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 …