Commentary

Wed
15
Sep

Letter to the Editor: banks & credit unions take stand against IRS reporting proposal

Dear Editor,

Today, there is a dangerous proposal in Washington that would require financial institutions to report to the IRS how much money has gone into and out of accounts holding more than $600. In addition, transferring money from one account to another by an individual could also be subject to reporting. Employees of both banks and credit unions should not be agents on behalf of the IRS in reporting this information.

If there is interest earned on a savings account, it is already reported due to current requirements, which is understandable. However, this proposal would require the local bank or credit union to track their customers‘ money and then to send that activity to the IRS and for the IRS to then decide if any of the bank or credit union customers are avoiding paying taxes.

Wed
08
Sep

Speaking Out for Louisiana Citizens

Speaking Out for Louisiana Citizens

UPCOMING AMENDMENTS

The upcoming ballot will include several tax related constitutional amendments. Legislature reports that we will be more attractive to corporate investments if we provide much needed tax relief to small businesses and allow our everyday citizens to keep more of their hard earned money. Here are two of the amendments that will be on the October 9th ballot.

Amendment 1: Streamlines and simplifies state and local sales tax collection, decreasing the administrative burden on taxpayers and businesses. Enhances the state’s ability to collect revenues from ever increasing internet sales by putting e-commerce on a more level playing field with our small businesses.

Amendment 2: Decreases the maximum allowable rate of personal income tax from 6% to 4.75

Wed
08
Sep

Life Learning, Commitment, and Hard Work

We are always learning. Life is filled with education. We learn all the time.

Every day we receive new information about health, the planet, communication, medicines, the universe and more. Life is a process of learning and developing.

Education is more than grades one through twelve, college, and beyond. There are many aspects to every job we do that we never learned in school. We learn from parents if we will listen. We learn from coworkers. We learn from our failures. We learn how not to do something because we tried it once and it failed. The good thing about failing is that it doesn’t haven’t to be final. Some things are final but not everything. Just because your first marriage failed doesn’t mean your second marriage will fail. Hopefully you learned from your first marriage and you won’t make the same mistakes the second time around.

Wed
08
Sep

Observations

Observations
Observations
Observations

Library Director Debbie Anderson, seated at left, watches as Library Board President Donna Ammons signs the agreement with Coco & Company as Board Vice-President Lorene Jones looks on. Not shown is Library Board Treasurer Bonnie Miles and Police Jury and Library Board ExOfficio member Kenneth Ebarb.

Observations
Observations

It was late on Saturday, Aug. 28, when busses arrived to Many Healthcare North filled with evacuees and their supplies. The Many Police Dept., Sheriff’s Office and Many Healthcare staff assisted the visitors to get settled temporarily in Many due to Hurricane Ida.

Observations

The Many PD and others unload supplies needed for Hurricane Ida evacuees who arrived to Many Healthcare North on Saturday before the weather event came ashore.

Observations

ARRESTED: Philip Luke Hall

INSERT OBSERVATIONS MASTHEAD

Tax Assessor Chris Tidwell recently provided the following information concerning the assessment of businesses and the 15% value change notices that were recently mailed to Sabine Parish property owners.

“In 2019, the LTC (Louisiana Tax Commission) required assessment of all residential property in the parish. With the requirement to complete the assessment a year early, our small office had to have additional staff and contractors to complete the job. The reassessment of properties in the parish was completed and approved by the LTC.

Wed
01
Sep

Social Security Matters

Ask Rusty – Does Paying SS Tax Now Increase My Benefit?

Dear Rusty: I started drawing my benefits at age 62 due to being laid off from my job at age 60. I have continued working part time and been paying Social Security and Medicare taxes ever since. I am now 66. I have been told that even though I continue to pay these taxes, it will not help increase my monthly social security benefit. Is that true? Signed: Working Beneficiary

Dear Working Beneficiary: Paying into Social Security and Medicare through “FICA” taxes withheld from your paycheck doesn’t change your Social Security (SS) benefit amount. Those taxes aren’t held in a separate personal account for you; rather they are used to pay benefits to all those who currently collect SS benefits, and to help offset healthcare costs for current Medicare enrollees.

Wed
01
Sep

On the Bright Side

My 15-year-old niece Sadie recently asked me what it was like being a kid in the 80s and early 90s.

“Well,” I said, “people knew each other better. Kids couldn’t hide behind a screen and say whatever they wanted. You had to pick up the phone and call, and sometimes your heart would beat out of your chest while it rang.”

I told her that teens hand-wrote notes to each other on loose leaf paper. They folded the notes in a specific type of triangle where one corner would tuck neatly into another corner, creating a neat little compact envelope.

We didn’t write “LOL” but we did write “LYLAS” (Love Ya Like a Sis).

If something was cringeworthy or someone was picture-worthy, it didn’t matter. There were no phones with a camera to document anything. It was just in someone’s memory and you had to take another kid’s word for it.

Wed
01
Sep

Observations

Observations
Observations
Observations

Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, left, and his Chief of Staff, Joe R. Salter, right

Observations

Villis P. “Bo” Dowden, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s newest pick for induction

Observations

Mrs. Virginia Fremaux

Observations
Observations
Observations

LEFT: Mark Birdwell of Marthaville killed this giant rattlesnake recently. It was in the muscadine vineyard maintained by his parents, Steve and Phyllis Birdwell, near their home in the Bethany Community. The rattler had something like 12 rattles. Rattlesnakes are on the move, working to fatten up in anticipation of winter, so be careful.

Observations

We saw this United Nations vehicle recently in Leesville. Wonder what it was doing there? Note the license plate, “01.”

Observations

ARRESTED: Gary Dewayne Smith

Observations

ARRESTED: Fred James Moss

Observations

ARRESTED: Dajohn Maxwell Hymes

Observations

ARRESTED: Orlando Travon Sloan

Members of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) have selected our Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin as president of the group. He took the oath of office Aug. 16 at the organization’s meeting in Des Moines, IA.

“As the job of Secretary of State continues to gain more national importance, I look forward to leading the association’s time-honored tradition of learning from one another through bipartisan conversations and sharing innovative practices,” he said. “I have been extraordinarily blessed to spend the past decade serving the people of Louisiana and I will bring that same commitment to service to NASS during my tenure. I thank my colleagues for their faith in me. It is a tremendous honor to become president during this critical time in our democracy.”

Ardoin has served as Secretary of State since 2018, with nearly a decade of prior service as First Assistant Secretary of State.

Wed
25
Aug

On the Bright Side

One of my chicks has flown the nest.

Two weeks ago, we moved our oldest son Reece into his dorm at LSU. He’s studying Economics and Philosophy in the Ogden Honors College with dreams of becoming a lawyer and a professor.

In the months leading up to his move-in day, I tried to soak in the sound of his footsteps booming down the wooden stairs, the way he played Grateful Dead’s “Brown-Eyed Women” beautifully by-ear on the piano in our living room, and his casual, deep-voiced “Love y’all” when he was leaving to go hang out with friends.

I made the mistake of listening to Katrina Kenison’s “The Gift of an Ordinary Day” on YouTube.

Our foyer turned into an Amazon warehouse full of dorm-room must-haves.

Even so, when the morning came to drive to Baton Rouge, I wasn’t emotional, just hyper-aware that “the day had come.”

We spent six hours moving him into a dorm that made my first dorm seem like Angola.

Wed
25
Aug

Speaking Out for Louisiana Citizens

Speaking Out for Louisiana Citizens

CRISIS IN AFGHANISTAN

Wed
25
Aug

Notes from an Old Bible

What is a parable? It’s a true- life story used to illustrate or illuminate a truth. It must be based on a real- life situation that the hearers are familiar with. Jesus used parables that were commonplace to daily life, and His hearers needed no explanation as to what the stories were about because they involved common everyday things they could relate to.

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