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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...

Recipe of the Week: Slow-Cooked Brisket in Onion Gravy

by Leigh Sackett I like Halloween because it is simply of the senses. It requires a fun state of mind that is more than a...

The Dog And The Door

by Robert Adcox Most people love adventure, and they love dogs. That's going to come in handy in about a hundred words or so...

Small Cities, Big Ideas

by John Robinson Despite the efforts of many, I have never been one to appreciate poetry like I probably should, but Nikki Giovanni’s got...

From The Older Brother’s Room

“The Roanoke Valley is a great place to raise a family.”  I hear that statement a lot.  As a father to four children...

Will Wars Ever End?

by Hayden Hollingsworth President Obama announced last week that the war in Iraq will end on December 31.  That this came as a surprise...

Celebrating Mediocrity

by Keith McCurdy Recently a friend told me a story about his son’s football banquet.  As my friend put it, they weren’t even close...