Columns

Alert desk clerk spotted secretive actress

It was the talk of the town when the movie star Elissa Landi was spotted in Crowley on Feb. 3. 1936. She was trying to travel incognito and registered at the Egan Hotel as Mrs. Elizabeth Lawrence, That didn’t work. Mary Amelia Egan, the sharp-eyed desk clerk, recognized her.

Biden elicits a Schadenfruede moment

Schadenfreude is a fabulous word. It means deriving happiness from the pain of others or in literal terms, “joy from damage.” And it’s what I felt watching Joe Biden try and make his grand promises about restoring abortion rights to supporters last week in Virginia.

Insurance regulation lacking in Louisiana

When I first took over as insurance commissioner in 1991, things were really in a mess. Regulation by the Louisiana insurance department was nonexistent. Companies were rarely if ever examined as required by state law.

Should students be bribed into attending classes?

Are truancy officers about to get help in fighting absenteeism? According to the New York Post, the Ohio legislature is considering a bipartisan pilot program that would make cash transfers to select kindergarten and ninth-grade students if they show up a whopping 90% of the time.

Three-headed spacemen playing canasta?

The discussion went on for weeks after people claimed to have seen a flying saucer zip across south Louisiana on Saturday, Jan. 7. 1950. That was something to talk about, but not uncommon. This was at the height of the saucer craze that began at the end of World War II.

A lack of pride, engenders a lack of shame

The other day, I was walking through the bookstore and ended up in the sports section. Perusing the football biographies but deftly avoiding anything that shouted “Eagles” because I’m not a masochist, I found a volume I’d always meant to read: “When Pride Still Mattered.

Strange districts breed voter apathy

Remember, back in the days when members of the Louisiana congressional delegation were easily accessible, and regularly in touch throughout their districts? When you saw your representative at local fairs and festivals, riding parades, shaking hands, and having their picture taken with constituents?

America’s over-coddled kids

Get this: Gen Z job applicants are bringing their parents to job interviews, reports the New York Post.

Cold brought ‘a multitude of mishaps’

Frigid weather is not as uncommon in south Louisiana as we might think, and nowadays we at least get a bit more warning that they are coming than in the days when digital media and computer-generated forecasts were the stuff of science fiction.

Do you suffer from ‘stillgottas’?

Despite my best preventive measures, I have spent decades enduring the “stillgottas.