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 …

On Saturday, September 21st, the Union Museum of History and Art in Farmerville hosted an awards recognition for top winners in the 6th Annual Velvet Bennett Roberts Agricultural Photography Contest, conducted in memory of the past President of the Union Youth Livestock Council.The contest began when donations were sent to the Livestock Council in memory of Velvet after losing her …