Columns & Opinions

JOHN E. SETTLE Jr.

PRENTISS SMITH

Contributing Columnist

Contributing Columnist All three of the major governmental jurisdictions which levy a sales tax saw their July 2022 receipts drop slightly vs. July 2021. The greatest decrease is Shreveport's 4.4%.

Contributing Columnist There’s the old, old, OLD saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Doubt anyone says it much anymore, rooted as it is in the Protestant Work Ethic, which has pretty much disappeared, overcome by YouTube, robots and smart phones. “Idle hands” implied not having anything to do, and the “devil’s workshop” meant if nothing productive was happening, then something negative likely was.

At press time the day before the YMCA “Pier Six Brawl on the Red River,” a forum will put all 10 candidates for mayor on one stage for an hour and half, which sounds like an old-fashioned pro wrestling First Blood Match. The winner is the first to draw blood from one of the opponents.

The "Big Four" topics advocated by political candidates for both mayor and city council are less crime, more jobs, better roads and reduced blight. Doubt that a candidate could win by pushing opposite positions from the above.

I called up one of my mentors in March of 2020 when everything shut down. I asked him about other pandemics he has experienced in his lifetime.