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What are your favorite local places for shopping, pampering or entertaining? Vote now in this year's Best Of Holiday Shopping readers' choice poll.

CornerShot, Aug. 27, 2013

To submit a CornerShot

The Roanoke Times welcomes CornerShot submissions from its readers. Here are the guidelines:

Length: about 200 words
Topic: CornerShots can run the gamut, but we generally prefer unique and clever observations on the human experience.
No poetry, please.
Email your submission to extra@roanoke.com with your full name and hometown and “CornerShot” in the subject line. You can also mail submissions to Kathy Lu, CornerShot, The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, VA 24010.
Submissions are subject to editing.

1. Britney Spears spotted at Lynchburg restaurant

2. One person injured in Friday night shooting in Roanoke

3. Roanoke resource officer's quick action saved young girl

4. East Carolina poses new challenge for Virginia Tech football

5. Lowe's tapes may hold clues to Roanoke woman's death

6. William Byrd stuns Salem in football win

7. Roanoke County electrical short quiets 5 Wheeler radio stations

8. Captive in Roanoke County describes harrowing time with angry friend

9. Concert review: Timeless Willie Nelson plays to appreciative crowd

10. History says this one will matter for Virginia Tech

Betsy Biesenbach | Special to The Roanoke Times

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Our wonderful greenway system provides us with opportunities to get outside, exercise and meet up with people we know and with people we don't.

Sometimes, when I'm pedaling along on my bike - watching the river flow by and enjoying the breeze as it passes through my hair - I can hardly believe I'm in Roanoke. It's the kind of cool amenity I'd expect to see in a larger city. It's something I can boast about to my out-of-town friends.

Another - perhaps unintended - benefit is that it takes many of us to parts of town we might otherwise never visit.

For the people who live along it, the greenway has turned their back yards into everybody's back yard; it has made their neighborhoods our neighborhood.

The greenways are more than just links between places on a map - they also serve to bind the people of Roanoke together.

Saturday, September 14, 2013