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Gerbera daisies are staples of cut flower arrangements sold at florists’ shops. And for years, this was practically the only place you could find these colorful daisies here in Louisiana.

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Early voting will begin tomorrow, June 12 and continue through June 20, except Sundays and Juneteenth, as East Carroll Parish voters join the remainder of the state in a closed party primary runoff election.

The East Carroll Parish School Board received a clean audit from its CPA during its monthly meeting Wednesday night. Accountant John Murray said that the annual audit had no reportable findings. “We did not identify any deficiencies in internal control for audit purposes,” Murray told the board. Murray added that there were small discrepancies in some of the tested records, but that the discrepancies were to be expected. “It is really common for all agencies to have these small exceptions,” he explained. He added that best practices should be included in all policies and procedures, and that the school board was in the process of making sure that was done.

With two of its members missing, the Lake Providence Board of Aldermen, in a 2-1 vote, shut down its police department indefinitely at a special meeting last week. In front of a standing room only crowd, Mayor Bobby Amacker called for the vote to defund the police department until further notice. Amacker said that in the month of May, the police department had only written citations totaling $663, which was far short of the $30,000 budgeted as revenue for the police department.

Ribbon-cutting ceremonies and the grand opening of Kofi’s park on the corner of First and Harden Streets were held last Saturday. The children’s park was named for East Carroll Parish Police Juror, Kofi Darden, the driving force behind the town’s newest community space.

'The Harvey Rabbit and Friends Show' will be appearing at the East Carroll Parish Library on Thursday, June 18 at 10 a.m. as part of the Summer Reading Program. It features Harvey Rabbit, Cecil the Orangutan, and T-Boy the Alligator with Laura and Tim Allured in a fun-filled, energetic show of ventriloquism, puppetry, music, magic, comedy, and audience participation.

Louisiana lawmakers have until 5 p.m. June 23 to cast their vote on whether to shift $168 million from public school operations to another year of public school teacher pay stipends.

Spring and summer are colorful times. The vivid shades of these seasons — blue skies, green grass, flowers of all colors — are a reminder that the world around us is alive and growing.

Brandon Virgil Sr., formerly of Lake Providence, is among a slate of artists, arts educators, and art advocates nominated in the 40th annual Northeast Louisiana Arts Awards to be held on Thursday, June 25.