2-Vehicle Accident Fatal To Homer Woman
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
A two vehicle
crash on U.S. 79
between Homer and Minden on Monday, September 19, left one woman
dead and another injured. Pronounced dead at the scene was Barbara S. Anglin,
62, of Homer. Kelly L. Spillers, 20, also of Homer, was treated at Minden
Medical Center for minor injuries and released. The accident
occured about 5:42 PM just north of Holly Springs.
According to
Senior Trooper Chris Johnson with the Louisiana State Police, the preliminary
investigation revealed that Spillers was northbound on Hwy. 79 when the 1998
Chevy Blazer she was driving left the roadway to the right, traveling partially
on the grassy shoulder. When she attempted to re-enter the roadway she lost
control and crossed both northbound lanes and the double yellow lane. Her
vehicle overturned just prior to striking a 1999 Mercury Marquis driven by
Anglin, who was southbound in the outside travel lane. The Chevy Blazer rolled
over the top of the Mercury Marquis, causing the vehicle's roof to collapse.
Both drivers were wearing seatbelts. According to the state police report,
alcohol was not a factor in the crash.
Anglin's body
was transported to the forensic pathologist in Little Rock, Arkansas. Spillers was cited for careless operation. Assisting in the
investigation were Trooper J. Essmeier and Sgt. Lane Tuggle.
LOUISIANA STATE TROOPERS investigated this fatal accident on Monday, September 19 just north of
Holly Springs on U.S. 79. A 62-year-old Homer woman was pronounced dead at the
scene.
Pearl Street Residents Complain Of
Noise, Disturbances
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Residents of
Pearl Street complained to the Homer Town Council Monday night about large
groups of individuals hanging out all hours of the night disturbing neighbors
and preventing them from getting rest. "The problem we are having on Pearl
Street is ridiculous...people fighting, cursing and carrying on," said
Icyphene Conwright. "Something has to be done."
Conwright said
she did not know where these individuals were from, but they come to Pearl
Street every night. They have no respect for the police at all and she wanted
to know why police could not disperse these groups.
Bobby Burns,
another Pearl Street resident, agreed. He said the noise is terrible... at 11 PM, at 12 AM, and at 2 AM. He said, "It is pathetic. No one is
doing anything about it. It is hard to sleep." He suggested they see what
Haynesville and Arcadia are doing to get the noise down in those towns.
Police Chief
Rodney Hollenshead said his officers are ticketing more people. Town Attorney
David Newell said he handled about ten tickets during the last municipal court
session.
Joe Copeland
said he felt things had improved some on East 4th Street the last two weeks,
after police officers wrote a ticket near his home. All agreed individuals will
turn the loud music down until police unit is gone,
then turn it back up.
Billy Kirk Jenkins suggested the Council consider increasing the
fine for violating the loud noise ordinance. Presently, fines are $175. He
asked Town Attorney David Newell to supply the Council with a list of citations
issued.
Conwright said
cleaning up the drugs would help a lot. Newell said he is working with the
police department to address methods to address the drug problem and suggested
the Council budget a certain amount of fines collected to initiate a drug
interdiction program.
J. C. Moore
said the Town needed more citizen involvement to correct the problem. Jenkins
said it would take more than citizen involvement. Captain Donald Malray said
citizens can document persons violating the noise ordinance,
write down the license number, then file a complaint with the police
department.
St. Jude Car & Bike Show Set For
Saturday, October 1
The 4th Annual St. Jude Lake Claiborne Car
& Bike Show held in memory of Christian and Joseph Manzanares is set
for Saturday, October 1 at Lake Claiborne State Park. The event will include a
silent auction, musical entertainment, plate lunches, and games. Entry fee is
$20 for first car or bike and $10 for each additional. Park entry is $2 per
vehichilc of four. Registration will start at 8 AM, judging will be held at 11
AM, and awards will be pressented at 2 PM. The goal is to raise $70,000, the
amount needed to have a room at St. Jude named for Christian and Joseph
Manzanares who died tragically in a trailer fire on August 19, 2001. For more
info, contact Rickey Bearden at 927-9740
Police Jury Approves 2004 Audit Report
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
The Claiborne
Parish Police Jury was presented copies of the annual auditor's report for the
year ending December 31, 2005 as prepared by CPA Vernon Coon. Willie Young
noted in the findings the Jury had failed to comply with the Local Government
Budget Act by failing to prepare a comprehensive budget with a complete
financial plan for the general fund and each special revenue fund. As a whole
according to the report, the Jury did not receive sufficient information to
adopt a budget plan for the year and had no way of knowing what they were
approving for each fund.
Secretary-Treasurer
Cynthia Steele said she was not familiar with preparing a consolidated budget
until she was given those instructions by the auditor.
Finance
Committee Chairman Jerry Adkins said the budget has always been detailed
although they may not have seen it. For the first time in years, the Jury
adopted a budget where revenues matched expenditures. In 2003, the Jury cut
back to get spending under control. To
balance the budget, the Jury did not raise salaries or blacktop roads, although
these things needed to be looked at. He said, "When we spend more than we
take in, we are going broke."
Roy Mardis said
the auditor put the responsibility on the Jury, stating they were to slow to
take action. The finance committee should assume responsibility for the
operation of the police jury's accounting function. Adkins said due to problems
with the computer system, the Jury had no records to look at last year to make
minor corrections.
In response to
the auditor's findings, Steele said they had detailed what steps have been
taken and what steps will be taken to make necessary corrections.
Scott Davidson
said. "We need to make sure we are doing all we can do to live with what
we have before we ask for more."
The Jury voted
to accept the findings and the recommendations submitted by Auditor Coon .
EMPLOYEES AT LUDLOW COATED PRODUCTS in Homer recently voted to cancel their annual fall picnic and donate
the money saved to the local relief effort for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Last Friday, Vincent Dimino (right), Vice President of Operations and Interim
Plant Manager at Ludlow, presented a
$10,000 check to Dennis Butcher, director of the Claiborne Parish Office of
Emergency Preparedness.
HAM Radio—Alive & Well In Claiborne
Parish
As everyone
knows, our State has gone through a terrible disaster, and sitting in the back
seat of emergency communications, ham radio was helping out. Here in Claiborne
Parish this was no exception. For the ones who think that all ham radio
operators in the parish are dead, we have several still using their hobby to
help people in need.
Believe it or
not, our Parish has a group of hams who go under the name Claiborne Parish
Amateur Radio Emergency Services or ARES and here are a few of their stories.
Our group
consists of Wayne Hatfield - KD5JJP, Glen Bays - WB5OMZ, Debra Woodard -
KE5CZW, Vance Robinson - KE5DAK and Bubba Wagner - WA5LXF. Wayne is the
American Radio Relay League Emergency Coordinator. His job is to assist in
recruiting new members and coordinating services relating to communications. He
also helps out our friends in adjoining Parishes. The week before Hurricane
Katrina hit New Orleans, word was coming down the pipe to be ready, as this
looked like it was going to be the big one. His group was activated and ready,
each one ready to do his or her job when the time came. Wayne went over to Monroe the Sunday before
it hit and worked a Red Cross shelter. As he put it, "this was a very
rewarding job". Besides helping people
by contacting the proper authorities to get people out of New Orleans we
where there to assist the evacuees with any questions. Mostly we were running a
laptop computer helping people to know just where the Storm was. We did have
one person whose grandfather was trapped at home. Although the lady and Red
Cross tried many times to get through by phone, it was ham radio that came
through in contacting the proper people to get him out.
THE FOODBANK OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES of Neptune, New Jersey, showed its generosity to the displaced persons
of Hurricane Katrina who are living in Claiborne Parish with a truckload of
personal items, food, canned goods, baby items, etc. The items were delivered
on Wednesday, Sept. 14, and are currently being stored in the former
Ansell-Edmont building in Haynesville. Dennis Butcher, left, and Kathy Greeson,
right, of the Office of Emergency Preparedness were on hand to receive the
items from Jean Navarin of Neptune and Jim Marrin of Tinton Falls, NJ. This
relief program of the FoodBank is supported by a grant from Kraft Foods.
Local Grads Give Back To Parish
BY JIMMY DEAN, Feature Writer, The Guardian-Journal
For years
Claiborne Parish community leaders have lamented the exodus of our young
talent. Now they can take pleasure in the return of some of that talent.
Consider Leroy
Hamilton, Jr.., who grew up in the Liberty Hill Community. Hamilton graduated
from Pineview in Lisbon, then got degrees in both
Computer Information Systems and in Management from Grambling in 2001. Hamilton
went out to Dallas and worked in the computer field; however, by June, 2003, he
had returned to Claiborne Parish where he became director of the Boys and Girls
Club.
This past June
he was accepted into the "Teach GSU Program," a special
"initiative to identify ambitious, self-motivated individuals [wanting] to
become teachers in [North Louisiana's] public schools." He observes that
the program has helped him by providing practical instruction in handling a
classroom, preparing lesson plans, and developing teaching skills
Then there's
Marcus Jackson who is in his second year as coach and special education teacher
at Athens High School. Another participant in the "Teach GSU
Program," Jackson has a degree in Criminal Justice. He graduated from
Southwest Missouri University
in May, 2004.
This is
Jackson's second year
in the classroom. He says he was nervous at first, but "the
kids won me over. I am really enjoying teaching now."
Mario Thompson,
a Haynesville native, is an Option 3 teacher at Homer High. Thompson graduated
from SAU in Magnolia this past August with a degree in Middle School Education.
He says his lifelong goal has been to teach. His mother, Sovella Thompson, was
also a teacher and has become a successful author. Thompson says he grew up
with it drilled into him, "Education is important." He is enjoying
teaching and is furthering his education by working on a masters
degree in Counseling.
When asked what
Option 3 is about, Thompson explains that there are three tracks for students.
One prepares for college, and
another leads to a regular high school diploma. Option 3's goal
is a skill certificate along with vocational training and ultimately a GED.
Senior Expo Rescheduled For April 2006
The Senior Expo
sponsored by the S.A.L.T. Council, Claiborne Parish TRIAD and the Claiborne
Parish Sheriff's Office that was scheduled for Saturday, September 24 was
cancelled due to the catastrophic and far reaching effects of Hurricane
Katrina. The Expo has been rescheduled for April 2006, date and time to be
announced. Sponsors would like to thank those who so generously donated money
or prizes for the Senior Expo. The support is greatly appreciated. Money and
prizes donated will be used for the Expo next April.
Hurricane Katrina Evacuees Urged To
Register
With OEP
The Claiborne Parish Office of Emergency
Preparedness (OEP) urges all South Louisiana evacuees staying in Claiborne
Parish to call the OEP office to register at 318-927-9118. This will allow OEP
to compile a more complete listing of all evacuees in the parish and will them
to better distribute important information. OEP continues to accept monetary
donations and other items for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Make checks payable
to Claiborne Parish O.E.P. and take to the Police Jury Complex. Claiborne
Parish expects no funding from Red Cross or the Salvation Army. For more
information, call 927-9118.
