Baker's heartbeat

A small girl looks at herself in a water-filled pond, part of a famed sculpture garden. A bricklayer named Kenny Hill headed for southern Louisiana in the late 1980s. Maybe there would be work in the construction industry? Hill settled on a small plot of land on Bayou Petit Callou in Chauvin, La., located southwest of New Orleans. The land was provided by a kindly neighbor who took an interest in Hill. The bricklayer pitched a tent, and in time, built a small home. He also showed an artistic bent on adjoining property along the bayou. Over the years Hill created what is now known as one of the "25 Most Amazing Sculpture Gardens in the World." A cross-section of individual pieces shows Hill's empathy, and respect for religion. He is said to have created it as a story of salvation for Chauvin residents. Dennis Sipiorski, an art professor at Nicholls State University (a Thibodaux, La., institution which eventually saved the site) asked Hill to expand on the site...

The Bakers in Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge, hear Houma, La. The Terrebonne Water Museum, above; and also a wildflower and an Ibis in the water refuge. It was first heard on the television news one night, during the weather report: "We in Acadiana can expect highs in the 70's tomorrow," the forecaster said. "Acadiana?" What was this guy talking about? We were on vacation to explore Louisiana: Turns out, the name "Acadiana" describes both a region and the people living there, "Acadians." We'd been to Louisiana before, mainly to New Orleans. This trip was to focus on the southern and western areas of this beautiful part of America. Acadiana was founded by Acadians who had roots in France and settled in Canada but were expelled in the 1700s. Part of the population was invited to live in Louisiana by the Spanish government, in control at that time. These folks and the native population intermarried. They are called ...

Opinion: Bettendorf is right to close the oldest school in the district and open a new school with more spacious classrooms to benefit the students. It is inappropriate  to make such decisions in secrecy. Recent actions of the Bettendorf School Board to build a new elementary school and close the oldest school in the district landed on the front page of the Sunday newspaper. Bettendorf has decided to move about 200 students, for four months, to the Ross College building on Kimberly Road. This is until the new Mark Twain Elementary School is built, according to a report in the March 3 Quad-City Times. The story explains that the school board came to its decisions in some secrecy, avoiding public input. (Full disclosure: The newspaper is my former employer. That career ended a year ago so I'll offer opinions from a certain vantage point.) To start, our daughter is an elementary school teacher in Ankeny, Iowa. She's in one of the oldest buildings in that fast-growing...