Focus SB

The following is an edited explanation of the proposed amendments from the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, which provides a voter's guide without taking a position. For PAR's full analysis, go to the PAR Guide to the 2025 Constitutional Amendments.

Major concerns of critics of the proposed lease have legs.

All but 1 of the 6 major NW LA sales taxing jurisdictions saw receipts rise from February 2024. Only the Bossier Parish Police Jury was down. This month I have added 3 Bossier Parish municipalities to reflect their deposits.

In a power of attorney, you name someone as your attorney-in-fact (or agent) to make financial decisions for you. The power gives your agent control over any assets held in your name alone.

Friends, I write this a day after spending several joyful hours as a 'watcher' of the Highland Mardi Gras Parade from the porch of a majestic old Victorian gem as my family and I have done for years. We were just some of the many folks invited to share in this delightful activity by a delightful hostess/grandma who thinks 'the more the merrier' What a grand time it was........ Multi-generations out along the curb vying for throws from the many brightly dressed and happy float riders. For me, the afternoon hours brought out the best of all that is a 'Mardi Gras Parade.' I have experienced the wild and crazy NOLA parade back in the 70s when we were in law school at LSU. As Midwesterners, it was an experience.

The Bossier City Council last week approved its charter-required five-year capital project plan, a nearly $130 million road map for transportation, engineering, parks and other construction. The plan's approval doesn't allocate funding but sets the pace for the projects outlining for when to start and how much they'll cost. The five-year plan calls for $23 million in spending this year; nearly $34 million in 2026; $44.6 million in 2027; $21.2 million in 2028; and $6.5 million in 2029. Transportation projects are the largest portion — $9.6 million — of the 2025 capital projects plan. Plan highlights for transportation projects in 2025 include $2 million for extending Citizens Bank Drive; $1.5 million for Brownlee Road rehabilitation; and $1.5 million for various citywide street improvements. The plan for this year also includes $7.2 million on drinking water system upgrades and $3.7 million on sewer system projects.

Several months ago, local news station KTBS, ran a heartwarming story about a young soccer mom from Bossier City who was battling colon cancer, and how she was fighting to survive this devastating disease. She was a courageous young woman, who sadly lost her battle.

For several years during my term as your District Attorney, every month my office has hosted a monthly meeting of local juvenile stakeholders, consisting of representatives from the Caddo Parish Juvenile Court judges, Shreveport Police Department, Caddo Parish Sheriff’s office, Caddo Parish Schools, the Caddo Parish Schools Security Director, Volunteers for Youth Justice, Caddo Parish Juvenile Services Probation Department, Caddo Parish Juvenile Detention Center, State of Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice (the juvenile version of the Department of Corrections), State of Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services and the FREE coalition to combat human trafficking. These monthly meetings have resulted in coordination of services in our community to combat juvenile crime, to aid our shorthanded law enforcement agencies in how to best handle juveniles who have committed misdemeanor crimes, and to provide knowledge to our school principals and law enforcement agencies on how to best address their interventions with children with emotional or behavioral challenges.