Four Town Employees
Arrested For Theft
BY
SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Four Town of Homer employees were arrested and
charged with misdemeanor theft on Wednesday, December 13 after a report was
filed with the Homer Police Department. Superintendent Lee Wells apparently
discovered some old pumps and scrap metal were missing. The items had been
stored at the old light plant on East 3rd Street. Homer Police Chief Russell
Mills and officers J. D. Faulkner and John Bailey uncovered information which
led to the arrest of Loyd T. Henderson, 51; Derrick
Burns, 31; Leonard Evans, 40; and Leonard Robinson, 33, all of Homer. Each was
booked at the Homer Police Station where they posted $500 bond.
Homer Mayor Huey Dean consulted
an attorney in the District Attorney’s office on how they should handle the
matter. All four employees were suspended from work on Friday. They returned to
work Monday. Following a meeting with Mayor Dean, all four agreed to pay
restitution for the stolen materials and time, which Dean estimated between $300-$400.
Due to the fact the men are
employed by the Town of Homer, Town attorney and mayor-elect
David Newell said the cases would be sent to Second Judicial District Court,
rather than be handled in Magistrate Court. Nothing was mentioned about
the cases in Magistrate Court on Tuesday. Newell also
expressed concern the Town would continue to work employees caught stealing.
Dean said he informed the men if they were ever caught stealing again they
would be terminated immediately.
Homer Mayor-Elect David Newell
was sworn in Saturday night at Homer City Hall
by his father, retired Judge Paul Newell.
Clerk of Court Patrick Gladney
issued the oath of office to the Board of Selectmen for the Town of Homer—J. C. Moore,
Patricia Jenkins, Toney Johnson, Michael Wade, and Carlette
Sanford.
Unity Is Goal Set By New
Mayor
BY
SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Unity was the underlying theme
for the 
inauguration ceremony held Saturday night for Mayor-Elect David Newell
and the incoming Board of Selectmen — J.C. Moore, Michael Wade, Toney Johnson, Carlette Sanford, and Patricia Jenkins.
Newell’s address set the tone for what he
hopes to be the goal of the new administration, moving ahead in a spirit of
unity and togetherness. He said, “Tonight is a celebration of the past and the
future.” He recognized outgoing Mayor Huey Dean and the current administration,
thanking them for their efforts to return fiscal responsibility to the Town of Homer which allowed them to pay off
long-term debt.
Newell set the stage for what
Homer citizens can expect from his administration. He realizes we have a lot of
talented people in Claiborne Parish, so many fine people who have contributed
to this parish. He wants to utilize that talent by asking them to serve on
various committees. “Together we can make large accomplishments in the Town of Homer,” he said. “We should not
limit our possibilities.”
Although he admitted he has
made mistakes in the past, he has also done a lot of things right and he hopes
citizens will give him a chance. “Fingerpointing does
no good. Let’s be a caring team.” His vision includes a 4-lane highway through
Claiborne parish, a new hospital, the completion of the Homer Bypass, and
another state championship.
Chamber President J. T. Taylor,
and long-time family friend, served as Master of Ceremonies for the event. He
said Newell’s heart was in public service.
Newell’s father, retired Judge
Paul Newell, administered the oath of office for his son. Selectmen were sworn
in by Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court Patrick Gladney.
Others who participated in the
ceremony included Newell’s brother, Danny, who led the Pledge of Allegiance.
State Representative Rick Gallot welcomed attendees.
Nancy Nelson sang a rousing rendition of God Bless America. Newell was introduced by
friend David Hall. The invocation was given by Rev. David Heard of Ebenezer Baptist Church, a Unity Prayer was offered by
Dr. James Simeon of First Baptist Church, and the benediction was
provided by Rev. Norah Banks of New Pilgrims Rest Church.
.
 |
Makayla Champ, 10-month-old daughter of Linda Champ,
was the first child to receive a gift through the Homer Police “Toys for Tots”
program. Homer Police Chief Russell Mills and Officer Norah Banks have
identified approximately 170 children in Homer under age 12 who qualify for the
program, however, unless more donations are received
this week, at least half these children will not receive a gift. Members of the First United Methodist Church
in Homer are providing gifts for more than 80 other needy children identified
in the Homer area. Anyone who would like to donate a gift or make a cash
contribution to the Homer Police “Toys for Tots” program is encouraged to call
Officer Banks or Chief Mills at 927-4000 as soon as possible. |
Lawsuit Dismissed, Town To Pay Debt
BY SUSAN T. HERRING,
Editor, The
Guardian-Journal
A hearing was held last
Wednesday, December 13 in the Claiborne Parish Courthouse before Second
Judicial District Judge Jenifer Clason
to hear arguments in the lawsuit filed against Homer Mayor Huey Dean and the
Town of Homer on November 22. Attorney Bobby Culpepper, representing
plaintiffs Billy Kirk Jenkins and Oubin Ramey, met in
chambers to discuss the case with defense attorney Marty Stroud of Shreveport
and Judge Clason.
Prior to testimony in the
courtroom, a resolution was agreed upon by both attorneys, that the issue
before the court was that the Homer Town Council had failed to amend the budget
as required by law, prior to issuing a check to pay off long-term debt owed by
the Town of Homer. Culpepper agreed to dismiss the suit if Mayor Huey Dean
would assure the court under oath that the Town would not initiate Check 048470
in the amount of $1,052,824.96 to the USDA Rural Development until the Council
could meet and properly adopt an ordinance to amend the budget.
Later that same day, the Town’s
Finance Committee met at 4:30 PM with CPA Carlos Martin and
Mayor-Elect David Newell to discuss how to amend the budget. Martin explained
that only $392,392.78 of the amount used to pay off the two long-term loans had
come from the General Fund. The balance was paid from reserve funds ($421,956.74)
and industrial funds ($238,574.34.)
Funds in these accounts were
restricted and could not be used for the general operation of the town. He went
on to say payment of these two debts would free up $84,000 per year in the
Enterprise Fund which should bring that
fund out of the $260,000 deficit within the next 3-4 years and save the Town
about $800,000 in interest payments. In spite of increases in water rates in
June 2000 and in September 2002, the Enterprise Fund has maintained a negative
balance between $250,000 and $300,000 over the past four years.
Newell expressed his concern
over the loss of sales tax from the closure of Wal-Mart and asked if this would
put the Town in a position that could hinder chances for getting grants.
Members of the Finance
Committee assured him they had taken into account the reduced sales tax
collections in the 2007 budget and that the savings that would be created in
the Enterprise Fund should help avoid the USDA Rural Development mandating any
further increases in water and sewer rates.
Finance Committee members voted
5-2 to recommend amending the 2006 Budget to allow the necessary transfers to
pay $1,052,8224.96 on the bonded indebtedness. Voting
in favor of amending the budget were Chairman Elmer Poss,
Vernon James, Lawson Wilder, J.C. Moore, and Susan Herring. Voting against were
Billy Kirk Jenkins and Oubin Ramey.
Following the Finance Committee
meeting, the Homer Town Council met in special session. By a vote of 4-1, the
Council voted to accept the Committee’s recommendation and voted to introduce
an ordinance to amend the budget and advertise for a public hearing and special
meeting to be held Wednesday, December 27 at 6 PM. Voting in favor were J. C.
Moore, Toney Johnson, Carlette Sanford, and Jesse
Ford. Billy Kirk Jenkins voted against the motion.
After listening to a
presentation from Louisiana Films North (LFN) Board Member Beverly Volentine, the Council voted unanimously to contribute
$2,000 from the Hotel Tax-Tourism Funds to LFN through a cooperative endeavor
agreement. Volentine said the goal of LFN was to
showcase this area and its many assets to the film industry. She said she has
heard rumors there are plans to film the Courthouse in an upcoming movie.
Chamber President J.T. Taylor
said the promotional film recently completed is being distributed to a number
of film companies in California. He has heard discussion of
six films that plan to film some or most in Claiborne Parish.
Another 18-Wheeler failed to
negotiate the right-hand turn on the Northwest corner
of the Courthouse square by Miss Lizzie’s late Sunday evening. Driver of the
rig, Shawn Christopher Cowie, 24, of Lancaster, California
was cited for careless operation and improper turning. Accidents like these increase the need
for a bypass around Homer. The Homer Bypass has been on the State’s Long Range
Highway Program since 1994, awaiting funding. It is
expected to cost more than $14 million to complete.
Homer Police Investigate
Wreck On Square
Officers Make Several Drug Arrests
BY SUSAN T. HERRING,
Editor, The
Guardian-Journal
Homer Police worked one
accident Sunday night involving an 18-wheeler on the Square. Officers also made
a number of drug arrests following routine traffic stops over the past weekend.
This was not the first time a big rig has failed to negotiate the right-hand
turn on the corner by Miss Lizzie’s. This time, truck driver Shawn Christopher Cowie, 24, of Lancaster, California was cited for careless
operation and improper turning.
For more than 20 years, local
officials and state legislators have worked to get a bypass truck route around
Homer to get these big trucks off the Square. There have been a number of
accidents on this corner over the years. In December 1999, a big rig pulled
down the pole and dragged the traffic lights about one block down Hwy. 79. In
August 2004, Homer Police officers worked three accidents on that same corner
in one month. Two were big trucks.
In June 1997, a tanker truck
carrying 8,600 gallons of gasoline overturned one block south of the Square on
Hwy. 79, spilling most of its load and forcing the evacuation of businesses and
residences.
The Homer Bypass, State Project
#814-07-0001, has been included in the Long Range Highway Program for 12 years,
since 1994. Assurances were given by Governor Mike Foster in September 2001
that the project would be funded that year. Funding was approved for the
clearing and grubbing which was completed in the fall of 2003.
After waiting several years for
the State to approve funding to complete the Bypass, U.S. Congressman Jim
McCrery made efforts to secure federal funding. He announced last October there
would be no federal money for the 100% state-funded project. At that point, the
Claiborne Parish Police Jury decided to apply for Capitol Outlay funds from the
State over the next 5 years and for them to be dedicated entirely to the Homer
Bypass project.
Jeremy Ware, 23, of Haynesville
was pulled over just before 11 PM on Friday, December 15 for
speeding. He was arrested and charged with speeding, driving under suspension,
and open container. He was transported to the Claiborne Parish Detention Center
(CDC) where he was booked on $1,500 bond.
On Saturday, December 16,
officers Ken Wood, Mike Rayburn, and Mario Thomas pulled over a vehicle about 2:42
AM for
a routine traffic violation. This stop led to the arrest of Mario Nash, 27, and
Demetrus Thomas, 30, both of Ruston. Both men were transported to
the Claiborne Parish Detention Center where they were booked and
charged with possession of marijuana. Bond was set at $1,000 each.
Officers Wood, Thomas, and
Rayburn pulled over a pickup truck about 8:50 PM Saturday night. All four men
in the vehicle were arrested and charged with simple possession of marijuana
and booked in the CDC on $1,000 bond each.They were
Richard Chase Dunegan, 22, of Camden, Arkansas; Ryan Scott Spencer, 22, Codie
Alan Hudson, 21, all of Camden, Arkansas; Christopher Hooker, 26, of Louann, Arkansas; and Hank Wedgeworth,
27, of El Dorado, Arkansas.
At approximately 12:30
AM on
Sunday, December 17, officers Wood and Thomas responded to a call on Hudd Drive. Upon arrival, they found
about 30 youth and adults involved in an altercation. After dispersing the
crowd, officers arrested Yolanda Cooper, 28, of Homer. She was charged with
unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, cruelty to a juvenile, and
resisting an officer.
Governor Kathleen Blanco To
Speak At Chamber Banquet
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will be the guest speaker at the 42nd
Annual Claiborne Chamber of Commerce Banquet to be held, Monday, January 22, 2007 at 6 PM at the Claiborne Parish Fair
Barn in Haynesville. In January, 2004,
Blanco became the first woman to serve as Governor of Louisiana. She has been a
pioneer for women, serving two terms as Lt. Governor, five years in the State
Legislature, and five years on the Public Service Commission, two as Commissioner.
Claiborne Chamber President J. T. Taylor
said, “We are delighted Gov. Blanco was able to find time to come to Claiborne
Parish.” Reservations are $30 per person and must be paid in advance. Seating
is limited to 300 persons. For more information or to make reservations, call
the Chamber office at 927-3271.
4-H Junior Leaders from all over Claiborne
Parish packed more than 150 food boxes last Friday at the First Presbyterian
Church in Homer as part of the 25th Annual Spirit of Christmas Food Drive
sponsored by Brookshire’s and the Homer Lions Club.
Rev. John McClelland,
4-H Agent Teresa Price, Lion Dick Dorrell, 4-H Junior
Leaders and volunteers enjoyed a delicious breakfast prepared by Lion Patrick Gladney (left).
Christmas Food
Drive Reaches 150 Families
BY
SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
More than 150 boxes of food and
132 baking hens provided by the Brookshire Grocery Company were delivered to
approximately 148 families in Claiborne Parish this past week, thanks to the
generosity of local residents and school children who collected and contributed
canned goods and other non-perishable food items to the 25th Annual “Spirit of
Christmas” Food Drive sponsored by Brookshire’s and
the Homer Lions Club.
A special thanks also goes out to the
Claiborne Parish 4-H Junior Leaders who spent several hours sorting the food
and packing the boxes for delivery.
The Homer Lions Club, the
Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Homer Police Department, the Haynesville
Police Department, and Haynesville City Hall assisted in delivering the
food boxes.
What Christmas Means To Me...
BY SUSAN T. HERRING,
Editor, The
Guardian-Journal
Christmas ia right around the corner. Once again, stores are filled
with people purchasing gifts for friends and family members. As usual, the true
meaning of Christmas seems to be shadowed by the commercialism that goes with
this holiday season. 
This would be a good time for all of us to stop and think
what the season is really about for each of us. Is it about a jolly, bearded,
red-suited man delivering gifts on a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer? Or, is
it about the birth of Jesus Christ? Surely many would debate the true meaning
of the Christmas season, since this time of year includes many other religious
celebrations, such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
Several years ago, the popular
phrase among Christians was “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” What exactly
does this mean? Is it simply that Christians celebrate the birth of Christ?
Most Christians believe Christ was the ultimate gift—the free gift from God
that would provide forgiveness for sin. What does God require in return? Only
that you believe in His only Son, Jesus Christ.
And what does it mean to
believe in Jesus? How can you believe in someone you do not know? To believe in
Jesus means to “know” Him. How can you know Him if you do not know what the
Bible or the Holy Spirit teaches about Him? Jesus teaches the “greatest”
commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and
the second, like unto it, is to love your neighbor as yourself. To follow
Christ means to love Him and to share that love with others.
In the Spirit of Christmas,
many local churches, organizations, and individuals in Claiborne Parish reach
out every year to those in need with food, clothing and gifts. This year is no
different. The Spirit of Christmas Food Drive sponsored by Brookshire’s and the
Homer Lions Club provided food boxes and baking hens to about 150 families.
Several area churches and the Homer Police Department have been collecting
donations and gifts to distribute gifts for needy children in the area.
If you want to know what
children think the true meaning of Christmas is, just ask any second grader, which
is exactly what we do every year. This year, as usual, the overwhelming
response is—Christmas means a time of loving, sharing, caring, giving, and
thanking God—a time of celebration and joy. And the overwhelming reason for all
this is the birth of Jesus.
Jesus, love, caring, giving,
all you have to do is ask the children in Claiborne Parish.
Below is a list of what
Christmas means to second graders in Claiborne Parish….:
Christmas Memory Tree
In
Memory Of—Given By
Doris Volentine
- Cecil Volentine & Family
Jack Musgrove - Shirley Musgrove
Jesse Lee Edmonds -Thomas & Margaret
Crump
Neva Edmonds - Thomas & Margaret Crump
James Rodgers Bell - His Brothers &
Sisters
Union & Pearlena
Bell - Their Children
Joe Cotry Bell - Brothers, Sisters, & Daughter
Thomas Lidel
Bell - His Brothers & Sisters
Plummer & Shinet
Bell - Collina Holyfield
Dennis “Elmo” Adkins - Kim, Angela, Amy
Adkins
Sylvia Faulkner -
Kim, Angela,& Amy Adkins
Ruby Lois Adkins -
Kim, Angela, & Amy Adkins
Jon Eric Bowman -
Dawn Bowman
Nicholas O’Neal Jackson - Kathryn
Jackson Finley
Sammy Dean Jackson - William Robert
Vernon M. Robert, Sr. - William Robert
Mrs. V. M. (Mattie) Robert, Sr. -
William Robert
Otis & Harriet O’Rear
- Joe & Robbie Ponseigo
Otis
& Harriet
O’Rear - Dale, Sally, & Sarah Gryder
M. J. Bridwell - Maurice & Lillian Bridwell
Chris McLean-Wendy McLean,James & Kris Pharr
Mr. & Mrs. Perry Hammontree
- Marlene Sanders
Mr. & Mrs. Jesse Sanders - Marlene
Sanders
Mr. & Mrs. L.P. Pair - Marlene
Sanders
Melissa & Michael Robertson -
Marlene Sanders
P.A. Hammontree
- Marlene Sanders
Marion White - Marlene Sanders
PaPaw P.A. Hammontree
- Michaela, Steven, & Eva Robertson
Melissa & Michael Robertson -
Michaela, Steven, & Eva Robertson
Pervis Lee Cooper - Ella Pearl Isiah
Jon Eric Bowman -
Michelle Strahan Miller
Shonda Acklen
Koehler - Cindy Hollenshead
Evangeline Pixley
- Pam, Jerry, Jennifer, Michael, & April Hightower
John W. & Annie Pixley
- Pam, Jerry, Jennifer, Michael, & April Hightower
W.C. “Bill” & Beatrice Hightower -
Jerry, Pam, Jennifer, Michael, & April Hightower
In
Honor Of—Given By
Therman “Skeet” Pixley
- Pam, Jerry, Jennifer Michael & April Hightower
Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Sanders - Marlene
Sanders
Shirley White - Marlene Sanders
