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Columnists

A Life Well-Lived: Shirley Padgett Lester (1947-2025)

Shirley Padgett Lester of Vinton went to her heavenly reward October 4. Below is the powerful eulogy her daughter Kelly Kiser wrote and calmly delivered at the memorial service...

BOB BROWN: How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden “Presidency”

Permit me to think out loud as an old-fashioned person who respects authority, history, and...

JOHNNY ROBINSON: The Gratitude Perch

On the old road up Mill Mountain, part of Roanoke’s fabulous greenway system, there’s a...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Sometimes President Trump Needs To Think Before He Speaks – Part II

Contrary to what President Trump believes, I think that Lakanwal was adequately vetted before September 2021,...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Sometimes President Trump Needs To Think Before He Speaks – Part I

I read an article in the New York Post written by Ryan King on November 27 entitled...

Recipe of the Week: Gorilla Bread

by Leigh Sackett I was reminded by my wonderful friend Katherine that one of the great joys of the Holiday season is baking. Of course,...

What is Your Child’s Job Description?

by Keith McCurdy If you had to write a “kid job description” what would you write?  I was actually asked this question recently…and it...

Sound Guys Hard to Forget

by Joe Kennedy I spent 36 years in daily journalism, and in that time my memory performed some marvelous tricks. For a long spell, I...

Honeybees Buzzing Back in 2011

by Fred First What with the extremes of temperature and rainfall, and cursed by more than the usual cadre of pests in the vegetable...

Everyone Has Something to Write

by Hayden Hollingsworth It was four years ago today I wrote my first column for The Roanoke Star-Sentinel. Now, 114 columns later I took a...

My Dogs Don’t Do Time Zones

by Jon Kaufman The state of Arizona does not believe in daylight savings time and neither does my dog Roscoe.  Along with Hawaii, Arizona...