Opinion

Luke Britt Editor’s note: The following commentary was authored by Allison Plyer and Robert Habans, both with The Data Center of Southeast Louisiana. Plyer is the former chair of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Scientific Advisory Committee, and Habans is chief economist at The Data Center.Louisiana’s population loss is troubling because it suggests that the cost of living is out of …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. Are you all fired up and into March madness? It’s my favorite sports time of year. Now I understand you may disagree, but I’ll take the college basketball tournament over any other sporting event, even the Super Bowl. …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. I normally don’t like to call out an individual for criticism or accolades. Instead I prefer to let the facts speak for themselves and allow the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. It is realized this is …

Editor’s note: The following is a commentary published by Louisiana Illuminator.The Louisiana House Education Committee on Wednesday approved a bill offered by Rep. Kathy Edmondston, which would apply to public and private schools. Edmonston, a Baton Rouge Republican, has insisted her legislation is needed, although a process has long existed for parents to exempt their children from required vaccines.Just as …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. In 1961 a young John Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President of the United States. He was smart, charismatic and a patriot of our great nation. He had much foresight and launched the journey to land a …

Sallie HollisSallie Rose Hollis is a native of Rocky Branch and retired Journalism Professer from Louisiana Tech University. Contact her at sallierose@mail.com. I wish this past Sunday had been April Fool’s Day – and that the joke was that Daylight Saving Time was going to begin.Because to me and countless others it is a joke.Too bad, though. We’ve once again …

Sunshine Week coincides with the start of the Louisiana Legislature’s three-month regular lawmaking session.If you’re not familiar, Sunshine Week is a nonpartisan collaboration among journalists, educators, government offices and the private sector that places an emphasis on open government and unhindered access to public records.In Louisiana, we find ourselves at an interesting juncture where the zeal for open records, usually …

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order on Feb. 21 removing school boards’ veto power over corporate property tax breaks that take money away from schools. It also did away with a requirement that projects granted the tax breaks create jobs and retain jobs.Now, companies that apply for Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program, which can grant property tax breaks …

The Louisiana legislature just finished the special session on crime spending several million dollars to come up with more ways to reduce the violence that continues to plague the Bayou state. Their solution seem to be to stick it to the convicts currently serving time, but ignoring the growing wave of juvenile crime that continues to spread throughout both big …

We all live our lives, feed our families, worship as we want and enjoy a life that is envied by people around the world. Turn on television and we watch leaders that we either love and extol or that we hate and admonish. We, as Americans, can do this freely. Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor …