“It’s a beautiful historic building with a rich history that acts as a kind of gateway to downtown,” said co-owner and founder, Beau Raines. “After looking everywhere from Benton to Robson Road, we were fortunate to land this location. We’re happy to call it home.

This is the foundation idea around “Connect” – an initiative to build communication and trust between business, government and education leaders in our community. The discussion will revolve around how we build on our assets and how we provide solutions to overcoming the barriers holding us back.

“When I was modeling, I went to a lot of different casting calls and realized there wasn’t a place for people my height back then,” she said.

Eldorado Resort Casino Shreveport announces the opening of Players Bar, located on the first level of the casino floor, where guests and players can enjoy beer, wine, signature cocktails and in-bar gaming in the midst of Eldorado’s non-stop casino action.

Goodwill Industries and Northwest Louisiana Technical College announce the opening of a Job Center in Building E on the Northwest Louisiana Technical College campus, located at 2010 N. Market St., Shreveport.

Biomedical Research Foundation is losing a prominent tenant and couldn’t be happier. A sign of their success and with a need to expand, Moonbot Studios is relocating from BRF InterTech 1 after seven years. The studio’s new home will be the Caddo Schools’ Alexander Learning Center leaving their space available for the next new biz.

Goodwill is exploring opportunities for a new store close to the Kings Highway location. In the interim, customers may shop at any of the other local Goodwill stores, the closest being the Shreve City store located at 1243 Shreveport- Barksdale Highway in Shreveport.

“Our business students and studentathletes will significantly benefit from this generous gift,” says BPCC Chancellor Dr. Rick Bateman Jr. “With corporate partners like Citizens National Bank who believe in the mission of providing quality education here in Northwest Louisiana, BPCC will continue to make an impact in this community and beyond.

State Representative Mike Johnson (R-Bossier City) questioned Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Deputy Assistant Secretary Sammy Guillory on the alleged DSNAP, or food stamp, fraud that took place in Caddo Parish in late March.

Sometimes we do. Sometimes I do, too, and it’s always nice to realize how much we have going for us. In working on the ad campaign, I’ve been overwhelmed in a wonderful sort of way. Every day brings another neat, cool, unique, special discovery; the brainstorming sessions threaten to go on and on.

Political pundits, particularly those on the cable news networks, keep telling us ad nauseam that we are angry and we are not going to take it anymore when it comes to our federal government.

Projected to approach a $300 million price tag next year, TOPS has no dedicated revenue source; it’s funded straight out of the state’s current red-hued general fund budget.

Informed voters, they say, are essential to our democracy. Yet arguably, our democracy has thrived, for all intents and purposes, without informed voters. In 1850, only about 1 out of 2 school-aged children were enrolled in school – and for many of them, believe it or not, attended only one day a year.

CHRISTUS INVESTS IN TECHNOLOGY CHRISTUS Health Shreveport-Bossier is the region’s first and only hospital to offer the latest technology in robotics-assisted surgery with the da Vinci Si Surgical System.

Those six-month dentist visits may not be a fan favorite, but they’re critical in preventing tooth decay. Tooth decay, also known as cavities, is caused by a breakdown of the enamel. Though oral hygiene is important at all stages of life, the two-a-day flossing and brushing can get lost in the busyness of adult daily life.

Feeling stressed at work? Instead of reaching for a glass of wine, consider hoping on a treadmill. According to a 2010 study from the University of California-San Francisco, stressed-out women who exercised 45 minutes on average over a three-day period showed fewer signs of aging compared to stressed, inactive women.

“This accreditation, and the protocols associated with it, are focused on the Willis-Knighton Heart Institute on the campus of Willis-Knighton Medical Center,” said Kathy Walker, director of the Heart Institute. “However, the same protocols are followed throughout the health system to assure continuity of care for all patients.

“Things have vastly improved in cancer treatment, and chemotherapy is not as bad as it used to be,” Shackelford said. “If a person thinks they have cancer, they should not let it go because the longer it goes, the less likely it can be treated. But it is not the complete death sentence it was 30 years ago.

There have been many studies that suggest that optimistic people live longer, and are less likely to develop diseases. One study that included more than 1,000 men and women found that those who described themselves as optimistic had a 55 percent lower risk of death than pessimists.

THROUGH APRIL 29: “ALPHA & OMEGA: ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE THROUGH THE GENERATIONS,”.

New members receive up to a $100 refund in the mail based on play. See Reward Club for details. Come in on your birthday, swipe your Rewards Club card and receive a present. JackPlay drawings every hour from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturdays. 10X entries every Monday towards weekend drawings.

This is the first release of the creative collaboration between David Love Lewis, Alan Dyson and Erich Avinger. Each makes his own impressive contributions to the project.

–Mary Ann Van Osdell.