Bob Bird and Junius Gaither were strangers when they met last spring at Springwood Burial Park in Roanoke.
Since then, the two men have joined forces, spent their own money and inspired others to be a part of their effort to restore dignity to the abandoned cemetery next to Lincoln Terrace Elementary School. Read more »
While you were wading through your mailbox full of holiday cards bearing glad tidings and best wishes, I went through my mail. Some missives had the charitable tone of a holiday greeting.
Others decidedly did not.
I would say that what you write is as useless as the teats on a boar hog.-- David McCormick, unimpressed with a response I gave a reader in an earlier mailbag. Read more »
The packages are unwrapped, and fewer bows and colorful paper litter the floor today. You didn't get the gift you wanted, and maybe not the one you really needed.
And you're OK with that.
Christmas 2008 -- and perhaps most of 2009 -- will be remembered as the time that brought America back to its center. Read more »
Dear readers: I ran this last year, and it's worth repeating. I don't know who wrote it. But the author doesn't matter. The message does. I trust you will gain as much inspiration from it as I did.--s
Peace begins within.
That message is particularly poignant this time of year.
In this season of peace on Earth and goodwill toward men, individuals have
within themselves the power to cultivate peace. Perhaps the most important
lesson given to us by a carpenter's son from Nazareth is that the power to
spread peace is not the sole domain of heads of state who can so easily wield a
major influence, for good or ill, over daily international affairs.
Everyday people - a teacher, a coach, a homemaker, a member of the clergy, a
shopkeeper - might not have the direct ability to solve great world crises.
Through patience, tolerance and understanding, however, they do have the power
to end conflicts in their families, in their neighborhoods and in their
workplaces.
Indeed, peace and goodwill are gifts that people can extend to each other
daily. The ability to do a good deed exists in everyone - by speaking an
encouraging word to a troubled child, running an errand for an elderly person,
or giving a fellow motorist a break in traffic.
The choice to exercise that ability, though, remains with the individual.
Peace and goodwill are the remnants of that first Christmas in Bethlehem. The
message that came forth from there was that much of the anger in the world could
be dispelled by following His example.
How important is it that Barack Obama has no Southerners in his Cabinet?
In the constant back and forth, mistrust and miscues between Roanoke officials and vendors over the future of the City Market Building, it's a little difficult this season to gauge who's been naughty and who's been nice.
So in the spirit of good will toward men, is it too much to ask the two sides to show a little compassion toward each other as Roanoke tries to hash out how to proceed with downtown's signature building? Read more »
Years ago, when the D.C. snipers were arrested, one of my colleagues said she believed John Muhammad, the older shooter, was mentally ill. Our editor said, "No, he's a turd."
That conversation comes to mind as I listen to all of the armchair, psycho-analyzing of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. While I'm sympathetic to mental illness, we need to understand it's a serious disorder -- not an excuse for folks who are just plain turds. This dude fits that category, with honors, (and his wife wouldn't win any Mother Teresa awards, either.)
To suggest that this conniving schemer is grappling with mental illness insults the truly mentally ill.
s
Jessica Lankford made her way to the Salvation Army's Angel Tree at Valley View Mall with hands busy juggling gifts and a heart moved by the spirit of generosity.
"It's just something that we do," said the Troutville mother of three small children. Her family has made strangers' Christmas wishes come true for seven years.
"It's very important. The amount we spend on the angel kids is what we spend on our kids," Lankford added. Read more »
When you get lucky once and beat a double murder charge in a case that polarized the nation along racial lines as O.J. Simpson's did, live the rest of your life as the Invisible Man.
s
In her signature plainspoken style, Michigan native Shanna Flowers peels away the layers and gets to the heart of the issues. No pretense. Just straightforward perspective. Shanna writes about local people whose circumstances reflect decisions made as near as City Hall or as far away as the halls of Congress. Other times, she weighs in on a topic because it is incredibly ridiculous. Or heartening. Or fascinating. Read Shanna's column three days a week, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at roanoke.com
