MONROE, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Monroe's Downtown Rivermarket is officially open and creating a big opportunity for local entrepreneurs.
Hundreds of people visited the Rivermarket on it's opening day. This week's theme was "Art, Wine and Food" and there was plenty of each.
Local businesses are excited for the opportunity to show off their products. One vendor is selling one-of-kind works of art along the Ouachita River this season.
"I went out in the woods, I found a cypress stump behind the loggers who had cut the tree down," says Craig Stevens, "I took it home, and I sanded it, and shined it up and made it real pretty."
Craig Stevens has created "Swamp Tables" for the past year and a half. He spends weeks on each handmade piece of furniture.
"Here in Monroe I hope this Rivermarket will be a real success because there's more people here than in Chatham."
Stevens usually sells his tables on the side of the road in Jackson Parish, but he's come to the new Rivermarket to put his business on the map.
According the Rivermarket Director Myra Gatling-Akers, the overwhelming turnout at the Rivermarket means more money invested into local vendors and into our community.
"We have a lot of new vendors to the area and they just want to be here to market their product, and everybody's just having a great day," says Gatling-Akers.
Craig Stevens says he had a great opening day regardless of how many swamp tables he sold. He hopes customers will come back to visit him ready to buy with enough money to put on the table for his swamp tables.
To contact Stevens about his custom furniture, visit him on Mariah Road in Chatham, Louisiana, or at (318) 265-0696.
A Virginia man who was once one of the nation's most prominent swimming coaches has been sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually abusing one of the girls he instructed.
A once-prominent swimming coach who trained thousands of children was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for sexually abusing one of the girls he instructed.
Thursday, May 23 2013 8:20 AM EDT2013-05-23 12:20:47 GMT
DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Authorities say a 40-year-old corrections officer assigned to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola has been arrested in a Livingston Parish home invasion case.
DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Authorities say a 40-year-old corrections officer assigned to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola has been arrested in a Livingston Parish home invasion case.
Wednesday, May 22 2013 11:45 PM EDT2013-05-23 03:45:18 GMT
MONROE, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Many in the ArkLaMiss are opening up their wallets for monetary donations or personal products to tornado ravaged Oklahoma.
MONROE, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Many in the ArkLaMiss are opening up their wallets for monetary donations or personal products to tornado ravaged Oklahoma.
Thursday, May 23 2013 9:22 PM EDT2013-05-24 01:22:41 GMT
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) - The Boy Scouts of America's National Council has voted to ease a long-standing ban and allow openly gay boys to be accepted as Scouts.Of the local Scout leaders voting at their
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) - The Boy Scouts of America's National Council has voted to ease a long-standing ban and allow openly gay boys to be accepted as Scouts.
Thursday, May 23 2013 8:57 PM EDT2013-05-24 00:57:22 GMT
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - After last week's severe weather in Northwest Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency for the area. The National Weather Service says a May 16 thunderstorm
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - After last week's severe weather in Northwest Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency for the area.
Thursday, May 23 2013 2:40 PM EDT2013-05-23 18:40:28 GMT
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announces enhanced monitoring along La. 70, near the Assumption Parish sinkhole.
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announces enhanced monitoring along La. 70, near the Assumption Parish sinkhole.
Thursday, May 23 2013 9:05 PM EDT2013-05-24 01:05:01 GMT
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Louisiana Senate has killed a resolution that sought to keep the state from using a set of uniform national standards for public school testing, called Common Core standards.The
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Louisiana Senate has killed a resolution that sought to keep the state from using a set of uniform national standards for public school testing, called Common Core standards.
