auren Ross-Simmons laughs when she is asked about being an "overnight" art sensation. The artist, wife, mother of two and downtown business owner has been painting for more than 30 years – 30 years of practice, trial-and-error and refining her Pop Art brand of iconic images.

Life and activities are returning to normal downtown, and we couldn’t be more pleased about it, or the variety of events happening the weekend of April 23-25. The fun begins in earnest Saturday morning with the Snowmageddon Plant Swap at The Lot, 400 Crockett St.

When most of the region was shut down because of too much ice and not enough water, Bozz Baucum, the owner of Marilynn’s Place and Ralph’s Place in Shreveport, wasn’t. He was at work boiling water in his commercial crawfish rig to cook meals for teenagers at the Rutherford House.

Over the past year, people have been transfixed on the change happening at 717 Crockett St. Improvements could be seen weekly during our year of Covid-19, proving that good things can happen even in really rotten years. The 1920s Sam Wiener-designed building both deserved the rehab and was lucky to get it.

It’s been a rough 2020 for Chase Boytim. Like other bar owners in Louisiana, he has had a grim time in this year of Covid. Some have hunkered down, some have decided to close up shop altogether, but Boytim has done neither. In fact, he decided to expand.

In the last several weeks, downtown Shreveport has announced the opening of four new restaurants and the re-opening of a favorite that had briefly closed. What gives? The restrictions of COVID-19 have been hard on eateries. First came mandates for curbside and delivery only, extensive PPE requirements and limited dine-in occupancy.

C & C Electric and Lighting had been at 2430 Line Ave. for years. The mom-and-pop shop was a go-to for lighting fixtures and repairs. This was still not a place to which you would go and hang out. Lingering was not what customers tended to do after purchasing.

Two handsome twin brothers from Canada and a Texas couple with lots of children and a bakery and an old silo and a furniture line take Plain Jane homesteads and turn them into trendy, remarkable spaces using designer magic and lots of greige. (It’s a thing, Google it).