Columns

DEAR EDITORS: I was raised as a newspaper reader. My dad would daily scour the Times-Picayune, cover to cover, devouring each detail.

(Using) My Voice By Cassie Condrey I go to the Presbyterian church in town. I was raised there, sitting with my parents next to my mother’s father and just behind my father’s mother.

I went to a wedding this weekend of a friend of mine. A fairly small intimate ordeal with great food and a beautiful venue. Shelby and I and all our friends danced the night away as we celebrated our friends’ love. (And paid the price for it in the morning.) I strolled by their guest book towards the end of the night and stopped to think about something appropriate to write down. I tend to try and be funny with these types of things, but instead what came to me was the words, “A sunset is only beautiful if you notice it.”

There are many people who have proposed solutions to crime in Louisiana, but there’s an important voice being left out of the conversation around public safety: Public defenders. The solutions to crime almost always seem to stem from the idea of locking up as many people as possible — and disproportionately, those people are Black and Brown.

DEAR EDITORS: I have been so heartbroken after reading the East Carroll issue this week about your coworker, Billy Coleman. Even with all of the empty spaces on your pages, it spoke volumes to me of who Billy was to you, Cassie, your other coworkers and Billy's community.

DEAR EDITORS: I was surprised and saddened to hear about Billy Coleman's death. His passing has left a gap in this community that will be hard if not impossible to fill.

The blank spaces in the paper are the stories Billy would’ve written for this week. They are holes in our coverage for the week. They speak to expanding circles of holes in our knowledge, our connection to our community, and to the writing and work that he would have done, that he will no longer do, now that he is gone. Knowledge he would have given you that you will no longer have, not in the same way, now that he is gone.

Tomorrow, students of the Class of 2024 from both local high schools will walk across stages – Briarfield Academy and General Trass High School – and will receive their high school diplomas. This is likely to be the last time that many of them will ever see some of their classmates. They have spent more time around these classmates over the last 12 or 13 years than they have most family members.

I downloaded an app on my smartphone recently that claims it can help me stop procrastinating, build confidence and keep anger in check. It works by what is known as “gamifying”.

My Opinion By Billy Coleman We have again suffered a tragic loss in our community in an unfortunate automobile accident. In similar cases over the past few years, state police officials have stated that these individuals were not wearing seat belts and were not properly restrained.