Columns

By StephenWaguespack

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 atypical approach to traditional journalism appears to be a growing trend.

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By: Raymond Powell

Spring is here and summer is very close!! Isn’t it good to be a true Southerner and enjoy tomatoes, watermelons and cantaloupes? Allow this writer to divert from history this one time to write about the above “vegetables” – especially watermelons and cantaloupes. Cucumbers are great but watermelons are more to my liking. This tasty “gourd” – yes it is in the gourd family – is good for much more than a summer picnic. Watermelon is 90 percent water and a great way to stay hydrated. It is an excellent healthy alternative to sugary drinks and is a good choice for people watching their weight. It’s full of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

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ByStephen 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.

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By: Raymond Powell

DeSoto Parish is rich in history – bank robbers, hangings and even visits by Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker – but none more daring than the T&P Railroad holdup just two miles south of Mansfield. On August 15, 1893 as the T&P train pulled out of the South Mansfield Station there were two slouchy dressed men, appearing to be tramps, climbed aboard one of the forward cars. The colored porter of the train was the person that saw the men jump on the train. He rushed forward and shouted to them, “Get off, we don’t carry tramps.” He was quickly silenced as one of the men pointed a revolver at his head and told him to Shut Up!

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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.

To read more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition. http://etypeservices.com/Mansfield%20EnterpriseID391/