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Columnists

BECKY MAUPIN: A New Season, New Expectations

Motherhood, I'm learning, is a series of seasons. None of them are truly easy; they're all hard in different ways. We make it through one challenging season only to...

BOB BROWN: Aging Poetically, Part II

Jan called today. “Ed died Thursday… he is in a better place.” Ed, a retired...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: The US Media’s Monomaniacal Obsession With Nancy Guthrie’s Kidnapping

I do not mean to downplay the tremendous tragedy of the kidnapping of Savannah Guthrie's...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Barack and Michelle Obama Are Neither Apes Nor Monkeys

I read an article from the BBC on February 6 entitled, "Trump says he 'didn't...

BOB BROWN: Aging Poetically, Part I

Too often, the human race is a race against time. Until recently, I was a...

PATRICK BAILEY: Is There A Heroin Problem In Roanoke?

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, West Virginia topped the United States in opioid deaths and overdoses in 2018. Many people wonder...

JOY SYLVESTER-JOHNSON: When Peace Seems Too Lofty A Goal

They used to say Roanoke was about ten years behind the rest of the east coast in social trends, fashion, design, etc. A year ago...

SCOTT DREYER: Pro-abortion Warner is Wrong on Judge Barrett

As a licensed history teacher since 1987, I try to “practice what I preach” and demonstrate active citizenship in keeping with the belief: “democracy...

MIKE KEELER: For These Troubled Times, A Little Medicine

There is only one sport played by people that wasn’t invented by humans. That sport is called Tewaaraton, and the people who play it...

MELINDA MYERS: Fall Garden Tasks to Protect Your Landscape from Winter Wildlife Damage

As the seasons change, we adjust our gardening tasks and plantings to match. Animals also make changes this time of year, often changing their...

SCOT BELLAVIA: A Proposal for Meaningful Legislation

If you’ve been reading my articles since I started writing for The Roanoke Star, you’ll know I usually stick to more serious topics. In-person,...