News

By Luke BrittEditorThe proposed Union Parish Police Jury budget for the 2024 fiscal year anticipates a surplus of nearly $300,000 at the end of next year, funded in large part by a significant increase in interest earnings.The budget also shows that the jury’s total expenditures in 2023 were only $1,377 over budget.The proposed budget estimates expenditures of $2.1 million in …

New Orleans, LA – At general meetings held during the 2023 Fall Judges Conference, Third Judicial District Judge Bruce Hampton was among the officers elected by the membership.The officers chosen include:President: Judge Lala B. Sylvester, 10th Judicial District CourtFirst Vice President: Judge Lee V. Faulkner, Jr., 24th Judicial District CourtSecond Vice President: Chief Judge Robin D. Pittman, Orleans Criminal District …

By Luke BrittEditorPam Hallman’s art runs the gamut of genres. From the abstract to the whimsical, the Farmerville painter, illustrator and author is limited only by her own imagination, which is to say, she has no limits at all.Fear, she said, ends many young artists’ careers before they even start – fear of failure or of not being “good enough.”“I …

Mayor Crow is allowing all Union Parish employees off Friday for the championship game in New Orleans. The Sanitation Department will be closed as a result. If your trash pickup day is Friday, please have your bins out for Thursday pickup.

Two men have been arrested and over 200 illegal prescription pills have been seized following a complaint of a narcotics overdose in Marion. In October 2023, UPSO Patrol deputies, as well as agents from the Narcotics Division, responded to a location in Marion where two persons were reportedly overdosing on an unknown substance.  The investigation revealed that another involved individual …

The 2023-24 UPHS National Honor Society members include, front row (L-R):  India Hill, Ja’Kayla Davis, Ailyn Flores, Lai Lanie Huggins, Sarah Hamilton, Shakira Miller, Logan Weaver, Martin Torres, Kaylee Strickland, Tyler Streets, Aaliyah Douglas. Back Row (L-R):  Sterling Murray, Alondra Flores, Gabriella Martinez, Fabiola Cantu, Castor Worthington, Maged Saleh, Zoe Booker, Grace Mason, Alyssa Sanner By Elizabeth LaingNHS Secretary Eighteen …

Entrants in the JFK Oratory Competition were, from left,  Garrett Lee, Jayce Lee, Chloe Jackson, Kaylee Ann Weldon, and Luke Easley Speeches by President John F. Kennedy were in the air at the Youth Oratory Competition on Veterans Day in the Union Museum of History and Art in Farmerville.  Five local youth ages 12 to 19 delivered  ten-minute versions of …

The Masonic Fraternity, probably the oldest of its kind in the world, is known as a charitable, and educational society whose purpose is to build up the good character of its members.  Every year the Downsville Lodge awards an Honesty & Integrity (H&I) Award to deserving High School Junior Students.  This unique award doesn’t consider any other characteristic or talent …

The Union Parish Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate a drive-by shooting that occurred on East Jackson Street in Farmerville just after midnight Tuesday. Two trailer homes were struck in the shooting, the bullets penetrating the homes’ thin walls, narrowly missing the sleeping occupants. Using footage from video cameras, investigators have been able to identify vehicles that were in the area …

For the first time ever, Louisiana has approved a hunting season for black bears. The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (LWFC) announced that it has adopted a Notice of Intent to hold a hunting season for the animal in December 2024. The commission voted unanimously on Thursday to allow the hunt. The hunt will be by lottery and will be …