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Columnists

FRED FIRST: Go West At Last, Old Man

Decades of frugality have come abruptly to an end. I have made the choice to spend on myself some of what remains of that squandered but shrinking nest egg....

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Bring Back The War Department

President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a prescient and heartfelt speech in Chautauqua, New York, on...

FRED FIRST: Changing of the Guard

The theme for the Lenoir Words Writers Group this month is AUTUMN. And since I...

BOB BROWN: The Truth About Lying

Everyone lies! That’s the truth. Most people are relatively honest most of the time. The average...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Hurricane Erin Is Our Future – Part II

Unfortunately, the U.S. is not the only country experiencing climate change. It is a global...

The Recipe of the Week from The Happy Chef: End of Summer Vegetable Casserole

By Leigh Sackett I don’t think of summer as being just a "season" . . .   or even a state of mind -...

Planning for School Success – A Very Good Idea

Now, I am not saying that summer is almost over, but, school IS just around the corner.  Many kids in the area return to...

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...