PERKINS, SENIOR STAFF AND DEPARTMENT HEADS TAKE LEADERSHIP ROLE IN PAY CUTS

Real leaders lead by example. And that is what Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins displayed by announcing on Tues. April 7 pay cuts for his senior staff, department heads and himself. The 10 percent salary reduction will continue through the end of the year.

30-SECOND READ: DISTANCE DIARY 2

BY: JEFF GAUGERWhat a swell morning to be alive.Sunday. I’m in the Adirondack chair on the patio soon after 8. The air is crisp, the sky cloudless.I gaze across the weedy lawn I mowed yesterday to a rank of azaleas in bloom, white with pink accents.For the moment, my only companions are birds.

CADDO SCHOOL LUNCHES … THANK YOU!

BY; JON GLOVER CONTRIBUTING COLUMNISTThank you!Thank you to the Caddo Parish School Board for providing food for the week for the children of the Caddo Parish School System.

LISTEN UP! WHAT CAN WE EXPECT AFTER COMING OUT OF THE PANDEMIC? LOCAL, STATE AND NATIONAL APPEAL

BY: BILLY ROY WAYNEPrior to the serious onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Shreveport City Council was in a torrid battle over certain administrative appointments, certain economic downtown development projects, and in the opinion of this writer, a general divisiveness which was not productive for...

FIFTY YEARS LATER, WE ARE STILL TRYING TO GET IT RIGHT

BY: PRENTISS SMITHFifty years ago, I, along with a handful of young people, graduated from Ruston High School. The reason that is important is because we were among the first black students allowed to attend and graduate from a "white" school in Lincoln Parish or any other parish in north Louisiana.

FIVE N. LOUISIANA RESTAURANTS STANDING THE TEST OF TIME BY OFFERING TO-GO ORDERS

Five hole-in-the-wall restaurants in rural parts of north Louisiana offering to-go orders include Big Dup’s Cajun Kitchen, Café 180 To Go, Del Bob’s Burrito, Longwood General Store and Oak Alley FarmsThough some area restaurants have shuttered in recent weeks, there are some hole-in-the-wall...

CADDO DEPUTY, RECOVERED FROM COVID-19, DONATES PLASMA TO OTHER VIRUS PATIENTS

A Caddo deputy who recovered from COVID-19 is now helping other critically ill coronavirus patients by donating his plasma.  Cpl. Kevin Calhoun donated one of the first COVID-19 convalescent plasmas in Louisiana, according to LifeShare Blood Center.

18 PAGES OF POSITIVE NEWS

This week’s FOCUS SB is all positive news!Flip the paper over, andThe Inquisitor is 18 pages of crime.

TO MASK OR NOT TO MASK -- THAT IS THE QUESTION

Volunteers help create, donate masks      To wear a face mask or not?      Last Friday, the president recommended that Americans wear basic cloth or fabric masks when in public to reduce the transmission of the COVID-19.

SETTLE TALK: SHREVEPORT CITY COUNCIL SET TO MEET ON APRIL 14

OK, nap time is over.It's  time for Rip Van Winkle — that being the Shreveport City Council — to wake up from its COVID-19 snooze and get back to work.The regularly scheduled work session and meeting for the week of March 23 were canceled because of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

SHREVEPORT AND BOSSIER CHAMBERS FURLOUGH STAFF

Both the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and the Bossier Chamber of Commerce have furloughed employees. The Shreveport chamber furloughed all of its regular employees with the exception of president Tim Magner and the chief financial officer.

CADDO COMMISSION TO MEET ON THURSDAY

The Caddo Commission will meet via video conference on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. This will be the first video conference governmental body meeting in northwest Louisiana. It is authorized by Gov. John Bel Edward's emergency order. Two topics are on the agenda.

FOCUS ON FARMING by JACK DILLARD

Last Monday about noon, a real change came over our little part of the Ark-La-Tex, when the Texas Louisiana Line was closed to traveling from Louisiana into Texas. The “virus” caused the action, and as far as I know it was the proper thing to do.

THE FEDERAL CARES ACT MAKES AVAILABLE TWO NEW FORMS OF AID FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) allows businesses to borrow up to 2.5 times monthly payroll expenses up (to a max of $10 million) and is forgivable in proportion to how much staff are kept on payroll.

DEAR GABBY: I’M LOSING MY PATIENCE WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING; ANY SUGGESTION?

 Dear Gabby,I’m a 79-year-old widowed male, and lately I’ve noticed I haven’t the patience for all this social distancing. I’m not a grumpy old man, but what is a person to do with all this time of solitude?