JT is happy to introduce the newest addition to the Natchitoches Times family.
Reporter Nathan Wilson and wife Anna welcomed their first child, a daughter, Violet Elise Jennings, Friday, April 29, 2022. She arrived at 9:21 a.m. and weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces.
Mom and baby are at home and settling in comfortably.
Dad will be back on the reporting beat this week….with a special bounce in his step that only new dads of little girls have.
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JT was talking to the Times staff the other day about sports coverage. He, and they, all hate they are not getting coverage of the local high school athletics, especially Lakeview and Natchitoches Central.
Budget cuts mean no full time sports editor at the paper.
St. Mary’s gets some coverage from Times stringer Trent Friedel when he’s not busy saving lives as an RN, and the school and parents send in photos, but the other two schools are in a drought, coverage wise.
JT saw Donyelle Willis sent in some stories for Lakeview and the Times staff started celebrating! Cheers to her for putting forth the effort to promote these athletes.
JT hopes the coaches, players, parents, teachers or fans start helping the short staffed Times folks out and begin sending in information and photos.
It’s heartbreaking when the NCHS softball team is having a stellar year, but not many know about it.
Colleges aren’t seeing stories showcasing these athletes, fans aren’t seeing the pictures in the paper to save and recruiters don’t know about the three homers in one game or the no hitter or the record breaking track and field distances or times.
JT knows Editor Juanice Gray loves publishing the good things, like high school sports. It’s free to submit, so just email her at jgray@natchitochestimes.com, and include information like names and the when and where.
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This Sunday is Mother’s Day so let’s not forget to show our appreciation.
Nobody sacrifices more for their family than “Mom” ….so make extra sure she is indeed “Queen for the Day.”
There’s no better gift she can get than to be with her children. So if you’re able… give her the gift of presence.
There’s really is noting that can compare to a mother’s love.
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Here’s something to ponder…
The fact that jellyfish have survived over 650 million years despite not having a brain gives hope to sooooo many people.
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It’s Kentucky Derby time…so JT checked in with our local “Derby Insider” Mike Hayes. Mike and Dulcy’s son, Randolph, and his team will be treating 12 of the 20 horses entered in the Derby along with most of those running in the Kentucky Oaks on Friday. Hayes and his partners are premiere equine veterinarians.
Known as the most exciting two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby is the first Saturday in May and the first leg of the Triple Crown. It covers a mile and a quarter.
In addition to the horse races, fashionable bonnets and Mint Juleps will be everywhere.
Mike did share a few insights he had on the top horses.
JT will let you know how that turned out after he either cashes in his winning tickets or dumps them in the trash.
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JT has heard several die-hard LSU fans express concern after watching the Tiger’s Spring Game last month.
JT has a little more for them to worry about.
He was up late one night flipping channels and came across the Texas A&M Spring Game. He watched it because of their young quarterback, Haynes King. His dad, John, played at NSU and JT knows the King family from Springhill.
King was the starting quarterback last year but got injured in, like, the second game of the season and didn’t return.
So JT wanted to see if he had healed and was on his way to becoming Springhill’s and A&Ms second Heisman Trophy winner, behind John David Crowe.
Anyway…King didn’t look all that impressive but one of the quarterbacks did. That was the former LSU quarterback Max Johnson. He actually led the Tigers to a win over A&M last year, 27-24.
