Columns

Beauty and health stirred visionary engineer

Civil engineer B. H. Payne was hired in 1851 to study the possibilities of building a railroad from New Orleans into south Louisiana. He had never crossed the Mississippi River until then, but fell in love with what he saw once he did.

‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ is particularly applicable to today

Over the weekend, I was looking for free movies to watch. Fortunately, some of the best films — black and white classics — show up on the budget channels. One of my favorite B movies, the original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” was available on demand.

Auto insurance rates are a wreck

Headlines across Louisiana blared out in recent weeks that automobile insurance rates in the state will see a huge increase. State Farm, whose rate request was rubber stamped by the Department of Insurance, will increase its rates by an average of 17.3%.

Agreeing with Kamala Harris

It’s hard to believe I agree with Kamala Harris about something. Conservatives are often hesitant to criticize other conservatives. Florida issued its guidelines for teaching history last month, including a set of standards that covered the issue of slavery in grades 6 through 8.

Mississippi dwarfs Louisiana in educational reform

To get Louisiana off the bottom of the barrel when it comes to educational reform, nothing is more important than developing a preschool program that builds the foundation for young people to learn.

To aliens, human wisdom is unbelievable

Last week a whistleblower testified before Congress, alleging that federal officials have concealed evidence of unidentified flying objects from the public for decades.

Are you clinging to your landline phone?

If I could somehow call my father in the Great Beyond, I’d confess that I’m turning into him.

We’ve never seen a summer like this

On Aug. 2, 1924, during a sweltering heat wave, Father W. J. Teurlings, then pastor of St. John’s Cathedral in Lafayette, issued a statement to the newspapers: “At the Cathedral a special Novena will be held for rain. … In view of the urgency of the need a large attendance is anticipated.

‘Sound of Freedom’ stands tall

After my column about not being able to find a theater that screened “Sound of Freedom” appeared last week, I was on the receiving end of a lot of generous offers of rides, tickets and they even set up a GoFund me to pay for my taxi fare.

Partisan extremists want to keep us divided

Is this never going to end? Both left and right wingers continue to lash out with charges filled with rumors and innuendo on issues that seem pretty reasonable to me.