Columns & Opinions

Consider the language from the 2021-2022 Pupil Progression Plan on “Consent,” compliments of the members of the Caddo Parish School Board -- interesting language: “The law goes on to require the state Department of Education to establish, subject to the approval of BESE, the level of achievement on the fourth and eighth grade LEAP test – in mathematics, English language arts, science and social studies -- needed for students to advance to grades five and nine.”

At its next meeting on Oct. 28, the Shreveport City Council will consider a resolution encouraging the Shreveport-Caddo Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) to “place a moratorium on the issuance of any occupational licenses and certificates of occupancy for liquor stores/retail sales of alcohol-liquor, other than renewals, for a period of six (6) months.”

Wasn’t it Otto von Bismark who said, “Laws are like sausages. It is better not to see them being made”? I’ve learned that if you can’t fight City Hall, you can go down there and “argue to agreement” with them. But like making sausage, it takes time, and you need a strong stomach for it. It isn’t always pretty, but you can argue to agreement, as one longtime Government Plaza groupie says.

A Governmental Process We Can Be Proud Of

A young woman pulled up in a city of Shreveport truck to meet me and inspect a situation that neighbors were having with erosion of a muddy hill running off and eventually into the city’s storm drains. Smiling and energetic -- I’ll call her April -- she sprung out of her city truck and expressed great interest in the muddy mess that was causing distress in this small corner of Shreveport. April took lots of pictures and asked great questions. After her investigation was done, she seemed excited to help. She told me, “This is what I do. I love taking on these issues and getting them solved.” I actually believe April will solve it.

The past 20 months have been difficult ones for the city of Shreveport and for the country dealing with Covid and the economic toll it has taken on a lot of families. Today, despite historic amounts of monies being shoved out the door in Washington, many American families still find themselves struggling to make ends meet.

As I was signing in for the Broadmoor Neighborhood Association meeting in a crowded multipurpose room at Broadmoor Presbyterian Church, a Shreveport police officer walked through the door. I asked the ladies at the table if they had pitchforks and torches out in the parking lot. This was the first of two meetings I attended that had attendance of over 100-strong citizens of Shreveport that week.