The opening moments of NBC’s new series Kings (8 p.m. tonight) seem eerily reminiscent of a moment in our own recent history.

The year 1790 — March 20 to be exact — found Charles Johnston floating down the Ohio River in a flat-bottomed boat, bound for what were then the wilds of Kentucky.

Barbie, the iconic fashion doll with the top-heavy figure and high-heel arches, turns 50 tomorrow, with no need for Botox and no threat of hot flashes.

The teams head to Siberia for the show’s fourth leg.

The children’s museum is hosting a series of programs and special events that explores what it means to live in a global family.

In the Academy of Fine Arts pottery studio, a plywood shelf is stacked with handmade bowls, glazed and fired in hues of blue, red, green and brown.

Despite an early setback, Mel and Mike remain in the race

Downtown denizens are opening their doors once again for The Free Clinic of Central Virginia’s annual Loft Tour, now in its fifth year.

City team finishes fourth in the race’s first leg

Mary Carney, a Boonsboro Elementary music teacher, lies on a massage table in the center of her living room, her shoulders stiff from a long day at work.
Tonight, Carney will use reiki, a Japanese healing technique, to dissolve her body’s tension. She is part of a small group that gathers at her home for monthly healing session led by local reiki master Marc Pritchard.

Charles Adams has several pairs of shoes, a suitcase full of clothes, a head full of 501 conjugated Spanish verbs and a desire to see the world, not to mention a south-of-the-border job waiting for him in mid-March.

“Labeling is disabling.” More than 100 years after the death of Kierkegaard, psychologist and author David Elkind continues to warn educators and parents that too many times children are labeled as “defective” if they do not fit into the mainstream.

Langhorne McCarthy’s memory spans decades of change in Lynchburg.

Two venues on Fifth Street will debut art this First Friday, adding some new blood to a lineup of vibrant shows downtown and on Rivermont.

Cheri Payne has been in the flower business for as long as she can remember.

People with short self-esteem try to chop down the high esteem of those around them. On the other hand, people with high self-esteem help others grow to their potential.

The Super Bowl isn’t always a good game, but it’s always a good excuse to make a pot of chili.

The Lynchburg Art Club is gearing up for its biggest show of the year.

It’s eight o’clock on a Saturday night, and the Lynchburg Museum on Court Street is alive.

A theater that was once the heart of Roanoke’s arts community is closing.

Thelma Dalmas, a naturalist, writes a weekly column for The News & Advance. Readers may e-mail her at

Katie Gardner says she’s a Golden Age girl. “I don’t like the modern stuff,” says the 22-year-old Bedford native, who has been fascinated with old Hollywood films and starlets for most of her life.

The modern Wellness Movement teaches people to make positive choices about communications and all of our activities. Choosing well, they maintain, leads to a healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit that leads, in turn, to “all good things.”

The Amtrak Crescent hisses to a stop at the Kemper Street Station at 10:12 on a recent Saturday night, six minutes late. The platform — virtually empty just moments before — comes to life as about 40 passengers, mostly students, disembark the train. At the center of the action is Garland Harper, Lynchburg’s Amtrak station agent.

Actress Toni Collette has made a career out of chameleon-like transformations on the big screen.

Artist Andrew Wyeth, who portrayed the hidden melancholy of the people and landscapes of Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Valley and coastal Maine in works such as “Christina’s World,“ died early Friday. He was 91.

Three-tenths of a mile from where the pavement ends and the dirt begins on Turkey Mountain Road in the Clifford area, Moses Sandidge rises and works much like he has for his entire life.

New year, new favorites? You tell us. The Best of the Burg is back, and we want to know who does what best in Lynchburg.

Ken West is a professor at Lynchburg College. His book, ‘The Shelbys,’ has been translated into Indonesian and Czech. Readers may write to West in care of The News & Advance, P.O. Box 10129, Lynchburg, VA 24506.