Opinion

Dear Editor: Well, it looks like the decision has been made. Keeping the public informed and allowing them to view the monthly meetings appears to be a thing of the past now.After spending $21,000 in public funds to make that possible, that equipment can now be sold at auction as surplus property, I suppose, since the UPPJ apparently has decided …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. Well here they go again.  Political extremists who work behind the scenes in both national political parties have dusted off their old playbook by attacking the military record of both vice presidential candidates. Such attacks even have a …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. We are launching not into a new year but a new era for America. For some it will be an arduous undertaking. For others it will be like a breath of fresh air. For the world in general it …

Sallie HollisSallie Rose Hollis is a native of Rocky Branch and retired Journalism Professer from Louisiana Tech University. Contact her at sallierose@mail.com. Statistics indicate that you probably have not made any New Year’s resolutions for 2025.If you have, that’s great. I applaud your efforts and wish you well.But if you haven’t, take heart. You’re in the majority.It depends on your …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. Donald Trump is the newly elected President of the United States of America. He is replacing President Joe Biden. When President was elected in 2020 he invited the Republicans in joining him to work together to pull America together …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. President Trump stirred up a hornet’s nest recently as he proposed that the U.S. try to buy Greenland. Many political observers rolled their eyes. Buy another country? Has the Prez thrown out another wacky suggestion and is this …

I recently attended an open town hall meeting and to be honest it was the worse example of humanity communicating among itself. While growing up I witnessed up front and personal navy boot camp, army officer candidate school, two session on the Louisiana Legislature and literally hundreds of projects meetings around the world. Nothing compared to what was witnessed last …

Sallie HollisSallie Rose Hollis is a native of Rocky Branch and retired Journalism Professer from Louisiana Tech University. Contact her at sallierose@mail.com. The time seems ripe for a count-your-blessings column.I admit: I’ve actually taken this stroll before. Once, years earlier, I sauntered through our house, eyeballing everything, thinking of how this or that was a blessing in my life. And …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. It was 33 years ago this past week that perhaps the most consequential and controversial election in the nation’s history took place here in the Bayou State. Edwin Edwards and David Duke squared off in a run-off election …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. The person who heads up the federal Department of Health and Human Services is quite essential to Louisiana.  Louisiana citizens, bless their souls, are in large numbers, poor, unhealthy, and aging at a higher rate than many other …