Columns

The local schools had their proms last weekend and someone told me that they knew a parent that spent $2500 on their kid for that event. I was shocked.

I remember flying home from college for the first time – a layover in Atlanta – and on that last leg to Monroe, I caught a glimpse of Lake Providence from the air. I could see all of it, knew what lay at every slight turn of the lake, spotted downtown and the John Deere store and the acres stretching away from all of it.

Many of you will know that my family has been going through a bit of a tough time. The specifics aren’t necessarily pertinent to this article, but if you’re reading this you know what that’s like, trudging through the valleys of life. But for everyone who’s been there, you know there’s a mountain top, at the other side of that valley, and that life is a series of peaks and valleys. However, that is an article for another time.

Over the weekend, I was in conversation with a high school senior who told me that he didn’t know if he would succeed after walking across the stage next month and accepting his high school diploma. His level of anxiety was steered by the fact that he was not a great student during his time in school, and he said he didn’t know what to do next or how he would even access the things he might want to do.

Last month, I went to the cemetery to make sure the company that manufactured my Dad’s headstone could put it in the right place. There had been a marker with Dad’s name placed at the head of his grave after the funeral, but now I couldn’t find it.

A man appeared in court last week who makes $7000 a month with five children, and was ordered to pay $490 a month for each child. Louisiana says a person responsible for child support has to pay twenty five percent of their gross income towards the benefit of the child. Gross, not net, income is what the formula says.

Are you tired of sneezing, sniffling, and itching your way through allergy season? If so, you might want to consider a natural remedy that's been buzzing around for generations: local honey. This golden elixir isn't just a delicious addition to your morning toast or coffee; it could also be the key to easing your allergy symptoms.

As summer approaches, there is a debate taking place in our community about how to reach more of our young kids. There used to be a program called “Save Our Sons” that tried to reach young Black boys in at-risk communities, the most likely segment of society to end up incarcerated, but this program no longer exists.

This past weekend, there was a presidential primary in Louisiana, and once again voter turnout was dismal. While it may not seem to matter that much for this particular election due to the fact that both of the frontrunners for the nominations of their respective parties have already secured enough delegates to represent their parties in the fall election, the fact is that this continues a trend where less than 35 percent of the voters who are eligible to vote actually participate in the process.

My daughter crawled into bed with us at 4 a.m. this morning, complaining of growing pains.