On social media I’ve seen a lot of not-too-sunny posts about 2016, even going so far as to say that someday historians will skip over it completely, noting only, “Oh, 2016, we don’t talk about that.”
It’s true, we’ve definitely had our hits this year. David Bowie, Merle Haggard, Prince, Muhammad Ali, Gene Wilder — pop culture icons seem to be dropping left and right. Throw in the Zika virus, Brexit, escalating racially charged violence and the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Finally, top it all off with a supremely taxing and divisive election that continues to pull the country apart, and you certainly have a good case for wishing 2016 never happened.
On the local front, we’ve also had our battles — the flooding in Baton Rouge, continuous issues with short-term rentals, the World Trade Center and a declining film industry, plus the Mike Yenni scandal.
We’ve also, however, had some big wins. After more than 30 years we finally have a non-stop flight to Europe, along with a growing list of other international destinations. Possibilities with Cuba look hopeful, both international tourism and the port reached record levels yet again, and commercial real estate saw a 90 percent increase.
As we enter into a new year, we definitely do so with no small level of uncertainty as a country, but here in Southeast Louisiana we know well from experience: the harder the fight, the sweeter the victory.
CLARIFICATION
Some clarifications in the November issue:
GNO Inc.’s new office was actually a combining of three separate office suites into a single space. NANO (not Woodward Design + Build) custom designed and built the feature wall and reception desk, designed all the millwork, selected the furniture and created the layouts. KV Workspace provided all furniture in the private offices and seating throughout the entire space, and Bart’s Office Furniture handled the move and assembled the furniture.
We regret the errors.
