Robert J. Mason was born in New York City. He was abandoned by his parents when he was only four months old. His grandmother rescued him, his younger sister, and older brother from foster care and adopted them. Six years later, his grandmother moved them to Columbia, S.C. to live near his aunt and uncle, Gwendolyn and Lawrence Demby. When […]
Sound Bites provides music for students
As the story goes, as a child, legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix carried a broom around school trying to emulate a guitar. When the school’s social worker solicited funds to buy him a guitar, she was denied. Hendrix’s first instrument was a ukulele that he found in the trash. It only had one string. Although Hendrix managed with luck and determination […]
Relax with Yoga in the Gardens
With 14-acres of beautiful gardens in downtown Columbia, Historic Columbia’s gardens are great public spaces to relax and enjoy the outdoors. These gardens are perfect for many outdoor activities, including picnics, walks, and even finding a nice spot to read a book. Amateur photographers come to the grounds daily to photograph the diverse collection of plants, flowers, trees, and garden […]
Dog abuse in Rosewood
I am writing this letter because we have an extreme situation in the Rosewood Area that needs to come to the public’s attention. For almost eight years now, a tenant has been terrorizing the neighborhood dogs. He has been yelling at the neighbors’ dogs when they bark, going as far as hitting the fences with trash cans. When the property […]
Every farm counts
In spite of notable efforts on the part of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and others, American Indians continue to be one of the most underrepresented groups in the Census of Agriculture. The number of American Indian producers participating in the census has increased tremendously since the questionnaire became the responsibility of the USDA in 1997, and especially […]
Quirky Crimes in the Capital City
Richland County Beltline Blvd: Police were called to a business at 10:30 p.m. Sunday after a manager reported she was being assaulted by an irate employee. The manager told the responding officers her 16- year- old employee was hired to “help clean” the business and one of his duties was to mop the floor at night. She said she “always […]
Top Ten Residential Code Violation Concerns in the City of Columbia
ASK US AT THE STARIn response to reader interest, we are focusing this week on the top ten residential code enforcement concerns listed by the City of Columbia on its website: columbiapd.net/code-enforcement. They are as follows: 1. Overgrown Lots (Weeds and plant growth, including grasses, annual plants and vegetation that are higher than 12 inches are in violation. Trees, shrubs, cultivated flowers and gardens […]
Making over IHOP
It’s not a criticism; It’s an observationFull disclosure; I’m not a big IHOP fan. I’m Southern so I base every breakfast restaurant by how good their gravy and biscuits taste. I don’t necessarily have a problem with breakfast places that target Yankees, I just feel like that’s taking the easy way out. Folks from up north aren’t fond of biscuits in general, don’t understand grits, and […]
Daddy’s Girl
I’m just saying...When I was little, I was totally a “Daddy’s Girl.” I was an only child and in my eyes, my father was my world. Don’t get me wrong…I loved my mother with all my heart, but my daddy…well he was the smartest, most amazing man in all the universe. He was big and strong and I knew if he was […]
Life changes when adopting a bear
40–SomethingI certainly appreciated when my mom would babysit our three children. The only problem was my kids would always come back from her house spoiled rotten. Unfortunately, that’s kind of how my mother raised her latest and greatest dog, Keeta the Akita. I used to tremble and get cold chills at the mere mention of that breed. That’s because the […]