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Columnists

BOB BROWN: The American Flag

All my life, I’ve loved the American flag. I was taught there is something special about our flag, that it is never trampled upon in war or peace, and...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: There Is No Need For A U.S. Ground War In Venezuela

The easiest way to overthrow Nicolás Maduro, the narco-terrorist dictator of Venezuela, is to finance an insurgency....

SCOTT DREYER: Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving today, and along with Canadians in October, are the only people on...

DAWN CUSTALOW: Pocahontas Reframed and Thanksgiving

I just returned from the 9th annual Pocahontas Reframed film festival 2025 in Richmond, VA,...

SCOTT DREYER: “Forgive Me When I Whine”

This poem, of unclear authorship, reportedly comes from the dark Great Depression days of the...

An April Walk Along A Creek and Back Through Time

I have hiked Rock Castle Creek trail a few times since we moved back to Virginia in 1997, but not in April—not until...

My One Moment of Praise

Whenever Louie leaned into the ball, all his 240# transmitted to his bat. But he never learned to get “under” the ball, to...

Fright vs. Terror: What’s the difference?

Everyone has known the feeling of fright but few of us have ever known true terror.  The differences between the two are vast. When...

“The Ring of Old Silver Lightly Dropped”

As a newcomer to the Roanoke Valley, I will not be convinced that winter is finally behind us until I hear the wood...

Presenting Environmental DUH vs. FACT

On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, it's becoming clear that the waters of the world are being destroyed by...water. DUH:  Sometime in the...

What Love Can Do…

The mutt lay motionless in our front yard, snow matted in his coarse brown hair, eyes half-closed and mucous running from both nostrils....