Rapides felony arrests are accusations not convictions.
October 10
Matthew Dupont Jr., 39, Alexandria — criminal conspiracy 2 counts, accessory after the fact, contempt 2 counts, $40,000 bail;
Mitchell Godwin, 39, Pineville — criminal conspiracy, burglary, obstruction of justice evidence tampering, $500 bail;
Taymarius Jones, 39, Pineville — parole violation, felony flight, hit & run, $500 bail;
Victoria Venwald, 33, Pineville — criminal conspiracy, theft, contempt 2 counts, $16,000 bail.
Rapides felony drug arrests are accusations, not convictions.
October 10
Justin Bennett, 31, Boyce — possession CDS II 2-28 grams, possession first 14, criminal conspiracy, theft, contempt 2 counts, driving under suspension/revocation, $10,100 bail;
Justin Gonzales, 44, Alexandria — possession CDS II 2-28 grams, possession paraphernalia, $500 bail;
Jason White, 41, Pineville — possession CDS II < 2 grams, contempt, $4,000 bond.
I am not a huge fan of pumpkin. It is not my first choice, but these muffins filled with the addition of butterscotch chips and brown sugar make for a definite, “I’ll have one. And then another!”
If you are a PSL lover, these are for you! Share with the rest of us if you make them!
Ingredients:
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with liners. In a large bowl whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Add 1 1/4 cup butterscotch chips to flour mixture and toss to coat.
Add eggs, pumpkin purée, butter, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Spoon into muffin tins. Top with remaining butterscotch chips. Bake 15-20 minutes.
Ashley Madden Rowton is a wife, mom and published cookbook author who lives in Minden, La.
By JIM BUTLER
Pineville City Court had $204,000 unassigned cash on hand on December 31, according to its audit report issued this month. Additionally, the court had $69,000 held for restricted use.
Auditors also noted the court had $655,000 in fiduciary funds on hand — funds collected for and payable to specific recipients.
Court costs were the greatest contributor to the General Fund, $204,000, and Judicial Building Fund, $42,000. Probation fees added another $89,000.
The audit notes, as required by law, that Judge Gary Hayes was paid $19,322 by the city, $92,248 by City Court and $51,866 by the state Supreme Court. Additional benefits took the compensation package to $230,716.
Auditors, as they did last year, urged personnel additions that would greater segregate financial duties as well as employ a person with greater knowledge of accounting.
The court responded, as smaller entities normally do, that such additions are not cost effective though it understands and agrees with the objective.
By Candice Richardson
I spent my entire life in small town Louisiana, and I spent my entire life complaining about being in small town Louisiana. As most young people from a small town do, I always thought the grass was greener somewhere else. Surely, all of my woes would be alleviated if I just didn’t live in Natchitoches. Surely, if I lived in a town where there was more to do than just stopping by Sonic during Happy Hour or perusing the aisles of Walmart for the thousandth time, life would be peachy and perfect, and I would never complain about another thing ever again.
There was always something troubling me about being stuck in old Louisiana. There was nothing to do, there was no culture, there were no people like me. I was certain there was something else out there for me.
So, after 26 years of being burdened by life in the rural northwest of Louisiana, I took it upon myself to leave. Where did I go? Shreveport? Dallas? New Orleans? Of course not. I moved to Israel.
In August, I left behind Natchitoches’ meat pies and the bricks of Front Street to live in Netanya, Israel, a beautiful city on the Mediterranean sea in the middle of the country–just a 20 minute drive from the bustling metropolitan city of Tel Aviv. It was my dream come true. I was leaving not only Louisiana, but America as a whole. Finally. A place where I could kick that ever growing feeling of boredom and complacency.
The first month was magical. I spent my evenings going to the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea, going to fabulous Israeli restaurants, taking the train to go club hopping in Tel Aviv, taking in all of the history in Jerusalem’s holy sites that we know so well from the Bible. It was unfathomable to a girl from Natchitoches. This was my life now–a riveting, joyous adventure in a foreign land far from anything and everything I knew.
In the midst of all this glamor, however, something happened. Something unprecedented.
A month and half into this new, “perfect” chapter of my life, Israel was hit with the most devastating terrorist attack in recent history. The terrorist group Hamas launched over 3000 missiles into our country, and hundreds of terrorists crossed the border on foot to begin carrying out an onslaught of horrible crimes against our people.
As I sat there watching the news, heard about my friends being forced to return to their compulsory military service, saw the terrifying videos of young kids and elderly people being forced into captivity at the hands of Hamas, I had an epiphany.
Suddenly, I missed the idea of going to Sonic at Happy Hour or aimlessly walking around Walmart. I missed Chili’s being one of the only restaurants I had access to. I missed the god awful Natchitoches Central traffic from 3 PM to 4 PM. I missed having “nothing to do,” because now there is always something to do, and that something to do is worry about my fellow Israelis’ safety and well being.
I am thankful for where I came from now, because where I came from has prepared me well for this situation. I saw firsthand how a small town can come together in hard times in Natchitoches, and I have brought that same energy to my community here in Israel. The kindness and the care that I experienced from my childhood in Natchitoches has equipped me with the ability to be here for my Israeli brothers and sisters and do what I can to help us all get through this troubling time.
I carry a piece of Natchitoches in my heart here in the Holy Land, and that beautiful glimmer of hope will help us get through this trying time.
באהבה מישראל, קנדיס ריצ׳רדסנ
(With love from Israel, Candice Richardson)
Ailynn Fresina, a freshman theatre major from Zachary, took home the title of 2024 Miss LCU along with a full one-year scholarship in Thursday night’s competition.
Louisiana Christian University President Dr. Rick Brewer, along with Miss LCU 2023 Jocelyn Holt, crowned Fresina and presented her with flowers.
“The Miss LCU pageant allows our contestants to grow in their confidence as young women and demonstrate how they plan to give back to our community through their Community Service Initiatives,” said Vice President of Student Life Meredith Rennier. “Each year, I am honored to get to know these wonderful young ladies and am astounded by the grace, poise and faithfulness that they display as they represent both our university and Christ.”
Five candidates vied for the title of Miss LCU 2024. The other four candidates were:
Fresina will represent Louisiana Christian University in the Miss Louisiana Pageant in Monroe in June 2024. Miss LCU represents LCU throughout her reign at all functions and is the face of LCU.
She is a member of BCM, ballet, lyric theater and musical theater. Her career plans are to direct musicals at a Louisiana high school.
I am so incredibly honored to have received this title and represent LCU at the upcoming Miss Louisiana pageant in June,” Fresina said. “Receiving this title has already proven to be a wonderful experience, and I can’t wait to get even more involved in the community of Pineville and the student body here at LCU.”
Other awards given included:
Caroline Dormon Jr. High School’s Bladen Brooks received a Certificate of Recognition for Acts of Kindness and Good Deeds during the Woodworth Town Council Meeting for the month of October.
The Superintendent’s Advisory Committee met at Pineville High on Oct. 10. This group contains a student representative from each high school and middle school with a focus of improving education in Rapides Parish.
By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE — The list of LSU’s All-SEC first-team quarterbacks could fit on a matchbook cover.
There’s Tommy Hodson, who became the school’s first honoree in 1986 for the first of three straight seasons 53 years after the SEC was formed.
There’s JaMarcus Russell, the rocket-armed QB who achieved first-team league status in 2006.
And of course, there’s 2019 Heisman Trophy-winning QB Joe Burrow, the second LSU QB to earn All-American first-team status. (A future NFL MVP, Bert Jones, was the first, but the Ruston Rifle was not chosen for first-team honors on a pair of All-SEC teams in 1972.)
Hodson, Russell, and Burrow – the latter pair, both No. 1 NFL Draft picks (Jones was, too).
They are the only three Tigers’ QBs to earn All-SEC first-team status from more than one organization.
It’s no surprise the common denominator why Hodson and Burrow were first-teamers is LSU threw the ball frequently in those seasons. Most of the rest of the time in the last 60 years of LSU football, the Tigers rarely had a head coach who believed a great passing attack could consistently win games.
The combination of Burrow, receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson and one-year wonder boy passing game coordinator Joe Brady burned through college football like a comet en route to the 2019 national championship.
Of all of Burrow’s gaudy offensive numbers, the one that may last in the record book the longest is 60 TD passes in 15 games, an average of one TD pass per quarter.
No LSU fan believed any future Tigers’ QB would ever approach Burrow’s offensive output. After all, he has achieved lifetime sainthood status throughout Tiger Nation with a Heisman and a national title.
But as far as the top four LSU QBs ever and on track for an All-SEC first-team selection, current starter Jayden Daniels has entered the conversation. Daniels is doing something Burrow never had to do, He has to win games by scoring a ton of points because LSU’s 2023 defense has allowed more points in the first six games of the season than any defense in Tigers’ history.
The senior transfer from Arizona State has transformed from a reluctant downfield passer in the first half of last season with the Tigers to college football’s most dangerous dual-threat quarterback.
A year ago at this time in a 21-17 comeback win at Auburn, he had a mere 139 yards total offense including 8-of-20 passes for 80 yards (39 on one play).
A year later as the 22nd-ranked Tigers prepare to host Auburn Saturday at 6 p.m. in Tiger Stadium, Daniels leads the SEC in nine stat categories and is No. 2 nationally in total offense (398.5 yards per game), passing TDs (19), pass efficiency (196.7 rating) and points responsible for (140). He’s also No. 3 in the nation in passing yards per game (328.2).
And quite honestly with five consecutive games in which he’s had four or more TDs (passing and running) –the only LSU QB to accomplish that feat — he’s the only reason the Tigers are still alive in the conference race.
He’s become a human Heisman Trophy candidate highlight film, but don’t mention the `H’ word to Daniels. It doesn’t exist in his mind.
“You hear stuff like that, but you can’t really believe and to listen to the noise and the hype,” Daniels said. “As soon as you start believing in that, that’s when God will humble you.”
Week-after-week, he has been forced to and responded with epic performances filled with perfectly-placed deep TD passes and fearless scrambles through defenses waiting to get their shots at him.
Last Saturday in LSU’s 49-39 win at Missouri when Daniels threw for 259 passing yards and three TDs and ran for 130 yards and a TD on 15 carries, he was hammered throughout the game. He led the Tigers on TD drives of 92 and 75 yards in the final 11:23 after leaving the game with bruised ribs from a blow he received on a TD run that was nullified by a penalty.
“Sometimes, we tell J5 to just run out-of-bounds,” LSU offensive tackle Emery Jones Jr. said. “But we’re never worried about him. When he gets knocked and we pick him up, he’s smiling and looking at the sideline for the next play.”
While Burrow certainly never had Daniels’ wheels and Daniels’ doesn’t instantly recognize like Burrow where to throw the ball within three seconds after a snap, the one thing they have in common is a will to win.
If that means putting their health at risk, so be it.
“Whenever the opportunity there to go take the yards, if we need a tough yard or if we need a third and long for a first down, I gotta go get it,” Daniels said. “It’s not really like a mindset thing. It’s just instinct and a feel thing for me.”
It was obvious in Daniels’ 29 Arizona State starts, that his skill set of having wide receiver speed made him dependent on bailing from passing pockets rather than going through his progressions.
It’s a habit that took almost his first six games in his first season last year to break.
It’s also why LSU second-year Brian Kelly beams like a proud poppa when speaks of Daniels’ growth as a player.
“Jayden was not progressing,” Kelly said. “He wasn’t going through his reads, he was coming off from them too soon. He wasn’t staying in the pocket. He wasn’t being patient. He was he was doing some of the things that get you 80 yards throwing (against Auburn).
“We gave him a good plan and he’s fixed a lot of those things. It’s put him in a position that he’s one of the top if not the top quarterback production-wise in the country.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Bolton at Jena
Avoyelles at Menard
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Ouachita at ASH
Pineville at Ruston
Franklin Parish at Tioga
Bunkie at Buckeye
Logansport at Northwood-Lena
St. Mary’s at Peabody
Join BOM this Thursday, Oct. 12 at 10:30 am at 53 Pinecrest Drive in Pineville for the official Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting for the newest banking location in Rapides Parish! BOM is excited to join the Central Louisiana Regional Chamber of Commerce and continue its involvement with the organization. There will be free food, sweet treats and giveaways at the event!
Rapides felony drug arrests are accusations, not convictions.
October 9
Donald Durison Sr., 46, Alexandria — felony probation violation, possession CDS III, contempt 5 counts, $8,500 bail;
Phabian Hinkston, 29, Alexandria — possession CDS I 2-28 grams, domestic abuse battery, no bail set;
Quintin Mitchell, 23, Alexandria — possession fentanyl, carfentanyl < 2 grams, possession CDS II < 2 grams, $5,000 bail.
The success of Northwestern State University is vital to Northwest Louisiana.
My wife, Mrs. Laura, is a 1991 Graduate of NSU and nearly 50 of our close family members are graduates of NSU including three of our four parents. Our great grandparents, grandparents, parents, numerous aunts, uncles cousins and siblings were students, athletes, professors, cheerleaders and graduates of NSU.
The beautiful N that lights the night on top of Turpin Stadium was placed in honor of Mrs. Laura’s grandfather E.H. Gilson. He was the Quarterback for the 1939 undefeated Football Team, her Uncle played in the 1960s and her brother played in the 2000s. Her grandmother was the first band majorette for NSU.
Laura worked for several years in the Admissions office, both as a student and in her first post graduate job. She traveled the state recruiting students to attend NSU. She was also on the original founding team of “Freshman Connectors” for incoming NSU students and helped develop the program.
Our families are from Natchitoches for several generations back. I proposed to Mrs. Laura on Front Street.
Our family has bled purple since it was the Normal School, and before the color orange was added.
In this campaign, our opponent’s supporters are spreading ugly rumors that we are somehow anti-NSU. Nothing could be further from the truth!
We are not naive or blind to the current situation at NSU. Changes must be made if we are going to return NSU to the status it deserves as a top regional university. We are committed to making those changes. Most importantly, we have the experience, insight and team ready to make it happen!
It is time for change. I am asking for your vote on Saturday!
WE ARE NORTHWESTERN! 🤘🏻💜🧡
Alan Seabaugh
The Alexandria Police Department responded to the 300 block of Browns Bend Road on Oct. 7 around 12:54 am in reference to a two-vehicle crash involving a Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro.
The initial investigation revealed that both vehicles were traveling southbound on Browns Bend Road when the Dodge Challenger attempted to pass the Chevrolet Camaro and for reasons still under investigation the vehicles came into contact with each other. This caused the Dodge Challenger to leave the roadway and hit a tree resulting in the driver and passenger being ejected.
The driver of the Dodge Challenger sustained serious injuries and was transported to a local hospital. The passenger of the Dodge Challenger, 42-year-old Brett Tibbetts of Alexandria LA was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The driver of the Chevrolet Camaro was not injured.
This fatal crash remains an ongoing investigation pending the toxicology results.
If anyone has any information about this incident or any other type of crime in the Alexandria area, please contact the Alexandria Police Detective Division at the phone number (318) 441-6416, or APD Dispatch (318) 441-6559. You may also email information to detectives at: APDDetectives@cityofalex.com.
For a cash reward, call Crime Stoppers of CenLa at (318) 443-7867. The Crime Stoppers P3 Tipster App can also be downloaded to leave tips and get a claim number for a cash reward at www.p3tips.com/community/mobile.
By JIM BUTLER
Bids for Pineville’s Hudson Creek pump station and outfall improvements are being received through 2 p.m. November 7.
Pan American Engineers is the project overseer. Total estimated cost is $7.2 million.
The plans call for demolishing two obsolete pump stations and constructing a station with enlarged pump sump to accommodate two new 50,000 gpm pumps.
Auxiliary power source for the control systems is part of the project specifications.
Water pumped through the station will be routed through two 48-inch channels over the levee, eventually reaching Red River.
The project also includes construction of a 1.2-acre storm water retention pond upstream of Cottingham Expressway near Jones Street.
Josh Zona was born and raised in a town not far from Pittsburgh, so it may be no surprise that he is a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates and Penguins. In a year when he celebrated his 9th birthday, 1979, the Steelers and Pirates won the Super Bowl and World Series, and the Penguins made it to the second round of the National Hockey League playoffs. The Penguins have won five NHL titles since 1991.
Yet, he never really aspired to be a professional football, baseball or hockey player. Instead, he got the itch at an early age to think about a musical career. That’s because his late father enjoyed a much-traveled career as a professional jazz drummer, and Josh used to attend some of his father’s performances with such big names as Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway.
“I remember listening to him playing jazz, and dad was on a stage, and people were enjoying it,” he said. “That was a cool thing.”
Now 53, Josh started playing the piano at age 6, being mentored by Marcia Mott for more than 10 years, “but I wasn’t a good piano student,” he confessed, “because I didn’t practice like I should’ve.”
He switched to the French horn when his high school band needed a horn player, and after finishing college at Ohio State University, he studied horn performance in graduate school at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. Yet, as he acquired a keen taste for classical music, he began to see his future in orchestra music — as a conductor.
“I took a conducting class (at Ball State), and I talked to one of the graduates in conducting, and she wrote me a letter of recommendation,” he said. That landed him his first gig as an assistant conductor of the Muncie (Indiana) Symphony Orchestra, and he was as at home waving a baton as one of his childhood heroes, Terry Bradshaw, was throwing a football.
Each conductor has his own way of directing an orchestra, and different ones can elicit a unique sound from the same orchestra for the same music.
“There are so many intangibles in what happens between an orchestra and the people who lead it,” he said. “Same music, different energy.”
Fast forward to this week, and Zona, the music director and conductor of the Rapides Symphony Orchestra since 2004, will be waving the baton Saturday night for the program “Hope for Eternity” when the Red River Chorale joins the RSO to perform Mozart’s “Requiem” at the Coughlin Saunders Performing Arts Center (7:30 p.m.)
“This performance was supposed to have happened in March of 2020, but the federal government shut everything down for Covid just before the event,” said Zona, “so we’re finally able to bring it to fruition.”
Dave Scott, a trumpet player for the RSO and a member of the selection committee that recommended Zona be hired in 2004, says the orchestra “was ready with open arms to welcome Josh coming in.” Under Zona’s leadership, Scott said, “we’ve played great concerts around town – in parking lots, by the river, the zoo. It’s been great, and he’s brought in world class artists with a real connection to the community. That, to me, is the pathway for success.”
A father of two college-aged sons, Zona doubles as the music director at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. He has served as a part-time faculty member and artist in residence at LSU-Alexandria, and he has worked with orchestras in Russia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Italy, Romania and Mexico.
With his vast experience as a conductor across the globe, it carries some weight when Zona says the Rapides Symphony Orchestra “top to bottom, ranks 1 or 2” among the seven orchestras in Louisiana. Too, as a way of “paying back” his Pennsylvania hometown of New Castle, he founded and has led the Renova Music Festival for several summers in that rural area for college-aged musicians from across America.
Zona says he doesn’t consider his job “work” because he enjoys it so much, and his love for music is contagious.
“Music connects people, especially live performances,” he said. “You don’t clap when you’re listening to music on the radio, but you do if you appreciate a live performance. There’s a transfer of energy between the audience and the performers.”
(Tickets to Mozart’s “Requiem” are available online at rapidessymphony.org and at redriverchorale.com. Tickets will also be sold at the door at the RSO ticket booth: $15 for adults, $5 for students.)
By JIM BUTLER
Senate Dist. 31 candidate Mike McConathy and Sheriff Mark Wood campaigns filed special finance reports Monday.
Campaigns are required to report within two business days any contributions of $1,000 or more within 20 days of an election. The primary election is Saturday.
McConathy received two such on Oct. 7, the report notes. They were:
Jay Faison, Charlotte, NC, and Kent Thiry, Englewood, CA, $2,500 each.
Wood received the following on Monday, his campaign reported:
Teresa Chandler, Alexandria, $2,500, and Continuing America’s Strength & Security, Baton Rouge, Johnny Perry, Forest Hill, and Ann Saucier, Pineville, each $1,000.