The continuing saga over the Mardi Gras parades of the Krewes of Gemini and Centaur has yet to be resolved. The 10-year contracts of both krewes with the city of Shreveport have expired.
See original Mardi Gras column below ...
The city of Shreveport's 10 months' sales tax receipts are running at a record pace. October's $13,297,236 gives a YTD total of $122,437,016. This sum is 16.7% over 2020's 10-month figure of $104,897,747. Next month's number will easily surpass the appropriated amount. Then the final month's receipts will be on top of that. Such revenues indicate the method by which the mayor and city council should award public safety first responders a long overdue and badly needed pay raise of 12-13%.
The morning I was writing this, I happened to come across an email someone sent to me. The email was written by Mr. Jon Perkins. I do not know Mr. Perkins personally, although I do know about him.
Goodness, it’s not even Thanksgiving, and some bored politicos are setting odds who will run for Shreveport mayor next year. It may be a little early to start talking about turkeys, but then in the political arena, there is usually an abundance of them. And with supply chain issues causing shipping delays, maybe it’s time to order campaign signs, buttons and flyers.
Dads on Duty is a grassroots effort by fathers in Shreveport who have decided that enough is enough. Their effort, spearheaded by NAACP President Michael Lafitte, Community Activist Craig Lee and others, has made an immediate difference in stopping the fighting and violence that was happening at Southwood High School several weeks ago. So far, so good, but it is just the beginning in an ongoing fight to save our children and to save our schools. It is not just a one-off for these fathers, but it is an idea whose time has come.
In the free state of Bossier, wonders never cease. And legalities are usually an afterthought.
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness time. Color this column pink. When my mom was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, her health was already precarious. In the hospital with a broken hip caused by cancer in her bones, she suddenly developed a digestive tract issue that required emergency surgery. I was contacted to go to the hospital to sign the paperwork; the surgeon was waiting.
Wayne Smith is serving as Shreveport's substitute police chief. He was appointed by Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins to that position on Aug. 27 of this year.
Parenting has always been a difficult proposition. It was a hard job when my parents were trying to raise my siblings and me in the ’50s, ’60s and early ’70s. It was a hard job for my wife and me when we were trying to raise our four children at the end of the last century and the beginning of this new century. Make no mistake about it, raising children is a job, and there is no substitute for good parenting.
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