Columns

The dawn of spring; a sense of renewal

The eternal promise of spring, the first daffodil, the tiny buds forming on the elm tree; a faint but distinct musical note from the mockingbird, serves to remind us of the cycle of life.

Ketanji Brown Jackson: Let’s hope turnabout is not fair play

I certainly hope that the hearings on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination, which started on Monday, are what Sen. Dick Durbin wants them to be: “Respectful and dignified.” That would be such a pleasant change from recent experience.

Insurance reform is a dud

The headlines blared across newspapers and television stations last week. “State insurance leaders join forces on Catastrophe Reform Legislative Package,” penned the Lake Charles American Press.

$ong sung green as music sales boom

Nathaniel Adams Coles was 15 when he dropped out of Wendell Phillips Academy in Chicago to pursue a career in music. Three years later, in 1937, he managed to sell his first song, a catchy tune called “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” for fifty dollars.

Will this be your best spring ever?

A tiny portion of my “day job” at a farm-and-home cooperative involves writing radio commercials and on-hold phone messages.

Spaniards and the cache of silver

Some years ago, a fellow from the Cecilia area of St. Martin Parish suggested to me that Spaniards had traveled far up the Teche a long time before the history books said any European explorers got to south Louisiana.

Genocide is genocide, no matter the race of the victims

Years ago, when I was just beginning to practice immigration law, I remember hearing about two horrific genocides. They were almost back-to-back, happening within little more than a year of each other, and each became the focus of a war crimes tribunal at the Hague.

Old family photos bring new perspective

My mother and father keep our old photos in their hall closet in a sturdy old Pabst Blue Ribbon box. Sifting through old photos is a glorious experience — one, we now know, that relieves aches and pains by calming the brain, according to a recent study.

What would you love to tell your younger self?

What would you love to tell your younger self?

St. Patrick fitting for Acadiana

Besides the fact that we will throw a party on the flimsiest of excuses, it is solid theologically for French Louisiana to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. You see, he spent much of his religious life in France, and he wasn’t Irish at all.