Capital City News

Ed Steimel, one of the most influential Louisianians of the 20th Century, passed away April 6 at the age of 94.  Steimel was born in Pocahontas, Arkansas, on January 20, 1922.  He studied journalism at Arkansas State and moved to Baton Rouge in 1951 to work for Public Affairs Research Council, where was executive director […]

Catholic High head football Coach Dale Weiner, winner of more than 300 games, on Coach Boots Garland: “I’m here representing hundreds of athletes who were touched by Coach Garland. I never called him Boots because he was my coach. Some of the most important coaching occurs off the field, especially with young people.” “Coach Garland […]

Whole Foods at Towne Center is the closest thing Baton Rouge has to Main Street.  If you go to the coffee shop and sit long enough, you will see just about everyone you know or want to know.  One day last month, I was having coffee when I saw former Baton Rouge High, LSU, and […]

BATON ROUGE — In July 1966, I was a 19-year-old student at the LSU School of Journalism. For the past two years, I had the privilege of having worked as a newsman and disc jockey at WLCS, the No. 1 radio station in Baton Rouge and then as a television announcer and newsman at the […]

Was the 1955 Istrouma High football team the greatest in Louisiana history?  As long as football is played in this state, that will be debated. Louisiana has only had one Heisman Trophy winner — Billy Cannon — and he starred on the 1955 team, which went undefeated and won the State Championship. 2015 is the […]

This interview was conducted at the home of Mrs. Helen Fairchild across from Greenwell Springs Baptist Church.  She is in good health but has to use a walker to get around. Question: What was life like growing up in the early part of the 20th century? Miss Helen: My father was born in 1861 while […]

Just as East Baton Rouge Parish School Supt. Warren Drake has promised to re-open historic Istrouma High School on Winbourne Avenue, the school’s mascot, Chief Nawaganti has been given new life. The Istrouma High Class of 1964, which donated a statue of Nawaganti to the school, retrieved the chief from the vacant building and gave […]

Baton Rougeans often forget that the older parts of their city were a Civil War battlefield.  The Battle of Baton Rouge, which was fought on Aug. 5, 1862 left 48 Union and 48 Confederate soldiers dead. Some of the most intense fighting occurred on the grounds of the Historic Magnolia Cemetery at the corner of […]