Letter to the Editor

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Letter to the Editor: A Resolution Worth Making in 2026

/ Megan Lowe

As this letter is published on December 31, many of us are doing what we always do at year’s end—looking back, taking stock, and quietly thinking about what we want to do better in the year ahead.

From a woman’s point of view, one resolution worth making in 2026 is simple: stop mansplaining.

Mansplaining is not a disagreement. It is not a healthy debate. And it is certainly not men expressing opinions. Mansplaining happens when a man explains something to a woman in a patronizing or condescending way, often assuming she lacks knowledge or understanding—sometimes even when she is the most qualified person in the room.

Most women recognize it instantly. It shows up as being talked over, corrected unnecessarily, or lectured on subjects we already understand—our professions, our finances, our health, our lived experiences. It often arrives disguised as helpfulness, wrapped in phrases like, “What you need to understand is…” or “Let me explain this in simple terms.”

Whether intentional or not, the effect is the same. It diminishes women’s voices, discourages participation, and reinforces outdated assumptions about who holds authority. In workplaces, it chips away at credibility. In civic discussions, it narrows perspective. In everyday life, it undermines respect.

Ending mansplaining does not require silence. It requires listening. It requires recognizing that women come to the table with knowledge, experience, and expertise that do not need translation or approval. It means entering conversations as equals, not default instructors.

As we step into a new year, striving for better habits and stronger communities, this is one change that costs nothing—and improves everything. Conversations are richer, decisions are smarter, and communities are stronger when everyone is heard without being talked down to.

If we are serious about doing better in 2026, this is a resolution worth keeping.

Ida B. Torn
A Woman Who Knows What She’s Talking About

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Letter to the Editor

/ Megan Lowe

To the Editor,

My name is Lucas Hubbard, and I grew up in Avoyelles Parish. Growing up in Avoyelles is something I was once proud of, from playing football at Avoyelles High and running track to going to Afghanistan in 2003-2004.

Nowadays I am embarrassed to have to say that I am from Avoyelles. The politics in Avoyelles need a complete overhaul and rebuild.

In 2019 I relocated to Hot Springs Arkansas and fell in love with living on the lake and being in the mountains. It was a much-needed fresh start in life. In Arkansas things were going great until I received notice that the 12th Judicial District Court was making custody decisions concerning my minor child while we were domiciled in Arkansas.

That was in December 2021 when an Ex Parte order was issued giving custody of my minor child to my mother, Carrie Clark, the order was only valid for 20 days until a hearing could be held. The order was not executed until May 12, 2022, almost six months after the expiration date on it.

I reported kidnapping because someone was paid to carry out the plan. I suffered for 11 months until April 3, 2023, when I was finally able to get my case in front of Judge Bennett.

Going in front of Judge Bennett was the easiest court appearance I have ever had to attend in my life, Keith Manuel the other attorney failed to follow Procedural and Substantive Due Process of the law, I was never served on any paperwork, never attended the Ex Parte hearing, and lost everything I owned in
the process from failing to complete the remodel of my home in Arkansas because of triggered PTSD, going crazy worrying about my daughter.

The other party involved took it as an insult when Judge Bennett vacated every order that was signed on their behalf. Custody was once again awarded to me instantly.

My daughter and I immediately returned to Hot Springs with the intention of moving to Tampa Bay Florida later that same summer. Things were going great, I had my kid in Taekwondo lessons, we went to the movies on the regular, went ice skating, go kart riding, and we had fun. I walked her back and forth to school every day. I made sure that she was ok and had everything she needed.

Some people in Avoyelles Parish just could not handle losing in court, so on July 27, 2023, someone drained the oil from the Mercedes Benz I was driving and the engine locked up in Little Rock. On August 1, 2023, someone intervened in the divorce from my first wife even though there was still a judgment owed to me on it.

On August 7, 2023, my daughter was kidnapped from my home in Hot Springs, Arkansas. There was a dirty police officer involved, dishonest investigator from DHS, crooked landlord, crooked real estate broker, and a group of Aryans from Hot Springs. My daughter was listed as a runaway juvenile instead of a kidnapping.

Once again I contacted the Little Rock FBI Office and got nowhere fast due to the fact that Darlene Shockey, my ex-girlfriend’s mom, is a deputy clerk of court for Hot Springs County and told her contact at the FBI office that I was mentally disabled and not to believe anything I said, just so she could cover up her family’s involvement in the situation. I have been fighting for my kid since this happened and our good old judicial system in Marksville has kept me away from my kid with a temporary order.

I have only got to see my kid a half dozen times since August 2023 and have not gotten to see her at all since April 27, 2024. Judge Spruill, who is presiding over this matter, is nowhere near the caliber of Judge that Mark Jeansonne was. Judge Spruill had me attend over half a dozen pretrial conferences that I was not allowed to be a part of to defend myself from false allegations. I put the whole bunch of them in federal court, eight defendants and six of them got dismissed without prejudice. I am amending the complaint and giving it right back to them.

I’ve lost my home and possessions twice, several vehicles, some of the most precious years of my kid’s life, all because of a court system that’s about as straight as Highway 451 that shouldn’t have been making custody rulings in the first place due to lack of personal and subject matter jurisdiction. I even was
arrested twice for violating a vacated court order, spent 10 days in the Avoyelles Parish Jail and suffered from three bulging and degenerate discs in my neck, the C4, C5, and C6.

I am quite sure that they will figure out some kind of way to lock me up again for writing this, but I do not care, the people in Avoyelles need to know exactly how crooked our court system is and how much our Sherriff will sweep something underneath the rug to keep it from being exposed. It is amazing what a thick white envelope in a trash can in a certain office in the courthouse or handed under the table at Fresh Catch will get for you in the 12th JDC.

I cannot even get the court to properly hear the closing of a tudorship that was done on me as a child to release money that is a large amount that is mine, instead they are letting the other party use it as their retirement fund. Judge Bennett himself told me in chambers on September 1, 2024, that he knew that I
was done wrong. I suffered $343,289.38 in losses from monetary damages.

Why isn’t one of our proud officials doing something to make it right instead of hiding in federal court crying about “lack of jurisdiction”? I am a Pro Se Plaintiff in United States District Court and have given four attorneys with a top-notch education a run for their money and still have two plausible claims. I am just completely sick of corrupt politics in Avoyelles Parish and feel like everyone that calls Avoyelles home should know about this situation.

I think that if people with political power would actually use it in the way the forefathers of this country meant for it to be used, we would have a war on poverty instead of judging a disabled veteran that is prescribed a Louisiana Medical Marijuana Card. I am a musician too and I have already started writing
an album DON’T HATE ME JUST CAUSE I’M A LIL COOLER VOLUME 1 coming soon by November 22. I hope and pray that this letter touched the hearts of the people in Avoyelles Parish.

Sincerely,
Lucas Hubbard

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