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Can you believe it is the last week of January? I blinked and it was gone. This is also the last week of deer season, and I was able to get one more deer picture. Scotty Beth Howard killed a buck last week. Scotty Beth is a 2024 graduate from Briarfield. I missed seeing her play softball this year. Congratulations, Scotty Beth.

As south Louisiana begins to thaw out after last week's historic arctic blast and double- digit inches of snowfall in many crawfish-producing parishes, many are wondering if there will be a repeat of 2024 that saw small harvests and high prices due to the previous year’s drought. LSU AgCenter researchers are cautiously optimistic that there is barely a snowball’s chance in Acadiana of that happening.

The Family Medical Clinic Behavioral Health Clinic now has an opening date of the beginning of February, and clinic psychologist Terry Jordan said that he is ready to begin. Jordan said that he began his career as a minister at the First United Pentecostal Church in Oak Grove, where he worked for 18 years. “I always enjoyed the counseling aspect of my work as a pastor,” he said. So, 15 years ago, he went back to college, getting a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Jordan said that he did an internship at the Millcreek Behavioral Health Clinic in Fordice, Arkansas, where he worked with 450 children. “I found that the greater the challenge, the more I loved it,” Jordan said.

The annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a short meeting last week, the East Carroll Parish Police Jury voted on officers for the upcoming year, unanimously choosing to keep positions and committee members the same as last year. Kendall Thompson will remain president; Kofi Darden will remain vice president; Roger Clement (chair) and Randy Walters will continue to lead the road and drainage committee; Kofi Darden (chair) and Lloyd Whaley will continue to lead the garbage and sanitation committee; Randy Walters (chair) and Roger Clement will continue to lead the ways and means committee.

East Carroll Parish is one of 33 parishes who are not in compliance with a Louisiana Legislature’s mandate to establish Text to 911. But according to Debra Hopkins, 911 director, the process has begun.

Mental Health Lunch and Learn: LDCC in Lake Providence • Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 11am • Speaker: Dr. Alberta Green • call 318-231-5100 for info Northeast La. Arts Council comes to East Carroll learn how to nurture a vibrant arts culture in our parish • Wednesday, Feb. 5 • 12 noon • Location TBD

SNAP benefit signup every EAST CARROLL HOUSING AUTHORITY BOARD 2nd Wednesday of month Tuesday @ 9:30am-3pm East Carroll Parish Community Action Agency @ 10am • at Housing Authority, Mike Ave. LAKE PROVIDENCE HOUSING AUTHORITY EAST CARROLL PARISH SCHOOL BOARD 1st Tuesday of month @ 6:30 pm • in the 3rd Thursday of month @ 12 noon • Media R oom, LPHA office, Foster St.

Lee Broussard, East Carroll Parish’s oldest living veteran, turned 99 in December. While he is feeling his years – “little things are more of a struggle than they used to be” – he has something that keeps him going. In September, he’ll fly to Hawaii with his grandson, Jacob Broussard, and attend the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Beyond Bunches Bend By Trey Phillips - Second in a series - Last time, I wrote about boarding the train in Strasbourg bound for Reims, France. As I mentioned, I knew nothing about Reims (pronounced like “France” but without the F).