The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 1

Cuban cuisine Gloria Estefan finds niche in celebrity cookbook world. 1C Duo reunited Barmore and Mulkey join forces at Baylor. IB SHREVEPORniMES.COM ft 1 llMkV.l'l CADDO BOSSIER WEBSTER fl DESOTO 1 4 'V ISossieir Sty mm li1C0S 0 rojeci Weather details, forecast 2A $15 million performing arts center planned for riverfront HIGH58 LOW29 Detailed weather maps t. and radar images at (SSHf 6V6D0H QUICKREAD A fast way to dgest the news of the day 0- Proposed Louisiana Hayride Village Proposed A Louisiana a Hayride Village I Louisiana Boardwalk uj" 'i-lpy Bossier Louisiana City Boardwalk IV Horseshoe Vs Diamond Hayride, the popular radio and television program broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. The broadcast helped launch Elvis and others into stardom.

"I think from what we've seen with the success at the CenturyTel Center is that with the country music market, that By Drew Pierson dpiersongannett.com Bossier City Mayor Lorenz "Lo" Walker dropped a bombshell during a city workshop Tuesday: the state has agreed to fund a $15 million performing arts center to tie into the Louisiana Boardwalk. The center will include a digital media center for music and film professionals, theater venues and an interactive discussed an ordinance to be introduced to City Council next week. The ordinance would ratify the first part of the deal. Scheduled to be built during the next four or five years on 80 acres of city property north of Bass Pro Shops, the entertainment and media center would be called "the Louisiana Hay-ride Music Village," named in memory of the Louisiana Glorioso Walker wiiiilii New fire station still empty Southern music museum. "It has tremendous potential for economic development," Walker said as the council The Times I See PROJECT 2A Construction of Fire Station 22, 2022 Southern Loop in Shreveport, was completed in October.

Yet the fully equipped station between Norris Ferry and Wallace Lake roads sits empty three months later. Two Caddo schools suggested for take over Val HorvathThe Times It was funded through a 2001 bond issue approved by voters. Budget constraints, however, have kept the facility from opening. PAGE 3A Louisiana ready for stimulus John Maginnis: The managers of state government, facing a major financial downturn, are looking to save dollars in the smallest places. And they are not spending money they had planned to, by leaving job vacancies unfilled and canceling programs not yet started.

It gets worse in the coming year, when the state tax revenues are projected to be 10 percent PAGE 13A Share your opinion by commenting on this column online at shreveporttimes.com. -1 Young requests trade -11 Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington was not surprised by Michael Young's reaction to being asked to move to third base. Young, the 2008 American League By Ashley Northington adnorthingtongannett.com BATON ROUGE Linear and Linwood middle schools are among 10 schools statewide recommended for placement in the state's Recovery School District. Only schools in Shreveport and Baton Rouge are to be officially recommended today to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for take over. The remaining schools across the state, including eight in Caddo, are recommended to operate under agreements called memoranda of understanding, or MOU, with the state education department.

Caddo Superintendent Gerald Dawkins, along with board members and other key staffers, are expected to be present today during a committee meeting of the state board to fight for The Caddo Plan, Dawkins' proposal to bolster student achievement at the low-performing schools. "I think The Caddo Plan is a very excellent plan that still has great potential," Dawkins said. "The data regarding our schools is the data. Certainly we have a lot of room to improve, and The Caddo Plan is a plan that will address it. I'm going to fight to keep that plan intact." State Superintendent Paul Pastorek said taking the 10 schools was an "excruciatingly tough" decision.

"A great deal of effort has gone into studying and analyzing the circumstances around each one of these schools and their respective communities. The right choice in the case of 10 schools is to place them under the control oftheRSD." Pastorek said the state education department would focus its resources and efforts in reforming elementary and middle schools. He said focusing on high schools, especially Booker T. Washington, Green Oaks, Fair Park and Woodlawn, would be too much for the district to tackle this year. 1 J- 1 14 4 ri'.

i 4 I 5 3 bold WOVe Winner ai Tony GutierrezAP shortstop, was asked to move to third base by General Manager Jon Daniels. Young, who has since requested a trade, signed a five-year, $80 million contract extension before last season. PAGE IB More financial action needed A mammoth stimulus package being crafted by President-elect Obama could give the economy a much-needed lift, but other steps must be taken to bolster the wobbly financial system and for any recovery to stick, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday. PAGE 6A Jim HudelsonThe Times Henry Lin, Joan Liu and John Keene in this portrait in front of Caddo Middle Magnet where the students are all in the eighth grade and will be heading to Washington, D.C., for the upcoming presidential inauguration. PAGE 4A Road White House Troops invade neighborhoods As crises accelerate, so does Obama's transition to presidency Bush: Top challenge still U.S.

security Bush comments on Katrina sound sour in N.O. SHREVEPORniMES.COM i. teOLMiulSa LINKS TO 2009 PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION LESSON PLANS. THE CONGRESSIONAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL AND PEOPLE TO PEOPLE. COMING SOON: A VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH CADDO MAGNET FRESHMAN CURT VARDEMAN.

the first black president takes office. Differences in political ideology don't just I See CADDO 16A Terrified residents ran for cover Tuesday in a densely populated neighborhood of Gaza City as Israeli troops backed by tanks thrust deeper into the city and sought Hamas fighters in alley-ways and cellars. PAGE 7A Vardeman NTHEOASSR00M, By Adam Kealoha Causey acauseygannett.com Henry Lin envisions "a very politically correct picture" of Caddo Middle Magnet students at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration. The eighth-grader is Taiwanese and part of a multicultural trio from the school that is heading to Washington, D.C., this weekend. One classmate is Chinese, and the other was born in Paraguay.

"I think the world has improved a lot," 14-year-old Lin said when asked about his view on race in the 2008 presidential election. Lin and fellow, eighth-graders John Keene and Joan Liu will travel to the District of Columbia as members of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council. They will join at least two dozen other local students amid millions more who plan to be there when 14 Fadl AdwanAP 1C 4C Community 3A Living Advice 6A C0NVERSATI0NS13A SCOREBOARD 5B Business i a pear for the nation's future leaders. But it won't overpower their excitement. Kurt Vardeman, also 14, would have voted for Sen.

John McCain if he were old enough. The Caddo Magnet freshman said he wants the United States to "finish the fight" in Iraq but that he can see some advantage in down-scaling like Obama plans. See INAUGURATION 2A If you go Today: A state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education committee will discuss the recommendations at 1 p.m. in the board room of the Claiborne Building, located at 1201 N. Third St.

in Baton Rouge. Thursday: BESE will meet at 10 a.m. in Baton Rouge to vote on the matter. The Presidential Inaugural Committee is partnering with the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association to offer a series of instructional guides to help teachers throughout the country bring the 56th Presidential Inauguration to life in their classrooms. The guides are available on the PIC Web site: www.pic2009.orgpagecontent lessonplans.

COMINGjSUJNDAY The Times will publish an eight-page special section Sunday highlighting facts about the upcoming inauguration of the 44th president, facts about President-elect Barack Obama and facts about the historic role of inaugural events. Classified 7B Crossword 4C Sports 1E3 Comics 3C Deaths 15A Television 5C To subscribe: 866-979-NEWS (6397) Price: I I III III i in ii 2009 The Times tWIP--- I ill I I )il -light gtom IMiiijM ms. I bU.