Columns

Rural folks are some of the most resourceful people around. We fix fences with bailing wire, we make dinner with whatever’s in the pantry, and we know the value of making do. But when it comes to our health, even the most independent of us need to be a little careful about playing with things we learn on social media sites. And listen, ya’ll know me... I’m not judging here. Just sharing a little love.

Are you rich? A lot of people reading this question would laugh out loud at what they consider is the absurdity of this question. If you google the definition of wealth, it usually relates strictly to money or more particularly “the total net value of resources.” I also was able to find 32 songs – famous songs – about money.

DEAR EDITORS: Every community has a past, present, and future. What we do today will affect tomorrow.

I just finished a book that took me months to finish. That was unheard of before children, but now, sometimes, it happens.

It's My Turn By Debra Hopkins I have been asked in the past if I thought I would enjoy working for a daily newspaper. The answer would be an unequivocable NO! But I am glad that there are people that are willing to do it.

Louisiana lawmakers adjourned the 2025 regular lawmaking session last Thursday having passed a budget with hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure spending; bills aimed at lowering insurance races; and a massive rewrite of state ethics laws.

There’s a popular belief that you can measure whether someone is a “good person” or not by if they put their grocery buggy in the return area, or just leave it next to where they parked their car. Because I know this, I always put the cart back. But does that defeat the act, since I’m doing it to be seen as a good person? Or would I always have put the cart back, even if I didn’t know the saying? What about the young man trying to make a few dollars working at the grocery store? Am I taking his job away by pushing my cart back? If we all left our buggies where we parked, there’d be more work for the cart-guy.

School is out, and summer is near. Here’s something else to celebrate: Blueberries — those refreshing, deeply hued orbs of sweetness — are now ripening on bushes across Louisiana.

DEAR EDITORS: I recently sent the following letter to U.S. Rep.

I have an unusual but important topic on my mind this week...your liver! Your liver is just hanging out under your ribs on the right side of your belly, quietly working non-stop to filter out the toxins from everything you eat, drink, and even breathe. It is always on duty, taking what we put into our body and whipping it into essential proteins, storing energy for when you need it later, and making good cholesterol to keep your heart healthy. It really is the body’s power filter!