Columns

By Stephen Waguespack

Louisiana is a sportsman’s paradise outfitted with worldrenowned hunting, fishing and countless other outdoor pastimes. Our people clearly understand how fortunate we are to have this bounty of recreational treasures at our fingertips and go to great lengths to appropriately utilize and protect this gift each and every year.

At the same time, we are proudly a “working coast” and many Louisianans head to work every day to help find, produce, manufacture and distribute the energy that fuel’s our nation’s economy. For years in Louisiana, sons and daughters have routinely entered the same industry that employed their parents and grandparents in generations past. It is a tradition we wear on our sleeve as a badge of honor.

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by Stephen Waguespack 

Sunday, April 30th kicked off National Small Business Week. This is a week for us to celebrate our job creators and innovators. This is a week when we honor the nation’s and our state’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. While this week is all about providing small businesses with the recognition they have rightfully earned for all of their hard work to make Louisiana’s economy stronger, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) would like to honor these businesses in an unconventional way, by bringing to light the hardships these small business owners face in order to make Louisiana better.

By: Raymond Powell

About 1900 Mansfield began to grow and actually developed into a modern little city. It had some citizens that recognized the need for modern conveniences before many other towns of equal size in the general area had. Mrs. Ellie Earl Stone Sheppard, long time seventh grade teacher in Mansfield loved to talk about her arrival in 1905 asa young teacher for the Mansfield Female College.

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By Stephen Waguespack

It’s time to face the truth we have long avoided: Louisianac annot tax, spend and mandate its way to prosperity.

For decades, one politician after another has tried every idea under the sun to make the Baton Rouge-heavy, something-for-every one Huey Long model effective at solving problems and protecting taxpayers. It just won’t work. It’s a square peg in a round hole. Sending our hard-earned tax dollars to the state capitol each year in the hopes it will lead to good schools,dependable roads and a stable economy has proven to be a bankrupt game plan that must be replaced.

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By Raymond Powell

Mansfield and DeSoto Parish have seen some “Real Characters”throughout their past history. None more colorful that Jake Jacobs and Lord Allen. To set the stage for these two a little background on each is needed. According to reliable sources the following is basically true.

Jake Jacobs was a native of the eastern seaboard with proud aristocratic parents of considerable means. They attempted to raise their son in a like manner, but the “call of the wild side” seems to have struck Jake at an early age. After being ejected from several colleges his father procured him a government position in Washington, where he continued his wild style of life.

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By Stephen Waguespack

As the pressure mounts on the media for social media clicks and reader attention in a highly competitive market place,anonymous sources have become more frequently used by some writers to get stories out quickly and sell certain controversial narratives.

The excessive use of these types of sources, once considered taboo by most journalists and journalism schools, has unfortunately become much more commonplace. Whether productive or not, this atypical approach to traditional journalism appears to be a growing trend.

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By Stephen Waguespack

As the pressure mounts on the media for social media clicks and reader attention in a highly competitive marketplace,anonymous sources have become more frequently used by some writers to get stories out quickly and sell certain controversial narratives.

The excessive use of these types of sources, once considered taboo by most journalists and journalism schools, has unfortunately become much more commonplace. Whether productive or not, this atypicalapproach to traditional journalismappears to be a growing trend.

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By: Stephen Waguespack

This weekend, Christians all over the world will be celebrating the most important holiday of the church calendar. It marks the resurrection of Jesus, who died for our sins and rose on the third day, in fulfillment of the scriptures. It follows Lent, the 40-day time of fasting and penance when Christians prepare for this occasion.

In Louisiana, we also place a heavy emphasis on the days leading up to Lent. Each year at Mardi Gras, we pass a good time with friends and family, knowing that 40 days of sacrifice await us.

This cycle repeats itself each year. As we begin another legislative session this week, there are some seasonal parallels to the debate we are preparing to have on the somber and sobering cycle of incarceration.

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By: Raymond Powell

The most recent issue of the V.F.W. Magazine had an excellent detailed account of W.W. I the last W.W.I veteran was Frank Buckles who died in2011. It is the thought on this writer, a W.W. II veteran of the European War Theater that, while some W.W. II veterans are still alive, would enjoyreading an article concerning W.W. II in Europe. Not knowing as muchabout the Pacific part of the war that will be left to someone else to discuss.

In spite of the attacks on American shipping by German submarines, it was not Germany that plunged us into W.W. II, but Japan. Our relations with Japan had become strained since they invaded China in 1937 with full intent of conquering all of the Pacific. In 1941 Japan became apartner with Italy and Germany as a member of the Axis Nations.

By: Raymond Powell

Strange now to remember how as a youngster the American Flag was taken for granted. An old W.W.I veteran would come to school and talk about the flag and patriotism and we would stand and sing Francis Scott key’s national anthem. Of course W.W. II followed when everyone became real patriotic, but time passed - then on September 11, 2001 when two jet liners (one American, one United) crashed into the World Trade Center towers with everyone watching on T.V. and almost moments later another American airliner struck the Pentagon and a United airliner heading to the U.S. Capitol burst into flames as it crashed into an open field in Pennsylvania.

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