WEST MONROE, La. (KNOE) – The Northeast Louisiana Arts Council announced the winners of the 40th Annual Northeast Louisiana Arts Awards during a ceremony held Thursday, June 25.

Winners in nine categories were revealed during the program, where top nominees in each category were also recognized. Members of the Arts Council, its board of directors, and invited guests joined friends and family in celebrating the honorees.

2026 Northeast Louisiana Arts Awards winners

• Edmund Williamson Visual Artist of the Year: Stacy Thomas Medaries
• Tommy Usery Performing Artist of the Year: The John L. Brown, Sr. Memorial Scholarship Band
• BART (Business Art) Award: Creative Exchange
• Volunteer of the Year: Jennifer Haynes
• Dorothy Bassett Emerging Artist of the Year: Jari Richardson
• Region 8 Arts Educator of the Year: Joni Dollar
• Region 8 Higher Education Arts Educator of the Year: Emily Ezell
• Literary Artist of the Year: Jamie Mayes
• Community Arts Impact Award: Dr. Alicia Jones

For more information on the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council and its programs, click here.

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow and Jamie Davis, a row-crop farmer in Tensas Parish, won their party runoffs Saturday and will now face off for Bill Cassidy’s U.S. Senate seat in November.

Cassidy, one of seven Republican senators who voted to remove President Donald Trump from office after the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in 2021, came in third during the Republican primary in May.

Letlow, who received backing from both Trump and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, nearly won the primary outright with 45% of the vote. While heavily favored, Letlow lost ground in the runoff to Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming, but still won with at least 57% of the vote.

The Associated Press called the race for Letlow shortly before 9 p.m.

“President Trump, thank you for encouraging me to get into this race, thank you for your endorsement, Louisiana loves you,” Letlow said in her victory speech. The second person she thanked was Landry. Trump later congratulated Letlow on Truth Social.

Davis captured 80% of the vote in the Democratic runoff over New Orleans businessman Gary Crockett. He led in every parish.

“ I’ve always been raised and trained that if you do the work, you should reap a harvest,” Davis said in his victory speech. “I didn’t know what the harvest was going to be, but I knew that we would reap a harvest, and it just happened to be a win to go to the United States Senate.”

Like Letlow, Davis almost captured enough votes in the May 16th primary to win with 47%. His initial runoff opponent, Nick Albares, ended his campaign in late May.

History will be made regardless of the outcome in November.

Davis’ victory Saturday made him the first Black U.S. Senate finalist in Louisiana since Reconstruction.

Letlow is the first Republican woman to represent Louisiana in the U.S. House. If she wins in November, she would be the second woman elected from Louisiana to the U.S. Senate and the first Republican. Democrat Mary Landrieu served in the Senate from 1997 until 2014.

A hotly contested Republican race

The biggest issue Letlow and Fleming, conservative Republicans, appeared to differ on was carbon sequestration: the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide underground.

Fleming completely opposes projects in the state, while Letlow said she trusts Gov. Jeff Landry to decide what’s best and support his moratorium on new permits.

“If a project is not safe, not transparent, and does not have local buy-in, it should not move forward,” Letlow said.

Fleming, who is MAGA-aligned, said his campaign relied on “grassroots support” and was endorsed by eight parish-level Republican committees and four regional assemblies.

“It’s been a tough year-and-a-half campaigning, but I asked for this,” Fleming said in his concession speech. “I felt that the Lord led me this way. It didn’t turn out as we had hoped, but that’s OK.

“This is a very healthy process, what we have in Democracy, where we battle it out, tough it out and hopefully we get the best.”

Letlow’s platform

Letlow’s political career began in 2020 after her husband, Luke, who had just been elected to the U.S. House, died from complications from COVID-19.

She ran for his seat in a special election, won and later used her platform to encourage people to get vaccinated against the infectious disease.

Letlow, a mother of two who worked in higher education administration before entering politics, has become an increasingly vocal supporter of Trump and of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic.

Her campaign received more than $1 million from the MAHA PAC, a political group affiliated with Kennedy.

Letlow said her proudest legislative accomplishment is a Parents’ Bill of Rights she passed in the House in 2023, which stalled in the Senate.

“The bill gives parents greater transparency into curriculum, school budgets, and what is happening in their children’s classrooms,” Letlow said. “It puts families back in charge and protects children from political agendas that don’t belong in schools.”

She said her top three priorities, if elected to the U.S. Senate, will be border security and public safety, growing Louisiana’s economy and education, including school choice and parents’ rights.

Davis’ platform

Davis, a former Tensas Parish Police Juror, is running on a platform of affordability, healthcare, opportunity and upholding voting rights.

He said he took it personally when Gov. Jeff Landry canceled the congressional race where mail-in ballots had already been cast. The Democratic candidate also attended legislative committee hearings to oppose the 5-1 Republican-favored congressional voting map that the legislature eventually passed and the governor signed into law for use in the November election.

“A national ban on gerrymandering is one of the top things for me, because we need to get past this power grab that’s happening all over the nation. It needs to end so that America can just focus on the issues and not power grabs,” said Davis.

The third-generation farmer said he’ll work toward a new Farm Bill with crop insurance reform.

“So  farmers can just have the opportunity to grow a crop, be able to sell it on an open market for a fair price and be able to make an honest living,” said Davis.

The 55-year-old grandfather said he’ll defend Medicaid, strengthen rural hospitals at risk of closing, focus on lowering prescription drug costs and protect Social Security and Medicare and the subsidies that keep premiums affordable.

He also supports a woman’s right to choose when it comes to abortion.

On immigration, Davis said he’s in favor of securing the border but also wants to give immigrants a simple path to citizenship.

Davis has the endorsements of the Louisiana Democratic Party, Congressman Troy Carter, New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, former opponent Nick Albares and Indivisible groups across the state.

WEST MONROE, La. (KNOE) – The City of West Monroe announced the 2026 Louisiana State Games are coming to West Monroe this weekend, with athletes from across the state set to compete at The Rec at 7th Square.

According to officials matches begin at 6 p.m. Saturday and continue at 1 p.m. Sunday. Spectators are invited to attend and support the boxers.

• Event location: The Rec at 7th Square on 1802 North 7th Street
• Dates: Saturday–Sunday, June 27–28

Admission details, boxer registration information, and sponsorship opportunities are available in the event graphics, here.