Ain't We All Mammals Swimming in the Grocery Lot Wishing for a Cantaloupe That Tastes Vine Ripened But Settling for a 6-Pack of Grape Kool-Aid Bursts

In honor of Earth Day 2009, Wednesday, April 22: Sci-Port will release butterflies at 11 am.
Leia Lewis at Sankofa Gardens has been the queen of Earth Day for the last four years. This KTBS video proves it. The fourth annual Sankofa Earth Day Festival is Saturday.

Remember the Reason for the Season

War on Christmas? Please. KTBS and CW 21 KPXJ we don't care what you say as long as you are polite about it. For the record, we say Feliz Navidad around here.

P.S. The reason for the season? Shopping. This is America where spending will save the world. Reverend Billy does not agree with that statement.

Leading to Sustainability

Caught the tail end of a new ad for Paul Carmouche on KTBS last night. This screen capture is not from that ad. In the new ad he says something like "our energy future is here" and he's standing in front of a oil rig.

Where are our local, regional and state leaders who are for new sources of renewable energy? If other locations are exploring new technology and creating new jobs why can't we? For instance wind energy is being harvested in downtown Chicago.

Here's a look at how other American cities are working towards sustainability. Popular Science has list of 50 communities that are hot when it comes to environmental action.

Ouch!

SB Land didn't look good as the lead story on last night's ABC World News. The story focused on the anger of the Hurricane Gustav evacuees housed in state shelters in Shreveport.

Those shelters run by the state of Louisiana didn't have enough "wrap-around services." That's according to Sandy Davis, director of the Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security. We saw him on KTBS speaking sometime during the storm. By the way, didn't KTBS have great coverage? They stayed with live and locally produced programming as the storm moved through our area.

SB Land fares better in this AP report and it even shows that the evacuees are grateful. Evacuee Charles Lucas seems to understand the situation. And even seems more level headed than a lot of folks leaving anonymous comments at local media sites.

SB Land Rolls

More folks are biking in SB Land. Some wear helmets. Some don't. Some ride on the sidewalk. Some ride against the traffic. Some with. For the next couple of weeks RRBJ will document SB Land Rolls.

For a look at other discussions on two-wheeling in the city see Trudeau's blog, Alexandyr Kent's series on biking in The Shreveport Times, Sherri Talley's blog and what Prof Demerath has to say. You're welcome to add your bike and butt to the travelogue.

Oh, Shale!

Oh, shale! We're all fixin' to get rich in SB Land... if we own land...if we own land and mineral rights...maybe we don't have to own the land... just the mineral rights...

KTBS has a special on the Haynesville Shale. If you don't want to wait for it to be on TV again you can catch it on their website.

Share

Those green Share the Road signs are the work of Ian Webb, the owner of River City Cycling. You can pick one up for $5 and plop it down in your neighborhood. Webb says he wants to make folks more aware of two wheeling in SB Land.

KSLA has a good story on Webb and how he even takes his child to school using bike power. Sherri Talley at KTBS did a post on the Share the Road at her blog. Shreveport Times intern A.J. King explores alternative ways to get to around SB Land.

We Not Telling Ya Who to Voteeee For

A couple of weeks ago the editor of this blog site won a camera from KTBS. Now she has a chance to win an HDTV. But. It's not about the telllllllyyy. It's about the little gal (or guy) re-claiming the world.

It's about moving this blog into docublogging. It's about being able to take the next step to show that Shreveport truly is the ..."Austin for the rest of us..." or "Affordable Austin..."

Really. Okay... it is about the winning. Go here. Vote for the Biking to Highland Community Garden video. The editor of RRBJ also shot the DDA Home Tour video but she didn't edit it so she feels the Biking tour... best represents her current work. Thank you. And if you have any events or concerns that you think need to be docublogged please send us an email.

New Urbanists

It may be hard to believe but Shreveport’s downtown area is being populated by New Urbanists. Eleven non-traditional living spaces in downtown were highlighted in the first ever home tour sponsored by the Downtown Development Authority.

DDA Executive Director Don Shae says the tour was a success and there are plans for another one next year. If you’re interested in buying a building in downtown the DDA’s website is a good place to start. The DDA’s next big event is Mudbug Madness.

Note: If you click on the pictures they get bigger. Also, I shot video of the tour. You can find it at KTBS. Keyword video. Click on Submit Video. Click on DDA Home Tour. Or maybe click Neighborhood News Team Video.

Taking this Blog to the Next Level -- an Essay by Kathryn Usher

Tonight at 6 I'll learn some new tricks to add to the RRBJ high tech publishing bag.

Last week KTBS sponsored an essay contest. The local ABC affiliate was looking for viewers who wanted to be a part of their neighborhood news team. The four winners of the contest would receive a high definition camcorder and provide weekly videos to the station for use on-air and on the web.

I won one of the cameras. Groovy-doovy! Tonight we get schooled on how to use them and I'm sure some citizen journalist bits. Let the adventure begin. And let me just add..."stay tuned for this very important video broadcast..."

Number 3

Shreveport is number three in the nation when it comes to places in America to make independent films. Austin is number one says MovieMaker.

KTBS has this little blurb on it. We'd link to the Shreveport Times story but they always dead their links after a month or so... The best place to go for all your moviemaking Shreve news is Alexandyr Kent's blog.

Pictured is the Entertainment Weekly review of Mad Money.

Pups

Gabe is missing and needs his medcine. RRBJ took this pic at the corner of Creswell and College while out walking our dogs yesterday. KTBS has this positive story about a local pit bull. It's the heart touching story of a dog waiting near his owner even after the young man passes away. In other local canine stories, Shreveport has lost its advocate for a dog park. Who will step in and continue the work? Krewe of Barkus and Meoux Pet Parade is Sunday, January 27, 2008 at the RiverView Park.

Picture of the Day

Could this be what happens when you park your car in the yard?

Thank you to SBC Photo for the use of his photo Carjacking in progress.

Hitch'em

First offense of low hanging pants will cost you a Benjamin if Shreveport City Councilman Calvin Lester's ordinance passes. Lester first thought of setting the fine at $25 but reconsidered.

Councilwoman Joyce Bowman wants you to know this law is for the gentle ladies as well as the gentlemen. Would we really need to fine people if we just drove Councilwoman Bowman around and had her look at droopy-drawered folks with her head tilted down through those glasses at the tip of her nose? She's wearing them in the second picture on this page (we'd also like to point out her slacks are belted into their proper position).

The Abolish-Your-Briefs proposal goes before the Shreveport City Council August 28. In case you're wondering, RRBJ doesn't wear saggers. We're very attached to our high-waisted mom pants.

Thank you to lillista for the use of her picture Under.

Debbie Buchanan Engle says Judge Not

RRBJ made it to Saturday's opening of the hottest show in town -- Debbie Buchanan Engle's Judge Not one week installation at West Edge Artist's Co-op at 725 Milam. It was created in collaboration with Alan Dyson and Tony Reans. Even before the show opened it attracted heavy media attention from The Shreveport Times and Trudeau's Shreveport Blog. Radio station KSCL did an interview with Deb and also posted pictures on their blog.

An artist makes art from the pieces of their daily life, and for the last ten years Engle's life has been consumed with a custody battle for her two children. In addition to being an artist and mom, she's also president of the board of West Edge Artists' Co-op and Director of Serving Ministries at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport. How could a woman with those credentials lose custody of her children? That's just one of the questions her artwork explores.

Judge Not is a brave show and one not to be missed, but it will be on display for only one week. It comes down at 4PM June 16. WEACo is open Tuesday through Friday from 10AM to 6PM and Saturdays from 10AM to 4PM.

This quote from the invitation for the show sets the tone for what you'll experience -- "A serious problem exists behind the closed doors of the First Judicial District Court," says Engle. "The chief judges and Judiciary Commission should consider the hundreds of mothers, fathers, and children who continue to suffer at the hands of this judge and his cronies."

Engle's exhibit takes care not to name the judge who decided her case. But RRBJ used that sneaky device called the Internet to determine who could rip a child away from a mother with a so many letters of recommendation, including one from a minister. By Googling words taken from the show (Caddo Parish District Judge Filing of a stalking report with Shreveport Police) RRBJ discovered two stories: KPXJ has a story on the judge's personal relationship and even The Inquisitor weighs in.

Picture of the Day

It should be an average summer for rainfall in SB Land. That's according to a June 5th post by Mark Rowlett on the KTBS weather blog. RRBJ would've linked to the weather blog but for some goofy reason you have to go to the KTBS main page and then look for the blog under the WEATHER heading.

Thank you to justtheprettiest for the use of her photo Shreveport before the Storm.

No More Swings Means No More Pedophiles

In an effort to keep trolls out of Columbia Park local authorities have decided to remove all the playground equipment. And since the creeps have moved to the Duck Pond it looks like that equipment will be removed sometime in the near future.

"If there's no place for kids to play then the underage solicitation will stop," says some uninformed local official.

Neighbors in both parts of the city say they wish police would move those meet ups to Wal-Mart's parking lot or "at least to that big grassy area under Interstate 20 near downtown..."

Shreveport Jammy

February is sweeps month for television. That's why Lost was fresh and why all the local newscasts are running "special" features. Notable on the 10 pm KTBS cast last night was a report on blogging. We couldn't help but note their story was called "BLOGJAM."

Shreveport Bloggers Robert Trudeau and Jeff Sadow were both interviewed. Also getting good face time was the web developer for Centenary College, Michael Futreal. Funniest part of the story? Video of Alexandyr Kent's Louisiana Movies Blog. Kent is the entertainment reporter for The Times newspaper in Shreveport.

KTBS also introduced the new blog feature on their website: ArkLaTexBlog, which is a good name, almost as good as Red River Blog Jam.