Good morning, Monroe.

NICU grad Deanna Jones (87 days in the NICU) is leading Girl Scout Troop 213 in a drive to collect new baby blankets and supplies for three North Louisiana NICU facilities, including Monroe’s St. Francis Medical Center.

Donations will support families receiving critical care.

Monroe City Schools' proposed $121M budget moved from the finance committee to the main board Tuesday night and includes a $5M increase for students, repairs, maintenance, and equipment (it also calls for purchasing seven buses to replace aging transit) with a final vote scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15.

Louisiana Tech professor Dr. Andrew Peters will discuss his Welding in Space research at the Union Museum of History and Art in Farmerville on Thursday, Sept.

17 at 5:30 p.m., as part of a NASA exhibit running through Sept. 26.

Ouachita Parish will host its annual Water Sweep 2026 on Sept.

12 (Ouachita Green Director Sheila Kay Downhour discussed the event on Good Morning ArkLaMiss).

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has set a nine-day experimental season for black-bellied whistling ducks from Oct.

3 to Oct. 11. Hunters need a free permit, must follow bag limits and report harvests, and can target the birds in Gulf Coast marshes — the best viewing area.

Louisiana’s Angel’s Law now requires every hospital with a maternity or neonatal unit to train staff in bereavement care (a measure aimed at comfort for grieving parents).

Hospitals have long enhanced support on their own, and the law now standardizes this compassionate service statewide.

St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe earned the 2026 Platinum Performance Achievement Award from the American College of Cardiology for its high-quality heart attack care and now joins an elite group of only 350 hospitals nationwide.

Ochsner LSU Health Monroe will host Men's Health Lunch and Learn on Friday, Sept.

11 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at its Medical Center (4864 Jackson St) to boost prostate cancer awareness in partnership with local organizations.

ULM football coach Bryant Vincent recapped the Mississippi State game and said the team will face UAB on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Birmingham.