Columns

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Jim Bradshaw

Jail coffee gave spunk to mystery blonde

Mystery and glamour always make a good news story. If you throw in a big-time gangster, it’s almost guaranteed to make the front page. That’s why the first paragraph of the Opelousas Daily World story on March 27, 1940, caught my eye. It offered all of the needed elements.
“Speculation ran rife today as to the identity of the gorgeous blonde being held in the parish prison, alleged accomplice of James John Ogden, fugitive from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

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Jim Bradshaw

This week we should pity poor Frigidian

On March 17, we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the wearin’ o’ the green, and on March 19 special altars and devotions mark St. Joseph’s Day. These are special occasions and just about everyone at least takes note of them. That’s why I have for a long time felt sorry for St. Frigidian.
His feast day is March 18, but wedged like he is between big guys like Patrick and Joseph, nobody gives him even a nod, let alone a celebration.
He probably doesn’t mind; he lived a good part of his life as a hermit. But it still bothers me.

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Jim Bradshaw

A brick to save us from The Bomb

In the middle 1950s, when the Cold War was at its hottest and we were being drilled on how to survive when the Commies dropped The Bomb on us, an LSU scientist said he’d found just the thing to save us.
Rice hulls.
And there may have been something to it.
If you pull out your frayed copy of the Chemical Engineering News for August 1955, you can find Professor John Hough’s article, in which he says the hulls not only made a sturdy, lightweight brick, but that they also offered unique protection against an atomic blast.

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Jim Bradshaw

The Duke and Duchess charmed all

There was a big scandal when King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne in 1936 to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simson. But that was ancient history by the time the couple made an ever-so-brief appearance on Opelousas.
Edward was the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George V and Queen Mary. He was said to be a charming rogue during his youth and when he became king in 1936 quickly raised eyebrows by paying little attention to the way kings were supposed to act.

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Bryan Golden

What Do You Ask For?

Everyone asks for something. Some things you intentionally request. Other things you seem to get without asking. For example, I’m sure you’ve heard the expression that someone is asking for trouble. Since no one really wants adversity, this request is invariably made subconsciously. Another common expression is to be careful about what you ask for, because you may get it.

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