Lifestyle

Home: Gather Round

“I always wanted the big house with the big family gatherings; I thought maybe if I build it, they will come,” says Vanessa Mayfield, invoking the magical mantra from the movie “Field of Dreams.” Vanessa and her husband Jeffrey, both…

Art: Spiritually Connected

Shreveport photographer Ann George is an artist, a storyteller and a playwright — not in the conventional sense of writing narratives and dialogue, but in composing staged photographic images that appear as still but quiet moments in a story or…

Healthy Louisiana: Fighting Arthritis

Over 50 million Americans have some form of arthritis, and approximately 923,000 of them live in Louisiana (arthritis.org). For some people, the condition may be unavoidable, but there are ways you can make living with arthritis easier. Some of the…

Along the Way: Party Animals

During our first three Carnival seasons after moving to New Orleans, by the time Fat Tuesday arrived, we were too pooped to party beyond a brief amble out to the corner for a couple of the morning parades while sipping…

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Tom Robbins famously said: “There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who believe there are two kinds of people in this world and those who are smart enough to know better.” I’m not really in my Tom…

Under Pressure

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, can result in potentially fatal problems like heart attacks and strokes. According to the Centers for Disease Control (cdc.gov), Louisiana ranked fifth in the country for deaths by heart disease and third for…

Home: Keeping It Simple

When artist Helen Bolin purchased her 1931 Baton Rouge bungalow in 1996, it had no air conditioning and was in need of updates. What the cottage lacked in modern conveniences, however, it made up for in original charm and green…

Literary Louisiana: Deck the Bookshelf

FOR THE FAN OF ARCHITECTURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY New Orleans: An Intimate Journey Through a City with Soul by Geoffrey H. Baker, photography by Timothy Dunford Take a photographic tour of New Orleans and explore its storied past with this architectural…

Healthy Louisiana: Preventative Cures

In an era where so much information is at our fingertips, it can sometimes be hard to know how to direct our mental energy. What should Louisianians be most concerned about according to statistics? The numbers point to heart disease,…

Healthy Louisiana: There's an app for that

One of the good things about smartphone technology is it can put a wealth of information at your fingertips. Here are some of the best apps available for health and nutrition info. Most of them are free, too, so there’s…

Literary Louisiana: Essential fall cookbooks

South: Essential Recipes and New Explorations Sean Brock James Beard award-winning chef Sean Brock is back with his second cookbook (his first, “Heritage,” won a James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook in 2015.) In “South: Essential Recipes and New…

Art: Good Juju

Mention the name Garland Robinette and most Southeast Louisiana residents over a certain age will recall the once wildly popular New Orleans TV news anchor during the 1970s and ‘80s or the no nonsense “Think Tank” radio talk show host…

Home: Retro Renovation

When one thinks of saving an architectural treasure in southwest Louisiana, plantation houses with wide porches and sweeping staircases or quaint Acadian cottages encircled with moss-draped oaks come to mind. Not so in the case of Alice and Richard Roth’s…

May the Fourth Be With You

  The LTEC team is taking a hiatus Thursday and Friday to celebrate our country’s independence, but before we go, we wanted to offer advice on those potentially tying in the nation’s celebration with wedding festivities. Putting a theme to…

Healthy Louisiana: Heat Wave

If you like exercising outdoors, what can you do to work out safely during the brutally hot and humid Louisiana summers? Here are three tips for safe outdoor workouts when the temperatures are on the rise. See Your Doctor Dr.…

Art: Garden of Memories

On an unlikely spot in an older section of Hammond, Louisiana, sits one man’s tribute to the African-American experience. Dr. Charles Smith’s African-American Heritage Museum and Black Veterans Archive is unlike any other museum. It is a personal and spiritual…

Home: Modern Farmhouse

When Brittany and Aaron Ashby of Benton, Louisiana north of Bossier City decided to build a new house for the second time, they knew they wanted rustic elements that impart a sense of age. They also knew they wanted to…

Best Hospitals

There is one major source that provides credible ongoing analysis of hospitals: Medicare, which, as the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older, as well as certain younger people with disabilities, often provides funding for many of the…

Farther Flung: Cruisin' 30A

It sounds so easy: Hop over to the Florida Panhandle and enjoy fabulous sun, emerald Gulf waters, grab a cool beach drink and enjoy exquisite seafood. But alas, the region known as 30A — referring to the highway that runs…

Magazine Street

  Magazine Street is well known for being a shopping destination, but the thoroughfare also offers a wider variety of experiences that begin near Canal Street and extend all the way to Audubon Park. From school children learning French and…