Aformer employee of theLouisiana Departmentof Health is accused ofhelping a family memberreceive illegal Medicaidbenefits.Courtney Higgins, 33,of Monroe, is chargedwith filing false publicrecords and governmentbenefits fraud.The Louisiana

Former Louisiana Gov. John BelEdwards won’t run for U.S. Senate in2026, leaving Democrats scrambling tofind a candidate with a viable chance tobreak Republicans’ stronghold on theseat.Edwards, who was an anomoly asthe only Democratic governor electedin the Deep South during the first of histwo terms, announced his decision in apost on X.

On October 1st, the Union Parish Clerk of Courtannounced on their Facebook page that they wouldbe closed on October 2nd in order to relocateto the Hub, a commercial private office space inFarmerville. Sources at the courthouse revealed tothe Gazette the presence of black mold growing inthe Courthouse Document Storage.Black mold, also known as Stachybotrys, is a typeof fungus that grows …