Columns

“Better is an handful with quietness than both hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.” (Ecclesiastes 4:6) “But to this man will I look with the Lord even to him that is poor and of a contribute spirit and trembleth at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2) I felt that times in college were hard. My Dad had taught me to work hard growing up. I either had to do without out or do with little. If I had a job I was to work hard at it, to make something better than I found it, to take care of things such as my tools, to keep them cleaned and oiled and put them up at night and out of the rain and dew. I received $4.00 a month during school days at E.T.B.U. and took in washing and ironing of other boy’s clothes. I cut boys hair for $1.00 each and even painted a number of houses. The Dean of the College asked me to paint his garage and I did. He paid me $15.00. I worked summer jobs for $1.00 per hour, forty hours per week for $40.00!!

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalms 23:1-6 ESV In the next few weeks, I want us to study this chapter of the Psalms. I find this chapter very comforting and yet challenging. This truth gives strength to the weary, hope to the hopeless, joy to the brokenhearted, peace to the anxious and love to the loveless.

“...but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.” 1 Peter 4:16 NASB 1995 There are moments life confronts us with difficult problems that will turn our world upside down. We experience feelings and emotions that we never could have imagined. The feelings and emotions become revealed because of these challenges of life and stir in us instability in our thoughts and beliefs in our hearts.

When these instabilities happen in our heart and mind they bring doubt, confusion and a reduction of our faith. These sudden traumatic moments or events should not surprise you if you are a Follower of Jesus Christ. We have two enemies that are trying to derail us from keeping our focus on the things of God. We have the sinful flesh and we have our adversary the devil. These enemies want to take our eyes away from Jesus and take our hearts from the Word of God.

In small towns like ours, Memorial Day arrives quietly. There are no towering parades or grand ceremonies, no television crews or crowded city squares. Instead, it comes in soft ways — a flag placed carefully beside a headstone, a wreath hung on a courthouse door, the low hum of a hymn drifting from a Sunday service. It’s a day that settles over the community like a gentle reminder: freedom has a cost, and some paid it in full.

Here in DeSoto Parish, Memorial Day isn’t just a date on the calendar. It’s personal. It’s names we know, families we love, stories we’ve heard at kitchen tables and church potlucks. It’s the quiet pride of seeing a veteran straighten a flag, the way older residents pause a little longer at the cemetery, the way children ask questions that make us stop and think about the sacrifices behind the holiday.

Unusually cool nighttime temperatures exacerbate Pythium diseases in Louisiana vegetables

Following recent heavy downpours, Louisiana has been experiencing cooler-than-usual nighttime temperatures — conditions that are highly conducive to Pythium diseases, which are harmful to vegetable crops.

Raj Singh, LSU Ag-Center plant doctor and horticulture pathology extension specialist, said growers across the state have reported disease problems with their vegetables, especially those in low-lying areas of fields.

Pythium species thrive in wet soils and low temperatures, Singh said. Commonly known as water molds, Pythium species are soil-inhabiting, fungal-like microorganisms that are known to cause damping-off, root rot and cottony leak on a wide variety of vegetables as well as annual ornamental plants.

The diseases also may occur when seeds are planted too early in spring, are planted too deep or when old seeds are used, Singh said.

LSU AgCenter workshop trains educators to bring school gardens into the classroom

Across Louisiana, school gardens are increasingly used as outdoor classrooms, providing students with hands-on learning in science, nutrition and food systems. To support this work, the LSU AgCenter is hosting its annual Farm to School Garden Leadership Workshop later this month in Baton Rouge, offering educators training to build and sustain school gardens while integrating them into classroom instruction.

Hosted by Seeds to Success: The Louisiana Farm to School Program, the four-day workshop combines practical gardening instruction with interactive lessons designed to help educators turn school gardens into teaching tools across the curriculum. Participants explore seasonal planting, garden management and strategies for using gardens to support instruction in science, math, English language arts and other subjects.

As this writer has stated many times in the past — History can take many forms. Today’s article primarily concerns a man that few in DeSoto Parish know or remember, Travis Spears. He and his wife were born here in the early 1900’s and he went to work in the oil fields in the 1930’s for the Standard Oil Co. After working in the drilling or production end for 15 years he was sent to Standard Oil’s South American Division in Venezuela. There he worked his way up to management in production. He and Mrs. Spears moved back to Mansfield with their 5th grade son, Travis, Jr. and they built a nice home on Hwy. 84 West near where Jeff and Jill Heard presently live. Travis, Jr. later became an M.D.

AgCenter Heirs’ Property Education Initiative Strives to Help Rural Communities

When Leah Carter visits rural towns across Louisiana in her role as the LSU AgCenter’s community and economic development specialist, she makes it a point to ask residents what issues they believe are holding their communities back.

People respond with the same answers over and over: Blighted housing. Run-down downtowns. A lack of economic opportunity and civic pride.

As Carter has learned, a common thread binds these problems together in many communities. Properties — whether vacant land, houses or commercial sites — often have sat in states of decay for years not because there’s no interest in cleaning them up, but because it’s unclear who owns them.

“Sometimes the properties are owned by someone out of state,” Carter said. “And so you may have this dilapidated building, and no one knows what to do. Some people don’t even realize that they own property.”

Dear Rusty: I am 63 years old, and about to apply for my Social Security benefits. I am self-employed but only working part time. I know about Social Security’s annual earnings limit but recently I learned I must also be concerned about a monthly earnings limit of $2,040. My questions are: 1) How do I find out if I will be subject to a monthly earning limit of $2,040 per month? I thought it was only evaluated annually.

2) If I choose to cancel Social Security within the first year or after, what are the penalties? Would I have to pay them back for the whole amount for the whole time that they paid me? Which makes no sense, since I have been paid into SS since I was 13 years old.

May 8th, 2026 is the 81st anniversary V-E Day. Victory in Europe and Surrender of the Germans.

December 7, 1941 is the declared a “Day of Infamy” when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The American navy fleet was at anchor there on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. On this Sunday morning at 7:55 am while many of the servicemen were at breakfast and some still in bed Japanese dive bombers bearing the symbol of the rising sun burst through the clouds. Within seconds the sky was full of their war planes dropping bombs on our ships. The bombers were followed by fighters called Zeros with their machine guns strafing the brave U.S. sailors who rushed to their guns. Senator Jackson B. Davis was stationed there and tells of the fighter planes flying so low you could see the smiles of the Japanese pilots. The attack left 2400 dead, 1200 wounded, 18 ships sunk and 300 American planes destroyed.