Despite complaints, School Board stays with Echo Ride bus service

In a split vote following lengthy discussion regarding dissatisfaction with service due to repeated complaints, the Natchitoches Parish School Board gave the bus vendor contract to incumbent Echo Ride during its Feb. 10 meeting.

City will work on Sibley Lake

At its meeting Monday, the City Council adopted a resolution that allows the City to provide a match for a grant for maintenance on Sibley Lake. The spillway drawdown gate isn’t working and needs to be repaired and a short section of the levee embankment should be stabilized.

Freshman retention rate up 87% at Northwestern State

Northwestern State University’s Spring 2026 enrollment shows modest growth over last year and strong retention rates for freshmen. The university reports an undergraduate headcount of 6,913 students and 849 graduate and professional students bringing the Spring 2026 total to 7,762.

AKA Day

JUST TALKIN’

In case you didn’t get the memo…Monday is a Federal Holiday.It’s Presidents Day. It initially recognized George Washington’s birthday on Feb 22 but then added Abraham Lincoln’s Feb. 12 birthday to be recognized on the same day.

There’s still difficulty finding labor but its improving

NFIB’s January Jobs Report includes the launch of the new Small Business Employment Index, which measures the current state of the small business labor market.The new index integrates actual and planned changes in employment and employee compensation into a singular data point.

Guilty verdicts, long prison sentence in firearm and drug possession trial

District Attorney Billy Joe Harrington announced today that a 10th Judicial District Court jury returned guilty verdicts in a firearm and narcotics case, resulting in a lengthy prison sentence following sentencing proceedings.

District 5 councilman to hold town hold meeting

Mark Kerry, Natchitoches Parish Councilman for District 5, will host a town hall meeting on Friday, Feb 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the Marthaville Heritage Center at 233 South Main St.Conducted in a question-and-answer format, the town hall is open to discussion on all topics of interest.

Young at Heart meets

Young at Heart meets

Gospel Music and Black Culture

Gospel music has roots in the spiritual music that arose from the slave cabins of the South. It became popular during the 1930s as Black families moved out of the rural South into cities in the North and West. Gospel music became a strong symbol of Black community and cultural identity.