Residents in Winn Parish should prepare for a round of strong showers and thunderstorms Wednesday before a stretch of sunny and cooler weather settles into the area later in the week, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters say Wednesday will bring a chance of showers and thunderstorms during the morning, with more widespread showers and possible thunderstorms developing after 1 p.m. High temperatures are expected to reach around 82 degrees. Winds will be out of the south at 5 to 15 mph, with gusts possibly reaching up to 20 mph. Rain chances are high, with a 90 percent probability of precipitation.

Storm activity is expected to continue into Wednesday night, with showers and a possible thunderstorm before 1 a.m., followed by a lingering chance of showers overnight. Temperatures will drop significantly, with lows around 48 degrees and an 80 percent chance of rain.

Conditions will improve by Thursday as skies clear and sunshine returns. Thursday’s high is expected to reach about 66 degrees, followed by a clear and cooler Thursday night with lows near 42.

Sunny weather will continue into Friday, with afternoon highs climbing to around 77 degrees and overnight lows near 49 under clear skies.

The warming trend will continue through the weekend. Saturday is expected to be sunny with a high near 81 and a mostly clear night with lows around 57. By Sunday, partly sunny conditions are forecast with temperatures rising to around 85 degrees.

Meteorologists encourage residents to remain weather-aware Wednesday as storms move through the area before enjoying the quieter and warmer conditions expected later in the week.

The Winnfield Primary School held their sixth 4-H meeting on Feb.10. The meeting was called to order by the president, Laila E. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Ellie F. and the 4-H pledge was led by Karter P. The secretary read the minutes from the last meeting and the reporter read the news article.

We had two demonstrations. The first one was led by Ian C. He talked about the effects of screen time. You should only speed two hours on screens per day. According to an article published by the National Geographic, if you spend more than two hours on screens, you will have trouble sleeping, paying attention, and you spend less time outside.

Della, the wildlife agent, gave us some myth or fact questions about animals and animal life. We had fun testing our knowledge.

The educational program was conducted by our 4-H agents Mr.Donny and Mrs. Bethany.

They taught us about how to put together a healthy plate of food using the “My Plate” as a guide. We split into partners and created a healthy, balanced meal with a goal of under 600 calories. We got to choose from a list of items and had to work together to add up the calories of the items we chose. We realized some of the tastiest foods have a lot of calories.

Our club supported the local food pantry during the month of February by collecting packs of dry beans and peas.

4-H clubs are sponsored by the LSU AgCenter Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service.

Have you ever wanted to use prescribed fire on your property for wildlife or forest management? We’re hosting an interesting meeting to kick off a Prescribed Burn Association in Winn Parish and other surrounding areas!

March 24, 2026
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Winn Parish Library
200 N St. John St, Winnfield, LA 71483

Prescribed burning is a commonly recommended land management tool, but can present challenges for landowners with limited experience and confidence to carry out without professional help. Prescribed burning associations (PBA’s) consist of landowners and other concerned citizens creating partnerships to conduct prescribed burns – Neighbors Helping Neighbors Getting Fire Back on the Ground. Through the sharing of knowledge, equipment, time, and experience the PBA can reduce risk, safely increase burned acres and help landowners accomplish their habitat management goals.

If you’re passionate about wildlife habitat, forest health, wildfire risk or overall land management, this is for you. Let’s work together to use good fire safely and effectively. 

You know the moment. The meeting is wrapping up, chairs start shifting, and everyone thinks they’re about to head home. Then someone says the dreaded words: “Before we adjourn, I’ve got just one more thing.” Suddenly the agenda grows, the clock keeps ticking and what was supposed to be a quick meeting turns into a marathon. Around here, “one more thing” rarely means just one more thing.

Oh, how times have changed in the tournament bass fishing world. In the last 20 years, tournament bass fishing has had several things that have taken the sport to another level. The first being the most obvious, electronics and forward-facing sonar. But there have been a few other things like how anglers get information today.

“Back in the day” as we old timers would say, getting information was sitting down with another angler and a paper lake map. You would use a highlighter to mark spots on the map where either he had caught bass before or places you might want to check.

Anglers would spend hours staring at a waterproof paper map like it was the Holy Grail. We brought them along with us in the boat to make sure we hit every spot marked. We made notes on the map as to what we caught, what time we caught fish, what bait we caught them on and what depth the fish were. We made notes on the water temperature as well as wind direction.

Maps were our main source of information on how a lake would set up for how we wanted to fish. Maps today are still very important, but now they’re on a screen, on our I-pads, cell phones and electronic units on our boats.

But there were also other ways anglers got information just like they do today. Who has more information than an angler who guides on a particular body of water? It’s that guy that spends every day of the week taking people out fishing. This person is full of information that can be a real asset to a tournament bass fisherman.

Also back in the day, we would meet a friend for lunch who maybe fishes a certain body of water frequently. He would tell you about spots that he knew about or had caught fish before. So, word of mouth was also a way we got information.

Fast forward to 2026, and the information highway is insane. Today, there is so much information that the younger generation has grown up with that it’s mind blowing. Someone asked me before, “Can you get too much information?”

Yes, too much information can create confusion and sidetrack you on what you need to be doing in order to compete in the tournament. Also, information is only good for so long, as bass fishing can change daily or even hourly.

All anglers process information differently, and personally, I don’t like talking to a lot of anglers about what, how and where I need to fish. Over my 30-year career, I can only think of maybe twice that information actually paid off with either a win or cashing a check.

To this day, I feel confident in my ability to find fish on my own. One of the first lessons I learned was that it’s hard to go and catch another angler’s fish. Even with good information about a certain spot, you still have to figure out boat positioning and the best way to approach the spot.

A lot of people complain that today’s anglers are networking together and forming their own little information group, especially the rookies on tour. The young anglers today have come up through the ranks with college and high school fishing teams, where they communicate a lot.

This is nothing new. Ever since professional bass fishing started, anglers have been forming partnerships with other anglers. That’s why anglers form small groups that travel and eat together, while developing true friendships and trust.

But the younger generation of anglers today are doing some things that I feel may not be in good spirit of the sport. They have budgets they use to purchase weigh points or dots as they call it.

That’s infringing on the integrity of the sport. This, in my opinion, is going too far and should not be allowed in tournament competition.

Of course, just like so many other things today, money is a factor along with how much you have. Some of the younger anglers have budgets of $30,000 plus (provided by parents) to spend each season for weigh points.

This is an unfair advantage whether you want to admit it or not. It’s proving the point that if you have money, you can compete for the win rather than just trying to cash a check.

It’s really hard to make it as a pro on your own. Today, you need that support system of information and money because it’s so difficult to fish against the best anglers on the planet on your own. It’s a different game today than it was 20 years ago.

Contact Steve at sgraf26@yahoo.com

All 4th-6Th grade Winn parish 4-H members are invited to STEM Day on March 16 at South Winnfield Baptist Church from 3:00-4:30!

On this day students will learn all about STEM careers, engineering design, and will have the chance to use their knowledge of engineering design to create a leprechaun trap using only the materials provided. To sign up for the event, you may stop by the 4-H office and register or visit the following website to sign up online. https://forms.office.com/r/RE8AcF51m5

The cost is $5. Cost includes materials needed and snacks.

Agenda for STEM Day:
2:45-3:00-Check in, assign groups
3:00-3:15 Rotation 1*
3:15- 3:30 Rotation 2*
3:30-3:40- Short Break
3:40-4:10- Design Challenge (Leprechaun Trap)
4:10-4:20- Test Leprechaun Trap
4:20-4:30- clean up and exit survey
*The two rotations are STEM careers and engineering design

Should you need ADA accommodation, please contact our office at (318)628-4528 no later than 2 weeks prior to the event. The LSU AgCenter and LSU provide equal opportunities in programs and employment.

Through the whole season of Lent, I work on answering the question, “What am I giving up for Lent.”

A friend told me recently, “I’m simply frazzled.” Now, when a minister says “frazzled,” my imagination goes straight to cartoon mode. I pictured him with his hair standing straight up, soot on his face, clutching a smoldering Bible in one hand while trying to answer a phone call and a text message with the other. Ministry does that to us. Then I looked at my own calendar—those blank spaces I had optimistically filled in with “rest”—and I understood exactly what he meant.

There’s an old saying: “I’m so busy I don’t know if I’ve found a rope or lost a horse. “Some days, that feels less like a saying and more like a spiritual condition.

Our culture practically demands frazzled, frenetic activity. If we’re going to play the game, we’re expected to check email, Facebook, Instagram, and X like we’re on some sort of digital scavenger hunt. I left Facebook, I never tweeted, and my computer only checks email a couple of times a day. I do peek at Instagram—because that’s where my family hangs out—but even that can feel like a part-time job.

Maybe a good Lenten discipline would be to give up the tyranny of the immediate. If it doesn’t get done today, I’ll get to it tomorrow. And if it’s still sitting there tomorrow, maybe it didn’t need doing in the first place.

Now, I’m not suggesting you shirk your responsibilities. I’m suggesting we learn something about living for the long run, something our souls have been trying to tell us while we’ve been too busy checking notifications.

God took the seventh day off. You, however, will not—because I know you. So let me offer a substitute: two peace pockets a day.

A peace pocket is a ten-minute break where you turn off the phone, turn off the computer monitor, close the door, and do absolutely nothing. If anyone asks, tell them you’re about to “work very hard for the next ten minutes on doing nothing.” Only we could turn rest into a job description.

If you can’t take a day off, take two peace pockets and call me later.

We spend so much time ruminating over trifles. The disciples once “lost” Jesus—not because He was lost, but because they were. They finally found Him praying alone. Breathless, they announced, “The whole town is looking for you!” Jesus calmly replied that He had other places to go. In other words: “I’m not ruled by your urgency.”

Jesus had priorities. He didn’t let the trivial masquerade as the essential.

If God rested and Jesus set priorities, maybe we should take the hint. Maybe Lent is the perfect time to let go of the things that make us feel frazzled, frantic, and spiritually threadbare.

Then, perhaps, we can finally decide whether we’ve found a rope or lost a horse.

““How do I take our money off ‘subscription auto‑pilot’ and put it back under family control?”
 See what Ida says 

Lowell K. “Sandy” Robinson was a deputy for the Tulare County California Sheriff’s Department until he was elected Sheriff in 1951. From that election until the election in 1966, Sandy had easily defeated all others who vied for the office. The November 8, 1966, election day was a disaster for Sandy because he received only about half as many votes as his contender received. On January 1, 1967, he turned his office and the title of sheriff over to the incoming sheriff.

One of Sandy’s daily tasks was to retrieve his mail from post office box number 510 at the Visalia Post Office. It was a task that had become so routine that he performed it without much thought. It was just one of the routine details of his daily life such as putting on his shoes and grabbing his car keys. Soon after the election, Sandy decided to leave Visalia, California and move to Baxter Springs, Kansas to be near his parents and siblings. In the chaos of moving, Sandy forgot to return his post office box key. It remained on his keyring. Sandy was still getting things settled in Baxter Springs when a local hotel manager resigned and moved to another town. The hotel owner offered Sandy the hotel manager position and he quickly accepted. Sandy had not set up his new address in Baxter Springs when he was hired for his new job. When he visited the post office, he requested the same post office box which had been used by the previous manager just in case any mail intended for the hotel was delivered to that box. After completing the necessary paperwork, the postal clerk gave Sandy the box key. Stamped on one side of the key was the post office box number. Sandy was surprised when he looked at the key and saw it stamped with the number 510. Sandy had the same post office box number in Baxter Springs that he had in Visalia some 1650 miles to the west.

Sandy shrugged off the coincidence. He made sure the new key worked, retrieved a few pieces of mail from the box, then put the key on his key ring with little thought. Nearly two years went by, and checking his mailbox at the Baxter Springs Post Office became just another item on his daily routine. Then in August 1969, Sandy pulled out his keyring and opened box number 510. He retrieved the mail and was in the process of locking his post office box when he noticed that another key on his key ring was stamped “510.” That is when he finally realized that he had forgotten to return his key to the Visalia Post Office. Then, he wondered which of the two keys he had been using for nearly two years to get his mail. Other than normal wear, the keys were practically identical. Sandy tried both keys in each of the mailboxes in the Baxter Springs Post Office. Although they would not open any other box at that post office, both keys opened post office box number 510.

Sources:

1. The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kansas), August 25, 1969, p.5.

2. The Daily Item (Port Chester, New York), October 1, 1969, p.8.

3. “Lowell Sandy Robinson,” FindAGrave.com, accessed March 1, 2026, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28198671/lowell-sandy-robinson.

On March 11, 1970, the beginning of the end for one of the most influential bands in music history quietly unfolded. On that day, a press release tied to the upcoming solo album of Paul McCartney included a self-interview in which he confirmed he was no longer working with The Beatles.

Though tensions had been building within the band for months, McCartney’s public comments made what many feared official: The Beatles were effectively finished.

Formed in Liverpool in 1960, The Beatles — comprised of McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — had transformed popular music in less than a decade. From early hits like “She Loves You” to groundbreaking albums such as “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” the group reshaped recording techniques, songwriting standards and global celebrity culture.

By 1969, however, creative differences and business disputes had strained relationships within the band. Recording sessions for what would become “Let It Be” were famously tense, later chronicled in documentaries and studio footage that revealed the fractures behind the harmonies.

McCartney’s March 11 announcement did not immediately result in legal dissolution, but it signaled to fans around the world that the Beatles’ collaborative era had ended. The official breakup would follow in 1970 after legal actions were filed.

The news stunned fans and dominated international headlines. For many, the breakup symbolized the close of the 1960s themselves — a cultural shift away from the optimism and experimentation that defined the decade.

In the years that followed, each member embarked on successful solo careers, producing enduring hits and continuing to shape music independently. Yet the impact of The Beatles as a collective remains unmatched.

More than five decades later, March 11 stands as a pivotal date in music history — the day the world learned that the band that defined a generation was no more.

Eugene Franklin Edmonds, affectionately known as Gene, passed away on February 3, 2026, at the War Veterans home in Jackson, Louisiana. Born on February 19, 1944, Gene was a long-time resident of Winnfield, Louisiana. He graduated from Winnfield High School and attended Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Gene was the son of Eugene Earlin (Bill) and Mae Juanita Edmonds. He spent the majority of his life as a master carpenter, known for his exceptional skill and infectious laugh. Gene had a passion for riding his Harley on sunny days and enjoyed watching LSU football on Saturdays.

He is survived by his daughter, Natalie Jeanne Mixon and her husband Lucien, and his son, Ty Eugene Edmonds and his wife Kathryn, all of Geismar, Louisiana. Gene was a proud grandfather to five grandchildren: Ensign Braddock Russell Lord, Officer Jackson Kenneth Lord and his wife Kiarra, John Champion “Champ” Edmonds, Reagan Lynn Jinks, and Hadley Kate Edmonds. He also leaves behind three great-grandchildren: Alaska Rainn Lord, Maverick Carter Lord, and Paxton Kenneth Lord.

Gene was preceded in death by his father Bill Edmonds, mother Juanita Edmonds, sister Dorothy Lynn Edmonds Gates, and nephew Roger Gates. His unwavering devotion to his Heavenly Father and his dedication to family and friends are the legacies he leaves behind.

A Graveside Service will be held on Saturday, May 23, 2026, in Garden of Memories Cemetery under the direction of Southern Funeral Home. Friends may express messages of condolence to the family online by visiting southernfuneralhome.com.