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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,...

BARBARA LEACH: Betwixt and Between

How’s your garden doing?  This is the time of year that my mom used to call “the betwixt and between.”  Most perennials have gone...

MIKE KEELER: The Man Behind The President

This is a story of a populist President, political favors, fake news and the United States Postal Service. The year is 1835. Most of us...

MELINDA MYERS: Tomato Troubles

You waited all season for that first red ripe tomato only to discover less-than-perfect fruit. Don't worry, you can still have a great harvest and...

STUART REVERCOMB: Goodbye Sweet Bee

Today we said good-bye to our beloved Bee-Dog. Bee was a just shy of 16 year-old, Shepherd-Malamute mix with one brown eye and one...

SCOT BELLAVIA: What to Expect When You’re Expecting in a Pandemic

If you’re really in tune with your family planning schedule, conceive the baby four or five months before the first case of what becomes...

SCOTT DREYER: A Comfortable Myth: “Federal Funds”

Yes, truth is lacking. - Isaiah 59:15 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. - Proverbs 22:7 I am no economist,...