Columns

Don Breaux was serious lawman, usually

I have been trying to recreate in my mind’s eye just how much the driveway dipped behind the old Lafayette City Hall at the point of Jefferson and Lee Streets. I’m doing it because that dipping drive nearly got Donald Breaux fired from the job that began a remarkable law enforcement career.

Gov. Landry vindicated on ESG insanity with China

As you may recall, then Attorney General Jeff Landry issued in 2022 a Louisiana Opinion to the State Pension Board that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing is likely a violation of their Fiduciary Duties — and that state-pension fund board members, public pension fund trustees,...

Discovering a deeper type of love

Last week the country marked another Valentine’s Day, a reminder I haven’t had a traditional “Valentine” since my fiancée and I broke up in 2012.

Why the Blue Cross sale failed

Blue Cross Blue Shield is Louisiana’s largest health insurer, and one of the state’s largest employers. A major effort was undertaken by the Blue Cross Board to sell the whole system to a company called Elevance Health located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Duke and Duchess charmed all

There was a big scandal when King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne in 1936 to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simson. But that was ancient history by the time the couple made an ever-so-brief appearance on Opelousas.

Where do you fall on the sports fan spectrum?

I’m guessing my brother-in-law was underwhelmed by the recent earth-shattering announcement from ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery. I mean, he’s the family member who posted a Facebook meme of Snoopy joyously dancing under the headline “This is me not caring about the Super Bowl.”

Memory challenged in the parking lot

Now that my age has surpassed the mid-century mark and I’m more ancient than virtually all professional athletes, everyone in my department at work, and even my pastor at church, I’ve noticed that the old memory is not what it used to . . . . Wait. What was I writing about again?

When Uncle Sam ruled over Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras in 1942 was a pretty bleak affair. Bombs raining on Pearl Harbor had forced a once-reluctant United States into World War II just months before. People had more serious things on their minds than the pranks and pageantry of Carnival.

Ready for an Apple Vision Pro world?

What an amazing coincidence! Two days after Apple released its much-ballyhooed Vision Pro contraption, Joni Mitchell gave her first Grammy Awards performance.

Thoughts on the Taylor Swift phenomenon

When you poke a hornet’s nest, you expect to get stung. If that hornet’s nest is filled with young girls in spangles and tutus — and their doting parents — you can expect to get skewered. That is exactly what happens if you criticize the social phenomenon known as Taylor Swift.