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Columnists

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Is Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) Running For President in 2028? – Part I

I strongly suspect that the self-assured and arrogant Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is going to be a presidential or vice presidential candidate in 2028. Unfortunately, her foreign policy credentials are extremely weak, especially regarding national defense and security. Her...

FRED FIRST: But Is It Art?

I have mentioned before that I have recently found pleasure and pleasant distraction in the...

BECKY MAUPIN: A New Season, New Expectations

Motherhood, I'm learning, is a series of seasons. None of them are truly easy; they're...

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...

SCOTT DREYER: Budget Bullies Attack Popular Scholarships For Low-Income Kids

As noted here, here and elsewhere, The Roanoke Star has been reporting on the huge surpluses in the state's coffers and also the months-long budget...

SCOTT DREYER: Happy 71st Anniversary, Ken & Jane Dreyer!

Lebanese-American financier Ziad Abdelnour claimed: "Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of those is to lose...

MELINDA MYERS: Boost The Beauty of Spring Flowering Shrubs

Bring your overgrown lilacs, forsythia, mock orange, pieris and other spring flowering shrubs down to size while maintaining their natural beauty and spring floral...

The Roanoke Star Remembers And Wishes You a Meaningful Memorial Day

On this glorious Memorial Day in Southwest Virginia as the temperatures are forecast to hit the mid-80s, many in our region are enjoying the...

H. BRUCE RINKER, P.h.D.: God’s Bullies

While living in Northern Virginia in the 1980’s, I listened one evening to a riveting author’s interview on a local NPR station. The interviewee...

SCOT BELLAVIA: It Was Just A Flat Tire . . .

I was driving home from ATL one week to the hour prior, why didn’t my tire go flat on I-75 then? The following weekend, I...