Opinion

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. I am writing this on November 2, 2024 while sitting in my hotel room in Austin, Texas and attending the Explorer’s Club meeting. Election day is three days away and there is no clear front runner. By the time …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. As you read this, it’s a matter of hours before voting in the presidential election is over. That’s not to say that a final verdict will be determined. As we saw four years ago, if the election is …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. By the time this is read America will be in the last couple of days before our national election. For us in North Central Louisiana a mayorship, a congressional seat that could determine the speaker of the house of …

Sallie HollisSallie Rose Hollis is a native of Rocky Branch and retired Journalism Professer from Louisiana Tech University. Contact her at sallierose@mail.com. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven” – Ecclesiastes 3:1. So it is with this column. On Sept. 23 this year, one day after fall officially began, I posted this verse …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. There was a time when it was said that a man’s handshake is his honor. Two men could make a deal shake hands on the agreement and it was every bit as binding as if a contract had been …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. Did you celebrate Columbus Day last week? ( Ooops, it’s now Indigenous Peoples Day.) That’s right. We changed the name, and now celebrate those Indian tribes Columbus encountered on his discovery of the Americas, a number of which …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. Last night I saw the flagship university of Louisiana, LSU, pull out a dynamic win over Ole Miss in overtime. One of the storied rivalries of college football has been revived. What a way to celebrate the 100th anniversary …

Sallie HollisSallie Rose Hollis is a native of Rocky Branch and retired Journalism Professer from Louisiana Tech University. Contact her at sallierose@mail.com. Once again, the Enigma Explorer emerges from the shadows, ready to weave her way into the pages of this newspaper and the corners of your mind. Prepare to embark on a journey through the curious and the unexplained, …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. I have had the good fortune to have seen the world and visited some of the largest and grandest cities in this world. It is awe inspiring to view the mega-structures, large parks and toddle through museums that capture …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. “Drive Faster. The Mountains are close by”. That’s a bumper sticker I’ve seen on a number of cars throughout western North Carolina. Yes, living in the mountains is special. A lot of people are beach groupies or mountain …