Two Young Women Survive
Bad Wrecks
BY
SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Two young women from Claiborne
Parish were involved in accidents over the past week, one seriously injured,
but both very lucky to be alive. Friday morning, February 9, the Claiborne
Parish Sheriff’s Office received a call around 8 AM regarding a 2001 Mitsubishi
Eclipse that was off the road on Hwy. 540, Ruple Road. The Louisiana State Police
was called to work the accident. The vehicle went off the road and overturned
just north of White Oak Road, then burst into flames. The
Homer Fire Department and Claiborne Parish Fire District 4 responded to the
call and extinguished the fire.
Driver of the car, Kerri B.
Tomlinson, 15, of Haynesville managed to get out of the vehicle with only minor
injuries. She was transported by private vehicle to Homer Memorial Hospital, then
later cited for careless operation.
Early Monday morning, February
12, around 5:15 AM, the Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call regarding a
serious accident on Hunt Plant Road off Buck Green Road, northeast of Lisbon. Verna Wallace, 19, of
Summerfield was finishing up her delivery as carrier for The (Shreveport) Times when she fell asleep at
the wheel and hit a tree head-on.
Louisiana State Trooper Mark
Keough worked the accident. He said he has seen a lot of fatal accidents with
much less damage to the vehicle. He said, “I am surprised she survived.”
Wallace went off the road on
the left side, then overcorrected, taking her to the
right side of the road where she traveled along the ditch before hitting a
large gum tree. Her 1995 maroon Buick Century was totaled. Part of the engine
block and the steering wheel were shoved against the back of the driver’s side
seat. Miraculously, Wallace had a lot of head and facial trauma, but in spite
of her serious injuries, she was able to get out of the vehicle and walk to a
nearby house, where the 911 call was made.
Trooper Keough said the
accident occurred on an isolated rural road. Had she not been able to get to
the house, it could have been some time before the accident was discovered.
Wallace was transported by Claiborne Ambulance to Homer Memorial Hospital.
Wallace was not wearing a seat
belt, but was not cited since mail and paper carriers are exempt. She was,
however, cited for careless operation.
Forgery Arrest Made By Sheriff’s Office
BY
SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Jeffery E. Duck, 31, of Haynesville
was arrested January 31 by the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office and charged
with two counts of forgery, following an investigation led by Chief Detective
Chuck Talley. A complaint received by an individual in Haynesville regarding
checks that had been stolen prompted an investigation, which revealed two
forged checks had been cashed at Piggly Wiggly in Haynesville, which led to
Duck’s arrest. He was booked into the Claiborne Parish Detention Center with bond set at $10,000 on
each count.
In a separate incident, Sheriff
Deputy Brian Pepper pulled over a vehicle on US Hwy. 79 at the intersection of
La. 9 on February 10 for a license plate violation. Patricia J. Bride, driver
of the vehicle, was charged with license plate light violation and driving under
suspension.
During the traffic stop
investigation, Deputy Pepper found the passenger in the vehicle, Robert S.
Foster, 24, of Haynesville to be in possession of marijuana. He was placed in
handcuffs and advised of his Miranda rights, then transported to the Detention Center where he was booked on
possession of Schedule I CDS (controlled dangerous substance) marijuana. His
bond was set at $500.
Logging Permit Given Go
Ahead By Police Jury
BY
SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
The Claiborne Parish Police
Jurors voted to initiate steps to adopt an ordinance to require annual logging
permits from timber companies and other heavy haulers as presented by Road
Superintendent Tommy Durrett. Durrett suggested the Jury adopt an ordinance
similar to the one used in Union County, Arkansas with an annual fee of $25 for
companies located in Claiborne Parish and in the neighboring parishes of
Webster, Bienville, Lincoln, and Union, and in Columbia and Union counties in Arkansas. All other companies will pay
a $50 annual fee. This will be a one time fee per year. Contractors will only
be required to notify by phone or fax when changing locations within the
parish. Voting against the motion was Lavelle Penix and Mark Furlow.
Durrett said contractors are
already required to fill out similar permits in other parishes. He said they
were not just trying to target loggers but planned to also have permits for
other heavy haulers. He said the majority of calls they receive now have to do
with logging. This ordinance will help track of everyone in the parish.
Furlow asked if truckers who
tear up parish roads would be fined and who would be responsible for repairing
the damage. Durrett said the parish can issue fines now, even without this
permit. This ordinance will only make it easier to track trucking companies
when they are working in Claiborne Parish. Secretary-treasurer Dwayne Woodard
said it would still require necessary advertising and a public hearing before
final approval of the ordinance.
.Jurors approved accepting the
low bid of H&E Equipment Services of $63,502.74 for a new 88 hp Komatsu WR
146 rubber tire backhoe. The other bid was $63,558.68 from Scott Construction
for an 80 hp Case 580M Series backhoe.
Woodard informed the jury that
a water pipe located on the back of Jury building was freezing in cold weather.
At the recommendation of a local plumber, jurors approved using inmate labor to
build a pipe shield to see if it would solve the problem.
Jurors approved spending up to
$800 to replace the roof on the food storage shed behind the Claiborne Parish
Sheriff’s Office.
Pending receipt of a written
request from the School Board, the Jury approved helping with repairs on the
circle drive in front of the Pineview School in Lisbon.
A motion was approved to deny
the application from Earlene Rabb Winzer dba Winzer Beverages located at 2673 Old Athens Road for a Class B retail beer
package permit.
John Bowman with the Human
Resources Department proposed a number of changes to the Employee Handbook. …more
Lottery
Scam Warning Issue By Homer Police Chief
BY
SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Congratulations! You just won
the Shore Point Lottery....NOT. If you were one of the lucky winners of
$120,000 in the Shore Point Lotto and recently received a $2,900 check in the
mail to help pay the taxes on your winnings, Homer Police Chief Russell Mills
would like to warn you—this is a scam.
The notification letter from
Shore Point Lotto in Amsterdam, Netherlands and check from an address in Adelphia, New Jersey was received this month by a
local resident. Instructions told the winner to call the phone number listed
for directions on how to proceed to collect their winnings before the February 20, 2007 deadline. Mills called the phone number and was told by
a lady on the other end of the line, the check was good. He said, “Don’t
believe it.”
Similar scams have circulated
in this area before. You deposit the check, then send
that amount via Western Union to a specific location. It will take several weeks for
the “lotto” check to clear the bank. By the time your bank receives
notification the check is no good, the money wired to them is gone.
Chief Mills said,
“Don’t be fooled. These type scams have become rampant in recent years.” He
warns residents to never send money to anyone in the mail with promises of prize money in
return. Verify any calls or emails by
simply calling your local bank or credit card company,
using the contact phone numbers on your billing.
With cases of identity theft or
identity fraud on the rise, Mills says it is good advice to never give out any
personal information over the phone or the internet, even when it looks and
sounds legitimate. Banks, credit card companies, and other lending institutions
never request confidential information regarding personal information such as
account numbers, social security numbers, passwords, mother’s maiden name, etc.
A series on NBC’s The Today
Show this week focuses on such scams. It also warns internet users to be leery
of installing CDs received in the mail. Some may contain malicious software
that can allow others to access all the personal information on your computer.
More information on The Today Show
website at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
Just remember the old saying,
if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Minden
Chorus To Perform At Jubilee
Claiborne Jubilee planners were
pleased to learn this week that the Minden Community Chorus will once again be
able to perform at the Jubilee on May 12. This will be the third performance
for the group at the Jubilee. In 2004 they presented a memorable program of
patriotic music on the Courthouse lawn as the festival honored the families of
those serving in the military. Last year the chorus wowed Jubilee goers once
again with their Fabulous Fifties program when the Jubilee was moved to the
First Presbyterian Church due to rain.
Many members of the chorus are
from Claiborne Parish and Claudia Goodwin of Haynesville accompanies the group.
They are directed by Dr. Dan Gibbs, minister of Music at First United Church of
Minden. Among the singers are Cee and Gordon Simmons and Mary and Harry Woodall
of Homer.
The Jubilee will also feature
an art show, a poetry contest and a quilt show. The committee welcomes
additional members. Interested persons should call Cynthia Steele at 318-927-2566.
Ramsey Descendant Looks
Back At White Lightning Feud
BY
BARBARA BATTON MURRY
I enjoyed Judy Pixley Dillard’s
article a few months back about the feud series that ran in The
Guardian-Journal. Judy, who is descended from the Tuggles, talked with family
members from those days who knew what happened. Of course, I have no memories at
all of the feud and remember only one or two things
mentioned in our family about it.
Maybe I should say that I am
descended from the Ramsey side of the feud. My father was Loys Batton, and his
mother was a Ramsey. Unfortunately, I’m not certain of my grandmother’s name,
but they called her “Babe.” Anyway, her father was killed in a fracas on the
Square. (NOTE: This may have been the W.W. Ramsey who was killed in a shootout
involving Henry and Hamp Tuggle that occurred on the Square in Homer between the
jail and Knighten’s Saloon as reported by The Guardian-Journal on February 25,
1891.)
I never knew my grandmother
because she died giving birth to my father’s younger brother. My father was
only 5 years old when his mother died. Minnie’s death left my grandfather with
six young children. He could not care for them all, so several families took
the children and raised them. My father went to live with the Toadvin family.
As far as I know, none of the children were adopted; they were just raised by
the families that took them in.
Although I know people are
interested in “feud stories,” there’s only one I can recall. My daddy said that
when the Tuggles were in town, the Ramseys would slip into the back of the
Tuggles’ wagon and hide under something. When the Tuggles returned to the wagon
to go back home, whoever was hiding back there heard the plans to retaliate for
the latest feud offense. That’s all I can remember hearing about “The Feud.”
By the way, Judy and I work
together at the hospital and see each other regularly in the course of our
work. We are friends and see no reason for the feud to affect our friendship.
It’s now just colorful local history....
Datcher’s Walking Canes On Display At Library
In celebration of Black History
Month the Claiborne Parish Library is exhibiting some of the walking canes
carved by Mr. Howard Datcher.
Mr. Datcher studied carving for
3 years under the instruction of David Allen, a nationally known cane carver
from Homer and he credits Mr. Allen as being "his father in
art". Datcher has been carving
professionally for over 15 years and has canes featured in The Folk Art Exhibit
of the Louisiana State Museum.
His canes are carved from
various wood found locally and the designs are unique to Mr. Datcher's folk art
style.Mr. Datcher is married to Louise Datcher, a former school teacher in the
Claiborne Parish school system.
Visit the Claiborne Parish
Library, 909 Edgewood Drive, during the month of February
to see Mr. Datcher's walking canes.
Two Qualify For Haynesville
Council Seat
BY
SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Two candidates qualified last
week for the special election to be held March 31,
2007
to elect the Council Member in District 2 for the Town of Haynesville. Candidates to qualify were
Democrat Herbert R. Taylor and Independent Roderick Hampton.
Alvin Moss resigned from the Council
on September 21, 2006 when he decided to move to Arkansas to take a job with the Corps
of Engineers at Lake DeGray. On October 5, the Haynesville
Town Council appointed Roderick Hampton to replace Moss until the election
could be held.
The last day to register to
vote in the March 31 election will be February 28. Early voting will be held
March 19-24.
Clementine Hunter Exhibit To Open February 15 At Museum
The Art and Social Commentary
of Clementine Hunter is comprised of more than 20
images of works by the artist. The exhibit, which will be on display at the Herbert S. Ford Museum in Homer from February
15-April 20, captures the spirit of Hunter’s life and work. As with most folk
artists, Hunter’s art reflects the tragedies and triumphs of a simple and
unadorned lifestyle. Her work depicts exactly what she knew, the agrarian
existence of life on Melrose Plantation and the small traditions and ceremonies
that mark a person’s progression from birth to death. For information on the
primitive art workshop to be conducted by local artist Chris Broussard on
Monday, February 26, call 927-9190.
Looking
Continued from last week....
Below are highlights from more
events that occurred in 2006...continued from last week.
NOVEMBER
Monie Roser, a 24-year-old inmate
at David Wade Correctional Center was found strangled in his
cell October 23 about two weeks after arriving at the Claiborne Parish
facility. Although it appeared to be a suicide, Warden Venetia Michael called
the Criminal Investigative Division of the Claiborne Parish Sheriff's Office to
investigate. .
…more
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