Editorial Board
Miriam Pepper
Miriam Pepper joined the editorial board as editor in November 2001. She previously served as the paper’s Readers’ Representative for six years, writing a weekly column. Earlier in her career at The Star she covered the Missouri legislature, local and state politics, City Hall, special projects, and started two business columns on workplace issues and working women. Before joining The Star, Pepper worked for The Associated Press in Jefferson City covering the state legislature and as a sportswriter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She grew up in St. Louis. Pepper is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, and is married and the mother of two young adults.
Yael T. Abouhalkah
Yael T. Abouhalkah first became interested in journalism in junior high school. Since then he has been a news reporter, a sports reporter, an editor and, since 1984, an editorial writer.
He graduated in 1978 from the School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. Abouhalkah worked as a reporter at The Milwaukee Journal, then returned in late 1979 to the Kansas City area to serve as an editor on the Mid-America desk of The Kansas City Times. In 1984, Abouhalkah joined the Editorial Board. His topics include Kansas City government and neighborhoods; Clay, Platte, Johnson and Jackson counties; and national and local energy policies.
Lewis Diuguid
Lewis W. Diuguid joined the paper in May 1977 after graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism. He has been a reporter, a photographer and has held several editing jobs. He has written a column for the newspaper since 1987. He serves on the Editorial Board, writes a column and edits As I See It submissions. He is the author of A Teacher’s Cry: Expose the Truth About Education Today and Discovering the Real America: Toward a More Perfect Union.
E. Thomas McClanahan
E. Thomas McClanahan writes a weekly column and editorials on a variety of topics, including national defense, labor, international trade, Russia, the Asia-Pacific region and transportation. He has been with The Star since 1984 and a member of the Editorial Board since 1987.
Prior to that, McClanahan worked for United Press International in Cheyenne, Dallas and Denver, and the Colorado Springs Sun. McClanahan graduated from the University of Colorado with degrees in history and journalism. He is a 1988 Jefferson Fellow and has traveled extensively in Asia. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966 to 1969.
Barb Shelly
Barb Shelly, an editorial writer and op-ed columnist, writes about Kansas government and politics; crime and courts; higher education; and scientific research and bioscience development. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bshelly.
Shelly joined The Star in 1984 and has been a metropolitan columnist, assistant metro desk editor, and a metro desk reporter covering City Hall, police and crime, and social services. She came to The Star by way of the Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard, where she reported on city government and special projects, and the Reading (Pa.) Times, where she covered education and general assignment. Shelly graduated from Penn State University in 1977 with a degree in journalism.
She lives in the Waldo neighborhood of Kansas City with her husband, son and three cats.