Green Space
Marie Bossard and Tony Adrian live in a “green” house in the quaint community of Prairie Laurent, near Breaux Bridge. They catch rainwater and create their own electricity. Imagine having a $0 electric bill and a $0 water bill. Here…
Best Hunting
Chosen Frozen
Early last summer, after paying $4 for a pint of ice cream, I did a quick mental calculation and was horrified to realize what I might spend over the next few months feeding my habit. So I bought a small…
The Rural Life
I was raised in the city by a former farm boy, but, to his chagrin, my father’s farm-forged values were not always enthusiastically embraced by his citified offspring. It drove my daddy to distraction, for instance, that his teenaged daughters…
Louisianian at Large
Springfield’s celebrationThere is a party going on in a far southeast corner of Livingston Parish, marking the arrival of visitors from 170 years ago.They came not by cars but by goods-laden schooners from New Orleans, through Lake Pontchartrain and Lake…
Barometer
WHAT'S HOTShow us your tats. Shreveport-Bossier City’s first tattoo convention’s festivities included a tattoo contest, a customer etiquette class and an auction to benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children. The tattoo contest allowed participants to enter their body art. B.J. Clements,…
From the Editor
Sometimes green isn’t so good. Take Bayou Des Glaises, for example. The waterway, which meanders from its head near Simmesport down through Avoyelles Parish, is often colored algae-green, especially around Moureuville where the water moves slowly. Not far upstream is…
Regional Travel
Take a drive to Alabama for a weekend on the Gulf. Built by Aronov Realty in a spectacularly beautiful location adjacent to the 4,200-acre Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, Martinique on the Gulf is a classic beachside community offering a…
Powered by Alligator Fat
The Interstate 20 billboard that announces to Atlanta commuters that “soul is waterproof” lifts the spirits of displaced New Orleanians. It is true that Atlanta, long New Orleans’ bigger, newer, richer rival, has plenty of stuff that the Crescent City…
The Straight Poop
Ben Franklin famously said that the only things certain in life are death and taxes. He’s mostly right, but he forgot one other thing –– dirty diapers. But just because they’re a necessary evil doesn’t mean that they can’t also…
Green Law
Sad but true: In rankings designed to reflect environmental sensitivity among states, Louisiana often has found itself in the single digits. In the past few years, though, the state has shown progress in climbing into more respectable ecological territory. Through…
The Greening of Louisiana
Out-of-date Shreveport telephone directories are being converted to fresh new paper products. Transit buses in Baton Rouge and Monroe are cruising along on cleaner-burning fuel. Solar panels are powering modern homes and historic plantation properties alike. Newly rebuilt New Orleans…
A Louisiana Life: Maggie Mae Renfro
Don’t tell Maggie Mae Renfro the times are a-changing –– because, honey, she’s seen it all.In her lifetime she has witnessed the turning of two centuries, the rise of the United States into a world power, two world wars, the…
The Great Louisiana Quiz
Zachary Taylor, who, though born in Virginia, spent part of his adult life living in Louisiana near Baton Rouge. By what nickname was he best known?A. Old Rough and ReadyB. TippecanoeC. Old HickoryD. ZThere has been one presidential nominating convention…
Lifetimes Spring (April 1 - June 30)
Northern LouisianaThrough April 27. The American Soldier, A Photographic Tribute. Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, Shreveport (318) 632-2020.April 3. ULM Presidential Lyceum Series: James Carville and Mary Matalin. University of Louisiana, Monroe (318) 342-5447.April 4, 11, 18, 25. Brown Bag Concerts.…
The State of Louisiana
Dear Friends,Louisiana’s African-American Heritage Trail is our newest offering for both travelers and Louisiana citizens. It is a collection of sites around our state that showcase the contributions of African Americans to history and culture, to food and music, to…
Around Louisiana-Greater New Orleans
LOUISIANA GROWNAzaleas As a child, the appearance of azaleas in the dusky colors of a New Orleans spring always meant that the freedom of summer was just around the corner –– days filled with baseball, swimming, peaches, watermelons, plums, trips…
Around Louisiana-Baton Rouge/Plantation Country
CAUSE TO CELEBRATEA class act On Jan. 7, 2008, Louisiana State University became the first college football team in the history of the BCS National Championship to victoriously raise the crystal football as national champs twice. Belonging to arguably the…
Around Louisiana-Cajun Country
LOUISIANA GROWNBayou of the snake It has been geologically, archeologically and paleontologically recorded that once the Mississippi River flowed much farther west than its current course, threading its mighty way through present-day Acadiana. Old Man River began to hear its…
Around Louisiana-Central Louisiana
PROFILETara! Tara Bounds, 25, a native of Central Louisiana, was born with Down syndrome and a heart defect that required two open-heart surgeries before she reached the age of 5. Growing up as a cherished child allowed to run free…
Around Louisiana-Northern Louisiana
PROFILELocal boy makes goodStanding 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing in at a not-so-diminutive 245 pounds, Luke Sanders is not only an outstanding linebacker who helped bring a BCS National Championship title to his alma mater but also a…
Regional Travel
You work hard all week, even all year. Why not recharge your batteries with a long weekend in beautiful Florida, Alabama, Texas or Mississippi this season? Each of these destinations offers top-quality accommodations, attractions, dining, shopping and much more. From…
Louisiana Destinations
This year, one of the best places to include on your travel itinerary is right in the center of the state. Alexandria and Pineville sit on opposite banks of the Red River in the middle of Louisiana, offering a unique…
The Great Outdoors
It’s enough to turn anyone into Ernest Hemingway. Louisiana, with its strange, mysterious and dangerous beauty, offers both rugged adventures for the sportsman and such mystical sights as an enchantress moon rising over the French Quarter that can make one wax poetic. The Bayou…
Life at the End of the Road
The first time that I’m given directions to Pilottown, the secretary dispatching me to the weekly grocery delivery boat says: “First you drive to the end of the world. Then you get on a boat, and you just keep going.”…
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