What is the public’s best interest? I guess it would depend on who you asked and maybe being specific about the subject.Take for instance the video equipment that was purchased by the Police Jury to live stream the public meetings the jury holds supposedly to keep the public informed. That I think would be in the public’s best interest. For …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. Many years ago I left the tranquility of Union Parish and spent my summer as a Committee Clerk of the Retirement Committee at the state capital in Baton Rouge. This was during the regular session of the Louisiana Legislature. …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. All the winter shenanigans around us this past month are pointing to a New Ice Age in my life.Yes, I’m ready to forget the longstanding advice of hunkering down with firewood, canned soup and thermal socks, and instead …