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Columnists

BECKY MAUPIN: The After Bedtime Search

Picture this: You manage to get everyone fed and the dinner aftermath cleaned up. Then starts the bedtime rodeo that includes 4 meltdowns, 3 sips of water, 2 more...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Israel’s Second Sum Of All Fears

I first heard about a dirty bomb in early September 1993 when an IBM coworker,...

BOB BROWN: What Happened to Happiness?

We can quibble about the origin, even the definition or meaning of “happiness,” but I’m...

FRED FIRST: Homeward Bound

It would happen: the trip back to Floyd. And then it wouldn’t. And then it...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) Needs To Be Censured

Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), who appears to be a self-important crackpot, tried hysterically (without officially...

Whatever Happened to Civility?

by Hayden Hollingsworth Can you remember the time when men opened doors for women, when random acts of kindness received a friendly wave or...

The View from the Mountain by Rev. Barkley Thompson

In 2008 I participated in Washington National Cathedral’s pilgrimage to Iona, a tiny island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of...

So You Think Winter is Really Over?

by Mary Jo Shannon Julius Caesar was warned, “Beware the Ides of March.” We had no such warning for the Ides of March, 1993....

In the Mirror We Find Something of Elmer Gantry

by Lucky Garvin After watching Burt Lancaster portray Elmer Gantry in the 1960 movie based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis, I went to...

Ask the Nature Lady by Marlene A. Condon

New Guide to Frogs and Toads of Virginia Spring is the time of year when you can readily learn about frogs and toads.  Because...

This Week A Man Died On His 25th Birthday, After A Very Long Life

byMike Keeler When George Keller was a farm kid in St. Louis, he thought he was indestructible. His favorite trick was to lie on...