Editorial

This incredibly old house

VILLAGE IDIOT

Every now and then, I’ll see a story on one of the home-decorating channels about the 13th Lord Pushface, who lives in genteel poverty in Haughty House, a stately 300-room manor in Somethingorothershire.

He inherited the place from the 12th Lord Pushface, who lost all the family’s cash playing craps in Las Vegas in 1973. Lord Willoughby Pushface keeps the place solvent by letting out rooms to tourists and by selling medieval furniture that’s been stored in the attic since the place was last renovated back in 1649.

State’s strict licensing standards targeted

LOUISIANA SPOTLIGHT

Louisiana is seen as having some of the most restrictive professional licensing requirements in the country, and talk of shrinking that list was high heading into the Legislature’s regular session.

Why is Louisiana the only state in the nation that requires retail florists to pass a licensing exam? Should braiding hair professionally need a license? Does the state really need exams and licensing provisions for interior designers?

Be blessed this Easter

While the New Year is typically the holiday known for new beginnings, in every sense, Easter truly represents restoration, new life after death.

For most, Easter Sunday is the culmination of a spiritual season that represents the battle with the flesh and its ultimate fate, death. One dark day, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, took responsibility for every ugly thing this world has seen and will ever see. The ugliness crushed Him; still, three days later, He was restored so that He might restore us.

The positive side of Facebook

“Somehow, I didn’t think preparing for motherhood would entail looking for used RVs online,” Emily Stimpson Chapman recently wrote in a Facebook post. “When do I get to the shopping for diaper bags and strollers part?”

Boss needs to back off matchmaking

SenSe and SenSitivity

DEAR HARRIETTE: I am recovering from a breakup, and my family and friends are supportive. My boss is encouraging and always wants me to be happy. However, she might be trying to set me up too early when I’m not fully recovered from the breakup. She has men in mind whom she would like me to meet, but I’m not ready. How can I tell her to back off for now, but that I will be ready later? — Not Ready to Date Yet, Towson, Maryland

Legislators should let the people decide

The Louisiana Legislature has killed an effort to allow local governments to seek gas taxes to pay for critical infrastructure improvements.

That’s a shame.

The bill that was effectively killed earlier this week would not have imposed taxes on anyone. It would have simply allowed local voters to decide whether they want to pay extra gas taxes.

That seems fair, regardless of what one thinks about the particular merits of any given tax question.

What the Legislature did, though, was deny local taxpayers across the state the ability to decide for themselves.

“Adventure Time” is over

WHEELIN’ & DILLON

In a clip posted by the Cartoon Network website, moments from “Adventure Time,” — my favorite cartoon as well as one of my favorite television shows — were put into a compilation and set to nostalgic music. This clip seemed to have an air of actual finality to it that I found odd, as I had not expected the show to be ending in the near future. I looked it up and sure enough, this was for a reason. I had known this would be the last season of the show, but I was gobsmacked to find that the next four episodes would indeed end the show.

Political vision needed in Louisiana

There were several gatherings at the state capitol in Baton Rouge last week. Former legislators gathered for their annual reunion to catch up on old friendships and reminisce about past legislative accomplishments. And the few living delegates from the 1973 Louisiana Constitutional Convention were honored for their service as talk of a new convention was being debated in the capitol halls. One theme ran through both gatherings. Why aren’t problems being solved? Why so little cooperation? Where is the vision?

State urging digging safety

Governor John Bel Edwards has proclaimed the month of April as Safe Digging Month in Louisiana as part of a nationwide safety awareness campaign to draw attention to the thousands of miles of buried infrastructure throughout our state and the importance of safe excavation. It is extremely important that everyone dial 811 before they dig so that operators of underground utilities and pipelines can mark the location of buried lines to make them easier to avoid.

Extend the Lenten sacrifice

THe Way I See It

The last day of the Lenten period was Wednesday of this week. Six weeks from Ash Wednesday is the official end of the fasting period, according to church tradition. The dictionary describes Lent (in the Christian vernacular) as the period of time between Ash Wednesday and Easter whereby believers fast and repent to prepare for the Easter Resurrection.

It is a time of renewal and change, such as nature and spring; the rebirth, or the renewal.