Focus SB

We hear it every Fall Election, “I’m taxed enough already!” As we consider new taxes to raise money to pay for expensive infrastructure repairs to our crumbling streets and drainage all over town. Youree Drive is a state, parish and city funded roadway, heavily traveled, it always needs rehab repairs. That is a constant expense. But why? The demand on our roads is great, and we have wear and tear on our miles of roadways because we have parking mandates. Parking mandates or parking minimums, an old idea, parking minimums are the notion that buildings like schools, hospitals or shopping centers that are designed to hold large numbers of people need to have huge parking lots to hold all of the cars that would carry all the people that would be in that shopping center, school, or hospital.

State highway construction crews have begun work on expansion of the exit lane off Interstate 49 onto the Southern Loop. The state Department of Transportation and Development will spend $1.5 million to construct a second exit lane adjacent to the existing one. The existing ramp will remain open during construction, though motorists should be aware of crews and equipment on site and drive St. Mary Medical Center is proud to announce its Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) has been awarded the Silver Beacon Award for Excellence by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). This recognition places the PICU in a select group of hospital units across the nation delivering top-tier critical care. Ochsner LSU Health is one of only four hospitals in the state to currently hold this designation and the only location outside of New Orleans. It is the only pediatric unit in Louisiana to earn this award. If you plan to visit Government Plaza you can expect a different experience. Visitors will now need to check in at a kiosk, place their belongings through an X-ray machine and walk through a metal detector. For those attending City Council or Caddo Commission meetings, there’s a slightly different process. New cameras have been installed, and more deputies will be in the building to keep people safe. The total cost for the security upgrades is nearly $160,000.

How much, if any, movies Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson will film in Shreveport is still an open question. In fact, there are many questions, but at least one may be answered In Baton Rouge--the future of the film tax credit.

The Bossier Parish Police Jury (BPPJ) took key steps to improve local infrastructure during its regular meeting on April 2, 2025, awarding a contract for drainage improvements and approving a traffic congestion relief initiative. The BPPJ awarded the Request for Proposals (RFP) for administrative services to Frye Magee, LLC, as part of the Louisiana Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (LCDBG-MIT) Program. This contract focuses on the Espanita Drainage Improvements project in Police Jury District 2, which falls under the Louisiana Watershed Initiative Round 2. In another significant development, the BPPJ approved an agreement with Volkert, Inc. to move forward with the Bossier Parish Congestion Relief Winfield Road Project. This initiative aims to improve traffic flow and safety by connecting Winfield Road to Highway 3.

CHRISTUS Shreveport-Bossier Health System celebrates a successful year of fundraising, receiving $800,000 through Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) donations.

“…Wanting things I couldn’t find in the stores. Nothing stood out. None of the pieces were ME. So, since I couldn’t find it, I decided to make it,” Smart Dummies owner Roland Garner explains!

Depending on the language of the power of attorney, your agent may be able to change the ownership of your bank accounts or change your beneficiary designations. This is a common scenario in second marriages. The transfer often occurs just before the spouse passes away, typically when the husband is dying in the hospital. For example, if the husband’s will leaves some of his large bank accounts to his children from his first marriage, the second wife, acting under a power of attorney, can add herself as a joint owner of the account. When the husband dies, the second spouse is the surviving joint owner and liquidates the account. There is no need to probate the will for the bank account and the children never receive their share of their father’s money. It happens a lot. Siblings use it a lot too, to direct mom’s assets away from their brother or sister.

Recovered patient Shayleigh Gasper was still in diapers when a trip to the doctor led to the devastating discovery she had a brain tumor, and later, cerebellar mutism.