Columns & Opinion

Approximately 90 units are registered Friday night — and more were still signing-up at press time — for what’s expected to be one of Blackstone’s largest Christmas Parades ever. Four high school marching bands — Amelia, Nottoway Brunswick and Petersburg — are scheduled to perform. The Marching Crimson Wave has long been a crowd favorite. I’m looking forward to lots […]

Totally contrary to our values Dear Sir: The United States Department of Defense, under Secretary Pete Hegseth, has recently publicized operations in which American forces destroyed civilian boats suspected of transporting narcotics out of Venezuela. In so doing, they killed the civilian crews aboard those boats. To me, this is indefensible. I am dead-set against the use of American military […]

We’re not even to the 2026 General Assembly session yet, and bad ideas from Democrats are popping up like dandelions all over Richmond. Whether it’s their plans to “fix” our energy crisis, or their plans to “punch a bully in the nose” with redistricting, the plans they’re putting forward will make Virginia worse, not better. This past week’s meeting of […]

Three inches of wet snow last Friday morning, Dec. 5th, provided a good opportunity for children to build snowmen and snowwomen. Shown here with their creations are Ryleigh (left) and Orion Ruppert, children of John & Amy Ruppert of Lunenburg Avenue & 10th Street, Blackstone. The snow closed area schools. Few accidents were reported. Another 8 inches fell Monday, closing […]

Four years ago this week (Dec. 7, 2021), Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin dropped by Nottoway High School, where he successfully recruited senior Tyler Banks. Today, Kiffin is the biggest story in college football, having left the 11-1 Rebels this past Sunday for LSU. Kiffin won’t be coaching the best team in Ole Miss history when they begin the […]

Meditation Day Dec. 21; Come celebrate with us Dear Sir: On December 6, 2024, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously proclaimed that December 21st would be recognized thereafter as World Meditation Day, acknowledging that the inner peace and overall wellness fostered by meditation contribute to a more harmonious world. (worldmeditationday.world) Many people wonder what exactly meditation is. There are many […]

It was a windy Monday morning in December 1985 when Town crews installed Christmas decorations downtown. We’re pretty sure that’s former Town employee Bruce Gatlin in the bucket truck. Photo was taken in 300 block of South Main, near Irvin Street, facing south, with Wedgewood Motor Inn shown in left background. Back in those days, the Town’s Christmas Parade was […]

ENERGY CRISIS IS HERE Physics doesn’t care about politics. If there isn’t enough electricity to meet demand, the lights go out — no matter how noble the intentions of lawmakers who created the problem. That’s the blunt reality behind the State Corporation Commission’s decision approving a new natural gas power plant in Chesterfield County. When Democrats passed the Virginia Clean […]

I feel badly for making the Sheriff do extra work last week. I woke-up in the middle of the night and was certain I had heard two public safety personnel getting snippy with each other over the air, and that the argument ended with a barnyard epithet. I thought it possibly may have been a dream, so I spoke the […]