Virginia’s minimum wage recently increased to $12.41. Democrats sought a higher increase last year but Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed that effort. In his veto explanation, the governor repeated talking points used for the last half-century, including economic freedom and business competitiveness. I expected this from a former investment manager, and I can sympathize. Having worked in hospitality management after college, […]
Columns & Opinion
Letters To The Editor
Editor, Rappahannock Times: Christmas is over, we’ve taken down the tree and put all of our new gifts away. At the same time, the Essex Christmas Mother Committee has met one more time to talk about how our project went, how we can improve it, what else needs to be done. Our Christmas Mother, Jovita Kelly was a joy to […]
POV: An Overnight Glow Up
A new trend has sparked across social media apps: the idea of having a glow up; the idea that by following a few steps you can reinvent your look and appear more “attractive” in a short amount of time. This trend reminds me of the scene in every romcom movie ever where the friend helps the protagonist have a makeover, […]
Revisiting The Classics
Most students read “Romeo and Juliet” by Shakespeare, then ask (1) Where did those people learn to talk so cool? and (2) Wasn’t this the same plot as “West Side Story?” The play centers around Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet (a name that rhymes). Juliet’s dad arranges for his daughter to marry a big-shot named Paris, and sets up a […]
Book Review: Witchcraft For Wayward Girls
“Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” by Grady Hendrix c.2025, Berkley $30.00 496 pages So when are you due? Do you want to know now, long before then, or will you wait to see if your baby’s a boy or a girl? Another question: will you buy pink clothes, blue ones or, as in the new book “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” by […]
Did Someone Say ‘Dead Inventory?’
“It’s the goin’ thing!” That’s the phrase my late mother merrily exclaimed every time she got the opportunity to inform me of some quasi-trend she had discovered via “Good Morning America” or a similar program. Alas, I am waist-deep in merchandise that is definitely not the goin’ thing. In my role as an inventory control clerk, I’ve just received a […]
Headstand Contests Are So Last Century
Saturday morning began with a video text of one of the grands doing a wild gymnastics routine on an exercise mat in the middle of their family room. She was lunging, flipping and cartwheeling (barely clearing the sofa, the TV and a younger sister’s head), all to the soothing strains of “Who Let the Dogs Out?” The antics culminated in […]
Out To Pastor
Ugly Is As Ugly SeesI was drinking a cup of coffee in the middle of the shopping mall. I don’t like going to shopping malls, but The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage sent me to get a new dress shirt for Sundays. I told her I could wear the same one I wore last year, but she has different ideas about the dress code. […]
Tappahannock Area Devotional Page
Star of WonderMatthew 2:1-11 The Christmas carol “We Three Kings” is supposed to tell the story that Matthew narrates in the Bible. The carol sings of three kings who traveled over “field and fountain, moor and mountain” to pay homage to the newly born King of the Jews. However, the biblical account is a bit different. Matthew calls them Magi, does not […]
There’s A Word For That
Ever find yourself at the coffee counter in need of one of those cardboard insulators for your hot paper cup? What’s that called? Few people know — including many, I discovered, who work at Starbucks. It’s a zarf. Zarf is an Arabic word for “vessel” and was originally used to describe an ornamental metal holder for a drinking cup. It’s […]
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