"We've always said crawfish festival, crawfish festival, crawfish festival," said Terri Mathews, now in her 30th year as chairperson of the annual Memorial Day weekend event. "What we came to realize (in 2021 – the year back from Covid) was, man, our music is what sells us.

“Two years ago, (Andy) came to me and asked if I would come out of retirement,” Ann Lombardino said. “He wanted to have his own restaurant so he could have liver and onions and rice pudding, like we served at Beam’s. He said he could not get it anywhere that good in this town.

“When Mage crossed the finish line, it wasn’t being able to say my bet won,” Fertitta said. “It was being able to say my horse won. That’s something you cannot put a price on. Whether I had one share, or 1,000 shares, or 100,000 shares, that is something you cannot put a value or a price tag on.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel by any means,” said Morvant’s CEO, Bob Thames. “Hospitality groups are pretty common in and around Shreveport-Bossier. The idea is to be able to function different restaurant, food and hospitality concepts under one umbrella, with the hope you can allow folks to work a full 40 hours.

After at least two years of construction and many more years of planning, Cypress Point Nursing and Rehabilitation Center’s new facility is accepting residents. At the corner of Airline Drive and Wemple Road, the new Cypress Point replaces its older building on Douglas Street.

“If you get somebody in with a deal, they’re likely to purchase more things while they’re there because they will see the menu and all the other things the restaurant has to offer,” said Katharyn DeVille, the bureau’s vice president of marketing and communications.

"I was shocked at exactly what it looks like when kids are rescued," Baird said. "I had no idea what a hot mess and horrible situation it really is until I saw it for myself. Then I knew what criminal abuse and criminal neglect – and how children are rescued – what it really looks like.

There almost wasn’t a second time. “I went the first time at the Y, and I said, ‘I will not be back,’” Spell remembered. “It wasn’t tennis. It wasn’t like tennis. It’s called a paddle in pickleball, and it’s called a racket in tennis. I kept saying, ‘My racket’s too short.