CNET, CPSO, HPD Make Drug Arrests
Claiborne
Parish Sheriff Ken Bailey and Homer Police Chief Russell Mills announced the
joint effort by their two agencies netted three drug-related arrests last
Friday in the 900 block of East 4th Street in Homer.
Agent James Spillers with the Claiborne Narcotic Enforcement
Team (CNET) stated, as a result of information developed by CNET prior to
February 17, a search warrant for 907 East 4th Street was obtained, the
residence of Barbara J. Champ. CNET contacted the Claiborne Parish Sheriff's
Office and the Homer Police Department for assistance in serving the warrant.
CNET agents,
CPSO deputies, and HPD offices jointly served the warrant at approximately 7:45
PM on February 17. As a result of the search, three persons were arrested.
Barbara J. Champ was charged with possession of Schedule II controlled
dangerous substance (Cocaine). Earl Anderson was charged with possession of
drug paraphernalia (crack pipe), and Walter Young Jr. was arrested on two bench
warrants for failure to appear in court and one execution of sentence (20 days
in jail). Young's bench warrants were on charges related to his arrest in 2005
for possession with intent to distribute Schedule II CDS (cocaine) by the Homer
Police Department. Champ was booked into Claiborne Parish Jail for women.
Anderson and Young were booked into the Claiborne Parish Detention Center.
CNET is a
multi-jurisdictional task force comprised of the Claiborne Parish Sheriff's
Office, Homer Police Department, and Haynesville Police Department, all agencies
coordinated through the Sheriff's Office. Anyone with information relative to
drug activity or any other crime is urged to contact CNET at 927-9800, the
Sheriff's Office at 927-2011, Homer Police at 927-4000, or Haynesville Police
at 624-1311.
According to
Agent Spillers, no matter how insignificant you may think your information is,
it could be what makes a case against a drug dealer, thief, or violent criminal
in Claiborne Parish. If you do provide information, your identity will remain
anonymous and all local law enforcement agencies involved promise they will
take your information seriously.
All local
agencies of law enforcement strongly urge the public's assistance in fighting
crime in our towns and parish because this affects EVERYONE. We hope to hear
from YOU, so we can make Claiborne Parish a better place to live.
HOMER POLICE CHIEF Russell Mills and officers Ken Wood and Thomas Davis were called to Dixie Mart around
9:45 PM Tuesday night following an armed robbery by a suspect described as a
black male, 5'6" tall with medium build, wearing black pants and a black
hooded sweatshirt. Anyone with information on this crime is urged to contact
the Homer Police Department at 927-4000.
Dixie Mart Robbed Again
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Homer Police
officers were called to the Dixie Mart in Homer at approximately 9:45 PM on
Tuesday, February 21 after receiving a report of an armed robbery at store
located on Hwy. 79 next to the Sonic Drive-In. The store clerk described the
suspect as a black male about 5'6" with medium build wearing a black hooded sweatshirt,
black pants, and white scarf over his face with eyeholes cut out. He slipped
what appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun, silver in color, slightly from
his pocket, enough to let the clerk know he was carrying a weapon, then demanded all the money from the register. The clerk
complied. The suspect took what was later determined to be less than $300.
A witness came
forward, reporting he had seen someone matching the suspect's description
running from the back of the store, headed in an easterly direction. A piece of
evidence was later recovered in the area of North 5th Street.
The David Wade
Correctional Chase Team was notified and arrived on the scene in a dense fog
just before 11 PM. The dog picked up a
scent and followed it to the corner of North 4th and East 4th Streets, behind
Delta Interiors, but
lost the scent approximately 300 yards further down the street
near the town's wastewater treatment plant.
Homer police
officers are investigating another theft that occurred sometime after closing
Sunday night, February 20.at the In-Mart convenience store (formerly Mini-Mart)
located on Hwy. 79 next to Kentucky Fried Chicken. After receiving a call at
4:42 AM, officer Jimmy Hamilton arrived on the scene to find an inside glass
door between In-Mart and KFC broken. Several money bags containing an
undetermined amount of money had been taken from the office.
Anyone with
information on these crimes or any other crime is urged to please contact the
Homer Police Department at 927-4000.
Haynesville Council Votes To Raise Their Pay
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
The Haynesville
Town Council voted to raise their pay to $400 per month effective February 1,
2006 at their regular meeting last Thursday, February 16. Several Haynesville
residents spoke during a public hearing held prior to the meeting to voice
their opposition to the pay raise.
Chuck Clawson
suggested the Council consider the ramifications of the economic effect
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Haynesville and other towns are headed for some
serious cutbacks in regard to state funding. Clawson said each councilperson
apparently thought the pay was adequate when they ran for office.
Bonnie Burgess
asked where the money for the raise would come from since the tax base is
dwindling. Mayor H. U. "Mutt" Slaid said the tax base in some areas
is going up. Water revenues and sales taxes are up now, which doesn't necessarily mean they will be up in seven months.
Councilwoman
Carla Smith voiced strong opposition to the raise, reminding the Council their
first attempt to raise the pay last October failed for lack of a motion. At
that time, she said she felt the Council should direct Haynesville citizen's
tax money to further better and beautify our town. She said, "I will be
voting against this raise with a clear conscience."
Voting for the
raise was Joyce Majors, Rene' Lincoln-Buggs, and Alvin Moss. Smith voted
against the motion and Alvin Kendrick abstained.
Disturbance Leads To Arrest
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Homer Police
officers responded to a disturbance call at 612 South 4th Street in Homer about
9 PM Sunday night, February 19. Upon arrival, officer
Keith Ferguson spoke with the complainant who advised him that Josh George had
verbally threatened her with a gun. The officer seized the gun. It was later
discovered the gun had no markings. The serial number had apparently been filed
off which is a violation of Louisiana Revised Statute. 14:95.7(A).
Police Chief
Russell Mills obtained a warrant on Tuesday, February 21. He and Officer Ken
Wood located and arrested Josh George, 21, of Homer at approximately 7:30 PM
Tuesday night. George was transported to the Homer Police Department where he
was charged with possession of or dealing in firearms with obliterated number
or mark. He was released on $1,000 bond..
Ludlow Sold, Now Covalence Coated
Products
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
In May 2002,
Ludlow Coated Products celebrated the 50th anniversary of the plant's opening . McLaurin-Jones, a company that originated in
Scotland in the mid-1800s as Smith and McLaurin, held their grand opening in
Homer May 22, 1952. The first five employees sent to Massachusetts for training
in February that year were plant foreman Roy Lee and employees Robert
Gathright, Ralph Mitchell, John W. Edwards, and Albert Shirey. The new industry
manufactured regular grades of gummed kraft tapes and a new
product—Polyethylene film combined to kraft to fill the increasing need for
moisture-proof, greaseproof materials. The Homer plant was able to better serve
the extensive markets in the South close to a supply of needed raw materials.
McLaurin-Jones
was purchased by Ludlow Corporation on August 31, 1955. More than 26 years
later the plant was sold again to Tyco Laboratories, on September 23, 1981.
Ludlow Corporation became Ludlow Coated Products.
Ludlow's name is
about to change again due to the recent $975 million acquisition of the company
by Apollo Management L.P., one of the nation's leading
private equity firms. Covalence (pronounced co-vay-lence) Specialty
Materials Corp., a business with $1.7 billion in revenues, formerly the
Plastics and Adhesives operation of Tyco International, joined the ranks of the
nation's independent, private companies on Thursday, February 16.
Brenda J.
Thompson has been plant manager at Ludlow, now Covalence Coated Products, in Homer
since November 1, 2005, when she was transferred from the
from Meridian, Mississippi where she had been plant manager at that
facility since the beginning of the year. She replaced acting plant manager
Vince Dimino.
"The
transition from Tyco to Covalence has been positive for the company, as well as
the employees, and hopefully for the community as well," Thompson said.
"We look forward to a long and prosperous future."
Apollo
Management, L.P., founded in 1990, is among the most active and successful
private investment firms in the United States in terms of both number of
investment transactions completed and aggregate dollars invested. Since its inception, Apollo has managed the
investment of an aggregate of approximately $13 billion in equity capital in a
wide variety of industries, both domestically and internationally, and is
currently managing Apollo Investment Fund VI, L.P., its
most recent fund with committed capital of $10.1 billion.
Covalence, with
a workforce of 7,125 people in 38 manufacturing facilities, primarily in the
U.S. but also in Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Korea and India, is a major producer
of a wide range of products, including polyethylene-based films, industrial
tapes, medical specialties, packaging, heat-shrinkable coatings and specialty
laminates, among others. It is the
number one producer domestically of trash bags, duct
tape and niche laminated and coated products.
Among its leading brands are Ruffiesr and Rhino-Xr trash bags;
Film-Gardr plastic sheeting; Nashuar tapes, Raychemr heat-shrinkable coatings;
Polykenr pipeline coatings; Thermo-Plyr and Energy-Bracer wall sheathing; as
well as R-Wrapr and Barricader housewraps.
Library Hosts Program On Louisiana
History
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
The Joe Webb
Memorial Branch of the Claiborne Parish Library in Haynesville will host the
newly updated RELIC program "Louisiana History: Perspectives on the
Pelican State." It is funded by the State of Louisiana and sponsored by
the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and the Louisiana Library
Association.
"Louisiana
History" will be conducted by Dr. Stephen Webre of the Department of
History at Louisiana Tech University. This program, updated with new texts,
will use a variety of historical texts to acquaint participants with the
history of Louisiana.
The six
sessions are entitled: 1) Introduction: What Makes Louisiana Unique?; 2) The
Acadians: French Pioneers in Spanish Louisiana; 3) Slavery in Louisiana; 4)
Louisianans in the Civil War; 5) Natural Disasters and Louisiana History; 6)
Earl Long and the Populist Legacy in a Changing Louisiana.
Texts to be
used are: The Founding of New Acadia, by Carl Brasseaux, Twelve Years a Slave
by Solomon Northup, The Civil War Memoirs of Captain William .l. Seymour, ed.
by Terry Jones, Rising Tide by John Barry, and A. J. Leibling's The Earl of
Louisiana.
"Louisiana
has a colorful and rich history that has spanned three centuries. A colony of
Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans, and as a player in much of the history
of the United States, Louisiana has been the focus of important events over
this entire period," observed James Segreto, Director of RELIC Library
Programs for the LEH. He added, "We know that Louisiana History is a
perennial favorite subject to read and talk about among Louisianans, and this
updated program offers the public some new texts for new types of discussions
about our history and experiences of nearly three centuries."
The program is
free and open to the public and will be held on Thursdays from 6:30-8:30 PM
beginning March 2 and concluding April 20 for a total of six sessions. There
will be two interruptions in the schedule: March 23 and April 13 will skipped over. Sessions will take place at Joe Webb Memorial
Branch at 1919 Main Street in Haynesville. Due to the limited number of books
and expected public response, those interested in attending are strongly
encouraged to register in advance at the library. For more information, call
624-0364.
HAYNESVILLE HIGH JUNIORS in Beverly Garcia's American History class recently joined the Beta Tau
chapter at Louisiana Tech to raise $1,379 for their annual "Hearts for St.
Jude" fundraiser.
HAYNESVILLE HIGH SOPHOMORES in Leigh Ann Gantt's class recently raised $1,220 selling "Hearts
for St. Jude." The total amount raised by students in grades 9-12 was
$3,228.
Haynesville Students Raise Hearts And $$$ For St. Jude
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Haynesville
High students in grades 9-12 spent the last several weeks raising $3,228.28_one
dollar at a time. Money was raised by accepting $1 donations for
"Hearts for St. Jude" either in memory of a cancer victim or in honor
of a cancer survivor.
It all began
when Haynesville High students joined the fundraising effort of Beta Tau, a
student service organization at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. Beta Tau
is a chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha (ESA) International and the first
collegiate chapter in Louisiana. ESA is an international service organization
established in 1929. The focus of the philanthropic chapter is leadership and
service, trying to bring people together to make a positive difference through
charitable projects. St. Jude was one project adopted by ESA in 1972. Angela
Kennedy, professor and chairman of the Department of Health Information
Management at Louisiana Tech, is faculty advisor for Beta Tau. Her husband,
Bill Kennedy, is principal at Haynesville Jr.-Sr. High.
Haynesville
High raised a whopping $3,228.28. The majority of the money came from two
classes—Beverly Garcia's
junior American History class raised $1,379 and the sophomore
English class taught by Leigh Ann Gantt, raised $1,220. Angela said this was
more than half the total amount Beta Tau expects to raise in the Hearts
campaign.
Angela said,
"The Haynesville High students did a fabulous job." She was
overwhelmed when she was told they had raised more than $3,000. No school has
ever raised that much.
Beta Tau would
like to challenge all schools in Claiborne Paris to participate next year. Any
school or business who would like to sign up can contact Angela Kennedy at
318-257-2854.
New Homer Resident Publishes Murder
Mystery
BY JIMMY DEAN, Feature Writer, The Guardian-Journal
Who would have
thought Homer would produce a writer of murder mysteries? Well,
"produce" may not be the right word. Joyce Shields Colvin and her
husband recently moved to Homer; hence, it can be said that Homer has its own
published mystery writer.
Her novel Whatever
It Cakes includes elements from Colvin's experience in the insurance
industry and aspects of her daughter's designer cake business. Her daughter
Gayla began designing cakes while a student at La. Tech and working at a flower
shop in Ruston.
Colvin says
that Whatever It Cakes includes references to local places like
Homer, Shreveport, Minden, Monroe, Caddo Lake, and other familiar places. Many
people have told her they enjoyed that about her book.
A book signing
has been scheduled for Friday, February 24 from 2:00 to 4:00 that afternoon at
the Claiborne Parish Library. Colvin will be there to sign your copy of
Whatever It Cakes.
Celebrating Community:
A Tribute To Black Educators, Civic,
Civil Rights And Business Leaders
The Claiborne
Parish NAACP (National Association for Advancement of Colored People) will
sponsor a Black History Program at 6:30 PM on Friday, February 24 at the
Claiborne Parish Boys & Girls Club in Homer. The theme is "Celebrating
Community: A Tribute to Black Educators, Civic, Civil Rights and Business
Leaders". This year the NAACP will honor five outstanding people from
categories of teacher, youth, citizen, civil rights, and business. Everyone is
invited to attend.
