‘A what?’ is the response I’ve most often gotten when initiating a conversation about “mountain crankies” recently. There has been a resurgence in recent years of this very old form of entertainment. “Crankies” were, in fact, one of the first forms of moving picture entertainment.

Over the last five years, the Commit to Be Fit Program (C2BF) has had a positive impact on Rappahannock County Public Schools (RCPS). Its mission is to educate students and the community about healthier food and exercise habits. 

Blessings are a two-way street with both a giver and a receiver. They’re often unplanned, yet always seem divinely timed.

Foothills Forum, the nonprofit partner of the Rappahannock News, is completing a highly beneficial, year-end funding collaboration made possible by generous donations from Rappahannock citizens.

Actually, Virginia has several data center problems.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays of the year. And on Monday morning after Thanksgiving, it was very dark and blustery looking back toward Rappahannock Peak, and in front of those dark clouds was the most vivid rainbow I think I have ever seen. Not only were the colors bright, but the rainbow seemed so near. 

CHAOS — Where Great Dreams Begin, with accompanying symbol, is a visual I have propped on a bookcase to remind me of possibilities. The quote beneath the art states, “Before a great vision can become reality there may be difficulty.

Comment articles reflect the opinion of the writer(s), not the Rapp News. Comment below or by writing a letter to the editor: editor@rappnews.com.

Comment articles reflect the opinion of the writer(s), not the Rapp News. Comment below or by writing a letter to the editor: editor@rappnews.com.

Lt. Col. Thomas A. Neal is one of the most decorated fighter pilots alive today. Since America’s founding, those called to military service have forged an enduring generational bond.

Before moving to Rappahannock County in 2021, I lived in Florida wanting to do my civic duty and enrolled in the training offered to become a certified volunteer poll watcher and greeter for the 2020 presidential election. It was an illuminating experience.

This past Saturday dawned sunny and cool here in Rappahannock County. High on a hillside, sheltered by brilliantly colored fall trees, two foxes sat, appraising the view below of an enthusiastic crowd, both on horseback and on foot, plus dozens of hounds eagerly awaiting their huntsman’s horn and signal to explore. 

Ted Pellegatta Jr. is a proven accomplished visual artist and as a photographer he displayed his gift for photography in his lasting book, “Virginia’s Blue Ridge.” Over time he has switched to writing poetry, and he now has had two well received books: “Lyric Words on a Page, Volume 1 and 2.” 

Since its founding in 1959, Rappahannock High County High School (RCHS) has continued to fulfill its status as the ideal model for a community school. Unlike most large high schools in the country, RCHS defies the experience from a modern large school to a welcoming small one.

A big pitch Republicans are making this election is that they do better with the economy than Democrats. Yet the exact opposite is true when you look at just about every measure.

The 37 new kindergartners at Rappahannock Elementary School may not yet know that they are taking the first steps on a long journey with a pot of gold at the end, but their teachers, parents, and community supporters do and will be cheering them all the way through graduation.

“What does it take to pull off an outdoor fundraiser on the heels of a hurricane?” This is the question my staff and I asked ourselves on the morning of Sept. 28th. 

In 1979 Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India, received the Nobel Peace Prize. In an interview at the time, she was quoted as saying that she would not align herself with any organization or movement using phrases in its name or mission that implied violence in any way no matter how lofty its goal and intention.

Once upon a time there was a rural community nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. They got their drinking water from a hodge-podge of sources; from wells, gallon bottles delivered by vendors, glass or plastic bottles purchased in food markets or from city provided taps.

This fall, 42 Rappahannock County High School students are taking 290 college credits through dual enrollment English, U.S. history, government and statistics. These courses are offered through an agreement with Laurel Ridge Community College. But, what exactly is dual enrollment?

What's all the buzz about heat pumps lately? Well, the efficiency of heat pumps has improved tremendously in the last ten years, so whether you currently burn gas or oil, or even if you have an older heat pump, switching to a state-of-the-art heat pump can save a lot of energy. Or, thinking about it another way, it can save you a lot of dough.

Anyone remember a Letter to the Editor about the importance of attitude, Rappahannock News, Sept. 10, 2022? Replacing an “I don’t want this” and “You can’t do it” with “How can we make this work in a positive way to benefit our county community?” can provide the focus to get on the best path so our residents and our county can thrive. 

Comment articles reflect the opinion of the writer(s), not the Rapp News. Comment below or by writing a letter to the editor: editor@rappnews.com.

In the bygone days of my youth the golden-throated poet Joni Mitchell sang: “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” Ain’t it the truth. In hopes that we might avoid that pitfall here in Rappahannock, I would like to set down a few words regarding the historical and architectural significance of our old courthouse — a building whose fate now teeters precariously between posterity and the wrecking ball. 

Are you feeling nostalgic? I am. Maybe because it is the 80th Anniversary of when Rick and Ilsa had an appointment with destiny. Let’s go back to Casablanca, Vichy French Morocco, just before the WWII Allied invasion of North Africa.

While it was interesting to read Ron Maxwell’s Commentary, “The Noah Option” (Rappahannock News, Aug. 11), it also made me pause to think through his actual proposal to practice the Half Earth principles set forth in Edward O. Wilson’s book Half Earth (additionally described in title as “The Planet’s Fight for Life”).

An alarming study reveals that the population of North American birds has dropped nearly 30% since 1970. Each day, an estimated 6,000 acres of open space are converted to development of one form or another – seemingly endless seas of concrete and asphalt covering the living land. Nearby Clevengers’s Corner is a harbinger of the looming menace.

When Saigon fell in April 1975, a generation of American warriors had to accept that, as President Reagan said, regardless of the strategic loss, they had all served in a noble cause.  

The direction of my work is shifting. Within the kitchen I’ll be emphasizing chocolate and I additionally plan to begin providing education. I’m going to tell you a bit of the story in my own words, so you can understand why.

I’ve been noodling with a funky tune entitled “Inside the Great Rappahannock Divide while Outside the Inn Crowd and Sadly Still Missing The Appetite Repair Shop and Randolph Clater at the Corner Store Blues.” But I fear the song could never be as evocative as the title, and this sort of material always works better as prose, unless you are Johnny Mercer or Willie Nelson.

In my first year of college a required course was Logic — Logic 101. My mind is a bit blank about what information that single semester course tried to impart to my distracted freshman brain, but the one nugget of knowledge from the curriculum that has stayed with me over the decades is: IF, A=B and B=C then A=C.

Readers will have seen various national headlines in recent years suggesting that some American Republicans — Putin admirers like Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson are usually the first-mentioned — believe that Democrats like President Joe Biden are greater threats to America than Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

There seems to be an ongoing Balkanization of American social and political “thought” these days, a rigid retrenching of opinion that is happening more swiftly than the pundits can posit their scabrous, uh, punditries. That it has infected the local press is to be expected.

I have been a visitor to the Fauquier, Culpeper, and Rappahannock counties area since the mid-1970s when I was 15 and I became enchanted with Shenandoah National Park.

Winston Churchill was once reportedly asked “Why, after several centuries there was still an “Irish Problem?” Sir Winston responded, “We have always found the Irish a bit odd in that they refuse to act English.”

I couldn’t help but notice that my recent comments about what I believe to be the sophomoric behavior of those who changed the names of Lord Fairfax and Patrick Henry Community Colleges were answered not with history-based logic, but with personal attacks on me as an apparently uninformed interloper to Virginia and to the Blue Ridge.

I have always enjoyed writing to a great extent, and always liked letting my creative side show through my writing. This is probably why English was always my favorite subject instead of science or math. I could go on reading and writing about anything for hours, but the second you ask me to balance a chemistry equation or solve an algebraic expression, my brain immediately  crashes.

It appears that every word associated with the gun debate is in and of itself a potential land mine as vicious and explosive as the bullets fired from an AR15. When trigger words such as “ban,” “control,” “restrict,” and “regulate” are verbalized, a certain segment of the population goes ballistic, shutting down the discourse.

Anyone else remember bug splattered windshields while out driving on the roads around here? In the 40 years I’ve lived here, those messy windshields are a pretty distant memory, I thought recently.

Memo to the woke idiots of the cultural cleansing police: Our nation was largely built upon slave labor, which existed in all of the original colonies, and was vital to the growth of New England and New York.

On the morning of April 8, I got to the high school at 3 a.m., much earlier than usual. I was greeted at the cafeteria doors by a teacher holding their coffee. The halls of the school were empty but bright, a tough contrast from the darkness outside. I walked through them to the opposite side of the school, where a classroom was overflowing with suitcases and duffle bags. Several more teachers sorted through the luggage. A handful of my classmates stood around the room and, even though it was early, excitement was buzzing in the air. 

Chief Justice John Roberts has a problem that is eerily similar to one I faced years ago at the Federal Trade Commission. A year or so after President Reagan appointed me to chair the FTC, a story appeared in the press about a major merger we were investigating and a draft of preliminary findings.

President Ronald Reagan was known to state, “Trust, but verify,” which I think is appropriate when hearing Supervisor Ron Frazier, during the April 4, 2022, Board of Supervisors meeting, state that the newly opened Washington Post Office had no exterior lighting so was too dark for some citizens to get their mail late in the day. 

Our friend Doreen, a short time ago, when Wendy needed a heart operation, visited her to talk about her operation, advice and what she learned. Wendy was always radiant and also 100% honest.