HOMER POLICE CHIEF RUSSELL MILLS (seated) and police officers (standing, l.-r) Roger Smith and Jim Faulkner show the marijuana confiscated from Donald Grider Jr. last week during a routine traffic stop. Mills said he intends to take strong measures to crack down on drugs and other illegal activity in the Town of Homer.

New Chief Cracking Down On Drugs

BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal

            Homer Police Chief Russell Mills was called to North 4th Street about 3:45 PM on Wednesday, February 8 by Homer officers Jim Faulkner and Roger Smith who were patrolling the area when they noticed a vehicle driving in an erratic manner. Officers stopped the vehicle at the intersection of East 4th Street and Sanger Street. Sheriff Deputy James Spillers with the Claiborne Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET) heard the call and arrived on the scene to assist with two State Troopers. 

            Driver of the car, Donald Grider Jr., 18, of 812 East 4th Street in Homer, was searched for weapons as a safety precaution. Grider began acting very nervous and snatched away from officers, resisting their attempts to handcuff him, forcing Spillers to dry stun him with a taser. (Dry stun is a method used to swipe a person with the prongs of the taser, rather than shoot them.) Further search revealed Grider had 17 individual bags of a greenish brown vegetable substance believed to be marijuana. Evidence was sent to the crime lab for analysis.

            Officers charged Grider with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, 3 counts resisting officer, no driver's license, no insurance, and no registration in vehicle. He was transported to the Claiborne Parish Detention Center by Sheriff Deputy Jeff Pugh where he was booked on $51,500 bond. Two other male passengers in the vehicle were released.

            On Saturday, February 11 about 12:30 PM, Chief Mills received information by phone which led him to a residence on Dawson Street in Homer. After arriving, he observed marijuana in an ash tray. He called Captain Donald Malray and officer Smith for assistance. Arrested were Benjamin Deshotel, 26, of Homer, charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was placed under $1,500 bond. Ronnie Smith, 29, of Homer was also arrested for simple possession of marijuana and posted a $1,000 recognizance bond.

            Captain Malray and officers Ken Wood and Smith were called to Beverly Drive around 12:30 PM on Sunday, February 12. Arrested were Lawrence Todd Carter, 37, of Homer and Natashia Warren Jenkins, 27, of Homer.

            Carter was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, and second degree battery (domestic violence). He is being held in the Claiborne Parish Detention Center under $100,000 bond.

            Warren was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana under $1,000 bond.

Other arrests this week:

            Jesse L. Davis Sr., 78, of  Homer, was arrested following a one-vehicle accident in the Hill Street area. He was charged with DWI-first offense and careless operation. Bond was set at $1,500.

            Orlando J. West was arrested Saturday, February 11 just after midnight on outstanding warrants for 2 counts of issuing worthless checks and for resisting arrest. Bond was set at $1,500.

            On Monday, February 13, a call was received by Chief Mills from a concerned citizen concerning a black male brandishing a gun in the area of North 4th Street. Mills followed up on the information which led to the arrest of Michael Carter, 25, of Pearl Street in Homer. Carter was charged with illegally carrying a weapon and concealed handgun and placed under $500 bond.

            Anyone with information on illegal drug activity or any other crime within the city limits of Homer is encouraged to contact the Homer Police Department at 927-4000 or 927-4001.

Police Jury Picks New Road Superintendent

BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal

            The Claiborne Parish Police Jury voted to accept the recommendation of the Personnel Committee, then voted 9-2 to appoint Tommy Durrett as road superintendent at their regular meeting on Wednesday, February 8. Durrett will replace Dean Busby who plans to retire in May. Prior to approval of this motion, a motion by Willie Young to appoint Morgan was defeated.

            Jury President Roy Lewis said  three applicants were interviewed. The top two candidates, Durrett and Morgan, were both excellent choices and highly qualified. 

Lavelle Penix commended the  work of the Personnel Committee but said of 9,286 possible points, there were only 18 points separating the two candidates, which was less than one percent. Morgan has worked 19 years for the Jury and Durrett only 8 years. Penix felt the person with more years should have been given the position.

            A motion to advertise for the position of foreman was made, then withdrawn by Scott Davidson.

            Davidson informed the Jury that the 2-year contract with Secretary/Treasurer Cynthia Steele will expire in March. His motion to advertise the position for two weeks was unanimously approved.  Davidson said this was not about job performance, just the job. Applications will be accepted until close of the business day on February 27 and are open to everyone including the present secretary-treasurer. The Personnel Committee will then conduct interviews and narrow applicants to three choices for the Jury to select from.

STUDENTS OF THE YEAR for 5th, 8th, and 12th grades were recognized by the Claiborne Parish School Board at their regular meeting February 9, 2006. Haynesville Jr. High student Victoria Christian (front, l.-r.) was selected in 5th grade, Summerfield student Bryce Brunson was selected in 8th grade, and (back row. l.-r.) Haynesville High Senior Travonte Thomas and Homer High Senior Ricky Sanders were selected for 12th grade.

Student Of Year Selection Stirs Controversy

BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal

            The Claiborne Parish School Board recognized Students of the Year at their regular meeting February 9. Student of the Year awards went to Victoria Christian, fifth grade student at Haynesville Jr. High and Bryce Brunson, eighth grade student at Summerfield High. Two students were honored for the twelfth grade award—Travonte Thomas at Haynesville Jr.-Sr. High and Ricky Sanders at Homer High School.

            All students submitted a portfolio of their accomplishments which included academic, athletic, and community service. They were then interviewed by panel of judges. Superintendent James Scriber said, "These are representative of a number of good students in Claiborne Parish. I'm proud of them and all people associated with Claiborne Parish should be duly proud."

            Betty Richardson, mother of Haynesville High student Travonte Thomas, addressed members of the  Board to voice her complaint about the selection method used for Student of the Year. Although both senior students were recognized by the Board, only one student is allowed to advance to regional competition. To break the tie between Thomas and Sanders, Superintendent Scriber flipped a coin. Sanders won. Her complaint was not the coin toss, but the lack of established, written procedure to break a tie.

            The Louisiana Students of Year Awards Program guidelines states each school system shall establish written procedures to determine the initial selection of candidates and for resolving issues and disputes related to candidate selection. She asked the Board to implement a written procedure so students would not have to go through this type misunderstanding again.

            Barbara Monzingo apologized for the confusion. She said they  tried to send both students' portfolios to regionals, but were advised they could only send one.

Scriber said this was the third time he had been faced with a tied situation. Each time he told students he could not make the decision, but offered a nice graduation gift to the loser. He asked if either would accept the gift and let the other go to regionals. All wanted to go forward.

            In 2005, Scriber used the exact same method to break a tie between Jariel Norton at Homer High and Brittney Winn at Haynesvlle High. Norton won the coin toss and advanced to regional competition.

            Richardson stated her son had returned the $100 consolation prize given him by Scriber. As a young African American man of integrity, he would not sell out, because of his first amendment right to be heard. Scriber said, "I offered it as a graduation gift and not as a consolation prize. I do not operate on that level and I resent that."

            A. D. Williams said to eliminate confusion, we need a written policy. The Board unanimously approved developing a written policy in the event of a tie for Student of the Year. .

CLAIBORNE PARISH OVERALL SCIENCE WINNERS recognized by the Claiborne Parish School Board at their meeting last week were (l.-r.) Gabrielle Montgomery, Victoria Christian, and Catherine Winzer. (Not pictured: Josh Meadors)

Lions Get Lesson In Motivation

BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal

            Rev. Larry Maxwell recalled a time many years ago when leaving a hospital in Baltimore, he headed for the nearest exit. As the spring lock doors shut behind him, he heard the snarl of a canine. In a fraction of a second, he realized he was trapped in a very small courtyard enclosed by a hurricane fence with three rows of razor wire at the top. He said, "I don't remember another thing until I was climbing down on the other side." Somehow he had managed to go over the fence and the razor wire in his suit and dress shoes. "That, my friends," he said, "is motivation."      Maxwell asked, "What is the ingredients that goes into making a community, a people, an organization, a club, or a church so fired up they can achieve something?"  .........He closed by saying, "There may not be specific answers to every issue, but if we are open-ended and seek God's will, he will give us a clear vision." Maxwell is a member of the Homer Lions Club and has been pastor of First United Methodist Church and Wesley Chapel since June 2005.

HOMER MINISTERIAL ALLIANCE members listened to a presentation Sunday, January 19 on the proper use and installation of fire detectors by Homer Fire Chief Dennis Butcher, assisted by State Trooper Michael Allen and Sheriff Ken Bailey at the Family Life Center of First Baptist Church in Homer. Those attending (l.-r.) Gurvis Vines, Allen Emerson, David Heard, John McClelland, Butcher, Allen, Jimmy Simeon, Larry Braley, Kerry Sims, Ray Jiles, George Hall, John Markley, Bailey, and Ben Booth agreed to help distribute 200 fire detectors, 200 carbon monoxide detectors, and 200 fire extinguishers purchased through a U.S. Fire Administration grant to the Homer Fire Department to high risk individuals in the community. Contact a member of the Homer Ministerial Alliance to see if you qualify.

Training School First 4-Year Public School For Blacks

BY JIMMY DEAN, Feature Writer, The Guardian-Journal

            In 1921-1922 Mattie Holmes attended summer school in a building known as the "Roy Mayfield Building" at St. John School. At the close of the summer school following the 1921-1922 school year, Superintendent John S. Patton and Supervisor Hendricks gave a test to qualify for teaching certificates. Certificates were issued to all taking the test, but not all certificates were issued on the same level. They were issued on first grade, second grade, and third grade levels with first grade being the highest, second next highest, and third grade the lowest. Claiborne Parish Training School met this need for teacher training until Grambling College was established.

            Some teachers during this period were John Holland, Mr. Meyer, Frank Davis, and J. E. Williams. Professor John S. Davis, Jr., became principal in 1926. Two additional rooms and a library were added under his direction, leading to St. John-Claiborne Parish Training School's becoming the first four-year public high school for black children in this parish.

            Lillian Davis was hired that same year as home economics teacher. She recalls very limited resources. One treadle sewing machine had to serve all home ec students. They also had a woodburning cook stove and few cooking utensils. She taught family budgeting, canning, and preserving as well. Each girl was required to make a certain number of garments before graduating, one of which was her own graduation gown. This was before caps and gowns were available for graduation. In time courses in vocational agriculture and vocational home economics were added.

            When the building was destroyed by fire in 1945, the school was moved to Homer and combined with Mayfield High School. John S. Davis became principal of the consolidated high school which continued until it was later combined with Homer High School in 1970.

More Rosenwald Schools in Claiborne Parish BY JIMMY DEAN, Feature Writer, The Guardian-Journal As mentioned last week, Linda Volentine at the Ford Museum wants pictures, artifacts, and other material concerning the 35 Rosenwald Schools in Claiborne Parish. The following information on more of those 35 schools is based on Volentine's research: Mt. Pleasant: Located just over 12 miles east of Homer near Lisbon, there was no school building at first. Classes were held in Mt. Pleasant Church. Members of the community supplied wood for the large wood burning stove that provided heat. One of the students, Annie Mae Harries, recalls riding a horse and buggy to school. Some children walked up to seven miles to school. Children played basketball and rag ball at recess. Mt. Sinai: A junior high school, it was 6 miles west of Summerfield. Staffed with four teachers, the school had a teacher home and four classrooms plus a library. The school was shut down in 1918 due to the flu epidemic. Minnie Jones Tims was teaching back then. Ester Lee Meadors remembers the school sponsored penny marches and other programs at the school at night for entertainment. In 1937 the monthly teacher's salary was $35 with $2.40 withheld for retirement. Some of the principals were Clyde M. Meadors, J.A. Turner, Beatrice Meadors, and James Rhodes. Mt. Superior: This was a two-room school. Oak Grove: Both teachers and students walked to school. Mrs. Fannie Bell, who began teaching there in 1937, had to walk three miles each day to get to the school. Oak Grove School school had wood-burning heaters. Students were required to bring in the wood. Herbert Kelly and Christell Seals were some of the principals. Pleasant Grove: In 1943 this two-room school had two teachers. Providence: Located in the Sharon Community 7 miles east of Lisbon, T.J. Jones began his teaching career at this school in 1937 and was the only teacher for the first month of school, teaching grades 1-7. Superintendent Hanchey added a second teacher the second month of school. A song and prayer started each school day. T.J. Jones remembers the community accorded teachers respect and provided room and board for $10 a month. Jones ate with the family, having whatever they were eating. At night he sat by the fire with the family and slept in an unheated room. His pay was $40 a month, deductions $1.40. Rocky Mountain: T. J. Jones was named principal of this school in 1939, a school located 10 miles west of Homer. Lunches were prepared at a private residence, then carried to the school in tubs and served. Eudoxie Lee White began her teaching career there in 1943. Carrie Lewis had become principal. Two other teachers completed the staff. An open well provided drinking water. Most of the school term was during winter, hence, the need for heat which was furnished by a pot-bellied, wood burning stove. Larger boys took a crosscut saw and ax to the woods for firewood. Afterwards, each child big enough to carry a stick of wood was sent out to bring in wood. At times green wood would stop up the flue or chimney resulting in a room filling with smoke. According to White, when F.C. Haley learned of the trying conditions under which they taught, he promised better heating. St. Luke: Although located in the southeast corner of Claiborne Parish near Sugar Creek, St. Luke was less than 10 miles from Arcadia. A teacher's home built with Rosenwald funds was next to the school. That structure burned sometime in the 1960s. The school had two classrooms and two cloakrooms and served grades 1-8. Some of the teachers were Professor Garner, Professor Driver, Mrs. Porter, Minnie Jones Tims, Mamie Graham, Rev. Willie W. Moore, Mrs. Willie T. Moore, Mr. and Mrs. Turner, Ethel Dennis, Lucille Cullens, Ethel Smiley, Rev. Charles Shyne, Mrs. Lucille Shyne, Mrs. Richardson, and Anna Cooper. G.C. Jones was school supervisor at one time. Students' parents furnished wood for the wood burning heaters that warmed the school and the teacher's home. The school included a working farm to help cover expenses for both the school and a church associated with the school. Plays, referred to as "Minister's Shows," also helped raise money for the school. Since children were needed in the early spring to prepare fields for planting and to work the fields in the summer and to gather crops in the fall, the school year generally ran from October through early January. School activities included basketball outside on a dirt court as well as rhetorical exercises. The school stage was used for yearly Christmas programs and end of the school year programs that included skits and recitations. Holly berries, evergreens, and other natural materials that students gathered from nearby woods provided Christmas decor. St. Rest: Located in the oilfield west of Homer near St. Rest C.M.E. Church, Mrs. Dorton was the first principal and R.C. Candler was the last principal. St. John-Claiborne Training School: First located half a mile west of the current St. John Church off the White Lightning Road, it was situated near a spring on property owned by Ivory Hall. St. John was the first four-year high school for black students in the parish. It began as a small, one-room country elementary school with a front door, windows on each side, and a raised platform or stage across the back of the room. Like many schools of the time, there was a wood burning stove for heat. Eight-foot long wood benches provided pupil seating. Increased enrollment led to classes being taught in St. John Church. There were only three teachers per school term due to the church's small size. It became clear the school needed more room, and the community sought Rosenwald Funds for a larger facility. However, Rosenwald Funds required local monies or goods be raised for matching grants. So Fred Jones and Robert Lewis led a movement to secure money for the school and logs for lumber. The result was a two-story school building with five rooms to replace the earlier one-room school. Professor Ford, Professor Hawk, Professor L.G. Gurst, and Professor J.C. Jones are among those who served as principals. Some of the teachers were Pearly Wright, Ada Coleman, Nannie Lewis, and Mary Jones. During Professor Jones' tenure as principal, St. John became Claiborne Training School, its goal being to teach useful trades. And classes were opened to adults as well. Girls were taught cooking, sewing, and homemaking as well as how to make mats and baskets. Boys learned how to make brooms, mattresses, ax and hoe handles and other farm tools. Some graduates were Corean Brown, Fannie Pickens, Christell Jones, and Orange Lewis, Jr. Because there had been no teacher training on the state level for black teachers, a course in teacher training was offered to fourth-year high school students. Those passing the teacher training test were issued teachers certificates. (See previous article on Claiborne Training School.) Salem: Although precise dates are unknown, this school operated from the 1930s to about 1959 when it was consolidated with Pineview. A couple of the teachers were Mattie Mae Jones and Johnnie B. Kinsey. Kinsey was attending Fellowship Junior High School near Junction City when she began her teaching career at age 14 while still a high school freshman. She earned a teaching certificate (see More About Claiborne Training School) before finishing high school. Salem school terms were adjusted so that she could complete requirements for her own high school diploma. Waltham: A two-teacher school with many students, Waltham had no library. However, Zadie Thompson secured books to serve as a library, then became principal in 1941 after her husband was inducted into the military. There were other Rosenwald Schools in the parish, but Volentine has no specific information about them. She would appreciate additional information about schools listed in last week's article as well as about the following Rosenwald Schools: Blackburn, Calhoun, Cedar Grove, Colbert, Forest Grove, Haynesville, Holly Grove, Mt. Love, Relief, Rogers, Shiloh (Chatman), Spring Hill, and Union Grove. She is especially interested in pictures, artifacts, or memorabilia about any old schools in Claiborne Parish. Volentine may be contacted at the Ford Museum or by phone at 927-9190.

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