If you’re a New Orleans Saints fan, you have plenty to be thankful for today. If you’re an Alabama fan, however, well …

Those are just a couple of the news highlights from the larger region in the past week, but the Miss-Lou had plenty of good news as well.

Here is a recap of some of the top good news items from the Miss-Lou last week:

*Natchez has taken down it new Christmas tree and other Christmas decorations and replaced them with Mardi Gras decorations. The Carnival season is upon us. Let the good times roll.

*Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office has a new K-9 officer, a beautiful and well-trained Dutch-shepherd named Echo.

Echo has been teamed up with deputy Tony Godbold and the duo is in Oklahoma undergoing training that will make Echo an effective member of the special operations team there.

Echo will be a great addition to the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office to help fight crime in the Miss-Lou as he is trained to sniff out not only narcotics but also discarded items, and Echo is trained to apprehend suspects.

*The Natchez Eola is getting a makeover. Work is progressing on demolishing the interior so it can be reconstructed and updated.

Once the Eola is completed, sometime this year, it is sure to be an active anchor for downtown Natchez once again.

*First Presbyterian Church in Natchez has a new director of music ministries and youth development.

Not only is Darrell Day fulfilling both of those roles in the church, he also is organizing a community choral singing group, which is not only good news for people who like to sing, but also for people who enjoy hearing choral singing.

We look forward to much success from the new choral group.

Meanwhile, we will keep our fingers crossed for the New Orleans Saints’ continued success in the NFL playoff season.