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Columnists

A Life Well-Lived: Shirley Padgett Lester (1947-2025)

Shirley Padgett Lester of Vinton went to her heavenly reward October 4. Below is the powerful eulogy her daughter Kelly Kiser wrote and calmly delivered at the memorial service...

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,...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Sometimes President Trump Needs To Think Before He Speaks – Part I

I read an article in the New York Post written by Ryan King on November 27 entitled...

The Halt And The Lame

byLucky Garvin There are trip wires in our days; some set to such a low tension that we don’t feel them snag our feet....

Can’t A Guy Just Celebrate His Birthday?

byMike Keeler George Washington was born on February 11, 1731. At least, that was the date on the Julian calendar then in use in...

Making Big Assumptions by Stuart Revercomb

by Stuart Revercomb Our scripture from Mark 1:40-45 tells us that moved with pity, Jesus healed a leper and then sternly warned him, "See...

Beautiful Scenery, Love and Laughter In the Valley of the Rio Cauca

by John Robinson Ruben coaxes the veteran 4WD Mitsubishi van over the dirt and rock which has inundated this section of roadway; the vehicle...

Are Doctors Honest?

by Hayden Hollingsworth Last summer I wrote a column about the importance of accurate communication when a family member or loved one is ill. ...

Laughter – A Dose Of Good Medicine

by Mary Jo Shannon Some time ago I wrote a column about the practical joke gene that is apparently dominant in all Shannon males....