The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana honors Assistant United States Attorney John Luke Walker and victim-witness coordinator Vicki Chance for their decades of service. Walker retires after 36 years, and Chance departs after 33 years to continue public service with the federal district court.

The Louisiana Committee on Parole will hold live hearings at Louisiana Tech University on January 15, giving students and the public a chance to observe the parole process firsthand. Hearings promote transparency, community engagement, and public safety.

Families are invited to a Mardi party at the Northeast Louisiana Children’s Museum on January 25, with games, king cake decorating, mask-making, and a second line parade. Admission is $10 per person.

The University of Louisiana Monroe will hold a donation drive January 14–16, 2026, as part of its annual MLK Service Project. The initiative invites students, faculty, staff, and community members to donate food, hygiene items, and household supplies to support The Renewal Center of Northeast Louisiana and the on-campus ULM Food Pantry, reinforcing the university’s commitment to service, dignity, and community engagement.

As Louisiana prepares to implement a computer science graduation requirement, students at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts are already applying coding skills through an innovative interdisciplinary course that blends data analysis with history, literature, music, and culture.

Federal prosecutors are investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. In response to the news, Frey said in a social media post: "I will not be intimidated."

A Iran returns to an uneasy calm after protests led to a violent crackdown, a senior cleric is calling for the death penalty for detained demonstrators. His sermon Friday also threatened U.S. President Trump.

More than 550 people have contracted measles in Spartanburg County, S.C., in a fast-growing outbreak. Like a majority of U.S. counties, nonmedical exemptions to school vaccination are also rising.