Suspect in custody after rollover
accident
The Guardian-Journal photo/Michelle Bates
In this photo, dated Tuesday, July 29,
this black Chevy truck was rolled over after it was stolen from a resident of Lisbon. The suspect, Terryon McCollister, was apprehended by Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s
deputies and arrested.
MICHELLE BATES, Editor
A
suspect is in custody after he rolled over a truck he stole from a resident of Lisbon.
Claiborne
Parish Sheriff’s Deputies received a call of a rollover accident on Willis Road off of Franklin Estates Road in Lisbon late Tuesday evening. The suspect,
Terryon McCollister, of Bernice, was on the run when deputies arrived on scene.
According to deputies, McCollister was very combative.
According
to Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Brazzel, the truck was stolen, and
witnesses at the scene said McCollister was high on drugs at the time of the
accident.
Marcus
Coleman, owner of the black Chevy truck, said McCollister took his truck at
approximately 5 p.m. Once the suspect fled the scene, Coleman and others
flipped the truck back over. Coleman said he was very upset about the whole
thing.
“I was
trying to restore the truck,” he said. “I work hard on it every day, and for
somebody to come and just take it from you – it’s hard.”
Brazzel
said the suspect had also been involved in a physical altercation with his
girlfriend earlier in the day. Later that evening, Fire District 6 Assistant
Chief Scott Greeson said he received a call in regards to a possibly injured
woman walking along Hwy. 156 and La. 2 on the outskirts of Lisbon.
“I
asked her if she was okay, and she said she needed help,” Greeson said.
He then
transported her to the Lisbon Fire Station and called for an ambulance. Pafford
Ambulance arrived on scene, treated her for head trauma and transported to Homer Memorial Hospital. As of press time, the extent of her injuries was unknown.
McCollister was apprehended,
arrested and taken to Homer Memorial Hospital for treatment of non
life-threatening injuries from the accident.
Louisiana
State Police were called in to assist in the accident investigation. Also,
Pafford Ambulance, Fire District 6 and the Homer Fire Department were called to
the scene.
McCollister
was charged with careless operation, no seatbelt, no driver’s license and DWI
1st, according to state police reports. As of press time, charges from the
Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Department are pending and bond had not been set.
Tax-free weekend Aug. 1-2
JENNI WILLIAMS, The Guardian-Journal
In an
effort to help relieve some of the stress of back-to-school purchases, Louisiana legislators have once again scheduled a tax-free weekend for consumers.
For
savvy shoppers around the U.S., the sales tax holiday is an annual event worth
waiting for to make those school supply lists and clothing purchases easier to
bear. This year is no exception. More than 12 states temporarily suspend
state sales tax on certain items which include clothing, computers and school
supplies.
The tax
exemption, to be held from 12:01 a.m. Friday, August 1 until midnight, Saturday, August 2, will apply to the four percent sales tax but will not apply to taxes
that are levied by parishes, municipalities, school boards or other political
subdivisions.
The tax
credit applies to consumer purchases of tangible property under $2,500,
excluding meals, hotels, amusements, cleaning, etc.
Delivery
and layaway are both taken care of by the exemption as long as they are
purchased during the set time span.
A few
local businesses that carry school uniforms are Fred Smith & Sons, Miss
Lizzie’s and Bill’s Dollar Store. Remember to shop Homer first.
Haynesville fire, police buildings in
danger
MICHELLE BATES, Editor
The
Haynesville Fire and Police Departments are facing a serious issue, one that
has been discussed far too long.
The
departments’ buildings are in danger of serious damage if a condemned building
between the two is not torn down – soon. In fact, it has a pine tree growing in
the southwest corner of it. (For those who wish to see this, the mayor is
asking people not to go into this building. He said he has seen it himself, but
it is too dangerous for anyone to enter the building. It has been roped off
with yellow tape to stop anyone from entering.)
Haynesville
Fire Chief Mark Furlow feels the issue is very important, and has tried for the
last few years to get a grant for a new fire station, which would include
enough money to demolish the building.
“We’re
going to try one more time. There is no guarantee, but [the building] is a
hazard for anybody right now,” Furlow said. “We’ve got to get that building
torn down. If that building falls, it’s going to take the jail and the police
station with it.”
The
building leaks horribly, and the issue of its demolition has been a topic for
several years now. Furlow’s major concern is that the building will collapse on
its own, knocking a wall in the fire station down onto the department’s trucks.
Inside
the building, several wood beams have rotted out and threaten to fall in more
than they have already. In fact, Furlow has moved some of the fire station’s
equipment for fear of it being destroyed or damaged if the other building
should fall. On the other side, a portion of the building adjoins the police
station, which is the old jail – also where case evidence is stored.
Police
Chief Anthony Smith said if the building damages that area even more, years of
investigations are potentially gone down the drain. The evidence the old jail
currently houses are items that cannot get wet. In fact, they are still holding
evidence on cases from the 1980s.
“It
really goes deeper than just the fire station,” Smith said. “If we don’t do
something with that building, it’s going to destroy our building as well. The
damage is much more than it falling down on the fire station. It would fall on
the fire station one way, but it would fall down on the evidence locker [the
other way].”
The
issue is the Town of Haynesville owns the building, and the two entities have
worked tirelessly to make sure proper procedure is being followed.
A
special meeting was held Monday, July 28, in which the entire volunteer fire
department came in force. Furlow and the Mayor Sherman Brown both agreed that
something needs to be done, and to get the process rolling, the town will begin
advertising for bids this week to accept bids on getting the building
demolished. As for the transfer of the building, those details will be worked
out in the interim.
In an
effort to get state funding, Furlow met with Rep. Rick Gallot and his assistant
Jared Evans Sunday, July 20, and toured the area. Furlow said Gallot was
shocked to see the condition of the building and what it was doing to the
current fire station and police department buildings.
“The
building has deteriorated beyond the point of return,” he said. “Had I known
the governor was going to do what he did with the vetoes, we might have been
able to put that money towards other projects in the district. The immediate
concern is getting that building demolished before it collapses.”
Gallot
is actively seeking a funding source to cover a portion, if not the entire cost
of demolition.
District
3 Councilwoman Joyce Major told Furlow the council had already decided to
donate the building and property to Fire District 3, although that decision is
not official, because it has not been voted on. The mayor intends to attend the
next District 3 board meeting to present the bids from the August town council
meeting in hopes they can come to an agreement in sharing the costs of the
demolition. The donation of the building/property will come at a later date.
In
other news, Fire District 3 is looking to buy two new vehicles for the
department, which will help bring down the town’s fire insurance rating. The
rating is done based on equipment, manpower and how many fires the district
has, among other things. It was suggested to the district their auditors to
purchase a new pumper, and the district also plans to purchase a Suburban to
serve as a service truck.
Their
current service truck went down recently, and having another one on hand would
be a great help in the event it goes down again. This new vehicle also gives
their special response team a vehicle to respond to other circumstances during
inclement weather or other extraordinary circumstances. It would provide them
with everything they need to respond to these types of calls.
Fire
District Board 3 and the Town of Haynesville have an intergovernmental
agreement, which means any purchases made over $7,500, where both parties must
agree on the purchase.
“We’re
proud of what we have, and we are rated Class 4 in the city and in the
district,” Furlow said. “I want to get a Class 3, which means our insurance
will go down.”
He
asked the council to join the district in their recommendation in the purchase
of a new pumper truck. The department currently has two trucks, but both are
about to push 20-years-old. They have a lot of miles on them, but they are
still good trucks. The idea is to purchase a new pumper and put one of the
other two on reserve. According to their auditors, they must have three pumpers
at all times.
The
Town of Haynesville will not have to put up any money towards the purchase of
the truck; Fire District 3 has enough to purchase it outright, Furlow said. The
council passed a motion to begin advertising for bids for the firetrucks in
their regular monthly meeting.
Haynesville man arrested on several
charges
The Guardian-Journal
A
Haynesville man was arrested on an array of charges after Claiborne Parish
Sheriff’s deputies (CPSO) learned of his outstanding warrants.
Lt.
Jimmy Brown, of the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Department, stopped a vehicle on
La. 9 north in Claiborne Parish for speeding. Upon requesting the proper
paperwork from the driver, identified as Gavin Hay of Haynesville, Brown
discovered Hay’s license was suspended and there were three outstanding
warrants of criminal neglect of family for Hay.
Brown
placed Hay under arrest and pursuant to arrest, performed a search and
discovered a clear plastic bag containing a green leafy vegetable material that
appeared to be marijuana on Hay’s person. Hay was advised of his rights in
Miranda form and transported to the Claiborne Parish Detention Center.
He was
booked and jailed for three counts of criminal neglect of family, speeding
67/55, driving under suspension and possession of a Schedule I CDS (marijuana).
Bond was set at $9,000, $6,000 and $10,000 on the three child support warrants
and $500 each on the speeding, driving under suspension and possession of
marijuana charges.
Homer man jailed for stealing lawn
equipment
The Guardian-Journal
A Homer
man was arrested after witnesses observed him using a stolen bush hog.
Gary G. Daniels, of Homer, was
charged with theft over $500, with bond set at $10,000.
According
to Homer police, Daniels was in possession of a stolen motorized bush hog. This
is a piece of equipment that can be pulled behind a lawn mower or four-wheeler
to cut grass.
It was
discovered that the equipment was stolen from a residence on Emerald Drive. Witnesses said they observed Daniels loading the equipment into the back of
his truck, and later, officers observed him trying to use the equipment on Caney Street in the Pearl Street area of Homer.
He was
arrested and released on bond the following day.
In an
unrelated incident, Russell Thornton, 18, of Homer, was arrested Thursday, July
24, and charged with theft of goods by shoplifting and flight from an officer.
Homer Police were dispatched to
a call to Keith’s Food Mart in reference to a subject stealing fishing tackle.
Upon arrival, officers made contact with Thornton, at which time, the suspect
retrieved the stolen merchandise out of his pocket and from inside of his
shorts. When officers attempted to place him under arrest, Thornton pulled away
from them and fled on foot.
Within
30 to 45 minutes, Thornton was brought back to the Homer Police Department by
his mother, at which time he was arrested, charged and transported to the Claiborne Parish Detention Center.
On
Sunday, July 27, a Natchitoches man was arrested in Homer after police were
called to a disturbance.
Willie
J. Scott Jr. was charged with incite to riot, disturbing the peace and
accessory after the fact – aiding a felon.
According
to police, Scott was arrested after he was involved in an altercation in the
area of Washington Street in Homer. He and several other people were involved
in a verbal altercation that turned physical.
Once
police arrived, Scott was trying to rile up the crowd and making “gestures”
towards the victim who had been attacked. The victim was a 15-year-old
juvenile.
Bond on those charges was set at
$500 each.
On the
same day, Thomas Emerson was stopped by Homer police for speeding, and a
background check revealed he had a warrant for his arrest for failure to pay
child support. At the time of arrest, a search of Emerson’s person revealed a
smoking device commonly used to smoke crack cocaine was found. He was charged
with possession of drug paraphernalia and transported to the Claiborne Parish Detention Center where bond was set at $8,000 on the warrant, and $500 on the
possession of drug paraphernalia charge.
In
other news, several arrests were made last week when the Haynesville Police
received complaints about a local liquor establishment selling alcohol to minors.
Jason
Staggs of Haynesville, William Greening of Texarkana, Ark., Scott Sigle of
Forman, Ark., and Michael Miller of Mineral Springs, Ark., were arrested on
charges of unlawful sale of alcohol to persons under 21. Sigle and Greening
were each charged with two counts, and Staggs and Miller were each charged with
one count. Bond on each count was set at $500 each.
CPSO participates in ‘OffenderWatch’
Claiborne
Parish Sheriff Ken Bailey announced that the sheriff’s office is now
participating in a service for our citizens that will make a citizen-friendly,
easy-to-use Claiborne Parish sex offender registry available on the CPSO
website.
This
will enable citizens to search for the presence of registered offenders in
proximity to their homes, places of work, schools and day cares. This
information is being provided to the citizens in a form they can easily use any
time of day or night via the nation’s leading offender registration and
notification solution, OffenderWatch.
Citizens
may enter any address of interest to them and see a map and listing of
offenders within a two-mile, one-mile or quarter of a mile radius of that
address. Then, they may register the address to be continuously monitored by
the sheriff’s office and will be sent an email alerting them if an offender
registers an address within the above parameters. Citizens may confidentially
register as many addresses as they like at no cost to them.
The
purpose of the program is to lessen the anxiety of citizens by proactively
alerting them should an offender/predator move within proximity to them, and to
enhance the security and safety of Claiborne Parish citizens.
Detective
Randy Smith will be in charge of this program and Bailey encourages any citizen
with concerns regarding the sex offender registry to call (318) 927-9800. The
sheriff’s department’s website can be reached by going to www.claibornesheriff.org
and clicking on the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Department or go to the
OffenderWatch website at www.offenderwatch.com. This service is expected to be
up and running fully by next week.
Season tickets to go on sale
Football
season tickets, parking passes, and box seats for the 2008 football season will
go on sale August 4.
Prices
are as follows: general admission, $6; season tickets, $25; lower box seats/sky
boxes, $25; and parking passes, $15.
Previous
holders of season tickets, parking passes or box seats will be given the
opportunity to renew, then those not renewed will be offered on a first come,
first serve basis.
For
more information on ticket purchases, call 927-2985 or go by the Homer High
School Office. Presale tickets will be available for $5 in the high school
office until 3 p.m. each day the week of the game.
Trash Bash to be held Saturday, Aug. 2
This
month’s trash bash will held Saturday, August 2, from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m., beginning at Oil Mill Road between the old Cotton Warehouses and Housing
Apartments.
This is
available to Homer citizens only. Please be prepared to show ID. Metal and
white goods (refrigerators and washing machines etc) and regular trash
accepted. No limbs accepted unless bundled in 6-foot long pieces.
For
more information, call the Town of Homer’s Clean City Committee at 927-3271 or
927-2342.
Public hearing to be held Monday, August
4
A
public hearing regarding the town’s tax millage will be held Monday, August 4,
at 6 p.m. in council chambers. For more information, call Homer Town Hall at 927-3555.
“Homer Mail by Airplane Last Wednesday
Afternoon”
JIMMY DEAN, Feature Writer
July 21, 1920, is the
“Wednesday afternoon” to which that headline on the front page of The
Guardian-Journal of July 28, 1920, refers. As far as I know, that eighty-eighth
anniversary eased by without local fanfare. It was a pretty big deal, though,
in 1920 when air travel was still growing up.
The
Guardian-Journal article describes Homer’s role as a part of aviation history
when the first airmail flight in the South landed here.
Where
exactly did the plane land? At the local fairgrounds, then located in the
southeast part of Homer near where the National Guard Armory and the ballpark
are now.
Taking
off from the fairgrounds in Shreveport, the flight was 40-60 minutes, according
to various sources. The Guardian-Journal mentions a “slight injury to one of
the wings caused by running into a bunch of horses grazing in the fairgrounds.”
The
Guardian-Journal goes on to state that an L&NW worker repaired the wing “in
a few minutes” and the return trip to Shreveport was completed without further
incident.
Several
weeks earlier the postmaster for Shreveport had asked residents of that city to
write thousands of letters to Homer residents for the flight. The plane’s mail
delivery consisted of 3000 letters, each with a specially-issued stamp
commemorating the occasion.
A
Shreveport Times article from the era states that Homer was selected because of
the “heavy volume of mail handled between the two towns due to the oil
business.” Claiborne Parish was in the middle of its prosperous oil boom.
Homer’s having a suitable landing area seems to have been another reason for
its selection for the noteworthy event.
Various
accounts indicate that the plane left Shreveport at 2:45 that afternoon with temperatures in the 90s.
The
return flight left Homer about 5:25, and “mail was back in the Shreveport Post
Office and was being distributed at 6:25 p.m.” The Shreveport mail to Homer
weighed in at 25 pounds, while Homer’s to Shreveport weighed about 35 pounds.
Comparing
air-based and rail-based delivery times (rail-based being the common means of
transporting mail in the 1920s), postal officials noted that air-based delivery
was considerably faster. Rail-based mail movement from Shreveport to Homer took
about a day-and-a-half back then.
Piloted
by Lt. Lin G. Pittman, the craft was a Curtiss Jenny biplane, a type popular
with barnstormers of the time. A.E. Ford, Shreveport Post Office Superintendent
accompanied Pittman on the flight.
The
Times reported, “Homer was very much excited over the flight. Postmaster
Fulmer, Chamber of Commerce and city officials, and a great crowd of citizens
[were] at the landing field to watch the arrival and departure of the plane.”
That
was 88 years ago. Claiborne Parish is now in the 21st century with email,
faxes, cell phones, and instant messaging...reckon what’s next?
—o—
I’m from a generation where everything is instant . . .
instant information . . . instant news . . . instant celebrity . . . instant
answers . . . instant shopping . . . instant banking . . . instant
communication . . . instant friends . . . instant anger . . . instant lawsuits
. . . instant boredom . . . instant fame . . . instant loss . . . instant
marriage . . . instant divorce . . . Nothing takes time any more. (from
Stephanie’s internet blog)
Price at the pump won’t fall much lower
Jenni Williams, The Guardian-Journal
For
gasoline purchasers, little is certain but higher and higher prices it seems.
Is it
going to end any time soon? Is it going to get so bad that everyone will have
to park their personal vehicles?
Most
feel they have no choice but to continue to drive everyday. Among school,
sports, church and work many consumers rarely park their vehicles. People say
the only way to make oil companies stop the constant increase in prices is to
boycott the gas stations and park their vehicles, but how many times do those
very same people pass each other on the highway day after day?
According
to the current Energy Sector Report, supply and demand are the primary drivers
of oil prices. Recently, supply has become relatively tight compared with the
past. Supply has grown slowly while global demand growth has accelerated.
With most of the new finds in hostile or remote areas it has become much harder
and expensive and few new big fields are being found.
The
current price of oil is approximately $140 per barrel of oil and is expected to
remain quite volatile. With the uncertainty surrounding the United States and global economies, the impact on the demand for oil will be the key driver
for 2008.
In the
long term, the report currently assumes that prices will gradually fall to
nearer $60 per barrel over the next five years. That’s less than 50 percent of
the current prices. Imagine what that number would translate to in the prices
seen at the pumps.
Surprisingly,
the current inflation rate is fairly close to the historical average. Because
prices at the grocery store and the gas pump are higher, its easier to imagine
inflation is higher than what’s been reported. But food and gasoline aren’t as
big a factor in measuring inflation as most would think. In fact, the average
person only spends about four percent of his/her budget on gasoline and only 14
percent on food.
Big
ticket items like computers and clothing that aren’t purchased as often also
play a role in determining the inflation rate. These larger priced items
aren’t having to be purchased as often as gas and groceries.
It is
believed that inflation, while it may rise, is not currently a problem. Global
trends will continue to reduce some prices, which will help keep inflation
under control. A few ways to help keep inflation under control include
coordinated efforts by the federal government and other central banks to raise
short-term interest rates and slow growth; increasing globalization that lowers
costs; and technology and productivity improvements that help companies produce
more effectively.
In a
2007 report done by Edward Jones on the relationship of oil prices and
inflation tried to answer many of the questions of the general public. One
question of importance was, “Are we running out of oil?” The report’s answer
was that global conventional oil resources total 2.2 trillion barrels of oil
with nonconventional resources bringing that total to 3 trillion barrels. As
of 2006, the energy industry has produced about one trillion barrels of oil.
So, over the course of history, consumption is roughly one-third of the
existing oil supplies.
Due to
increased fuel efficiency and a major growth in hybrid vehicles, the fuel
demand in North America will likely be the same in 2030 as it was in 2007.
Today’s higher gasoline costs are slowing demand and will likely spur new
sources of oil and development of alternative energy sources.
Many
people today assume that current SUVs burn a large amount of fuel, but the
economy today uses half as much energy as it did in the 1970s. The average
car in 1975 went only 14 miles on a single gallon of gas which is much less
efficient than today’s vehicles.
So,
despite the seemingly astronomical rise in oil prices, overall inflation has
remained very tame. Consumers don’t hear about significantly higher costs for
cars, clothes, computers and food, although energy and healthcare costs have
risen.
Simply,
history shows that higher costs and inflation seem to counterbalance each
other. So, for those looking for lower prices at the pump, don’t be
disappointed when prices don’t fall too much.
Parish, Homer in for economic boost thanks
to pipeline
MICHELLE BATES, Editor
Claiborne
Parish could be in for another economic boom with hundreds of miles of natural
gas pipeline at its source.
Stephen
Gonzales was the special guest speaker at the Homer Lions Club last Thursday,
and he explained what his company was doing and how it would impact the local
and parish economy.
Gonzales,
manager of communications, explained that the pipeline is literally coming
through Homer’s backyard. Beginning in Texas and ending in Mississippi, the
entire pipeline runs 13,660 miles. With Louisiana in the middle, the pipeline
is running across the state in all the top parishes bordering the Arkansas state line, including Claiborne. That means 2,200 miles of pipeline is coming
through Louisiana, 90 miles of it in Claiborne Parish.
The
pipeline will also run through Bienville Parish.
The
project itself, he said, is a $4.7 billion investment. Approximately 1,300 jobs
have come to Claiborne Parish with a total $313 million payroll. Although these
jobs are reserved for experienced pipeline workers, those workers will be
spending money in Claiborne Parish, boosting the local and parish tax base. The
project is expected to last through the first quarter of 2009.
Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi are the center of almost all the
natural gas pipelines in the United States. Showing a charted map of where the
pipelines run, Gonzales said the major cluster of them came from these three
states.
Gonzales
showed another map revealing many shale locations. As many are learning, the
Haynesville Shale is the newest formation found. Others were discovered and
have been drilled for many years, including the Barnett Shale, the
Caney/Woodford Shale, the Fayetteville Shale and the Bossier Sands.
“Geologists
always knew there was gas in these shales,” Gonzales said, “but they just
didn’t have the technology to get to it.”
The
technology he is referring to is horizontal drilling. Until just a few years
ago, oil and gas companies were only able to drill vertically, or straight
down. That meant when drilling began, several holes had to be drilled in
different areas, costing companies millions of dollars.
With
horizontal drilling, not as many holes have to be drilled to reach the pay
zone, or oil and gas. In other words, if a company drills in one area, it can
be drilled horizontally and cover more ground, in turn saving oil and gas
companies hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
HMH receives high scores
Homer Memorial Hospital is
topping the charts again, according to recent survey.
In a
2007-2008 patient perspective on hospital care and services survey report for Homer Memorial Hospital that was conducted between the months of February and April 2008,
HMH has consistently rated higher than the other hospitals both in our region
and nationally.
Homer Memorial Hospital
participates in this nationally mandated and regulated patient satisfaction
survey process to help accurately compare hospitals within a certain region and
nationally. This report is used to summarize inpatient perspectives on the
general quality of hospital services.
The
results of this survey are used to support initiatives that will maintain or
enhance the overall caliber of the hospital’s inpatient care. The results HMH
received shows that, over the past nine months, the hospital has scored
consistently higher even though the number may vary quarter to quarter, the
executive summary shows HMH as rating higher in a number of categories.
Some of
those categories include: communication with nurses, communication with
physicians, communication with medications, responsiveness of hospital staff,
pain management, clean hospital environment, quiet hospital environment,
overall score and willingness to recommend hospital.
While
the hospital scored slightly lower than others on providing discharge
information, recent improvements in the hospital information system are
expected to dramatically improve both the discharge process and the information
provided to the patients.
HMH had
a score above the national average in both communication with nurses and quiet
hospital environment.
This Film by Michael Haynes Productions was created in conjunction with 
