Columns

Did Edwin Edwards plant a run for president?

Some of you older readers may recall the name of South Korean lobbyist Tongsun Park, a flamboyant international lobbyist who died this past week. Back in the 1970s, he was intricately involved in the politics of Louisiana.

Will Harris go to the border before Nov. 5?

Kamala Harris has decided, likely as a result of prodding from some very nervous handlers, that she should finally visit the border. The Border Czarina, who refuses to accept the title thrust upon her by her current boss, has skirted around an issue that will be central in the upcoming election.

Candidates are supporting the trades

There aren’t many positives to come out of a very noisy 2024 election, but here’s one: There’s growing support to get young people into the trades.

What’s the lowdown on your town’s downtown?

My parents used to talk about the county’s farmers streaming into town on Saturday and shopping until midnight.

Bedon’s court offered a good show

Some years ago I received a copy of an account written by Montfurt Hull of Baton Rouge describing his encounter with one of the most colorful men in south Louisiana.

After would-be assassin was arrested, pundits said all the right things...at first

When I was in college, there was this campaign against what was just beginning to be called “slut shaming.”

Do I know where you live?

I confess to employing the occasional half-truth. In order to keep conversations moving (and save face), I sometimes mumble, “Sort of” when someone queries, “You know where ol’ (fill-in-the-blank) lives, don’t you?”

Of pecans, pralines, and bruised thumbs

It’s a sure harbinger of the season when sandwich-board “We Buy Pecans” signs begin to appear in front of feed ’n’ seed and little grocery stores across south Louisiana. They remind me of days spent crawling through the yard when I was a kid, and also makes me begin to hanker for pralines.

Think twice before relocating to a rural home

As more Americans can do their jobs from any remote location, a trend has been to relocate from urban and suburban areas to lower-cost, rural areas, according to a report by the Center for Rural Innovation.

Daughter saved father from sinking steamboat

A heroic daughter and a bale of cotton saved her father’s life when the steamboat Lessie Taylor sank just after leaving the busy St. Landry port at Washington on Feb. 3, 1878.