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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,...

Learning One’s (Hometown) Station In Life

I'm not sure whether I should feel miffed or simply laugh. The other day I was perusing a certain "social utility network". (Think apps...

2013, A Time to Grow Up?

In all your official acts, self interest shall be cast into oblivion…return to the way of the Great Law which is just and...

Congress Works Overtime to Deliver the Pork

Recently politicians have been haggling over the avoidance of the ‘Fiscal Cliff’. The uncertainty has affected business activity, has created stress and anxiety...

The Unavoidable Toothache

By the time this column reaches cyberspace the “The Event Whose Name Shall Not Be Spoken” will have occurred.  I suspect that, just...

Christianity Tolerates the Intolerant

Religion is mentioned in two places in The Constitution of the United States. The third and last paragraph under Article VI says the...

The Curse of a Synthetic Sea

Ever heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? It’s not some new gardening tool or electronic gizmo. It’s a massive gyre of marine litter...