Columns & Opinions
My first one hundred days as your mayor
“If music be the food of love, play on.” William Shakespeare’s great opening line from “Twelfth Night” is also a great opening for anything, including a new administration. I’d ask local music impresario Jackie Brock to book some music, all kinds, into The Lot downtown to kick off Fridays after work. Downtown is the most productive real estate in any city, and we should make it rock. Hashtag Love Shreveport, right?
Local sales taxes are way up
The three major governmental bodies which levy a sales and use tax all reflect a big jump in their August 2022 receipts.
Can youth sports succeed in Shreveport?
I was trapped in Elvis’ bathroom with Alicia Silverstone back in 2011 while we were shooting the feature film “Butter” at Municipal Auditorium. I’m rarely without words, but it was the sort of awkward thing that can happen on a movie set, and I didn’t want to screw up the behind-the-scenes interview. So, I froze. Deer in the headlights moment. The King’s “throne room” was immaculate, by the way, and preserved just as he left it thanks to a major remodel of the historic Municipal.
Successful academic improvement will take more than ‘a couple of years’
The Louisiana Department of Education reported the following school performance scores: 2008-2009, eight “D” and “F” schools, two schools ranked academically unacceptable; 20092010, 11 “D” and “F” schools, two schools ranked academically unacceptable; 2010-2011, 22 “D” and “F” schools; 2011-2012, 21 “D” and “F” schools; 2012-2013, 33 “D” and “F” schools; 2013-2014, 30 “D” and “F” schools; 2014-2015, 34 “D” and “F” schools; 2015-2016, 33 “D” and “F” schools; 2016-2017, 24 “D” and “F” schools, 2017-2018, 32 “D” and “F” schools, 2018-2019, 30 “D” and “F” schools; 2019-2020, the pandemic hit, and the data is inconclusive. This data shows the efforts of a public school system in peril.
On Faith and Perseverance
When you’re flying a kite, if the string goes slack, then the kite drops because there is not enough tension to keep it in the air. When people have no odds against them, nothing to draw out their vital force, sometimes they find it hard to stay up. We do not enter the world ready-made; we are engaged in the making of ourselves, and in the process, must learn to deal with difficulties. Learn to call upon the Lord. You do not fight alone.
SettleTalk
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PRENTISS SMITH