the MonsterQuest team is searching the underbrush for something abnormal, something monstrous.  Unfortunately, the likelihood of these folks...