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Shreve Memorial Library is inviting patrons of all ages to join in a celebration of kindness, friendship and community during the library’s “All Together Now” Summer Reading Program. Children and parents alike are invited to meet a few of the Shreve Memorial Library’s puppet friends in amazing interactive shows featuring, Frank and Tammy’s Magic Puppet Show, Alex Thomas and Friends, and Patriotic Patty. These family-friendly puppet shows will take place at Shreve Memorial Library branches throughout Caddo Parish in June and July. All shows are free and open to the public, and registration is not required to attend.

Frank and Tammy Chaisson will visit Shreve Memorial Library branches Tuesday, June 20 through Friday, June 23, sharing their Magic Puppet Show with library patrons. Frank and Tammy are full-time children entertainers and have been providing fun and laughter for children since 1997. They are also award-winning performers who excel in performing professionally in balloon art, creative face painting, children’s magic and puppetry. Join Frank and Tammy for a family-friendly magic and puppet show at the following Shreve Memorial Library branches on the dates and times listed below:

            • Tuesday, June 20 at 10:30 a.m. – North Shreveport Branch 4844 N Market St.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  • Tuesday, June 20 at 4:00 p.m. – Belcher-Wyche Branch 409 Charles St., Belcher, La                                                                                                                                                                                                            • Wednesday, June 21 at 10:00 a.m. – Hollywood/Union Avenue Branch 2105 Hollywood Avenue            • Wednesday, June 21 at 2:00 p.m. – Rodessa Branch 10093 Main St., Rodessa, La.                                                                                                                                                                                                           • Thursday, June 22 at 10:00 a.m. – David Raines Branch 2855 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr.                                                                                                                                                                                       • Thursday, June 22 at 2:00 p.m. – Oil City Branch 102 Allen St., Oil City, La                                                                                                                                                                                                                            • Friday, June 23 at 10:30 a.m. – North Caddo Branch 615 North Pine St., Vivian, La                                                                                                                                                                                                       • Friday, June 23 at 3:00 p.m. – Cedar Grove-Line Avenue Branch 8303 Line Ave.

In July, Alex Thomas and Friends will bring interactive shows with jokes, prizes, stories, silliness and all around fun through the art of puppetry. Their shows allow volunteers and audience members to play along and become a part of the act. After the show, patrons can participate in a meet and greet with Alex Thomas and Friends for a chance to meet the characters, take a photo and receive a personalized autograph from the puppets on a free photo card. No matter how large the audience, everyone leaves with something. Alex Thomas and Friends will be performing at various SML branches on the following dates and times listed below.

At Hooray for the USA! with Patriotic Patty, children will learn about Ellis Island and how millions of immigrants went through there on their way to becoming a U.S. citizen. Originally performed as Margaret Clauder, Hooray for the USA! with Patriotic Patty has performed for thousands of children in hundreds of schools and libraries all over Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. She delights audiences with her interactive storytelling, puppets, ventriloquism, magic and humor. She believes that a child can remember a message much easier if they “Laugh as they Learn.” Children will learn about the Statue of Liberty, her history and about her twin sister who stands on the Seine River in France. Puppets such as Uncle Sam will delight children with patriotic songs while also learning the history of the American flag from the first flag made by Betsy Ross to our current Old Glory. Library patrons can enjoy Hooray for the USA! with Patriotic Patty at the following SML branches on the dates and times listed below.

        • Tuesday, July 25 at 10:00 a.m. – David Raines Branch              • Tuesday, July 25 at 4:00 p.m. – Belcher-Wyche Branch            • Wednesday, July 26 at 10:00 a.m. – Atkins Branch 3704 Greenwood Road            • Wednesday, July 26 at 2:00 p.m. – Rodessa Branch            • Thursday, July 27 at 10:30 a.m. – North Caddo Branch            • Thursday, July 27 at 2:00 p.m. – Hollywood/Union Avenue Branch            • Friday, July 28 at 3:00 p.m. – Cedar Grove-Line Avenue Branch

All summer reading programs are free and patrons of all ages are welcome to attend. Registration for the Summer Reading Program can be completed online through the library’s Beanstack site at https://shreve-lib.beanstack.org/reader365. Registered participants can begin logging books on June 1, with the deadline for completion of the Summer Reading Program on Monday, August 14.

For more information and complete program details, please visit www.shreve-lib.org.

About Shreve Memorial Library

Shreve Memorial Library transforms Caddo Parish lives with resources, services and support to create a better world. Focusing on service priority areas of creating and maintaining young readers, stimulating imagination, providing lifelong learning, information fluency, and ready references, and informing citizens, Shreve Memorial Library’s 21-branch system is maintained by a parish-wide property tax millage to support the informational, educational and recreational needs of its constituents. For more information, visit www.shreve-lib.org, like on Facebook, and follow @shrevememorial on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Remember to dream, discover, do – Shreve Memorial Library and you!

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) - Southern Trace: "Good course."

East Ridge: "Those greens are smokin'. Those are some great greens."

That's the assessment of golfer O.J. Simpson, who's been in the Shreveport area playing golf with friend and car dealer Bernie Woods.

"But the people are nice. That's the thing with me. The people are terrific."

While the NFL Hall of Famer concedes that Woods beat him on the course Tuesday, Simpson says he won the other matches.

"We don't bet. It's bragging rights. It's all about bragging rights," he said while leaving Copeland's of New Orleans in Shreveport.

While in town for a few days, Simpson said he's been visiting friends and celebrating anniversaries and birthdays. "Even had a nephew propose marriage this weekend.

"Had a great time. Played some terrific golf, met some great people at these golf courses. Ate a great meal here. John gave me a great meal here at Copeland's. It's been terrific."

Simpson says he'll be back in July for a family reunion.

His mother, the late Eunice Simpson, was a native of Rodessa, a former boomtown in Caddo Parish.

"When I was a kid, as far back as I can remember, I'd spend my summers in Rodessa, which is right out of town, and Vivian, that's where my grandparents' farm was," Simpson said. "My mother, as I said, went to high school here. And every summer, we were down here."

The 2000 book "Tabloid Culture: Trash Taste, Popular Power and the Transformation of American Television" recounts a story about Simpson's affinity for that area.

"I still need Rodessa and my roots. It may seem like such a dead place to some. But when you're in the middle of New York, Los Angeles or Detroit, Rodessa seems very alive," Simpson is quoted as saying.

"I need it very badly. I need to get back there to get in touch with myself. I'd like to return again, and I'd like to send my children down for a vacation. It's home to me."

That's not Simpson's only tie to the Shreveport area.

Johnnie Cochran, the attorney who famously defended Simpson during his trial and acquittal over the death of his wife, was born in Shreveport.

And the Internet is replete with videos of commercials showing Simpson, as spokesman for Hertz Rental Cars in the 1970s and 1980s, leaping over counters, chairs and rope barriers as he runs through airports.

And the late Barry Hutton, who ran the Hertz franchise in Shreveport at the time, often would share the story of how one of the earliest of those advertisements was filmed at Shreveport Regional and how he would drive Simpson and his entourage around town.

Copyright 2018 KSLA. All rights reserved.

RODESSA, La. (KSLA) - Caddo Parish authorities have put two cockfighting suspects in jail.

They have taken 46 roosters that show signs of cockfighting to the Caddo Animal Services & Mosquito Control facilities on Monty Street in Shreveport.

Now they are working with other agencies to figure out what to do with several hundred more roosters and more than 2,000 hens and chicks.

Animal Services has no place to house them.

For the time being, they will remain where they were found.

All told, about 3,000 birds were discovered Wednesday when authorities raided a residence in the 21700 block of Louisiana Highway 1. That’s about 3.5 miles north-northwest of Rodessa.

It’s on nine acres there that they also found 10 structures, including mobile homes and sheds being used for storage.

Animal control workers seized the roosters, knives, gaffs, ledgers and trophies dating to 2003.

Narcotics agents seized about $21,000 worth of drugs, including approximately 201 grams of methamphetamine and 100 grams of marijuana. (Authorities expect to make more arrests on drug charges).

A shotgun and a rifle also were confiscated.

The two brothers who were arrested - 35-year-old Darryl Gene St. Clair and 37-year-old Jason Dale St. Clair - remain in Caddo Correctional Center.

Booking records show Darryl Gene St. Clair was booked on 109 charges of cockfighting and Jason Dale St. Clair was booked on 57 charges of cockfighting.

In a statement released just before noon Thursday, authorities say Darryl Gene St. Clair faces 46 counts each of organizing cockfights and training birds for cockfighting, both of which are felonies.

And Jason Dale St. Clair faces 46 counts of training birds for cockfighting, they add.

Cockfighting is when two or more birds are placed in a pit or ring to fight each other.

The Humane Society of the United States, which is vocal in its opposition to cockfighting, says gaffs or sharp razor blades typically are tied to the legs of birds that fight.

The organization says the fowl are horribly abused.

Those that survive the fight commonly suffer broken bones, a punctured lung or a pierced eye.

In extreme cases, some of the birds die.

RELATED:

2 Caddo men face a combined 166 charges of cockfighting

Copyright 2019 KSLA. All rights reserved.

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Let's just admit something right off the bat -- the South is home to some wonderfully weird places, and we mean that in the best way possible.

We're talking places that you won't find anywhere else, like a coon dog cemetery, a very-likely walking trail decorated with recycled doll heads or a cafe where people pay to have their rolls thrown at 'em. The kind of places that are definitely weird, but are also pretty wonderful.

Keep reading...

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13 unique Southern phrases perfect for spooky season

Amber Sutton

September 26 | 2023

These Southern phrases will come in handy this spooky season.

Mark Almond/AL.com

With fall finally here, it's safe to officially declare it spooky season, and what better way to kick things off than by heading to your favorite haunted house? What creepy creature is lurking around the next corner might be a mystery, but the Southern phrases you use to describe it don't have to be.

Keep reading...

southern phrases

How did 'all get-out' become one of the South's favorite phrases? Thank your mother.

Amber Sutton

September 19 | 2023

A lot of terms and phrases that are popular throughout the country originated in the South thanks to our colorful way with words -- your welcome, y'all -- and "all get-out" is definitely one of 'em. But have you ever wondered how "all get-out" became so prevalent throughout the South in the first place?

Keep reading...

southern words

What tailgate snack are you?

Morgan White

September 18 | 2023

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Which tailgate snack are you? Well, we have a quiz that'll tell you just that.

Warning: Do not take this quiz while hungry. Or maybe do, I don't run your life! Actually, maybe try taking it when you ARE hungry, then eat something, then take the quiz again to see if you get a different result!

If you can't see the quiz below, you can click here to view it!

What Tailgate Snack are you?

*Smells the fresh air* It's football season. You know what that means! Everyone is donning their school colors, cool air is just around the corner and SNACKS on snacks on snacks are about to come your way. Whether it's at home, at a restaurant or at the ever popular tailgate, there are specific snacks that can only be eaten during football season, and guess what, your personality directly aligns with one of them! So come on! Hope you're hungry, cause it's time to find out your snack soul mate.

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BOSSIER CITY, La. (KSLA) — In the wake of tornadic storms, reports came in of people trapped in their homes in Bossier City.

And thousands of SWEPCO customers temporarily lost electrical service.

There were reports of multiple people trapped along Alfred Lane and Pecan Acres mobile home park off Barksdale Boulevard.

We’re told those along Alfred Lane have been rescued.

A caller told KSLA News 12 that a tree fell on a mobile home in Southgate Mobile Home Park and that other mobile homes also might have been damaged.

There have been no reports of injuries.

KSLA Videographer Scott Pace said fencing and trees are down along Sunflower Road.

A number of tornado warnings were issued in association with the storms as they moved through the area. And radar has indicated straight-line winds of possibly up to 92 mph.

The National Weather Service has since confirmed that there were at least three tornadoes Tuesday night.

An EF-0 with winds of 85 mph started near LSUS in a neighborhood west of Youree Drive and continued into south Bossier City.

An EF-1 with 110 mph winds started northeast of Blanchard and crossed the Red River to near Benton.

And there was an EF-0 with 80 mph winds northwest of Hosston in Caddo Parish.

Bossier sheriff’s deputies are on the scene of several locations of what is reported as minor damage from tonight’s storms, spokesman Rod White said.

He said areas of concern include:

Sheriff Julian Whittington said the damage is pretty much scattered north to south throughout the parish “... but it’s nothing we can’t live through and get over.”

“All in all,” he later added, “we’ve been very, very fortunate.”

Caddo 911 dispatch records showed reports of road hazards, which usually are indicative of downed trees or tree limbs, on:

Arkansas

Hempstead 273

Little River 6

Miller 100

Louisiana

Bienville 26

Bossier 11,107

Caddo 32,192

DeSoto 2,170

Natchitoches fewer than 5

Red River 170

Webster 810

Texas

Bowie 52

Camp 6

Cass 1,013

Gregg 10,887

Harrison 836

Marion fewer than 5

Morris 75

Panola 322

Shelby 667

Smith 375

Titus fewer than 5

Upshur 803

Wood 113

RELATED:

This is a developing situation. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Copyright 2022 KSLA. All rights reserved.