Columns & Opinions

The city of Shreveport has the potential to be one of the best medium-sized cities in the country, but it starts with strong communities that contribute to the fabric of the city. Shreveport can attract new residents to the city if those communities are seen as aesthetically pleasing to the eye, which means the elimination of dilapidated buildings and abandoned properties.

We wish 30-Second Read had all the answers. Alas, some of life’s questions are too big to yield to something as simple as an answer. So today, as we’ve done before, we catalog the imponderable.

Many police officers and firefighters have been leaving their employment with the city of Shreveport for higher-paying jobs. Quite a few have left for positions in northwest Louisiana jurisdictions. Fewer have left our immediate area. This is intended to offer choices by which the first responders in SPD/SFD might obtain badly needed, and well deserved, salary hikes. Each department has too many vacancies.

“School days, school days, dear ol’ golden rule days.”

When I worked for Louisiana Downs in the 1990s, I would occasionally get talked into going out for refreshments with the crew after work to It’ll Do Lounge on E. Texas in Bossier City. The It’ll Do had everything one would want in an after-work meetup spot, or so I was led to believe anyway. It was dark in there, but it was cozy and welcoming.

All that have been missing at recent Shreveport City Council meetings are popcorn and peanut vendors. The clowns arrive in large numbers, and their antics have been anything but entertaining.

Animal activists in Caddo Parish have constantly and continually complained as to the actions and inactions of the Caddo Parish Animal Services (CPAS). The complaints concern the operation of the CPAS facility and the enforcement of parish ordinances concerning ownership, treatment and care of pets.

A recent study shows that black people are the least vaccinated in Caddo Parish and surrounding areas, and the extraordinary outreach programs are not having any impact on improving that statistic. The truth is that older blacks are getting the vaccination, but young blacks are lagging far behind in obtaining the shots, and that is a problem.