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Columnists

BOB BROWN: The American Flag

All my life, I’ve loved the American flag. I was taught there is something special about our flag, that it is never trampled upon in war or peace, and...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: There Is No Need For A U.S. Ground War In Venezuela

The easiest way to overthrow Nicolás Maduro, the narco-terrorist dictator of Venezuela, is to finance an insurgency....

SCOTT DREYER: Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving today, and along with Canadians in October, are the only people on...

DAWN CUSTALOW: Pocahontas Reframed and Thanksgiving

I just returned from the 9th annual Pocahontas Reframed film festival 2025 in Richmond, VA,...

SCOTT DREYER: “Forgive Me When I Whine”

This poem, of unclear authorship, reportedly comes from the dark Great Depression days of the...

A High School Bluegrass Band: 1974-75

by Mary Jo Shannon Jim Parker, now living in Texas and a Patrick Henry classmate of my older son Harry, reads The Roanoke Star.com...

Memories of Mill Mountain Zoo

by John Robinson I can hear it now: the cheerfully wailing whistle, and the chug of the "Zoo Choo" as it circled the perimeter...

Arguing About Health Care

by Hayden Hollingsworth It’s truly amazing what politicians will argue about!  Not only was everyone caught by surprise with Chief Justice Roberts’ siding with...

Law And Order

by Lucky Garvin Sometimes I feel like I’m Commander-in-Chief of Camp Krazy. I arrive at work; 7 AM. Maybe a half hour later, I get...

America Needs to Take Lesson From Wisconsin

by Dick Baynton According to the 2010 census Wisconsin is home to about 5.7 million citizens. The state’s voters are centrist in their political...

Foods for Thought

by Nick Thomas After the Los Angeles School District banned sodas in schools in 2004, then-governor Arnold Schwarzenergger went on to sign sweeping laws...