By JIM BUTLER

The Police Jury will hold a special meeting at 2 p.m. today to call a special election to fill the late Theodore Fountaine III’s unexpired term.

Fountaine was elected in October to a four-year District D term which begins in January, when his current term expires.

The agenda notice makes no reference to selection of an interim appointment.

By JIM BUTLER

Boyce Police Chief Ronald Goudeau is forming an advisory committee to study the department budget in a search for ways to avoid layoffs.

Goudeau told the town council at its November meeting he needs $103,000 added to his budget or he’ll have to consider more layoffs.

Council member Mary Fisher was blunt, saying the town doesn’t have the money and telling the chief to do what he has to do.

Disagreement between those two is not news. It predates their current positions to when both were department officers and a trail of events since.

The chief is elected, as are the mayor and council. The council approves a budget; the chief manages within it.

He mentioned several unfunded expense areas which are contributing to his budget problems.

Goudeau mentioned creating the study panel and Mayor Kelvin McCoy said he saw no problem, providing the town attorney agreed.

A committee such as Goudeau mentioned is subject to some aspects of the state public meetings law, including posting notice of meetings and the agendas at a prominent public place and on websites if available.

The Boyce site has neither agendas or minutes posted, as is required, though there is an undated message to watch for them.

By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

NATCHITOCHES – Finally, there’s upbeat news expected about the Northwestern State football program.

The Demons are on the verge of hiring a new head coach, with an announcement expected today, according to athletics director Kevin Bostian.

The deal should be done this morning, he said, with an announcement shortly afterward and an introduction of the new coach on campus anticipated Wednesday.

That will be followed Friday morning by groundbreaking for the multi-million dollar David and Sherry Morgan Health Performance Center adjoining NSU’s Donald G. Kelly Athletic Fieldhouse, providing a long-sought modern and spacious strength training and wellness facility. NSU’s weightroom has remained the same size since the fieldhouse opened in 1979, just as women’s athletics was beginning to emerge and when football squad sizes were half of the 115-man rosters today.

While the Morgans made the lead gift of $1.5 million in spring 2022, it’s taken a while to blend state funding and related processes to reach the groundbreaking milepost.

It has officially been just over a month since NSU entered the market for a new football coach. NSU president Dr. Marcus Jones and Bostian announced Oct. 26 that the final four games of the 2023 season were cancelled and sixth-year head coach Brad Laird had resigned in the wake of the Oct. 12 shooting death of junior safety Ronnie Caldwell Jr. at a nearby off-campus apartment complex.

Northwestern, as it has done under Jones beginning with the search ending with Bostian’s hiring in January 2022, contracted with Dallas-based Bowlsby Sports Advisors to identify and vet candidates for the coaching post.

“The search process was exhaustive and thus far productive. We had a deep, talented pool of applicants from across the country,” said Bostian. “We have whittled down the number of applicants to those we felt would best fit what our next head football coach should be.

“After gauging and vetting all candidates’ interest, it became clear to us how we needed to proceed and brought us to where we are now. Our goal is to have this wrapped up by Tuesday morning.”

While some former NSU assistant coaches were interviewed for the post, the new coach appears to have no prior ties to the Demons’ program, sources said. Bostian declined to address specifics of the search on Monday.

It’s been just under seven weeks since Caldwell’s death, which remains under investigation by the Natchitoches Police Department. Two people have been arrested on drug and weapons charges related to the probe, officials said, but no charge has been filed for the slaying.

Caldwell’s parents filed a lawsuit for unspecified damages on Oct. 27 against the university, Laird and The Quad apartment complex, where the shooting occurred. There were no witnesses, authorities confirmed.

The Demons’ Oct. 14 game at Nicholls was cancelled, but the team played Oct. 19 at home in a 37-20 loss to Southeastern Louisiana. The rest of the season was surprisingly cancelled the following Thursday, Oct. 26, two days before NSU was to visit old rival McNeese for the Cowboys’ homecoming.

Jones cited mental health concerns for Caldwell’s teammates as the reason for the unprecedented move. It ended a winless six-game season.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

Central Louisiana, because of its location, has often been called the “heart” of Louisiana, but it’s a nickname that goes deeper than its geography.

Our people make the nickname stick. Time and again, they do so with their hospitality, warmth, kindness and generosity. That will be the case at Saturday’s St. Jude Memphis Marathon, the largest fundraising event each year for the famous children’s research hospital.

Cenla Running Heroes, a group that has been raising funds for St. Jude’s Children’s Medical Research Center for seven years, for the first time reached the $1 million mark, according to the group’s founder and director, Ronnie Schwartz.

There are three divisions of fundraisers – corporate, community and patient – and the 62-year-old Schwartz, the general manager at the Louisiana Athletic Club for a little more than three years, has done wonders leading the fundraising efforts. He has led a group of some 26 fundraising “heroes” to top-four fundraising finishes in the community division since 2019, including a first-place finish in 2019 and a first-place finish this year.

More incredible, the Cenla group is second overall in America this year, behind only the Shaw Industries Group, Inc., which is one of the world’s largest carpet manufacturers with more than $6 billion in annual revenue and approximately 22,000 employees worldwide. It is headquartered in Dalton, Georgia, and its parent company is Berkshire Hathaway. Shaw has 226 running heroes.

Schwartz, father of two daughters in their 20s, credits his wife, Robyn, for much of his inspiration and drive to do well in an unpaid “second job” as the director of the Cenla Running Heroes. He said the Cenla group expects to raise $300 million just for this weekend’s event alone.

Annual fundraising starts in March, and many individuals, couples and businesses contribute or hold fundraising events for the cause. You’re probably familiar with at least some of them: two travel ball softball tournaments sponsored by Jimmy Greer each year, the Hackers Cup golf tournament started by Dustin Matthews, Ben Vanderlick’s Crawfish for a Cure. Now, even the Cenla Pro Rodeo (formerly the Amicus Club Rodeo) is a fundraiser for St. Jude’s.

Keith and Agnes Ashby, and Adam and Sarah McCoy (who have a daughter benefitting from the treatment at the SJ clinic in Baton Rouge) are two other couples who are fundraising “heroes.” I can’t mention them all, but with some 45 youngsters in Central Louisiana receiving or seeking the free treatment provided at St. Jude’s, and an enviable survival rate (reportedly 94 percent), we’ve got some folks who have seen what it has done in their own families and are thus motivated to give back.

One couple, for example, that didn’t seek personal attention but agreed for me to share some of their story is Richard and Julie Sanders.

Their son, Evan, is a St. Jude survivor. At age 12 he was diagnosed and successfully treated for osteoblastoma, a rare but benign bone tumor. Yet, a cancerous osteosarcoma returned to his back at age 13, requiring more surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy, Julie said, with a lot of trials and problems, including partial, then full paralysis.

“There was a team waiting for our arrival,” Julie said, “and they took care of us from Day 1. They provided everything you can imagine that he – and we — may have needed during this medical crisis, keeping him as comfortable as possible.”

Evan is now 31 and he has run in a couple of St. Jude marathons, and even though he was told he’d never have children, he’s a father to a 5-month-old boy, Julie said.

If you don’t already know someone who has been a patient at St. Jude’s, “eventually you will,” says Julie, a teacher at several Rapides Parish schools in adaptive physical education. “And Ronnie has taken the fundraising efforts to the Nth degree, and we’re so moved by everyone’s efforts.”

Not every St. Jude story is a success story, but there are so many, it’s worth celebrating the “victories.” It’s also worth celebrating the generosity of the people in this area who have rallied behind one fundraiser after another for St. Jude’s to put little ole Cenla at the top of its division in the fundraising efforts across the entire United States.

Tioga High School pitcher/outfielder Alex Morrison has a college baseball future.

Monday, the right-hander signed scholarship papers to compete at the junior college level with one of the country’s top programs — just over an hour south of home. After finishing his prep career this spring at Tioga, Morrison will head down to LSUE in Eunice to join a consistent junior college World Series contender.

Morrison, who battled arm injuries in 2023, batted .295 with six doubles and 11 RBIs as a center fielder during his junior season.

Morrison turned heads over the summer once he was able to return to the mound and moved into the top 40 of the state’s 2024 baseball prospects, according to Prep Baseball Report.

Rapides Parish Head Start at Julius Patrick announced its Teachers of the Year for Early Head Start: Shaquita Maltie and Head Start: Ms. Antoinette Baker. These ladies were recognized for their dedication, hard work and true love for their students.

Rapides felony drug bookings are accusations, not convictions. 

November 26
Jerald Hingle III, 33, Pollock — possession fentanyl/carfentanyl, bicycle lamps/reflectors, contempt 2 counts, $105,000 bail;

Kerri Silk, 32, Pollock — possession, paraphernalia, obstructing public passages, $4,000 bail. 

By JIM BUTLER

The Forest Hill Board of Aldermen received the 2022-23 audit report at its November meeting. Minutes reflect the report contains no adverse findings.

In other activity the board moved to go into executive session for an undisclosed, based on the minutes, reason.

The posted agenda for the meeting did not include an apparent notice of closed discussion.

And minutes do not reflect a motion or vote to add such to the agenda. A unanimous vote to add is required before the motion itself is considered.

The state Open Meetings statute also requires the reason for executive session be stated at the time and included in the minutes, which it is not.

The allowable reasons for executive session:

Personnel matter, provided person or persons involved are notified and given option of both appearing and of closed or open session; Collective bargaining negotiations or strategy; Current litigation or litigation projected on basis of written demand; Security issues; Allegations of misconduct; Extraordinary emergency.

No binding action can be taken in such a session.

In this case the board returned to regular session and adjourned.

By LEIGH FLYNN DOTY, Rapides Parish Journal

As the holiday shopping season enters its busiest time, small business owners find themselves in a peculiar situation. Trends toward shopping from online shops or from big box stores have definitely impacted small businesses, and this year is no different. But local shop owners, such as Carrie Weaver Harrington, believe that it is more important than ever to support the small businesses.

“We have to support the ‘little guy’,” Harrington said, as she sat for a few moments inside her Sweet Delta Bakery & Coffee Shop in Woodworth. “It is definitely important now, in this economy.”

Harrington opened her shop in February of this year, but she is no stranger to the community. She has baked cakes and goodies for friends, family, and several people in the central Louisiana area in her years as a cottage bakery owner.

“I started baking after my first daughter came along,” she said. That daughter will soon enter her teenage years. “I have always been the super-extra party planner, so I thought I would start baking my daughters’ cakes, and it just took off from there.”

For years, she baked and decorated mostly cakes and cookies, while continuing to work full-time in the medical profession. Five years ago, she branched out and offered a “Christmas tin” package, which included lots of assorted candies and other goodies. 

The Christmas tins were, and continue to be, a big hit. Harrington recalls one particular Christmas when she was responsible for assembling and shipping (or delivering) more than 400 of the tins to places throughout the United States. Holiday gift baskets range in size and price, but they are still available for this Christmas season.

Over the next few years, Harrington began facing some medical issues. She and her husband, Jordan, decided they wanted to put down roots, and shift their focus. It was then they found themselves driving through Woodworth, looking at opportunities.

The former dollar store was available, but Harrington said she knew she did not want or need the entire space. Around the same time, the family was driving around the area and came across a new home being constructed. She said her husband approached the builder, asking if it was for sale. The home was being built for a family member, but she had since decided not to move there, so they bought their home.

Not long afterward, the realtor contacted Harrington again, saying they were subdividing the space, if she was still interested. The Harringtons took their time in making space just right, which meant looking to and supporting those around them.

Barn wood found throughout the shop is reclaimed from their family farm back home. Tables and chairs were found through local flea markets and customers. The walls are adorned with artwork by her cousin and another local artist, Amy Jo Betts. Everything in the shop says “community”, whether it’s the local community or the community from which Harrington hails.

The name of the shop is a tribute to her roots. “The (Mississippi) Delta is where I grew up. It’s where I was taught so many things which bring me joy, such as baking. It made me who I am.”

She said the shop has received tremendous support from the community, and she believes in returning that favor. The coffee served at the shop is from a start-up roaster in Shreveport (Black Bayou Roasters). She uses local honey and local products whenever possible.

“We seek out the small shops,” she said. “If we can, we shop local … or as local as we can get. If we want to continue to have the things we love, we have to support our friends and families.”

Sweet Delta not only serves a variety of coffees, but they have lemonades, fizzy lemonades, pastries, cookies, brownies, and her famous “cruffins”. Even the names of the products are a tribute to the community – The Delta, The Blues, and The Grizzly. They even bake cakes for customers’ furry babies, and they usually have homemade dog treats as well.

Harrington and Sweet Delta Bakery & Coffee Shop were among a handful of the 300 new businesses that opened in central Louisiana this year to be nominated for best new business by the Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce. 

“I wanted to create a place that was fun, that was unique,” she said. “It is a place for people to escape, if they want, but it has allowed me to be even closer to my family, even with the long hours.”

“I am just thankful for the support of the community,” she said. “I love being here, where friends have become family, and we can be involved in and support our daughters’ school and our community.”

Sweet Delta Bakery & Coffee Shop is located at 9394 US Hwy 165, Suite A in Woodworth. It is currently open from 6:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 7 a.m. until noon on Saturdays. It can be reached on Facebook or by calling 318-269-1100 or by email at sweetdeltabakery@gmail.com.  

By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports

Bodie Van Dyke specializes in onside kicks. 

He’d been executing them to near perfection all season long, stealing possessions for Alexandria Senior High time and time again. 

His first attempt Friday night did not go as planned, but he got a chance to make up for it with a second opportunity and the Trojans trailing by six in the quarterfinals of the Division I Select playoffs. 

When they needed his flawless execution the most, Van Dyke kicked the ball into Karr’s front line and dove after the football. He came out of the bottom of the scrum with the football and handed it to an official, but the officiating crew ruled Karr had recovered the kick.

That allowed the Cougars (11-1) to run out the clock on a 40-34 victory to knock ASH out of the playoffs and advance to the semifinals. 

“‘Coach, he took it from him. They had it,’” Bachman said when asked what explanation he was given by officials. “All I can tell you is I called him this morning and said, ‘Bodie, I just need to know, no bullcrap, did you take it from him?’ He told me, ‘Coach, I had it the entire time.’” 

Bachman lamented the Trojans’ lost opportunities, which included an inability to score at the end of the first half and three straight empty possessions in the third quarter as the game got away from them. 

ASH (8-5) went three-and-out on its first possession of the second half, turned the ball over on downs in the red zone on its second possession and then went three-and-out again late in the quarter.  

After a late second-quarter touchdown by star receiver TaRon Francis gave the Cougars a six-point lead at the half, Karr made it 20 unanswered with two more TDs in the third quarter as John Johnson hit Oliver Mitchell for a 7-yard score and Daejawn Smith took a draw and raced 43 yards for a touchdown. 

“We had a couple of opportunities to really flip the game,” Bachman said. “Credit to their kids, they made some plays.” 

Trailing 40-20 heading into the fourth quarter, the Trojans didn’t quit.  

Senior quarterback Ty Feaster hit Darius Washington for a 70-yard touchdown on a play-action post route with 6:25 remaining in the game. Washington caught the ball near midfield and outran his defender to cut the Cougars’ lead to 40-27. 

The Trojans cut the deficit to 40-34 with 59 seconds remaining when JT Lindsey finished a 12-play drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, setting the stage for the onside kick drama. 

“I knew Alexandria would be tough, especially with the quarterback they have,” Karr coach Brice Brown said, according to Crescent City Sports. “We’ve faced good quarterbacks, but he can throw it to the field, to the opposite hash, and their offensive line is good and they have speed. We knew it would be a tough, four-quarter game and it was.”

The Trojans scored on each of their first three possessions of the game as they traded touchdowns with the Cougars, who scored the first four times they had the ball to take a 26-20 halftime lead. 

Lindsey caught a 4-yard pass from Feaster in the corner of the end zone to cap a 13-play, 72-yard drive and tie the score at 6 in the first quarter. 

Feaster finished off another 13-play drive, this one covering 76 yards, when he plowed in from 1 yard out on a QB sneak to tie the score at 13 early in the second quarter. 

While the first two possessions featured ball-control offense that kept the ball out of Karr’s hands and allowed the Trojan defense to stay fresh, the third drive lasted just three plays when Lindsey took a toss and burst through the Karr defense for a 75-yard touchdown run. 

Johnson threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-21 passing to lead the Cougar attack. Francis, a junior LSU commitment, caught two touchdown passes, while Smith rushed for two scores. 

“I thought the quarterback played really well,” Bachman said. “He put the ball in some tight windows.”

In the first half, the Trojans ran 29 plays and gained 238 yards of offense. They finished the game with 444 yards. 

Lindsey rushed for 177 yards and had three total touchdowns, while Feaster completed 18 of 27 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Feaster also rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown. Washington was the Trojans’ leading receiver with nine catches for 125 yards and a TD. 

Bachman said he was disappointed to see the season end for a special group of Trojan seniors, including Feaster and others such as receiver EJ Scott, center Cam Calderon, defensive tackle Jeremiah Jeffers-Wright, linebacker Omarion Ford, free safety Jason Blackwell and cornerbacks Amyrion Mingo and Jaylin Johnson. 

“I’m very proud of this group,” he said. “This group has been incredible. This group is super competitive. They rose to the occasion week after week. This is one of those groups that’s really hard to say goodbye to. It’s hard to see all those high-character kids go out the door.”  

SELECT DIVISION I
8-Acadiana 28, 1-Holy Cross 14
 5-Karr 40, 13-ASH 34 
3-Catholic-BR 38, 6-John Curtis 35 
18-Rummel 35, 7-St. Paul’s 21  

SELECT DIVISION II 
1-St. Thomas More 49, 8-St. Michael 0 
5-Shaw 20, 4-John F. Kennedy 13 
3-Lafayette Christian 57, 11-McDonogh #35 21 
7-Teurlings 42, 2-E.D. White 28   

SELECT DIVISION III 
1-St. Charles 31, 9-Notre Dame 21 
4-University 45, 21-Lake Charles Prep 13 
3-Newman 31, 11-Episcopal 15 
2-Calvary 49, 10-Parkview 28  

SELECT DIVISION IV 
1-Vermilion Catholic 39, Ascension Catholic 35 
5-Riverside 26, 4-St. Martin’s 14 
3-Ouachita Christian 56, 6-St. Mary’s 0 
2-Southern Lab 35, 10-Central Catholic 0  

NON-SELECT DIVISION I  

1-Ruston 56, 9-Walker 17 
21-Mandeville 56, 4-Airline 50 
6-Zachary 35, 3-Destrehan 14 
7-Dutchtown 21, 18-Central-BR 20   

NON-SELECT DIVISION II

1-North DeSoto 45, 8-Iowa 21 
12-Opelousas 26, 4-Lutcher 10 
22-Northwest 46, 3-Assumption 44, OT 
2-Cecilia 38, 10-Jennings 14  

NON-SELECT DIVISION III 

1-Jena 30, 8-Amite 7 
4-Union Parish 28, 5-Bogalusa 22 
3-St. James 40, 6-Many 0 
2-Sterlington 33, 7-Pine 20  

NON-SELECT DIVISION IV 

1-Logansport 42, 8-Welsh 34 
4-Haynesville 36, 5-Jeanerette 6 
3-Oak Grove 31, 6-Mangham 30 
2-Kentwood 48, 7-Homer 20 

Felony arrests are accusations made, not convictions.

November 24
Demetrius Voorhies II, 40, Alexandria — theft of motor vehicle, interfering with emergency communication, resisting by force or violence, robbery, battery, contempt, $33,000 bail.

November 25
Myron Bernard, 39, Alexandria — resisting officer with force or violence, criminal damage, $750 bail;

Mosell Smith, 55, Alexandria — resisting, battery on officer, criminal mischief: trespass/business, $1,500 bail. 

Felony drug charges are accusations, not convictions.

November 24
Anthony Lewis, 31, Alexandria — possession, paraphernalia, resisting, contempt 3 counts, $5,000 bail.

November 25
Shelly Wileman, 45, Alexandria — possession, paraphernalia, theft, $3,500 bail.

The Louisiana State University of Alexandria College of Business released its November 2023 issue of the Central Louisiana Economic Dashboard. 

“In recent months, the tight labor market in Alexandria has eased and consumer spending has weakened in some areas,” said Randall Dupont, Dean of the LSUA College of Business. Unemployment in central Louisiana stood at 3.8% in September, according to the latest available data. Alexandria’s unemployment rate rose from 3.1% in August to 3.4% in September, while the rate in Natchitoches dropped from 4.2% to 3.9% over the same period.  

Dupont continued, “Alexandria’s labor market continues to be the tightest in the state, a ranking it has held for over three years. Its unemployment rate of 3.4% was the third lowest in the state in September, behind Baton Rouge and Lake Charles.”

Year-to-date through October 2023, consumer spending in central Louisiana was ahead of last year in all jurisdictions, with Rapides and Grant seeing YTD increases of 2% and 10%, respectively. High interest rates appear to be impacting vehicle sales. Vehicles were down in five of the six parishes in September, according to October tax collections. 

Another sign of a slowing economy is a plateauing of online sales in recent months. Online consumer spending grew by 2.9% in 2023 over the first 10 months of last year. However, online sales have remained the same since June. This is the first extended period of no growth in online sales since remote sellers’ data have been collected and may be evidence of consumer belt-tightening. In an unusual turn, brick-and-mortar sales in CenLA grew at 4.3%, a faster pace than online sales.

New business applications in Louisiana were up nearly a half percent through October, while Rapides saw a 9% decline over the same period. Rapides had 365 new businesses in the first 10 months, compared to 399 last year.  

The Central Louisiana Economic Dashboard is a service of the LSUA College of Business to help business and community leaders monitor the economic pulse of central Louisiana. To view the November 2023 CENLA Economic Dashboard, click here.    

Written by Randall Dupont, Ph.D. | LSUA College fo Business

Photo credit – LSUA Strategic Communications