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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,...

Medellin, City of Eternal Spring

by John Robinson You can't beat street food, and this place is no exception. I love the  almojabanos, which are rolls with warm, gooey...

Making it Right

by Keith McCurdy To this day I still remember what my mother would make me do when I got into a fight with my...

My Advice: Avoid The Stroke

by Joe Kennedy Having a stroke can change your life. You can trust me on this. My stroke in February 2009 left me with a...

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....