Author
Frustration mounts as storm-damaged Lake Charles library remains closed
LAKE CHARLES — A gray trailer sits in the parking lot of the hurricane-battered library in north Lake Charles, Louisiana. Placed on the property in March 2021 through a grant by the American Library Association Disaster Relief Fund, the Epps Express Library offers limited services and has a maximum capacity of five people, including staff. […]
Concern, community mark Pride gathering in rural Louisiana
BIG LAKE — Fifteen miles south of downtown Lake Charles, past the Devil’s Elbow community and over the Black Bayou Bridge, the small unincorporated area of Big Lake is an unlikely setting for an LGBTQ+ celebration. Yet hundreds of people found this remote corner of Calcasieu Parish for Pride of SWLA’s third annual Pride Fest, […]
Neighbors shocked woman whose complaint led to Emmett Till’s death lived quietly nearby
WESTLAKE — Emmett Till was lynched as a child, and his horrific death sparked the nation’s move toward the Civil Rights era. Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman whose accusation led to Till’s death, lived a long life that came to a quiet end last week — much to the surprise and disgust of some Calcasieu […]
Chlorine leak reveals gaps in Lake Charles area’s alert system
LAKE CHARLES — Every Monday at noon for years, the sirens would ring out. To the residents of Westlake, Lake Charles, and surrounding areas, it was nothing unusual—just a test of the Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) system. But Hurricane Laura in 2020 damaged many of these sirens. Unfortunately, that meant there were no […]