Your hometown community newspaper turned 120 years old back on March 23, but we waited until National Newspaper Week (Oct. 5-11) to officially celebrate its birthday. Today, a big event will take place at the newspaper office in downtown Jena, as we host an open house, give away many prizes, have lu...

There was a young man who opened a barber shop in a small town. After cutting the hair of one of the local teachers he was asked “what do I owe you?” The young man replied not a thing and thanks for what you’ve done for our community. The next day when he arrived at his barber shop there was a baske...

The 1985 CMA award winning song by George Jones entitled, “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” was one of the thoughts I had after contemplating the death of another one of LaSalle Parish’s unsung heroes, Cleveland Poole. The era in which men like Cleveland grew up in taught them the value of hard work, G...

I read a story the other day about a college student who had a picture of his girlfriend and he wanted it duplicated for some reason. He took the phot...

We are truly living in some extraordinary times. I can’t tell you how many times in the last year I wished my dad was still around, to not just celebr...

Commentary after the death of Charlie Kirk, much of it harsh, vulgar, and ugly, has brought the issue of free speech sharply back into focus. For that...