Monroe News

<![CDATA[MONROE, La. -- The long-range weather forecast for this week is for us to enjoy springlike temperatures and some sun peeking through the clouds. That's only fitting, because it is Sunshine Week. But the sunshine we're celebrating is not caused by the fiery star. It's the light shining on open government that allows citizens to participate and learn how decisions that affect their lives are made. These days, the climate for open government is partly cloudy and, in some cases, quite stormy. While some efforts are being made to provide citizens greater access to the workings of their elected officials and governmental departments, some troubling winds are blowing. We see that Louisiana's state government is transparent in many ways. The budget, contracts, campaign finance reports, audits, legislative activity and many other pieces of vital information are readily available to the public. But we also see a state government that stalls on public records request and has wound up in court on more than one occasion when citizens have challenged government's inability to comply with its own laws. Transparency, you see, is in not in the eye of the beholder, it's in the eye of any governmental agency's custodian of records. Enforcing that transparency when someone does not want to comply with a request becomes a matter of who's got the money to pay for a lawyer and take it to court. Most people don't care about transparency in government until they are denied access to information they want. And unfortunately, these days, individual laws are being passed that are slowly closing up access to information that you may some day want to know. Though spearheaded by journalists, Sunshine Week is about the public's right to know what its government is doing, and why. Sunshine Week seeks to enlighten and empower people to play an active role in their government at all levels, and to give them access to information that makes their lives better and their communities stronger. Citizen involvement in actions that hold government accountable is essential in a democracy. Please take a minute or two this week to think about the importance of letting the sun shine on government activities and consider supporting efforts to keep government operating in the sunshine. --The News-Star, Monroe, La.

Wild Horse Ministries will be at the Richland Baptist Encampment on the Boeuf River, 298 Baptist Camp Road in Alto, at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Temple B'nai Israel in Monroe welcomes Cantor Jerome Berkowitz for a special program, "Purim, A Celebration in Word and Song," at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Loura Barr; John D. Frost, West Monroe; Stephanie Hay, Monroe; Shane Lowery, West Monroe; Jack McKoin, 75, Monroe;Mike Sims, 39, West Monroe Clarence Arthur, Wisner; Pearlie Hutchinson, 60, Monroe; Leon H. Robinson, 88, West Monroe; Rilea Stephenson, 6 Northeast Rotary meets at noon at Catfish Charlies with guest speaker Bobbette Prince, chairman ... (more)

A Monroe man was arrested by Louisiana State Police on accusations of extortion of a Louisiana state representative after he reportedly made threats to the lawmaker over support of marijuana law reform.

A Head Start school bus carrying six children and two adults was hit head-on by a Chrysler 300 Friday morning.

March 14, 2014 -- Cushman & Wakefield's Greg Valladao talks about how his experience working at Apple Inc. during the 1980s helps him teach his young brokers today.

For several years, you could see Paul Jansen playing violin and guitar in various bands around Denver.

The A&E hit reality show "Duck Dynasty" is intended to get the "message of God out there," according to Sadie Robertson, granddaughter of show patriarch Phil Robertson.

The Rev. Norman J. Farve will be installed on March 30 as president of the Ministerial Alliance of Greater St. Tammany .

Snow days taken earlier this year will cost Monroe area students a few more minutes in class each day in some districts or an additional day of school in others.

In the coming weeks, lawmakers will come to grips with education reform, especially whether to keep or abandon Common Core Standards.

A relatively new Christian outdoor organization, Trail Life USA, is starting to take root across northern Louisiana.

Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo dropped two big surprises during the state of the city address Thursday: his plans to build a new arena, and that he is a distant cousin of entertainer Jennifer Hudson .

Common Core standards and a related standardized test are top issues for parents as Louisiana lawmakers convene Monday.

The reported discovery of Facebook messages on a phone led to a Monroe couple being arrested Friday afternoon.

Monroe police are investigating three robberies over the last two days including involving an 11-year-old suspect.

A West Monroe woman was arrested late Friday night after reportedly coming close to causing a head-on traffic accident and having a blood-alcohol content more than three times the legal limit.

The Chennault Aviation and Military Museum, not far from the airport of Monroe, Louisiana, is a plain building at the first sight.

State Reps. Frank Hoffmann, Bubba Chaney and Katrina Jackson talk with Ouachita Parish Schools Superintendent Bob Webber, far left, at the Call to Prayer for the legislative delegation at Mount Zion Baptist Church on Friday.