
07/14/2022
Raffle to support Evie Hilburn!!
Union Parish's oldest and most respected newspaper, The Gazette provides readers with coverage of news, community events, sports and the great outdoors.
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Raffle to support Evie Hilburn!!
The Trash Guys want to thank y’all for your continued support! We wouldn’t be where we are without each and every one of you! If you are looking for residential trash pickup call us today!(318) 376-9111
Watermelon Golf Tournament at Lake D'Arbonne Country Club!!
You are invited to our official campaign kickoff event for our Farmerville expansion of the Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Louisiana this Friday at 9:00 AM!
We are so excited to declare the space as the FUTURE HOME of the Boys and Girls Club! Hope you can join us!
Please call 318-285-7776 by 9 am to order your lunch, only $2 for seniors!
The case SCOTUS should never have ruled upon
By William Haupt III | The Center Square contributor
"Deciding when not to decide is, of course, among the most important things done by the Supreme Court. It takes a lot of doing, but it can be done." –Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall
Since Roe v. Wade in 1972, public commentary on Supreme Court decisions and opinions from the media reveal a far greater investment in the preferred outcome than meticulous legal rulings from the Supreme Court. While these decisions have real consequences, and may be irreversible, using the court to achieve legislative objectives on virtuous issues is not advisable and not constitutional.
Today, Americans are more interested in the moral outcomes than court legal decisions when they refer moral dilemmas to the Court. By framing them to "sound legal," they ask the Court to validate or invalidate moral behavior. This pits the Court against the Constitution since it is a judicial body appointed to rule on constitutionally legal issues, not to make decisions for legislative dysfunctions.
We always hear, "Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness” are Constitutional rights. Yet only liberty and life are protected by the 5th Amendment, not happiness. We think we are innocent until proven guilty," but that is not a "right" in our Constitution, it is a British law. While the bill of rights defines our rights, the states have authority to administer them and grant additional rights.
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Martin Luther King
Everyone who has seen the cost of their health insurance premiums, medications and deductibles skyrocket and had to search for bargain health insurance dislikes the Court's Obamacare ruling. When Chief Justice John Roberts turned Obamacare's mandate into a tax, he saved Obama's "behind." But those who've read the Constitution know healthcare does not appear anywhere in the Constitution.
Article I, Section 7, of the Constitution states: “All bills raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." The power to tax was put in the hands of the body that directly represented the people. No other branch of government can tax. Ruling on the illegal mandate and the penalty for those having good insurance was the only authority Justice Roberts and this Court legally had.
"The Court shall not allow any political or civil group to influence our decisions." –Justice Roberts
The 10th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution defines federalism and clarifies that "all powers not granted to federal judicial or legislative branches belong to the states; or states rights." Therefore, all healthcare laws are the exclusive responsibility of individual states; not the federal government.
The Supreme Court was fashioned to judge the constitutionality of cases such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and Miranda v. Arizona (1966), concerning segregation and the rights of those arrested. Without question those types of cases were meant to be decided by the Supreme Court. The court never had power or authority to declare if "morality or healthcare" were legal or illegal.
In the 1970s, justices began venturing beyond unwritten law, taking on disputable cases, deciding them on unwritten law referred to as “enlightened opinion;” a phrase coined by Europeans in the 1700s. The Court abolished the death penalty in 1972, although the Constitution clearly authorizes government-administered capital punishment. When they took on a moral case that did not involve federal regulations or oversight, Roe V. Wade, they opened a can of worms they can't ever close.
And from the moment Roe was decided in 1973, that ruling would, without a doubt, be questioned, and never settled by SCOTUS. The court went where no court went before; utilizing law to make an inherently, legally precarious decision on a moral issue that wasn't even under their jurisdiction.
When the court gave the country a new right, abortion, that was not a right but a moral healthcare issue, they applied the English principle of “Settled law” to justify their ruling. Settled law is former judicial opinions, periodically to denote precedent that has acquired a mystical permanence or part of a legal doctrine. Since this decision, settled law has been used by the Court in lieu of precedent.
Roe V. Wade has befuddled the Court since 1973 because abortion laws belong to the states. In Gonzales v. Carhart (2007), the Court upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. But then in Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood (2007) they struck it down. In Casey v. Planned Parenthood (1992), the Court ruled states have a right to protect a woman’s health as well as that of a fetus.
"Whenever you put a man on the Supreme Court, he ceases to be your friend." –Harry S. Truman
Abortion advocates conveniently forget that Roe V Wade stumbled its way through appeals to the Court based on mistruths and lies told in the lower courts. Jane Roe, aka Norma McCorvey, falsely claimed she'd been raped by a Black man and it was never divulged at the Supreme Court hearing.
Roe V Wade, a case that should have never been ruled on by SCOTUS, has damaged the credibility of the Court and divided more Americans politically than Dred Scott in 1857. And rest assured, this is not the last we'll hear from Roe v. Wade, since abortion laws are state issues, not a federal right.
America is a center-right nation, yet it had one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world. Taking the judicial route to solve a socially moral issue short-circuits public debate and forces opposition and radical actions. Then it obligates presidents to fill the court with judges that favor his opinions.
Common Core teachers have been teaching the merits of federalism so long over states' rights that students believe that the federal courts have the final word in legalizing every liberal case. Yet the 10th Amendment delegated the authority to define all social and morally legal issues to the states.
"The central government shall never rule upon that what belongs to the states." – James Madison
In America, the abortion rate for Black women is over five times that for white women. If it hadn’t been for Roe V Wade that permitted over 50 million abortions to take place, there'd be hundreds of thousands of more Black citizens alive in America today. The abortion rate among Hispanics is double the rate among whites. And the Hispanic population in our nation is mainly increasing through illegal immigration.
Lamar Smith wrote, "The Supreme Court is not an arbiter of social policy." Many cases that end up in the Supreme Court never should have made it there and do not belong there. But when states discover they cannot legislate morality they ask the federal government to intervene. If they do not like the decisions that Congress makes, they end up trying to change them in the Supreme Court.
If the Supreme Court hadn’t intervened on abortion, healthy political debate would have resulted in more agreeable state laws passed by state legislatures. Instead, the Court assumed the power of the states and pinned them to a wall mandating they accept abortion laws they never wanted. Anyone who thinks the issue is over, must remember, what the Supreme Court gives, it can always take away.
“I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born." – Ronald Reagan
https://www.fgazette.com/sports/hill-commits-tech-prepares-senior-season
UPHS senior Cam Hill has decided to accept an offer to play college football from Louisiana Tech University. Hill, a defensive back entering his final year as a Farmer, said the local school made him feel like one of them.
https://www.fgazette.com/news/delta-technology-center-beginning-take-shape
Architect Noam Platt was in Farmerville Saturday to display an interactive, 360-degree rendering of plans for the buildings at the Delta Technology Center, which is housed on the campus of the former Farmerville High School.
https://www.fgazette.com/news/spillway-beach-has-ribbon-cutting
Members of the Bayou D’Arbonne Lake Watershed District Board of Commissioners, along with elected officials and others got together last week to officially open the new beach at the Spillway on the Farmerville side of the lake. Judge Bruce Hampton (center with scissors) was president of the Lake C...
https://www.fgazette.com/news/police-jury-call-animal-shelter-tax
At Tuesday’s Union Parish Police Jury meeting it was announced that at its August meeting the Jury will “consider adopting a resolution ordering and calling an election to be held within the parish of Union to authorize the levy of an ad valorem tax for the operation of the Union Parish Animal S...
https://www.fgazette.com/news/town-approves-budget-millages-stay-same
Town of Farmerville officials met in special session last week to finalize their budget. According to notes, made available, the budget is based on, but not limited to, the following: • $40,000 in sponsorships for events and fishing tournaments • Sewer fees are up 2.9 percent over last year and ...
https://www.fgazette.com/sports/thomas-now-reddie
Former UPHS Linebacker Braylin Thomas will be playing football for Henderson State University beginning in the fall. Thomas recently committed to school in Arkadelphia, Ark.
https://www.fgazette.com/sports/lion-headed-alexandria
Former UCA baseball player Slayde Berry accepted an offer from LSU-Alexandria during summer ball and will continue his playing career and education there. Courtesy Photo.
https://www.fgazette.com/sports/former-farmer-holly-wins-championship
Bobby Holly, a former Union Parish High School Farmer, was a part of the USFL’s initial championship team last weekend. Holly, who also played football at Louisiana Tech following his playing days in Farmerville, and 5 former Bulldogs players, and former Tech head coach Skip Holtz, won the title f...
https://www.fgazette.com/news/town-hall-meeting
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy spoke to officials and citizens of Union Parish last week, giving updates on issues in Washington, D.C. Broadband, inflation and gas prices were hot topics during the meeting. Gazette Photo by Byron Avery
https://www.fgazette.com/opinion/why-i-voted-no-entergy-storm-fee
Entergy has warned its one million Louisiana electric customers of coming increases in the cost of electricity. In a bill insert, the company said increases in the price of natural gas and a decision by the Louisiana Public Service Commission were the reasons for the higher bills.
https://www.fgazette.com/opinion/central-planning-meets-oil-and-gas
If you want to really mess something up, don’t let someone tell you what their desires are, what they need, what they want to do, how they want to do something or what they feel is good or bad. Instead tell that person what they should be doing in life, what they need to have to live and the quant...
https://www.fgazette.com/opinion/you-can-teach-old-dog-new-tricks
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Isn’t that what they say? Maybe that used to be true. As people get older, they tend to get set in their ways. They like to do things a certain way, they like certain things to eat, they like to go certain places and they find things they like to do a...
Little Girls Shoot a 308, 223, and a 9mm at 100 Yards!
Maribeth and Norah had a fun day at the range shooting.
Union Parish High School Class of 23 S Cam Hill announced he has committed to Louisiana Tech Football!
Watermelon Festival Activities!
"We are pleased to announce our new affiliation with Legacy Pediatrics. Dr. Cindy Bimle and Dr. Kadie Frost have joined the Reeves Memorial Medical Center Medical Staff and will see patients one day per week in our Rural Health Clinic. Look for more information soon as to when appointments will begin. Please welcome Dr. Bimle and Dr. Frost to our team.
D’Arbonne crappie limits on LWFC agenda
It isn’t often than an agenda item on the the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission agenda jumps out at you and makes you do a double take. But this week, there is such an item. The Commissio…
You asked, we listened! UNION GENERAL RURAL HEALTH CLINIC now offers mobile check-in, offering you a faster registration experience. You can check in before your appointment from your computer, tablet or smartphone, whenever it’s most convenient for you. Just make sure we have your updated e-mail or cell phone number on file and we’ll send you a registration link a few days before your appointment, no login required!
101 High-Energy Games for Kids. Great for Summer Camp, PE Class or After School Programs.
More than 34,392 Coaches, Parents and Educators Trust the American Coaching Academy. Visit our website to see real testimonials.
These girls are ready for gator season! Norah told me this is how big her gator will be. 🐊 #gatorhunting #gatorseason #startthemyoung #getkidsoutside #girlshunttoo #brotherssistersoutdoors
Work in Alaska: $4000 Signing Bonus, Free Housing & Meals & $34.73 Starting + OT
Doyon - the leader in Arctic Drilling - is currently offering a $4000 sign-on bonus with $34.73 +OT as the starting wage. You'll work on a rotational schedule and be provided with free housing and meals as well as quarterly safety bonuses.
https://www.fgazette.com/news/upsb-move-forward-sale-dccs
The Union Parish School Board met Monday for a special session. Tony Cain, Principal of Downsville Community Charter School, presented the board with information regarding the proposed terms and conditions for the sale of the Downsville School property to DCCS.
https://www.fgazette.com/opinion/4th-july-message
In our time of instant communication, we are inundated with talk shows, news programs and a myriad of communications that keep us updated on all the happenings of the world. Every once in a while, a speech seems to capture the essence of the moment. I recently came across a speech from a radio progr...
https://www.fgazette.com/opinion/8-healthy-ways-get-better-nights-sleep
Exercise – Get your body moving. Exercise has been shown to improve sleep for people with sleep disorders, including insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea. Exercise also helps improve mood and helps reduce stress. Exercise will work your muscles and will get them ready for rest at bedtime.
https://www.fgazette.com/sports/has-nine-top-media-bass-results
Nine Union Parish anglers are among the top 55 in the final standings for the Media Bass Trail, North La. Division.
Town approves raises for employees
https://www.fgazette.com/news/town-approves-raises-employees
At Monday’s special meeting of the Farmerville Town Council, members approved a raise for all employees. An increase of .50/hour was given to employees across the board.
Juneteenth Celebration with Businesses
https://www.fgazette.com/news/juneteenth-celebration-businesses
More than 15 businesses gathered at the Farmerville Recreation Center Saturday for the inaugural Juneteenth Business Expo. The event featured a live performance by Rabbi Recc..
Keep Union Beautiful awarded Grant
https://www.fgazette.com/news/keep-union-beautiful-awarded-grant
Keep Union Beautiful announced last week its selection as a recipient of a Cleanup Supplies Affiliate Grant by Keep Louisiana Beautiful, the state’s anti-litter and community improvement organization.
Y’all come out Sunday Evening and join us for our July 4th Celebration!!!
Goodwill Industries Recipient of Indeed Gift to Aid Job Seekers Facing Employment Barriers
Louisiana – Indeed, the world’s number one job site, recently announced it is investing $10 million to launch the “Essentails to Work”, a multi-prong investment to help struggling job seekers in the US get access to technology, transportation and criminal record-clearing services, and is in support of Indeed’s ESG/Social commitments to help 30M job seekers facing barriers get hired.
As part of the program, Indeed is investing $5M and partnered with the national nonprofit PCs for People to provide computer devices and deploy mobile hotspots to 10,000 income-eligible individuals at no cost to program participants. Additionally, Indeed is also investing $1.5M in partnership with Lyft’s Jobs Access Program to provide access to rides to job seekers who need reliable transportation to get to job training, interviews, or for the first couple of weeks of a new job. Finally, Indeed pledged $2.5M to provide legal record-clearing services for job seekers who have prior arrest or convictions that are eligible for expungement.
To execute the Essentials to Work program, Indeed partnered with 24 Goodwill organizations across the country to fulfill these goals. Locally, Goodwill Industries of North Louisiana was selected as one of these locations, and as part of this initiative will distribute 191 computer devices, provide 825 Lyft rides and fund costs for 20 expungements.
“By partnering with Goodwill Industries of North Louisiana, a leading workforce
development provider, we are able to connect to job seekers who face a myriad of barriers that make finding quality work difficult. Job seekers struggling economically need high-quality work options now, and Indeed can help – that’s what we do,” said Parisa Fatehi-Wees, a Senior Director of Global Impact at Indeed.
As part of this initiative, thousands of job seekers will also have the ability to create Indeed accounts, resumés and complete interviews through the job site. Indeed aims to help more of these individuals get hired.
To learn more about the Essentials to Work program services that Goodwill Industries of North Louisiana is offering, please call the main Goodwill Job Center at 318-868-4701 and we will connect you to the appropriate Job Center and staff member.
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GM/Publisher: Byron Avery
Owners: Karl Malone and Johnny Dollar