“Depth sounding refers to the act of measuring depth; it is often referred to simply as sounding. Sounding is finding the depth of a given point in a body of water.”

Welcome aboard, Shreveport-Bossier, to Sounding Off! This is a completely unscientific and shallow measurement of our area’s political and social flotsam and jetsam, and the aggregate effect it has on our quality of life. The spring thaw is just around the corner, which means higher seas, more daylight, and a marked, visible increase in “birds and bees” type activity. We just hope that we won’t have to turn the hose on anything with less than four legs. Besides, yelling at squirrels to get a room draws some strange looks from the neighbors. But first, let’s train our sights and Super Soakers on ill-behaving humans.

Last Mark: 14 feet

The announcement of a 400 employee, $12 million dollar, 100,000 square foot applications center in Monroe is good news. Add to that the expansion of CenturyLink’s workforce by 840, and our friends at the eastern end of I-20 have much to brag about. Baton Rouge is committing millions to increasing the number and quality of computer science and tech grads coming out of universities in North Louisiana; surely these benefits will trickle their way down to Shreveport-Bossier. While we would love to have a robust economic development apparatus to attract four-digit numbers of F500 career opportunities here, all boats rise with the tide. Still, we pray the Tyler administration is paying attention.  + 3

unnamedOnce again, Gov. Jindal has seen fit to draw attention to himself and our state by lobbing banana cream pies from over the transom. Mind you, we aren’t commenting on the substance of his public utterances. The problem is one of style. And the style is horrifying. Like, Kanye West Fashion Show horrifying. Yes, he’s on his way out (Jindal, not Kanye, regrettably), but eventually he’s going to have to stand and answer for Louisiana’s budget mess in nationally televised Presidential primary debates. And that’s going to leave the rest of us on the hook facing some uncomfortable questions from our out-of-state friends. – 1

It would seem that the simple act of getting a road repaved or expanded is a Monumental Triumph©, so we don’t want to wave aside any efforts to do so, but the plans to re-work East Kings Hwy between Youree and Shreveport-Barksdale were conceived in 1982? And they are on hold again? At this rate, by the time this project is done we’ll all have flying cars anyway.  Push

FORECAST: Up to 16 feet. We’re enjoying relatively smooth waters lately, but any good sailor knows to stay vigilant. Double rations of cheap gin for all! Set course, and we’ll check in soon. Remember: there is a substantive qualitative difference between waking up and coming to.

Photo by Casey Habich.