The public outcry was heard. It just didn’t get any effective action. It did get the attention of Mayor Leslie Thompson who attempted to veto the raise in salary to the Jonesboro Board of Aldermen but when it was all said and done, due process took its course and the salary raise stayed in place.

“I have heard what you have asked of us,” said Thompson during the Mayors Update portion of the Town Council meeting on September 8^th.  “Your complaints let me know what I needed to do and what we needed to fix.”

That action was a veto set forth by the Jonesboro Mayor that stood as long as it took for the five member panel of Pete Stringer, Devin Flowers, Robbie Siadek, James Ginn and Nia Evans Johnson to make a motion and vote to override the veto.  For the record Councilman Devin Flowers voted against the raise as he had done when it was first established in a prior meeting.

For a full copy of the minutes of the meeting see below or go to Public Notices in the Classifieds Section of the Jackson Parish Journal.

It is not uncommon for a board of an organization to talk about wanting to do something for their constituents but often times that is the only thing that comes out of it – a lot of talk. You can’t say that about the Jackson Parish Recreation Board (JPRB). They have put their money where their mouth is.

At the regularly scheduled August meeting of the JPRB held at the Charles H. Garrett Community Center board members Brent Barnett, Ricky Cash, Jeff Hairston, Sullivan Stevens and Chris Womack agreed to spend over $280,000.00 that will greatly benefit a wide variety of Recreation Department users. Brandon Lamkin and Rodney Potts were absent.

The largest part of the expenditure was $176,000.00 paid to Weyerhaueser for 80 acres of land that sits adjacent to the Jackson Parish Golf Course which Recreation Department Director Tommy Smith hopes will bring to fruition a dream of his since his department took over the golf course several years ago.

“The hope is that with the extra land we will be able to have a full 18-hole golf course for our parish residents,” said Smith. “We already have one of the best 9-hole layouts you can find but this would put us on a new level.”

The second expenditure was the awarding of a construction contract in the amount of $104,200.00 to Dodson Enterprises of Jonesboro for the building of a permanent concession building on the south end of the Baseball/Softball Complex.

“This helps us to complete the original plans we had for out baseball/softball complex,” furthered Smith. “Now all of our fields will have the benefit of a true concession building like the one we have at the front of the complex.”

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be at noon on Monday, September 21^st at the Charles H. Garrett Community Center.

By: Glynn Harris

            I’m a hunter and there is nothing that gets my juices flowing better than to be sitting in my deer stand waiting for a buck or taking a seat on a moss-covered log watching for squirrels.

            As much as I am gratified by these activities, I’m never really disappointed if no buck appears or if the squirrels decide to sleep in this morning. Along with packing my firearm when I’m hunting, hanging from a strap around my neck is my camera. I have spent valuable moments observing and photographing other stuff going on around me in the woods. I’ve watched and photographed birds I don’t see around my feeder. I’ve taken images of a spider spinning a web, a caterpillar inching its way along the log where I sit. I suppose you could call me a “wildlife watcher”.

            This is why I got really worked up when I heard about a new book just out on the market, one written by a friend and one that last week appeared in my mail box. The author is Rob Simbeck whose home is located in a wooded lot just outside Nashville, TN. While I think of myself as a “wildlife watcher”, Rob has taken it to the limit in his book, “The Southern Wildlife Watcher”.  He not only studies the minute details of the wildlife he observes, his reporting of what he sees and learns about critters from eagles to earthworms; from hummingbirds to house flies; from starfish to snakes, leaves nothing to the imagination. For someone to make an earthworm sound interesting, Simbeck sets himself apart from goobers like me who pictures earthworms only as skewered on a fish hook. And I have the audacity to call myself a “wildlife watcher.”

            If I should happen to see a beautiful monarch butterfly fluttering around our lantana blossoms, I might say something like, “gosh, what a pretty butterfly!” Simbeck, on the other hand, shares detailed and utterly fascinating information about these incredible creatures. Quoting in part from his book “Four inches from wing tip to wing tip, a monarch weighs half as much as a dollar bill and has a brain the size of a peppercorn. Yet every fall, millions of them, just a few weeks old, begin an epic migration. From Canada and much of the United States east of the Rockies they head south over terrain they have never seen, toward a dozen specks of forest in the mountains of southern Mexico.”

Entomologist Lincoln Brower known for his research and work toward protection of the monarch added, “I couldn’t believe the density and numbers….it was like walking into Chartres Cathedral and seeing light coming through stained-glass windows. This was the eighth wonder of the world.”

With a brilliant foreword provided by well known author and writer Jim Casada, several other notables have provided their endorsement of this fascinating book. Simbeck continues to be active in the country music industry, interviewing scores of folks who have made their mark on the country music scene. He was the former Nashville rep for Bob Kingsleys’s Top Forty Countdown. Some of the more well-known performers endorsing his book include the late Charlie Daniels and Kix Brooks who wrote “When I heard Rob was writing a book about ‘critters’ in the outdoors, I was really excited and I was not disappointed. What a fun read’.”

Author and long time outdoors writer Keith Sutton adds, “His creature biographies reveal fascinating facts about animals what will stir readers to leave their armchairs and go outdoors to observe firsthand the denizens of woods, fields, oceans and streams.”

Simbeck writes in the preface, “I hope to share within these pages the magic I feel when I encounter the natural world, for we are all part of a cosmic Ferris wheel, whirling around together on this pretty blue planet. May this book unite us in that appreciation, and may it connect us more fully to the creatures around us.”

To purchase a copy of The Southern Wildlife Watcher – $18.95 is a bargain for sure – visit your local book store and ask for it. If they don’t have it, they’ll order it for you. Want an inscribed copy? Go to his web site at robsimbeck.com, tell him what you want and he’ll fix you up. You have my guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

FISHING REPORT 

BUSSEY BRAKE – Bream have been fair on worms and crickets. No report on crappie or catfish. Bass are fair around the trees and pads on soft plastics and jigs.

BLACK BAYOU –  Bream are fair; others are slow. Contact Honey Hole Tackle Shop 323-8707 for latest information.

OUACHITA RIVER – The river has current and fishing is fair. Crappie are fair around the tops in the river on shiners of jigs. Bass are fair fishing shad imitations at the mouth of the creeks and run-outs on soft plastics. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.

LAKE D’ARBONNE – The lake is being lowered five feet with about a 4 inch drop each day. Look for crappie to be on the flats on shiners or jigs, both plastic and hair jigs. Bass are fair where there is current as the water is dropping with crank baits, spinners and Rogues picking up a few. Bream have slowed while catfishing is good on cold worms or night crawlers. For latest reports, call Anderson’s Sport Center at 368-9669 or Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.

LAKE CLAIBORNE – Bass fishing has been best fishing crank baits or plastic worms around submerged brush in 12-20 foot water. Stripers are schooling and hitting shad imitations, white bucktails or spoons at the mouth of Sandy creek and between Horse and Bear creeks. Crappie fishing is fair around the deeper tops on shiners or jigs. Bream are slow and no report this week on catfish. For latest information, call Tim Loftin at Kel’s Cove at 927-2264.

CANEY LAKE – Bass fishing has been best targeting breaking schools with Yellow Magic lures in the Japanese Shad or Smoke Shad colors. Some are also being caught deep on Shakey Tails, crank baits or big plastic worms. Crappie fishing has been fair on jigs and shiners fishing around deep brush. No report this week on bream or catfish. For latest information contact Bateaux on Caney Lake at 259-6649, Hooks Marina at 249-2347, Terzia Tackle at 278-4498 or the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.

LAKE POVERTY POINT –Catfishing is fair for smaller sized fish. No report on bass, bream or crappie. For latest reports, call Poverty Point Marina at 318-878-0101.

LAKE ST. JOHN – Catfishing is fair while bass, bream and crappie are slow. For information, call Ken Mahoney at 318-201-3821.

LAKE YUCATAN – The water is on a slow fall with a slight rise expected next week. Bass fishing has been good while others are slow. For information, call Surplus City Landing at 318/467-2259.

LAKE BRUIN – In a word, fishing overall is slow. For information, contact Carlos Gray at 318/766-0075.

If the past several months has taught us anything about the upcoming LHSAA prep football season it is that if you hear that something is officially in place, it isn’t. The good news is that for a change the “new” news brings good news.

Jonesboro-Hodge High School and the remainder of “select” and “non-select” schools in the LHSAA will now begin their season on the first weekend of October, one week earlier than the “official’ starting date of October 8^th that was handed down just one week prior.

Schools will still play only an eight game schedule beginning with the third game of the regular season listed on the regular ten game schedule that was put in place this past spring. For Jonesboro-Hodge it that means an October 2^nd trip to Delta Charter in Ferriday.

It was hoped by many local fans that by starting the schedule one week sooner it would allow for the Jonesboro-Hodge vs Winnfield string of 76 years of uninterrupted games to continue but instead it was deemed best by the LHSAA that by staying with a week 3 start a full complement of playoff games could be held. 

In additional action by the LHSAA it was deemed to allow practice in full pads for the first time this past Thursday much to the delight of JHHS head coach Terrance Blankenship.

“Now it sounds like football practice out there,” said the Tiger mentor entering his 8^th year at the helm. “The guys were excited about it. The season never really gets going for the players until they get to hit someone.”  

The Black Lives Matter Movement was created to demonstrate once again the evil and brutality that continues to visit upon people and communities of color and that the nation must finally deal with the issues of racism, lack of affordable housing, high unemployment in African American communities, inadequate health care, racial injustice and systemic, intentional and purposeful discrimination, that has plagued the country from its inception.  Over the years people of color have peacefully assembled and petitioned for redress of grievances.  Black American citizens have sat in, slept in, stood in, studied in, prayed in.  As the Black Lives Movement has done, people of color have waged their struggles nonviolently in the spirit of love, appealed to the fundamental morality of the nation, and the nation’s conscience.  The response has been bloodied heads and broken limbs, bombed churches and burned homes, assassinated leaders and murdered followers, broken spirits, crippled hopes, dashed and shattered dreams.

Many white citizens resent the Black Lives Matter Movement and have resorted to drastic measures in tearing down and painting over Black Lives Matter signs contending that all lives matter. We now have armed pro Trump vigilantes and white nationalist caravanning through the town of Kenosha Wisconsin waving flags and firing paintballs at protesters,  a young white seventeen-year-old Kyle Whitton killing two protesters and injuring another protester in Kenosha Wisconsin, an outsider from an adjoining state claiming that he came to protect local businesses. These groups are infiltrating peaceful protest marches with the aim of creating chaos, smearing, and casting doubt and dispersion upon the Black Lives Matter Movement.,

The truth of the matter is that all lives cannot matter until Black lives, (people of color) are no longer treated as invisible beings ,until Black people’s lives are no longer routinely snuffed out by demented white police officers, until Black men and women are no longer being pulled over, stopped, harassed, arrested, killed and or beaten without consequences to the perpetrators.  If all lives matter why is that only Black men and women are living in constant fear of losing their lives to police brutality, and telling their children do not get in trouble with white police officers who are becoming increasingly more openly aggressive.  Residents of communities of color are having to live under the fear and treats that they could be killed any day by a white police officer. 

The question is raised, if all lives matter, why is it factual that Black men and women are the targets of racial injustice, killed and murdered in greater numbers than other race citizens, young black men like Jacob Blake being shot seven times in the back  by a white police officer (using deadly force) in Wisconsin as his children watched in terror, African Americans are last to be hired and the first to be fired from the job. If all lives matter why is that young African American men like Ronnie Long of North Carolina (and a host of other black males) have been sent to prison for years for crime that they did not commit. Long was sentenced and served 44 years for rape in a prison cell by an all-white jury, when white prosecutors purposely withheld evidence that would have exonerated Long and was  recently released at a time when the glow and meaning of  life have passed and is of little or no  moment.    Others question, if all lives matter, why is it that the unemployment rate for Blacks is twice that of white Americans (around 17-19 percent for blacks, and 6-8% for white Americans)?  Why is it that African American communities suffer greatly because of blatant acts of racism, poor schools, gerrymandering, black voter’s suppression, lack of quality health care, high incarcerations?  Why is it that we see police officers with guns drawn in Black communities against Black citizens, more noticeable why is that it is only in communities of color that you see white police officers handcuffing black citizens including kids, perching their knees on their necks and holding their knees firmly there until the suspect is no longer able to move and breath or in the case of George Floyd, he passed away while pleading “I can breathe”?.  If all lives matter, why do innocent citizens find themselves subject to “No knock laws” which allow police immediate access to ones dwelling when they often shoot and kill residents?  Finally, if all lives really matter why in heaven are racist vigilantes permitted  to apprehend unarmed African American men driving or jogging through a predominately white neighborhood, contending that the person was there to rob, an altercation ensues and the jogger is shot and killed and there is no formal investigation or arrest until several months later when there is public outcry and  embarrassment to the local establishment??? In Kenosha Wisconsin we saw a young white male after killing two protest marchers walking in clear view past a patrol of police officers brandishing an automatic weapon and was not stop at all.

The Black Lives Matter Movement has been a voice for people of color, it has been a peaceful protest movement by people of all races, ethnic backgrounds often speaking out against the killing of Black kids by white men and police officers who have no remorse about shooting and killing a Black teenager in Florida, because the teenager disrespected him by not lowering his music. Blacks have been on the receiving end of excessive force throughout the nation’s history. Black Lives Matter must become more than a protest in the streets of America and a national movement, it must become an unstoppable force that stirs the human heart and soul of the nation to overcome past practices and shameful behavior toward people of color. It is very difficult to truly love a country or a person(s) that hate and despises you.

The Black Lives Movement for change appears to be reaching the conscious and soul of the nation.  The Black Lives Movement must continue to be the non-violent movement for change. The movement is worthy, believable, and sustainable. We cannot just utter the words Black Lives matter, the nation must live, internalize and act affirmatively on these words. These words must become indelibly etched in the minds and hearts of every American citizen.   It is unlike any movement we have seen before; it is a movement that has “staying power”.  According to the New York Times, it just may be Americas largest movement in US history.

Dr. Herbert Simmons, Jr. is an associate Professor, Department of Criminal Justice, Grambling State University, former President, Grambling State University Faculty Senate and former Chair, Department of Consumer Education and Resource Management, Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Four Corners Global Outreach (FCGO) held their first annual Golf Tournament this past Saturday that saw 16 two-person teams compete in an 18 scramble format. Rave reviews were heard all around following the action that saw a tremendous amount of money raised for a mission project and paid to the winning teams.

The Championship Flight winner was Boggs /Pulling who carded a 62 over the 18 holes. This was two shots better than Johnson / Trosclair and Harrell / Robinson who grabbed second and third respectively in a scorecard playoff over Culpepper /Stringer who also carded a 64. First flight winner was Richie /Gregg with a 66.

The tournament was a fundraiser for FCGO with proceeds dedicated towards an October mission to Kiebera, Africa designed to bring clean drinking water to the depressed area as well as spread the Gospel. Four Corners Global Outreach is a faith-based nonprofit organization that has a passion for both foreign missions and local community outreach with a desire to extend the love of Jesus Christ to all those in need.

Coordinators David & Shasta Broadway wishes to thank Jackson Parish Recreation Director Tommy Smith for all of his help as well as the followings tournament and hole sponsors:

Tournament Sponsors:  Diggidy Dawgs, Mike & Joy Broadway, Southern Rhodes Design, Burt & Kim Guinn, Jackson Parish Bank, K&M Construction, Jonesboro Animal Clinic, L&L Deliveries, Amy Magee

Hole Sponsors: Jimmy Teat, WestRock, Mercy Medical, Danny Newell, Bullet Proof Tees, Dodson Enterprise, Miriam’s Furniture, VP Racing, Darrell Avery, Fair’s Diesel, Wallis Wood Works, Mitchell Pharmacy, Walter May, MRM Construction, Jonesboro State Bank, Mark Kennedy Plumbing, 4T Exterior Cleaning, Dash of Grace, Smokehouse, Pardue Builders, Chris Bowman, Floors by Design, Jack McFarland, Yumeaka Washington

Four Corners Global Outreach Tournament Results:

Championship Flight:

1. 62 – Boggs / Pulling
2. 64 – Johnson / Trosclair
3. 64 – Harrell / Robinson
4. 64 – Culpepper / Stringer
5. 65 – McBride / Richie
6. 66 – Tayt / Eli
7. 66 – Hunter / Stephanie
8. 67 – Ducote / Teat

First Flight: 

1. 66 – Richie / Greg
2. 70 – Pender / Langston
3. 70 – Justin / Jerrod
4. 71 – Jake / Emile
5. 73 – Tommy / Noah
6. 74 – David / Billy
7. 78 – Josh / Levi
8. 85 – Ford / Ford

Dr. John Pemberton was a successful chemist in Columbus, Georgia.  His business of selling tonics, homemade concoctions, and medicines prospered in the 1850s, but events in the Civil War threatened his business.  Columbus had become the second largest Confederate supply center in the South, second only to Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy.  In 1863, 33-year-old Dr. Pemberton enlisted in the Georgia cavalry’s home guard “for local defense.”  As part of the home guard, Dr. Pemberton’s unit was responsible for the protection of Columbus’s manufacturing facilities, homes, and businesses, which included Dr. Pemberton’s drug store.  For Dr. Pemberton’s nearly two years in the home guard, Columbus had not been directly threatened by Union troops.  However, Columbus would not survive the Civil War unscathed.  

With the fall of Richmond on April 2, 1865, Columbus became the largest surviving manufacturing and military supply hub in the south.  The city’s factories produced a vast array of war supplies.  Located on the Chattahoochee River, Columbus also had a naval construction facility.  The city’s location enabled the transportation of war supplies by river, rail, and land.         

Following the Union victory in the Battle of Nashville on December 16, 1864, Union General George Thomas sent General James Wilson and his men to destroy major confederate supply centers at Selma, Alabama, and Columbus, Georgia.  General Wilson marched his 13,000 men some 300 miles south to Selma, a trek which took just over three months.  On March 22, 1865, General Wilson’s men clashed at Selma with the Confederate army led by General Nathan Bedford Forrest.  General Forrest’s men inflicted heavy casualties, but General Wilson’s men captured and looted Selma, and destroyed the town’s manufacturing facilities.  With little time for rest, General Wilson and his men began the 140-mile march east to Columbus, a town on the Alabama-Georgia border.

During General Wilson’s march, several key events took place which should have ended their trip to Columbus.  On April 2, 1865, Confederate soldiers could no longer protect Richmond from Union troops, and the Army of Virginia and the Confederate government abandoned the capital of the Confederacy.  On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses Grant, which officially ended the Civil War.  Five days later, a despondent actor, John Wilkes Booth, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.  General Wilson and his men were marching from Selma to Columbus, and had not received the news that the war had ended or that Lincoln had been assassinated.  They stayed the course.

After three weeks of marching, General Wilson’s men neared Columbus and gathered on the Alabama side of the Chattahoochee River.  Two timber bridges spanned the mighty river, the upper bridge and the lower bridge.  Confederate General Howell Cobb only had about 3,500 men, most of which were home guard units and civilian volunteers, compared to General Wilson’s 13,000 trained soldiers.  Rather than splitting up his men to defend both bridges, General Cobb set a trap.  Civilian volunteers coated the bridges’ support beams with turpentine, a highly-flammable liquid, and placed cotton bails around the support posts.  They removed some of the planks near the east side of the lower bridge to prevent union soldiers from completing the crossing. 

General Wilson weighed his options.  He learned that the upper bridge was more heavily guarded than the lower bridge, and ordered his men to cross the lower bridge.  Once the bridge was full of union soldiers, a few civilian volunteers lit the cotton bails, which quickly engulfed the turpentine-covered lower bridge.  General Wilson’s men had no choice but to retreat.

With the lower bridge out of commission, General Wilson’s only way across the Chattahoochee River was the heavily guarded upper bridge.  At about 8 p.m., after the sun had set, General Wilson’s men attacked General Cobb’s men at the entrance of the upper bridge.  After a volley of gunfire, the nighttime battle quickly turned into hand-to-hand combat.  The soldiers punched, kicked, kneed, bit, and stabbed and sliced with their bayonets and sabers.  During the fray, Dr. Pemberton received a severe saber wound to his chest.  He fell from his horse and lay among the wounded and dead. 

By 10 p.m., General Cobb’s men were no longer able to fend off the Union soldiers.  A mixture of retreating Confederates and charging Union soldiers filled the bridge.  Confederate soldiers stationed on the east side of the bridge were unable to differentiate between friendly and enemy soldiers in the darkness, and held their fire.  Civilian volunteers stationed at the base of the bridge failed to ignite the upper bridge because they feared injuring confederate soldiers.  General Wilson’s large army overran General Cobb’s small number of men.  Union soldiers completely destroyed all military manufacturing facilities in the area, including the unfinished CSS Muscogee, an ironclad warship, which was docked at the naval construction facility at Columbus.  Both sides suffered large numbers of casualties in a battle fought after the war had officially ended.  Battlefield doctors treated the wounded by lamp light.  They treated Dr. Pemberton’s chest wound and gave him morphine to ease the pain. 

A few days after the Battle of Columbus, both sides learned that the war had ended.  The survivors of the conflict tried to return to the lives they once lived.  Dr. Pemberton’s wound was slow to heal and he continued his steady regimen of morphine.  By the time his wound had healed, Dr. Pemberton was addicted to the pain killer.  The drug was readily available to him because of his profession as a chemist.  Dr. Pemberton tried different concoctions and pain killers which were morphine-free, but he was unable to wean himself off of the drug.  When he failed to find a suitable replacement, he began experimenting to create his own.

In 1884, Dr. Pemberton ran an advertisement campaign for a drink he had created called Dr. Pemberton’s Lemon Juice Cordial.  “This Cordial,” the advertisement explained, “is made from the pure juice of lemons, oranges, and limes, combined with pure rock candy syrup, and is the most delicious refreshing and cooling of all known beverages, far superior to lemonade, soda water, lager beer, etc.”  Dr. Pemberton claimed that his cordial “purifies and cools the blood, prevents and cures biliousness, …has wonderful curative powers in all inflammatory diseases, rheumatism, gout, neuralgia, etc.”  Dr. Pemberton advertised his new drink as a great-tasting cure-all, but it failed to cure his addiction to morphine.  He continued to search for the right combination of chemicals.

In the following year, Dr. Pemberton invented another new drink which he claimed was a “great and sure remedy for all nervous disorders such as mental and physical depression, neuralgia, loss of memory, sleeplessness,” and a host of other ailments.  Pemberton’s French Wine Coca was advertised as “the great restorer of health to body and mind.  Millions of our people are in a condition requiring no other remedy.”  Like his Lemon Juice Cordial, the French Wine Coca tasted good.  The ad boasted that the drink was “a wonderful tonic and invigorant” which “is health and joy in every bottle.” 

Dr. Pemberton’s French Wine Coca sold well.  He experimented with different chemicals and eventually produced a nonalcoholic version of his tonic.  It sold even better.  Dr. Pemberton advertised it as a great-tasting patent medicine.  Dr. Pemberton never overcame his addiction to morphine, but in searching for a cure, he created a product that is still sold all over the world.  You know it as Coca-Cola.  

Sources:

1. Chicago Tribune, April 4, 1865, p.1.
2. Wyoming Democrat, April 12, 1865, p.3.
3. The Evening Star, April 15, 1865, p.1.
4. 4. The Carroll Free Press, October 28, 1884, p.4.
5. 5. The Atlanta Constitution, May 26, 1885, p.2.
6. 6. The Atlanta Constitution, August 17, 1888, p.4.
7. Ancestry.com. “Georgia, Civil War Correspondence, 1861–1865.” Accessed August 31, 2020. https://www.findagrahttps://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2051/images/32276_1020705384_0009-00086?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=c3fce501d07d4a8671a56efccd7cbe64&usePUB=true&_phsrc=i5d139420&_phstart=succve.com/memor.

 

FEMA has approved 21 Louisiana parishes for Individual Assistance following Hurricane Laura, one of which is Jackson Parish. Federal FEMA assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans for uninsured property loss and other programs to help people and businesses recover from Hurricane Laura.

“People all across Louisiana were impacted when Hurricane Laura brought its strong winds ashore, knocking out power and causing massive destruction,” said Governor Jon Bel Edwards. “The people of these three parishes will be greatly assisted by this FEMA aid, and I hope they will register.”

Already FEMA has registered more than 140,000 households in Louisiana, paying out more than $89 million to survivors of Hurricane Laura, including more than $59 million for housing assistance and almost $30 million for other needs assistance.”

Parishes approved for FEMA aid is Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Caddo, Calcasieu, Cameron, Grant, Jackson, Jefferson Davis, LaSalle, Lincoln, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Sabine, St. Landry Vermilion, Vernon, Winn and Union.

You can begin applying for assistance today by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or 1-800-462-7585(TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.

As of Sunday, there were 82,203 power outages in Louisiana, down from the nearly 615,000 that was immediately affected after Hurricane Laura. Nearly 13,000 Louisianans affected by Hurricane Laura are still sheltered in state, with thousands more in Texas hotels as well.

The Jackson Parish Journal is pleased to offer a Classifieds section where you can make announcements, post items for sale, offer job opportunities or professional services and review public notices. Cost per post is $10.00 per week and can be submitted by email at jpjjacksonla@gmail.com or by text to 318-480-1206.

For Sale:

5.06 acres of land (Price Reduced) – located one mile East of Jimmie Davis Tabernacle on Hwy. 542, Beech Springs Road, Quitman, LA.  Call (706)745-3933 for more information.  

Facemasks – Show your school pride with special designed cloth facemasks for Jonesboro-Hodge, Quitman, Weston, LA Tech, Grambling, ULM, LSU and the New Orleans Saints. You can even add personal monograms. Adult and children sizes available. Only $5.00-$7.00.Call 318-475-0349

Church Bus – Jonesboro-Hodge United Methodist Church is selling small Bus that is equipped with Handicap accessibility. Engine work needed. Contact Paul Sterns for more information at (360) 399-8347.  

Book for sale – “The 100 year history of JHHS football” – An in-depth, year by year review of each season that includes names of players from virtually every year and individual/school records. Cost is $25.00 per copy plus $3.00 shipping and handling. To place your order, call 318-480-1206.

Things to do:

Saturday, Sept. 19^th – Shrimp Boil from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm hosted by the Caney Lake Community Foundation. Location at Hook’s Marina, 400 Spillway Road on Caney Lake. $10.00 per plate includes one pound of shrimp, corn, potato and drink. Live band will be playing!

Services offered:

Harris Yard Beautification – Professional Lawn Care provided at reasonable rates. Call Greg at (318) 245-2349

A1 Honey Do, LLC – Boat house, deck building and repairs. A Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). For estimates contact Mark Droesser, Owner at 318-366-7598 “We do what your honey can’t do”.

 

PUBLIC NOTICES:

Town of Jonesboro Board of Aldermen Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Public Hearing was called to order by Mayor Leslie Thompson at 5:30 P.M.

Roll Call:  When roll call was taken Ginn, Johnson, and Flowers were present. Stringer and Siadek came in later. Invocation was conducted by Flowers. Pledge of Allegiance was led by Johnson.

Ordinance #2020-009 Water Rates Mayor Thompson read over the ordinance then gave the public opportunity to ask questions or express any concerns regarding this ordinance. There were no comments made by the public.

Agenda

Amendments- There were no amendments made to the agenda.

Public Comments- Wilda from the Chamber of Commerce shared some of the events that will be taking place in the Town.

Approval of August Minutes: Motion by Flowers to approve August’s minutes, seconded by Ginn. Motion carried.

Approval of August Bills: Motion to approve August’s bills made by Stringer. Seconded by Flowers. Motion carried.

Approval of August Financials:  Motion by Johnson to approve the August financials, Seconded by Ginn. Motion carried.

Mayor’s Update: “Your complaints let us know what we need to fix.” “I have heard what you have asked; I will be doing more Facebook Live videos and be more informative.”

Ordinance #2020-005 Council Raise- Stringer made a motion to override the Mayor’s veto, seconded by Ginn. Flowers opposed.  Siadek was not present at the time of voting.

Department Head Reports- Police Chief Harris, Fire Chief Brown, and Public Works Director Wortham expressed how busy each department has been over the last month, especially from Hurricane Laura related cleanup.

Approval of Department Head Reports- Flowers made a motion to approve the reports given, seconded by Stringer. Motion carried.

Resolution #2020-033 Millage Rates- Adoption of Resolution #2020-033 was voted for as followed; Johnson-Yes, Ginn-Yes, Siadek-Yes, Stringer-Yes, and Flowers-Yes. Carried.

Resolution #2020-032 Hazard Mitigation Plan- Siadek made a motion to table Resolution #2020-032, seconded Johnson. Motion carried.

Ordinance #2020-012 Hazard/Comp. Pay Salaried Employees’- Johnson made a motion to introduce Ordinance #2020-012 and set a Public Hearing for October 13, 2020 at 5:45 P.M.

Ordinance #2020-009 Water Rates- Flowers made a motion to adopt Ordinance #2020-009, seconded by Johnson. Ginn opposed. Motion carried.

Revisit Ordinance #2020-005 Council Raise- Stringer made a motion to revisit Ordinance #2020-005 due to Siadek not being present at the time of voting. Siadek seconded. Motion carried.

Ordiance #2020-005 Council Raise- A vote was taken again Council voted as follows; Johnson-Yes, Ginn-Yes, Siadek-Yes, Stringer-Yes, and Flowers-No. Veto was overridden.

Council Comments- Comments were expressed.

Mayor Comments- Comments were expressed.

Adjournment-  Motion to adjourn the meeting by Ginn, seconded by Johnson. Motion carried.

Public Hearing set for October 13th

A Public Hearing will be held October 13, 2020 at 5:45 p.m. to discuss the purposed Ordinance #2020-012. An ordinance amending the Jonesboro Employee handbook regarding compensatory time during Federal and/or State declared disasters.

Jackson Parish Recreation District Board Meeting Minutes

August 17, 2020                   Jonesboro, Louisiana

The Jackson Parish Recreation District met in regular session on Monday, August 17, 2020 at 12:00 noon in the Dr. Charles H. Garrett Community Center, 182 Industrial Drive, Jonesboro, Louisiana. Members Present: Mr. Brent Barnett, Mr. Ricky Cash, Mr. Jeff Hairston, Mr. Sullivan Stevens and Mr. Chris Womack. Absent: Mr. Brandon Lamkin and Mr. Rodney Potts. Also present, Mr. Steven Gatlin.

The President, Mr. Barnett, called the meeting to order. The invocation was given by Mr. Cash and Mr. Barnett led the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mr. Barnett opened the floor for public comments.

Mr. Darrell Avery, one of the candidates running for District Judge in Division A, introduced himself. Mr. Barnett moved on to the next item on the agenda.

Motion Mr. Cash seconded Mr. Womack to approve minutes and financials (July). All in favor. Motion carried.

Mrs. Jennifer Hawkins, CPA, discussed the 2019 Annual Financial Report.

Motion Mr. Barnett seconded Mr. Cash to award construction and approve contract with Dodson Enterprises, Inc. for the South Concession Building in the amount of $104,200.00. All in favor. Motion carried.

Mr. Tommy Smith gave board update on some of the ongoing programs at the sports complex including baseball/softball season and archery.

Ms. Rebecca Williams gave board update on the golf course including membership and banquet rentals.

Motion Mr. Hairston seconded Mr. Barnett to approve purchase of 80 acres for $2200 per acre from Weyerhaeuser. All in favor. Motion carried.

Next board meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 21, 2020 at 12:00 noon at the Dr. Charles H. Garrett Community Center, Jonesboro.

Motion Mr. Hairston seconded Mr. Barnett to adjourn meeting.

Hope Gordon Meeks                Dec. 24, 1935 – Sept. 13, 2020

Hope Gordon Meeks fought a brave fight against Lou Gehring’s disease (ALS) but peacefully passed on September 13, 2020 surrounded by family and friends. He never complained and as much as he loved to tell jokes and sing, sadly he endured the loss of his voice early to ALS but never lost his spirit.

You are welcome to join the family at a graveside service that will be Thursday September 17, 2020 at 11am at Hodge cemetery, located 406 Central Street, Hodge, LA 71247. Southern Edmonds Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

He was a fun-loving person who loved life and was a friend to all. After having travelled the world, he moved to Jonesboro Hodge where he worked to foster growth and create opportunities. Hope Meeks embodied the American Dream. He dedicated himself to the military, serving his country with pride for 22 years and received numerous honors including the Bronze Star.

Upon retirement, he was an entrepreneur having owned several successful businesses. He believed in civic duty. As the President of Jonesboro Hodge Downtown Development, he oversaw the renovation of downtown, organizing Business After Hours, and promotion of the Jackson Parish Sunshine Festival. He was president of the Jackson Parish Chamber of Commerce where he received several awards. Hope was the King of Jonesboro Hodge 2005 Mardi Gras Parade and he, along with his wife Vernie, served as the Grand Marshals of the 2009 Christmas Wonderland in the Pines.

His great joys were enjoying his family, serving the community, hunting and fishing, and having a little fun by telling his many jokes. Hope was a great singer who shared his voice at nursing homes, class reunions and church with his unique Elvis impersonation. Hope was dedicated to his church where he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Hodge United Methodist Church.

He was last born of Ruth and Charles Meeks of Arkansas. He is survived by his wife, Vernie Meeks, and his children, Clark Meeks (Ken), Keith Meeks (Jodie), Dana Hansel (Steve), Karl Meeks (Marshelle), Curtis Meeks (Lynette), Sonny Terrill (Kim), Cindy Terrill (Wendy), eight grandchildren (Kelsey, Paige, Hunter, Mason, Justin, Nicholas, Reese, Remi), his sister, Willie Mae Reitzell as well as numerous close friends. The family would like to thank Ascend Hospice especially Charlotte Odom and Deva Jones for their outstanding and loving care of Hope.

In lieu of flowers, memorials donations may be made to the Team Gleason Foundation at teamgleason.org – P.O. Box 24493, New Orleans, LA 70184 OR Jonesboro Hodge United Methodist Church, 402 4th Street, Jonesboro, LA 71251.

 

James Randall                      Nov. 30, 1961 – Aug. 29, 2020

Mr. James Randall “Leadfoot” McDaniel, age 58 of Dodson began an joyful reunion with his son, father and his Savior on Saturday, August 29, 2020.  Randy worked in the forest industry for most of his life where he was employed by Michael Franks.  He loved spending time with his family and friends, but one of his favorite past times was fishing on the Ouachita River.  He would always say, “Just call if you need anything”, and he meant it with all of his heart.

Those left to cherish his memory is his mother, Jo Ann McDaniel; brothers, Tommy McDaniel and wife Andie, Ronnie McDaniel, Donnie McDaniel; sister, Michelle Whisonant and husband Nathan; nieces and nephews, Brent McDaniel, Farrah Sullivan (Wesley), Whitney Wise, Cristayln McDaniel, Cade Whisonant, Anna Whisonant; great nieces and nephews, Kennedy McDaniel, Waylon and Abigail Sullivan, Audrey Woods; special friends, Karyn McDaniel, Bill Harston (Denise).  He was preceded in death by his son, Adam McDaniel; father, Cornell McDaniel.

Funeral services were Saturday, September 5, 2020 in Edmonds Chapel at 10:00AM with Bro. Author Robinson and Bro. Danny Green officiating.  Burial followed in the Hart Assembly Cemetery under the direction of Southern-Edmonds Funeral Home. Serving the family as pallbearers were Dewayne Carter, Quincy Carter, Randy Barton, Michael Franks, M.D. Franks, John Hunter.  Honorary pallbearers were Max Tolbird, Ricky Fields.

Cecil Joe “Joey” Bollier            July 16, 1954 – August 21, 2020

Mr. Joey Bollier, age 66 of Quitman, made his journey through the portals of Heaven on Friday, August 21, 2020.  Mr. Bollier was a talented cabinet maker who enjoyed working with his hands and making homes beautiful with his carpentry talent.  He loved to spend time with his family and cherished those moments he had with them.

There was a Memorial service held on Friday, September 4 in the chapel of Edmonds Funeral Home of Jonesboro.  Those left to cherish the memories of their time spent with Joey are his wife, Charlene Bollier; daughter, Cassandra Anne Collins; grandchildren, Taylor Elizabeth Crow, Tyler Glynn Crow; father, Cecil J. Bollier, Sr; siblings, Diana Lou Mathews, Brenda Kay Burton, Jimmy Wayne Bollier & Cheryl, Tania Denise Hilburn & Greg; mother-in-law, Mary Ellen Williams; a large number of cousins, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.  Mr. Bollier was preceded in death by his daughter, Tammy Lynn Bollier; mother, Mary Lou Bollier; father-in-law, Charles Franklin Tolbird; grandfather, Frank Ernest James Bollier; grandmother, Mary Lizzie Lemons; grandfather, Irvin Gates; grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Boles.

Anyone who has lived in Jonesboro over the last several years knows that for a long time there water bill is not an accurate reading of how much water is being used. Non-working meters and lack of control by previous administrations has attributed to the problem with the town attempting to keep the public works department operable by estimating and charging residents for average water usage. 

While residents and businesses have enjoyed being able to use as much water as they want without having to pay for a true amount of usage the procedure being use has caused a severe strain on the town’s finances. Added to the problem is the large amount of renters who have been getting their water free.

This is the first area that is being addressed. According to town officials when people move out of a rented space they often don’t end their contracts when relocating. This allows access of water to tenants who move in afterward without having to pay for it or entering into a contract with the town.

“We are trying to find people who are getting water illegally and bring them legally into the system,” Janice Simmons, Mayor Leslie Thompson’s Executive Assistant, said.

More than 700 residents have had access to the town’s water without paying for it. Town officials said only does this hurt the departments finances isn’t fair to those who have been paying for their utilities. To help alleviate the problem public works employees are now going door-to-door, checking meters and making sure those who currently have water are in the town’s system.

“This forces the resident to come in, pay their deposit, and become a regular consumer who pays a regular water bill to the town of Jonesboro,” Simmons said.

Once it has been determined that a location is receiving water illegally access will be shut off. In order to get it back on you should go to city hall and pay your deposit to legally get water through the town’s system. As soon as payment is received the water will be cut on again.

 

First it was the Coronavirus epidemic. Then Hurricane Laura decided to visit Jackson Parish. The end result was that students of Jackson Parish schools finally got to begin their school year this past Tuesday, September 8^th at either their respective schools or virtual classrooms.

“Jackson Parish will start school on Tuesday, September 8,” relayed Superintendent David Claxton in an online statement following the cancellation of classes on Friday, Sept. 4^th due to the damage caused by the hurricane.  “After assessing our facilities, there were still power outages along with some water issues. We also lost most of our food and are had to wait on new shipments that were delayed due to the hurricane. We are looking to have a GREAT start to our school year and cannot wait to greet your children!”

Tracy Taylor of J-HMS named Louisiana PE Teacher of the Year

The mask that he wore on his Facebook post after being named Louisiana PE Teacher of the Year for 2020-21 says it all about Jonesboro-Hodge Middle School Coach and Physical Education Teacher Tracy Taylor.

Written across the front is the statement: “P.E. Teacher (Noun) – Like a normal teacher only cooler.”

Taylor’s demeanor with his students and players as well as his dedication to his classroom ethics has rewarded him being named the Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year for the state of Louisiana.  After beginning his career at the Magnolia School of Excellence in Shreveport, Taylor came to J-HMS in 2018 where he has been an integral member of the staff and mentor for the students in his care.   Congratulations Coach Taylor!

Louisiana Delta Community College begins classes on Sept. 8^th

All six campuses of the Louisiana Delta Community College (LDCC) system began classes on Tuesday, September 8^th. The local campus of the LDCC in Jonesboro is located on Industrial Drive off of Hwy 167 South. Additional locations are in Monroe, West Monroe, Ruston, Bastrop and Tallulah.

According to the Entergy website on September 7th all of the 9,014 customers in Jackson Parish have their power restored. Additional North Louisiana customers who could safely receive service power were expected to be back on line by this weekend. Hurricane Laura knocked out power to approximately 130,000 in the region.

The storm did tremendous damage to the transmission and distribution infrastructure across the state. Damages to Entergy’s distribution system in North Louisiana alone totaled approximately:

1. 1,340 poles
2. 3,070 spans of wire
3. 290 transformers
4. 1,540 cross-arms

Crews worked through challenging and oftentimes heavily wooded terrain to make repairs or rebuild the electric system. In some locations, especially in Winn Parish, crews had to use special off-road equipment to reach damaged infrastructure and make repairs.

Jimmie Davis State Park reopened September 4th

Hurricane Laura caused significant damage to large portions of the state, but most Louisiana State Parks, including the Jimmie Davis State Park on Caney Lake was open in time for Labor Day weekend, thanks to the tireless efforts of their staff.

“Many of our State Parks lost power, large trees were downed over powerlines, but great efforts were made to keep campers safe and clear the debris in time for Labor Day weekend,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser.  “If ever there was a time for us to gather with our families and show the world we are Louisiana Strong, this is it..

Some overnight accommodations at Lake Chicot and Lake D’Arbonne State Parks are not available because they are housing crews restoring power or clearing the surrounding areas. RV spots are available in all open state parks. The central reservations vendor, Reserve America, is working to reschedule or refund all affected campsite and cabin reservations. People can call 877-2226-7652 for help with rescheduling.

Louisiana State Parks Now Open

Jimmie Davis State Park, Chatham, LA

Bayou Segnette State Park, Westwego, LA

Bogue Chitto State Park, Franklinton, LA

Chemin-A-Haut State Park, Bastrop, LA

Fairview State Park, Madisonville, LA

Lake Bruin State Park, St. Joseph, LA

Poverty Point Reservoir State Park, Delhi, LA

St. Bernard State Park, Braithewaite, LA

Tickfaw State Park, Springfield, LA

Cypremort State Park, Cypremort, LA

Grand Isle State Park, Grand Isle, LA

Lake Bistineau State Park, Doyline, LA

Lake Claiborne State Park, Homer, LA

Palmetto Island State Park, Abbeville, LA

Closed until further notice

Chicot State Park, Ville Platte, LA

Lake D’Arbonne State Park, Farmerville, LA

Lake Fausse Point State Park, St. Martinville, LA

North Toledo Bend, Zwolle, LA

South Toledo Bend, Anacoco, LA

Sam Houston State Park, Lake Charles, LA

The football season for LHSAA “select” and “non-select” schools will definitively begin October 8-10.

For weeks officials of the Louisiana Department of Education(LDE), Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) Board, Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) and state lawmakers bantered back and forth about the start date for the prep football season. It was a team effort by all of the above that finally got the firm date established.

The groups worked for more than a week behind the scenes — an effort that wrapped up Thursday night in advance of Friday morning’s House Education Committee meeting at the State Capitol. The agreement alleviated LHSAA coronavirus pandemic liability for schools and conflicts with Louisiana’s phased reopening.

“In this case, I waited as long as I could wait to make sure we got every path covered,” LHSAA executive director Eddie Bonine said afterward. “And I truly believe our coaches and all the local administration people … they’ve kicked tail, and they are ready. With the hand that they have been dealt now, they are going to get another case of normality.”

Rep. Buddy Mincey Jr., R-Denham Springs, helped jump-start the process by requesting an opinion on Act 9-related liability for the LHSAA and its schools. Mincey was the original author of the legislation that became Act 9.

Attorney General Jeff Landry then issued an opinion stating that playing high school football would not carry liability for LHSAA schools under Act 9. When the Thursday meeting began, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, made an opening statement, which gave away the pending announcement of the agreement. Bonine also thanked all the groups involved for their work to reach an agreement.

“I appreciate you all working hard and getting things done like this,” Schexnayder said.  “This is huge. I want to be clear … this meeting and its actions are not an attempt to ignore public safety. It’s about beginning to move out of a temporary abnormal and back to life.”

Bonine then told the group he is prepared to go to the LHSAA executive committee on Sept. 9 with a proposal to move forward with full-contact football practices and the season on Oct. 8-10, regardless of Louisiana’s phased approach to reopening.

When asked, Bonine said he expected the proposal to pass without issue, clearing the way for LHSAA’s football schools to do full contact football drills late next week, leading to the possibility of scrimmages and possibly a jamboree before the start of an eight-game football regular season. Playoffs are set to run through the month of December.

Interestingly, Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a statement after the meeting which stated that his proclamations were never intended to keep the LHSAA from playing football this fall. The sentiment was echoed by Cade Brumley, the state’s new Superintendent of Education, and BESE Board President Sandy Holloway.

“My proclamations have never said that you can’t play high school football. The LHSAA made a decision to link the phase that we’re in with my proclamation with what they would allow to happen on the high school campus,” Edwards said in a statement released Friday. “They have opted to change that guidance now in the event that we don’t go to Phase 3.

Plans for spectators for all fall sports are still to be finalized, but could tentatively allow 50% occupancy for football. Volleyball will be allowed to have a total of 50 spectators for its games next week under Phase 2 guidelines.

Jonesboro-Hodge High School head football coach Terrance Blankenship was very pleased with finally hearing on when the season would start.

“All we have ever asked was to give us a definite date of when we could play,” said Blankenship. “We felt all along that we would have a season but not knowing when it was going to start made it very difficult on the coaches and players. Now we know how to proceed.”

By: Glynn Harris

            The year was 1998. The month was December. Think back with me if you will to the days just before Christmas. Remember the massive ice storm that turned northern Louisiana into props for Ice Capades?

            We were unprepared at my house for the dreary bone-chilling days that followed. With no power; no source of heat other than gas logs in our fireplace, we slept on blankets before the fireplace dressed like we were going moose hunting in Minnesota.

            Once this awful event came to a slowly thawing close, I decided then and there that we weren’t going to be unprepared next time; we had to have a generator. Although it was like locking the gate after the cow got out, I bought a generator so I would be ready next time when power went out.

            For most of the 22 years since, I have had no use for the generator but occasionally when power was lost, Geno – that’s what I named the little fellow – was ready for the task.

            Then came Laura. I watched the big pines next to my house bending and lashing under winds in the Category One range. Prayers were offered up, lots of prayers. At 8:00 Thursday morning, our power was abruptly gone. No flicker or warning – just gone.

            I waited until the winds had subsided to allow enough time to go out back to the small building where Geno was kept, unwrapped the cover that kept him dust-free, brought him to the driveway, gassed him up and pulled the cranking cord. Nothing. I pulled the cord until I almost threw out my shoulder. Still nothing. So I called a friend, Joey who owns a small engines repair company (318/914-2097), he came and got Geno going. The little fellow kept my freezer, refrigerator and one fan going for a couple of days. On the afternoon of the third day without power, Geno said he’d had enough. The little fellow just laid right down and died.

            Fortunately, my son in law, Ross offered his generator so he loaded it up and drove over from his home in Minden and we were back in business with the borrowed generator running full speed until our power was mercifully restored at 4:20 Monday afternoon.

            No more listening to the incessant drone of the noisy but life restoring work of the borrowed generator. Lights came on, my computer came back to life and the heavenly music of our air conditioner kicking in brought sighs of relief from my wife and me. Maybe even a tear or two.

            As we were once again enjoying those things like lights and cool air that we too often take for granted, I began reading about others in our town who were not so fortunate. Some had their homes demolished by huge trees, hundreds are still without power with big question marks hanging like the broken power lines that littered the streets in our town as to when their power would be restored.

            I began hearing that gasoline that kept generators running was in short supply with some driving to distant towns to fill gas cans. There was a crying need for potable water; for ice to keep freezers from thawing; for electric fans to hook to generators to provide a tiny bit of relief from the August heat and humidity. All this made me even more thankful that somehow, our home and power lines had been spared from the huge pines that dot our yard only feet from our house and after only a few days, we had power and others didn’t and wouldn’t for no telling how much longer.

            I know that Thanksgiving Day is still some three months away but I think it’s okay if I start it early. Although we were inconvenienced for a few days, my wife and I have so much to be thankful for. I’m thankful for the hard working linemen who worked and are still working long hours every day to restore power to those less fortunate than us.

            I’m thankful for son in law, Ross, who provided a generator for us, for daughter Kayla and husband Keith who fed us, for the helpfulness of neighbors who came to our rescue.

I’m also thankful for little old generator who did what he could to help until his tired old carburetor gave out.  Rest in peace, Geno; you’ve earned it.

FISHING REPORT  9-2-20

BUSSEY BRAKE – Before the hurricane hit, bream were fair on worms and crickets. No report on crappie or catfish. Bass were fair with a few in the 5 pound range caught around the trees on soft plastics and jigs.

BLACK BAYOU –  Bream are fair; others are slow. Contact 323-8707 for latest information.

OUACHITA RIVER – The river is rising and fishing has slowed. Crappie are fair in the river lakes fishing 8 feet deep in 10-12 foot water. Bass have been fair fishing the mouth of the cuts on soft plastics. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.

LAKE D’ARBONNE – Very little fishing has been reported since the hurricane; most fishermen are cleaning up after the storm. Crappie fishing has been best fishing the flats 14 feet deep in 20-22 foot water with shiners or jigs. Bass have been best in the sloughs fishing around grass and moss on topwater lures, spinner baits and jigs. Bream have slowed and are fair on crickets and worms. Catfishing has been good fishing off the banks with cold worms and night crawlers. For latest reports, call Anderson’s Sport Center at 368-9669 or Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.

LAKE CLAIBORNE – The only report I was able to get from Claiborne is that the crappie are still hitting shiners and jig and stripers continue to school and will hit shad imitations, white bucktails or spoons. No report this week on bass, bream or catfish. For latest information, call Tim Loftin at Kel’s Cove at 927-2264.

CANEY LAKE – Because of the devastation caused by Laura, I was not able to get through to my Caney Lake contact so there is no report this week as most folks are cleaning up after the storm. For latest information contact Bateaux on Caney Lake at 259-6649, Hooks Marina at 249-2347, Terzia Tackle at 278-4498 or the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.

LAKE POVERTY POINT – Crappie have been slow to fair with a few picked up around the boat slips. No report on bass. Catfishing is fair for smaller sized fish. For latest reports, call Poverty Point Marina at 318-878-0101.

LAKE ST. JOHN – No report. For information, call Ken Mahoney at 318-201-3821.

LAKE YUCATAN – Water is rising again but some good reports came in on bass and catfish while crappie and beam are fair. For information, call Surplus City Landing at 318/467-2259.

LAKE BRUIN – No report. For information, contact Carlos Gray at 318/766-0075.        

This Saturday, September 11th the Jackson Woman’s Missionary Union is hosting “The Crafty Café 2020 at the First Baptist Church in Jonesboro located at 500 South Cooper Avenue. The wonderful bazaar that will feature handcrafted items, antiques/collectibles, baked goods, frozen casseroles, jellies and canned items will run from 8:00 am till noon.

Early attendees will get to enjoy beignets and coffee while the late comers and those who make a morning of it will be served a gumbo and soup lunch. Come sip, shop and enjoy good fellowship. All proceeds go to help local mission endeavors.

Louisiana participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can use their benefits to purchase “hot” or prepared foods from authorized SNAP retailers during the month of September, following waiver approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).

Normally, SNAP benefits cannot be used to purchase “hot food products prepared for immediate consumption.” Waiving that restriction is vital in the immediate aftermath of a storm such as Hurricane Laura, where many residents are displaced and cannot access a kitchen to prepare their meals.

The waiver, granted Thursday and lasting through Oct. 1, will allow SNAP recipients to use their benefits to buy prepared foods at any retailer that accepts SNAP EBT cards, whether in Louisiana or in another state. Restaurant purchases are still prohibited.

The same waiver would apply to Disaster SNAP (DSNAP) benefits, if and when that program comes online in the coming days. More information about the “hot foods” waiver can be found at http://www.dcfs.la.gov/hotfoods.

SNAP Updates

All current SNAP recipients received their September benefits on Sept. 1, rather than their regular issuance date between the 1st and 14th of the month. SNAP recipients not already receiving the maximum amount for their household size will also receive a COVID-related emergency allotment on Sept. 18, to bring their household up to the maximum for the month.

SNAP recipients who lost food purchased with their SNAP benefits due to a power outage of 24 consecutive hours or more may also be eligible for replacement benefits. Recipients do not need to take any action on this at this time.

DCFS has applied for a waiver from FNS to provide for automatic issuance of 50% replacement benefits to SNAP recipients in 26 parishes due to widespread power outages. For any parishes not approved for that waiver, DCFS also applied for a waiver to extend the deadline for reporting food losses from 10 days to 30 days.  More information about SNAP benefits related to Hurricane Laura can be found at www.dcfs.la.gov/SNAPLaura.

There is good news. Then there is really good news. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) brought smiles to parents of school children all over the nation this past Monday when it announced it will extend free school meals to all children through the end of 2020.

“It’s for everyone, all kids regardless of economic abilities,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue explained. “All the kids everywhere — those who are attending school in person, those who are attending virtually.”

Flexibility standards created by Congress to help families during the coronavirus pandemic were set to expire in September. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry said she has been calling on Perdue for months to extend the program.

“It is good news that they listened and that we’ll have this flexibility for children to have access to healthy meals at least till the end of the year,” Stabenow said.

Perdue warns there’s no guarantee the cash will last until then. He said if the money does run out, the program will again be restricted to families in need. For now though, the program remains unchanged. Families can continue to pick up school meals or have them delivered to community sites.

“We are legally not able to extend more than Congress has appropriated, so hopefully, we would not need to shorten that period of time,” Perdue said.

Stabenow said she believes the USDA has adequate funding and that if the agency requests more money, Congress will work to keep the program afloat.

The Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna, Austria, houses a large collection of artifacts spanning five centuries of Austrian military affairs.  The collection consists of weapons, tanks, airplanes, vehicles, as well as a plethora of other war-related items.  In the Sarajevo display of the Franz Joseph Hall in the museum sits an antique 1911 Gräf & Stift convertible automobile which still displays its original license plate; AIII118.  If you look closer, you will spot evidence of something sinister. 

On June 28, 1914, Emperor Franz Joseph sent his son, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, to Sarajevo to observe military maneuvers.  Well-wishers waited to greet the Archduke and Duchess.  Members of a terrorist group also waited.   

In 1901, officers in the Army of the Kingdom of Serbia formed a secret military society known as Unification or Death, more commonly known as the Black Hand.  Their singular goal was the unification of Serb-inhabited territories by training guerrilla-type fighters in the art of sabotage and assassination.  By 1914, the Black Hand had hundreds of members who operated in small cells of three to six members.  Supervisors each handled a small group of cells.  Secrecy was of the utmost importance, and members of a cell rarely knew anything about the activities of other cells.  Cell members went about their daily lives until their supervisor gave them a mission.

In the Spring of 1914, a six-member cell comprised of Vaso Čubrilović, Cvjetko Popović, Gavrilo Princip, Trifko Grabež, Nedeljko Čabrinović, and Muhamed Mehmedbašić, received the order to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand during his trip to Sarajevo.  The Black Hand trained the six cell members and furnished them with six bombs, five Browning FN Model 1910 automatic pistols with .380 ammunition, an undisclosed amount of money, suicide pills, and maps.  The members of the cell planned and trained for the Archduke’s and Duchess’s upcoming visit.     

On Sunday morning, June 18, 1914, Franz Ferdinand, his wife, and several members of the royal entourage arrived at Sarajevo by train, where a motorcade of six automobiles waited.  Franz Ferdinand, his wife, and two other officials rode in the third car, a 1911 Gräf & Stift convertible automobile with license plate number AIII118.  Within minutes of their arrival, the motorcade set off through Sarajevo on its pre-announced route toward the Town Hall.

The assassins anxiously awaited their target.  The Black Hand strategically placed each of the assassins at different points along the route as a failsafe of sorts.  If one assassin failed, the next would step in.  Mehmedbašić stood in front of the Mostar Café armed with a bomb.  Čubrilović stood nearby with a pistol and another bomb.  Čabrinović stood a short distance away on the opposite side of the street near the Milijacka River armed with a bomb.

The unsuspecting passengers in the motorcade passed Mehmedbašić and Čubrilović without incident.  For some reason, both failed to act.  At 10:10 a.m., the motorcade approached Čabrinović.  He removed the safety from the bomb and threw it.  His aim was good.  The bomb hit the folded down convertible top of the Franz Ferdinand’s car, bounced off, landed under the next car in the motorcade, and exploded.  Some contemporary newspaper accounts reported that “the Archduke saw the missile hurtling through the air and warded it off with his arm.”  The bomb wounded some twenty people and left a small crater in the street.  The other three assassins, Popović, Princip, and Grabež, heard the bomb blast and assumed Franz Ferdinand had been killed.  They watched in shock as the remaining cars in the motorcade, including Franz Ferdinand’s car, passed them by at a high rate of speed toward the Town Hall.

Čabrinović swallowed his cyanide pill and jumped into the river, but his suicide attempt failed.  The cyanide pill was weak and only induced vomiting.  Due to a drought, the water level in the river was only a few inches deep.  The crowd pulled him from the shallow river and gave him a severe beating before police took him into custody.

Franz Ferdinand was visibly shaken as he spoke at the reception at the Town Hall.  During his speech, the Archduke said, “…as I see in them an expression of their joy at the failure of the attempt at assassination.”  Franz Ferdinand and Sophie abandoned their planned schedule and decided to visit those injured in the bombing at the hospital.  The drivers in the motorcade were confused about the route to take to the hospital, and drove along the same route they had taken from the train station to the Town Hall. 

Undeterred by the unsuccessful first assassination attempt, Princip stood in front of a delicatessen near the Latin Bridge and waited for the Archduke to pass by on his return trip.  The drivers of the first, second, and third cars in the motorcade, which included the Archduke’s car, made an incorrect right turn at the Latin Bridge.  Governor Potiorek, who was riding in the car with Franz Ferdinand, told the driver to stop because he had made a wrong turn.  The driver applied the brakes and stopped the car right beside Princip.

Princip would not fail this time.  He pulled his .380 pistol, stepped onto the car’s running board, and fired into Franz Ferdinand and Sophie.  One shot penetrated Franz Ferdinand’s jugular vein, and another struck Sophie in the abdomen.  Princip attempted to commit suicide with the pistol but was seized by the crowd before he could pull the trigger.  Sophie lost consciousness immediately, followed by Franz Ferdinand a couple of minutes later. 

The driver sped the injured couple to the Governor’s residence for medical treatment.  Sophie died before they reached the Governor’s residence and Franz Ferdinand died a few minutes after their arrival.  June 28, 1914, the day of their assassination, was Franz Ferdinand’s and Sophie’s fourteenth weeding anniversary.

Most historians agree that Princip’s shots were the spark which ignited World War I, one of the deadliest conflicts in human history.  This “war to end all wars” killed an estimated nine million combatants and thirteen million civilians, in addition to many millions more who died as a result of genocide and the related Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918.

If you visit the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in person or by virtual tour, you will see the macabre artifacts from the assassination including the pistol Princip used in the assassination, the clothing worn by Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, the cot on which the injured Archduke died, and the car in which they were assassinated.  Some people have argued that the automobile’s license plate, AIII118, was prophetic.  If you convert the letters and numbers of the license plate into a date format, the result is 11/11/18.  The license plate on the car in which the Archduke was assassinated, the assassination which began the First World War, prophetically gave the date of the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the date on which the fighting ended in World War I. 

How would you like to enjoy a fun day at the lake competing against others at one of the most fun and wildly popular games around? Even better how would you like to earn some money while you are doing it?

At 1:00 pm this Saturday, September 12^th, Hook’s Marina located at 400 Spillway Road on Caney Lake will be presenting a Cornhole Doubles Tournament that has a $1000.00 purse attached. The tourney is sponsored by Twin City Cornhole in Monroe. No early registration is required but contestants are asked to come early to sign up. 

What exactly is a Cornhole Tourney?  Back in the day it was called the “bean bag toss” where you attempt to throw weighted bean bags into a hole that is on a slanted platform. The game has always been popular among tailgaters at football games but recently has become a national phenomenon with regular tournaments almost every weekend in the larger cities.

1. David L. Harrell (Jonesboro, LA) – Disturbing the Peace
2. Kristina Woodall (Winnfield, LA) – Disturbing the Peace
3. Marcus U. Jackson (Tolleson, AZ) – Attempted 2nd degree murder , Contributing to the delinquency of a Juvenile
4. Aaron T. Johnson (Jonesboro, LA) – Bench Warrant for resisting an officer
5. Phillip Andrews (Chatham, LA) – Illegal possession of a stolen firearm
6. Garry Leggett (Jonesboro, LA) – Aggravated Assault
7. Ira Q. Brook (Baton Rouge, LA) – FTA Warrant for driving left of center
8. Antwon Atkins (Jonesboro, LA) – Warrant for Battery of a dating partner, P&P Hold
9. Sadawate Livingston (Jonesboro, LA) – Principal to attempted 2nd degree murder, Contributing to the delinquency of a Juvenile
10. Steven L. Moore (Jonesboro, LA) – Possession of Schedule II drug with intent to distribute, Open container, No turn signals
11. Donald L. Essmeier (Quitman, LA) – Bench Warrant for violation of protective order
12. Thomas V. Hilliard III (Bridge City, TX) – Simple Battery, Disturbing the Peace
13. Christopher Futrell (Farmerville, LA) – Possession of Legend drug (x3), Possession of Controlled Dangerous Substance (CDS), Possession of a firearm in presence of a CDS, Theft
14. Cameron D. Johnson (Monroe, LA) – Possession of Schedule I drug – Marijuana
15. Christopher Combs (Jonesboro, LA) – Possession of Schedule I drug – Marijuana
16. Temeria A. Jefferson ( East Hodge, LA) – Aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon, Simple Criminal Damage to Property
17. Timothy P. Franks (West Monroe, LA) – Grant Parish warrant for Contempt of Court
18. James E. Brimer (Quitman, LA) – Warrant for FTA & IWC
19. Shelby Moras (Quitman, LA) – Theft
20. Selena Clifton (Winnfield, LA) – Theft
21. Michael J. Edmonds (Jonesboro, LA) – Possession of Schedule II drug, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Illegal carrying of a dangerous weapon with drugs
22. Aliana M. Barnes (Jonesboro, LA) – Possession of Schedule II drug, Possession of drug paraphernalia
23. Eddrick Hampton (Lake Providence, LA) – Simple Battery, Obstruction of Roadway
24. Rodney Williams, (Ruston, LA) – Aggravated Assault, Damage to Property, Simple Obstruction

The Jackson Parish Journal is pleased to offer a Classifieds section where you can make announcements, post items for sale, offer job opportunities or professional services and review public notices. Cost per post is $10.00 per week and can be submitted by email at jpjjacksonla@gmail.com or by text to 318-480-1206.

For Sale:

5.06 acres of land (Price Reduced) – located one mile East of Jimmie Davis Tabernacle on Hwy. 542, Beech Springs Road, Quitman, LA.  Call (706)745-3933 for more information.  

Facemasks – Show your school pride with special designed cloth facemasks for Jonesboro-Hodge, Quitman, Weston, LA Tech, Grambling, ULM, LSU and the New Orleans Saints. You can even add personal monograms. Adult and children sizes available. Only $5.00-$7.00.Call 318-475-0349

Church Bus – Jonesboro-Hodge United Methodist Church is selling small Bus that is equipped with Handicap accessibility. Engine work needed. Contact Paul Sterns for more information at (360) 399-8347.  

Book for sale – “The 100 year history of JHHS football” – An in-depth, year by year review of each season that includes names of players from virtually every year and individual/school records. Cost is $25.00 per copy plus $3.00 shipping and handling. To place your order, call 318-480-1206.

Organizations:

Boy Scouts of America – For boys in 6^th grade through 18 years old. For more information contact: Dawn Slezak at (713) 824-1772.

Cub Scouts of America – For boys and girls in Kindergarten through the 5^th grade. For more information contact: Dawn Slezak at (713) 824-1772.

Services offered:

Harris Yard Beautification – Professional Lawn Care provided at reasonable rates. Call Greg at (318) 245-2349

A1 Honey Do, LLC – Boat house, deck building and repairs. A Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). For estimates contact Mark Droesser, Owner at 318-366-7598 “We do what your honey can’t do”.

PUBLIC NOTICES:

Jackson Parish Police Jury Emergency Special Session Minutes

August 30, 2020

The Jackson Parish Police Jury met in Emergency Special Session, Sunday, August 30, 2020 at 2:00 PM in the Police Jury Meeting Room of the Jackson Parish Courthouse, 500 E. Court Street, Room 301, Jonesboro, Louisiana. Members present: Mr. Todd Culpepper, Ms. Amy Magee, Mr. John McCarty, Ms. Tarneshala Cowans, Ms. Regina Rowe, and Mr. Lynn Treadway. Absent: Mr. Lewis Chatham. Also present: Mr. Darrell Avery, Assistant District Attorney; Mr. Mark Treadway, OEP Director; Representative Jack McFarland; Senator Jay Morris; and all Department Superintendents.

The meeting was called to order by the President, Ms. Magee. Mr. McCarty gave the invocation and Ms. Cowans led in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The President opened the floor for Public Comments and recognized Representative McFarland and Senator Morris who gave comments on the work done by local governments for the hurricane relief efforts and discussed FEMA reimbursements and the threshold for eligibility.

The President updated the Jury on the measures taken by the OEP Department and Police Jury departments in response to Hurricane Laura including a distribution center at the Community Center for ice, water, and MREs, supplying fuel for the Sheriff’s Department and first responders during the power outage, and the general debris removal and road clearing.

Motion Mr. Culpepper, seconded Ms. Rowe to authorize the President to enter into a contract for debris removal for all roads parish-wide including state, municipal, and private roads. Mr. Culpepper stipulated that if the contract could cover all roads, it would need to come back to the Jury for approval. Motion carried.

Motion Mr. Culpepper, seconded Mr. McCarty to temporarily extend the hours of the Solid Waste Landfill for Monday – Saturday from 7:00 am – 5:00 pm effective August 31st through September 12^th. Motion carried.

Motion Ms. Rowe, seconded Ms. Cowans to make Labor Day a floating holiday for the Road and Solid Waste departments so that the crews could continue to work and take the holiday off at a later date. Motion carried.

The President opened the floor to Mr. Treadway. Mr. Treadway gave special remarks to the state representatives for their assistance, he stated that the State Fire Marshall’s Office would be conducting a secondary survey of the parish and discussed the parish-wide relief efforts.

Motion Mr. Culpepper, seconded Ms. Rowe to adjourn. Motion carried.

A friend in need is a friend in deed– Ancient Proverb

Virtually everyone alive has heard this statement at least once in their lives. For the residents of Jackson Parish the past several days has brought a real understanding to what age old saying means.  While dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Laura locals have found several new “friends” indeed.

These new “friends” are the electrical workers and tree cutters, some from as far away as New Hampshire and Massachusetts, who have worked tirelessly along with local Entergy crews to help restore power to the parish. There is the National Guard who for days has stood out in the blazing heat to provide families with food, ice and water.

Then there are the residents of Jackson Parish who have pitched in to help their neighbors in time of need such as the congregation of the Galilee Baptist Church in Jonesboro who at Pierre Park this past Sunday provided meals for those who have lost power.

Someone once said that it is only in times of peril that you can truly appreciate the times of comfort. This has also proven to be so very true. Thanks to Jackson Parish’s newest “friends” the time forced to wait till things get back to normal is moving as quickly as can be done.

Power update:

Most of the incorporated areas of the parish and major subdivisions including the Caney Lake area already have power or will in a day or two. Entergy expects to have basically the entire parish back with power by the end of the week with possibly the exception of certain areas where the roads haven’t been cleared.

Road update:

This is the one area that got the quickest results. State and parish road crews were at work immediately to remove trees, limbs and debris from the roadways. Residents all over the parish also pitched in to help with the cleanup. Virtually every roadway in the parish is now passable.

School update:

Per Jackson Parish School Superintendent David Claxton classes will begin as soon as possible after September 2^nd. Keep a check on social media pages for the latest updates. No further injuries or deaths have been reported since the Parish was saddened to learn of John Hollings being killed in the storm.

Water supply update:

Water problems are plaguing the parish due to the lack of electricity required to run the pumps causing the tanks to run low or even dry in some cases. The Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Office, LA National Guard and WestRock have been able to acquire generators to help with the pumping of water but until power has been completely restored possible flow problems will continue.

Services update:

Those who needed gas Friday and Saturday were forced to wait in lines at local gas stations not seen since the 1973 oil embargo with some finally reaching their destination only to find out there was no more gas. Most of the grocery markets and convenience stores were unable to open due to lack of power but those that did soon were closed again as supplies quickly diminished. 

The normal ability to purchase goods and services as well as gasoline should get back to normal by this weekend. This is according to an authoritative figure at one of Jonesboro’s leading food markets who and the owners of a couple of local convenience stores in Jonesboro.  

Statewide update:

The death toll from Hurricane Laura rose to 14 statewide on Sunday. Most of these deaths are attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning as result of running a generator indoors and not having proper ventilation established. 

More than 350,000 Louisiana residents remained without electricity Sunday, while 87 water systems serving upward of 150,000 people remained inoperable.  As of 9/1 more than 10,000 people were staying in hotels across the state and more than 324,000 were still without power.