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Opinions

It takes authority to be a good parent

Q: My 7-year-old son, an only child, is giving me fits. He’s overly active and will not cooperate in any instruction I give him. In addition, if I tell him

Enough already: Leave the state song alone

Guest Column

Governor Jimmie Davis must be rolling over in his grave right now. Louisiana’s internationally acclaimed official state song is under attack by the Louisiana Legislature. There is an effort by some south Louisiana legislators to designate the Cajun classic “Jambalaya” as an official public ballad. And them’s fightin’ words for those who have embraced “You are my Sunshine” as the sanctioned formal melody.

Four ways to invest with confidence in volatile market

When financial markets fluctuate, even the calmest investors can start to question their financial strategies. But volatile markets can present opportunities, says Tracie McMillion, head of global asset allocation strategy for Wells Fargo Investment Institute (WFII).

“Financial markets are frequently volatile—that’s their nature,” she says. “Over longer periods of time, that volatility can add up to attractive portfolio growth.”

Recent grads should consider retirement planning

If you’ve graduated from college in the past year or so and started your first job, you’re no doubt learning a lot about establishing yourself as an adult and being responsible for your own finances. So thoughts of your retirement are probably far away. And yet you have several good reasons to invest in your 401(k) or similar employersponsored retirement plan.

First of all, by contributing to your 401(k), you can get into the habit of regular investing. And since you invest in your 401(k) through regular payroll deductions, it’s an easy way to invest.

Take caution with credit card balance transfers

Question: My adult child has only been working a few years and ran up a credit card bill at a favorite department store. The interest rate is outrageous. How can I help him transfer the balance to another card with lower interest?

Answer: Why would you want to do that?

I presume your answer involves high interest rates being wasteful, etc. OK, we can agree on that.

Ridesharing a boon to parish

IN OUR OPINION

Whether you don’t own a car, aren’t comfortable driving at night, don’t want to deal with parking, or would like to cut loose and enjoy some drinks with friends, there are plenty of situations where Lincoln Parish residents may have limited transportation options.

Unfortunately, non-accommodating Louisiana legislation has kept major ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft away from smaller cities like Ruston. But in the past few months, Oxford, MS-based EZ-RYDR has stepped in to give Ruston and Grambling citizens a helpful transportation alternative.

Rain, rain go away — we need our state seafood to stay

Views from the Boathouse

Rain we receive this weekend here in Lincoln Parish could potentially cause flooding because of saturated ground conditions after receiving more than 40 of inches of rain so far this year.

That’s 67 percent of our annual average of rainfall of 60 inches.

Lincoln Parish was not in a predicted risk area for potential flash flood risk for this weekend as of press time for this newspaper, but we are expected to receive between 1 1/2 - 2 inches of rain from this weather event.

‘Forewarned is forearmed’

You’re driving along in normal Ruston traffic and hear a siren coming up some distance behind you. You can’t see yet whether it’s a fire truck, police car or ambulance,

Spending the summer training a puppy

When I was growing up, my mother loved to take me to the North Central Louisiana Arts Council Holiday Art Tour. Until this year, the annual event was hosted downtown,

I was the wretch that guy wrote about

I read something just now that reminded me of something that happened a few years back. A divine encounter in the parking lot of Wally World, of all places. I