Arrests are accusations, not convictions.

February 5

Mitendric Christmas l, 45, Alexandria — battery 2nd degree, $25,000 bail.

Rakel Morris, 25, Pineville — battery 2nd degree, contempt, $52,500 bail;

Tayshaun Spearman, 19, Alexandria — murder 2nd degree, armed robbery 2 counts, $125,000 bail.

Arrests are accusations, not convictions.

February 5

Aaron Dousay, 40, Pineville — possession, paraphernalia, $3,000 bail;

Casey Matthews, 32, Alexandria — possession 2 counts, fugitive, $2,500 bail;

Ronisha Piper, 39, Alexandria — possession, tail lamp red required, no driver’s license, $200 bail.

By JIM BUTLER

Jay Bell remains in jail, accused of 13 counts of sexually related crimes. His bail is set at $1,001,500.

Bell, 32, of Boyce was booked Friday on charges that include 1st degree rape and sexual battery.

Each rape charge carries a mandatory life sentence – no suspension, parole or other early out – if convicted.

A sexual battery conviction is 10 years. Contributing carries up to a seven-year penalty.

Alleged circumstances of the alleged crimes have not been released. At least two victims are involved.

According to records, Bell is in the contracting services business.

By JIM BUTLER

The School Board is expected to adopt the 2024-25 Rapides school year calendar at its meeting this afternoon.

Members will hear results of public voting on two options, both of which begin classes on Aug. 8, as well as a review of thinking that went into the options.

Also on the 20-item discussion agenda is an update on the Bolton High conversion to magnet status effective this fall.

The school will be Grades 6-12 at the outset, with K-5 added at a future date.

In addition to the 20 items on the discussion agenda there are 35 on the consent agenda, essentially all thoroughly reviewed in committee.

By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

BATON ROUGE – After losing four of its last five SEC games including three straight defeats, the LSU men’s basketball team has been desperately trying to find a winning recipe.

As it turned out, relying on a Baker and a Cook was more than enough to produce a successful Saturday lunchtime pig roast in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Smooth-shooting 7-foot lefty forward Will Baker scored 25 points and point guard Jalen Cook added 20 in a sorely needed 95-74 LSU victory over visiting Arkansas.

Baker immediately stuck the Razorbacks in the oven by draining 3 3-pointers and scoring 13 points in a 3:40 stretch of the Tigers’ 22-9 first-half scoring run that produced a 45-30 halftime lead.

“The last two of three games I got in foul trouble and takes me out of it because you have to stay locked in on the bench to be ready in the second half,” said Baker, who finished 9 of 11 from the field, including 4 of 5 3-pointers. “Staying out of foul trouble (vs. Arkansas) and the looks my teammates got me when I was open got me in rhythm.”

It’s not like the Razorbacks didn’t know about Baker’s 3-point shooting capability, especially stepping back after screening.

“We had a game plan for that because we knew that when he (Baker) would set a screen, the big would have to come help,” said Arkansas forward Jalen Graham, a grad transfer from Arizona State who scored 18 points. “So, we got someone to stunt but he was just making shots. He was just hot, man.”  

Though LSU head coach Matt McMahon chose not to start Cook after nine straight starts – “The ultimate goal is for us to find ways to win and for each player to perform at their very best,” McMahon said – a more settled Cook scored 15 of his 20 points in the Tigers’ 50-point second half when LSU’s lead vacillated most of the time between 19 to 25 points.

“I wanted to come in and create a spark on both ends of the floor, just get all my teammates the ball,” said Cook, who hit 5 of 8 shots including 3 of 5 3’s.

It was the Tigers’ second-highest-scoring game of the season behind the 106-60 season opening win over Mississippi Valley State. It also was the most points LSU scored in an SEC game since a 104-80 victory over Auburn in February 2021.

For the first time this season, LSU shot better than 50 percent from the field (29 of 53, 54.7 percent, 50 percent in 3-pointers (12 of 23, 52.2 percent), and 80 percent from the free throw line (25 of 28 for a season-high 89.3 percent).

McMahon, whose team improved to 12-9 overall and pulled back to .500 in SEC play at 4 4, said the sizzling shooting wasn’t a fluke.

“We scored 29 baskets on 17 assists,” McMahon said. “Because we played unselfishly and really shared the ball, you saw good looks for Mike Williams (13 points including 4 of 6 3’s) and Will Baker. “Our efficiency was really good because of the unselfish play.

“When we move the ball like that and limit our turnovers and when we play together like that, it allows us to score 95 points at home.”

Considering the 11 a.m. tipoff time with a rainy Saturday forcing a late arriving crowd topped out at 7,880, there was no inspiration for the Tigers to come roaring out of the gates.

But they did. LSU starting point guard Trey Hannibal’s layup with the game just two minutes old gave the Tigers a lead they never relinquished. LSU nailed 11 of its first 14 shots (including 6 of 7 3’s) and never looked back.

McMahon’s decision not to start Cook was a bold but needed move.

For all his positives, in SEC play Cook had been shooting just 40 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from 3-point range, many of the misfires due to poor shot selection. He also had more than twice as many turnovers (24) as assists (11) in league games.

McMahon wanted more ball movement in his offense, so he started Hannibal and went back to a motion offense they successfully used for the bulk of non-conference play before Cook became eligible.

“He played with great poise and ran our team,” McMahon said of Hannibal, who had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 0 turnovers. “I thought we were really organized on the offensive side, which allows good players to flourish.”

Arkansas, picked in the preseason to finish second in the SEC, continued its puzzling downward spiral. The Razorbacks of fifth-year head coach Eric Musselman, after advancing to the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight in 2021 and 2022 and the Sweet 16 last season, fell to 11-11 overall and 2-6 in the SEC.

“You cannot compare (the 2023-24 Razorbacks to) teams of the past,” Musselman said. “We are doing the same drills, but the execution come game time is just not there.

“We aren’t defending the three and the dribble drive. If we were, we would probably have a better record. It is our job to get players to improve. It is our job to get players to follow the game plan.”

LSU has 10 remaining SEC games, but McMahon’s squad is bracing itself for a brutal February. The Tigers’ next stretch is against five of the league’s seven teams, starting with Wednesday’s matchup at No. 5 Tennessee.

“You hope it (the win over Arkansas) leads to more confidence,” McMahon said. “You see the hard work the guys put in this week. You see the trust they played with to share the ball on offense leading to quality shots.

“You see that it works. We have really good players and we’ve just got to keep getting better.”

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

What is it about baseball and country music? Is there a connection? Are they related but were separated at birth?

Kenny Chesney and Scotty McCreery pitched for their high school teams. Charley Pride played in the Negro Leagues and the minor leagues and has the distinction of being traded, along with a teammate, to the Burrough Barons for a team bus. Garth Brooks even made it to spring training with two major league teams in the late 1990s and returned in ’04 to spring training for the Mets, when he got his first and only hit in his final at-bat.

Now, 31-year-old former Menard pitcher Alex Smith of Alexandria is living in a Nashville suburb and singing country music songs on weekends at Blake Shelton’s restaurant, Ole Red. He’s also writing country songs with 45-year-old Barry Zito, who pitched 15 years in the big leagues with the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s.

The more timely news about Smith for Rapides Parish Journal readers is that he will be the grand marshal of the Mardi Gras parade in Alexandria on Sunday. If he throws you some beads or a trinket, don’t worry, you won’t need a glove. His “heat” was more of a simmer than a sizzle, which is why he didn’t pursue the sport beyond high school, where he went 10-1 and fashioned an earned run average of just under 2.00 as a 6-foot-3, 183-pound senior in 2011. He was the senior ace for an Eagles team that advanced to the Class 2A state quarterfinals.

For our FaceTime interview, he wore an Alexandria Aces T-shirt in homage to the baseball team that in his younger life won multiple independent minor league championships using Bringhurst Field as its home ballpark.

Musical genes run in his family. His paternal grandparents sang country and gospel music for a group several decades ago in the Jonesboro area, and his father, H.B., played for the “Dots” band when Alex was a youth, and he’s still releasing new music and can be heard on a few of Alex’s songs.

Curiously, though, Alex shied away from singing or playing the guitar as a kid, even though his dad had several guitars around the house. The turning point was playing a video game called “Guitar Hero” when he was a young teen. He had such fun with it, he wondered what it’d be like to play a real guitar. He started playing, honed his skills and started playing for school Masses as a junior at Menard, and by his senior year he was singing, too.

As a student at ULL, he noticed some friends who were making money playing music at bars in Lafayette, Meanwhile, he got a break when, while playing a gig at a pool party at his apartment complex, the manager of a local daiquiri shop spotted him and offered to let him play a one-hour show there. Smith packed the house and, by popular demand, extended his show to three hours.

Soon he was playing at all sorts of places around Lafayette. He got his degree in hospitality management in 2015, and moved to Music City, immersing himself in co-writing, recording and performing. He said he has been taking vocal lessons for a couple of years to improve his singing skills, and his coach told him he’d like for him to eventually get to where “it’s like pitching in the 90 mph range without thinking about it.” With a smile, he noted, “I’m not there yet.”

He said he has had some setbacks and rejections over the years but he shrugged them off as “knocks in the head” that he tries to learn from.

Nonetheless, Smith has hit a good enough stride to have been asked to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade last November, and some popular songs of his being tracked on Spotify are “Good Guy,” “Fear of Missing Out,” “Bootshake,” “A Few Beers Ago,” and “Rhythm of the Rain.”

In fact, he and his fiancé, Kaylor, were shopping in Kroger on a recent visit to Alexandria and barely noticed some music playing faintly in the background, and then Kaylor said, “Listen! That’s your song.” It was “Bootshake.”

Alex Smith, who once answered to the nickname Big Al, will be back in “the Big A” Sunday to lead the parade, and you can shout at the former pitcher, “Throw me something, Mister.”

‘I’m so honored to be getting that position,” he said. “I’m very flattered to even fall into that line (of acclaimed previous grand marshals). I hope I can be an inspiration to others.” 

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

February 4

Keviontae Kendrick, 20, Flint, MI — theft 2 counts, felony criminal conspiracy 3 counts, $13,000 bail;

Trence Woods, 25, Flint, MI — theft 2 counts, felony criminal conspiracy 3 counts, $13,000 bail.

Arrests are accusations, not convictions.

February 4

Antonio Bradford, 36, Alexandria — possession, obstruction-evidence tampering, identity theft victim 60 or older or disabled, contempt 2 counts, $5,500 bail;

Matthew Luttrell, 25, DeRidder — possession, resisting, fugitive, $3,000 bail.

The Joint Transportation, Highways, & Public Works Committee will conduct a legislative public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 2:30 p.m. for the Central LA region (District 08). The purpose of the hearing – commonly referred to as the annual DOTD Road Show – is to review highway construction priorities for the fiscal year 2024-2025.

Location:

Pineville City Hall

Council Meeting Room

910 Main Street

Pineville, LA 71360

District 08 (Avoyelles, Grant, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine, Vernon, and Winn Parishes)

Each DOTD District will be hosting its own Road Show to allow legislators, other elected officials, DOTD representatives and the general public to discuss and obtain information about construction projects in the preliminary FY 24-25 Highway Priority Program and how those projects will affect each area of the state.

All those interested are invited to attend the Road Show and will be afforded an opportunity to express their views.

The opportunity to listen to the meeting via Zoom will be provided online at bit.ly/3ukgw6h

By JIM BUTLER

Hardy Dunn Jr. blinked.

Dunn, 45, of Boyce, a convicted felon wanted on several violence-related charges, had apparently told parties he would not be taken into custody.

Sheriff detectives last week turned information on where Dunn, in hiding since November, might be and a SWAT unit went calling at a house in the Rapides Station area.

Dunn surrendered to the assembled force without incident and is in jail under $261,000 bail.

He is charged with two counts of aggravated battery with firearms, two counts of domestic abuse battery, cruelty to the infirm, two counts of theft, criminal trespass and criminal damage.

Details of the alleged actions are not public record but it appears the alleged victims were, unlike the arresting force, unable to defend themselves.

Dunn has not been in parish lockup since the summer of 2021, when booked on drug possession charges, alleged possession of a firearm by convicted felon, contempt and parole violation.

Tuesday’s games

GIRLS

Alexandria at Family Christian
Grant at Peabody
Tioga at Neville
Bolton at Bunkie
Caldwell Parish at Buckeye
Pickering at Glenmora
Menard at Oakdale
LaSalle at Northwood-Lena
Elizabeth at Oak Hill
Rapides at Harrisonburg
South Beauregard at Plainview

BOYS

Carroll at Alexandria
Grant at Peabody
Tioga at Neville
Bolton at Bunkie
Caldwell Parish at Buckeye
Pickering at Glenmora
Menard at Oakdale
LaSalle at Northwood-Lena
Elizabeth at Oak Hill
Rapides at Harrisonburg
Elton at Plainview

Wednesday’s games

GIRLS

Avoyelles Charter at Pineville

BOYS

Alexandria Country Day at Rapides

Thursday’s games

BOYS

Bunkie at Buckeye
Northwood-Lena at St. Mary’s 

Friday’s games

GIRLS

Ouachita at Alexandria
Pineville at West Ouachita
Franklin Parish at Peabody
Tioga at Grant
Buckeye at Jena
Bolton at Caldwell Parish
Glenmora at Northwood-Lena
Northwood-Lena at St. Mary’s
Oak Hill at Anacoco
Grace Christian at Rapides
Fairview at Plainview

BOYS

Ouachita at Alexandria
Pineville at West Ouachita
Franklin Parish at Peabody
Tioga at Grant
Buckeye at Jena
Bolton at Caldwell Parish
Glenmora at Northwood-Lena
Oak Hill at Anacoco
Grace Christian at Rapides
Fairview at Plainview

Saturday’s games

BOYS

Alexandria Tournament

Tioga vs. St. Thomas More, 3 p.m.
Brusly vs. Avoyelles Charter, 4:30 p.m.
Peabody vs. Pineville, 6 p.m.
St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Alexandria, 7:30 p.m.

By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

BATON ROUGE – Kim Mulkey has had just 15 multiple-game losing streaks in 24 years as a women’s head college basketball coach.

For somebody with four national championships and more than 700 career wins, such occurrences are as rare and unexpected as the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer suddenly wearing conservative sideline attire.

And while she calmly acts like all problems are fixable in the ebb and flow of seasons, her teams are so allergic to losing they usually stop the bleeding by playing like their hair is on fire (which Mulkey lights with verbally and physically scorching practices).

After back-to-back losses to No. 1 South Carolina and unranked Mississippi State, a relentless 40 minutes of body-banging, floor-diving and maybe even a little Kung Fu fighting Sunday afternoon by Mulkey’s 11th-ranked Tigers produced a 106-66 SEC beatdown of Florida.

With decades of former LSU players on hand to celebrate the program’s Alumni Day as well as a halftime ceremony adding late head coach Sue Gunter’s name to the court already named for former men’s coach Dale Brown, the Tigers (19-4 overall, 6-3 SEC) set school records for most points scored in an SEC game and most 100-point games (7) in a season.

Almost every area that had recently been an LSU deficiency – ineffective point guard play, non-communicative defense, and passionless overall effort with little or no fight – vanished as the determined home team turned the visiting Gators into roadkill.

A monster effort from DePaul junior transfer forward Aneesah Morrow, who bounced off defenders and the hardwood for 18 points and 20 rebounds, served as Exhibit A of the Tigers’ inspiration and perspiration.

“It looked like somebody threw a bowling ball down there,” Mulkey said of one of Morrow’s second-half hustle play collisions. “Three players got knocked down in front of our bench (on one play).

“I saw a team today that was bringing it. They brought fire in their belly defensively, just a toughness.”

LSU had six players score in double figures and almost had seven. The Tigers shot 49.5 percent (37 of 75) from the floor, obliterated Florida 59-24 in rebounding, and outscored the Gators 24-4 in second-chance points.

Besides Morrow, Louisville grad transfer guard Hailey Van Lith and freshman Mikaylah Williams shared top scoring with 21 points each. Junior forward Angel Reese had 14 points, 10 rebounds and a team-high 6 assists, freshman reserve center Aalyah Del Rosario contributed 11 points as well as a team-best 3 blocked shots and sophomore guard Flau’jae Johnson added 10.

The least surprised person in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center crowd of 12,707 concerning LSU’s renewed spirit considering the defending national champs’ consecutive defeats of late was Florida head coach Kelly Rae Finley.

“We expected a more intense team on the defensive end of the floor, and that’s what we got,” said Rae Finley, whose team fell to 11-9 overall and 2-6 in the SEC. “They rotated very well. Their activity (on guarding) the ball was pretty good. They were much more handsy.

“Their guards were very physical, very gritty. They buckled down. They knew they had to play defense to change the game.”

Point guards Van Lith, reserve Last Tear-Poa, and shooting guards Morrow and Johnson allowed Florida few open perimeter looks. Improved communication led to Van Lith and Poa funneling opposing driving guards into defensive inside help.

The result was Florida shooting just 35.3 percent from the field (24 of 68) including less than 30 percent in the first and fourth quarters. Gators’ senior guard Leilani Correa, a St. John’s transfer who’s the SEC’s scoring leader in conference games averaging 25.7 points, was limited to 13 points on just 5 of 11 field goals.

“We focused on defensive effort in practice,” said former Bossier City-Parkway star Williams, who hit a pair of stop-and-pop jumpers in LSU’s 14-0 run in a 3-minute span of the first quarter that sent the Tigers sailing towards leads of 13, 26 and 37 at the end of the first, second and third quarters respectively. “Play hard, play hard, play hard, because if you don’t you come out (of the game). I don’t think anybody wants to sit (on the bench).”

Mulkey did that a few times in the first half, immediately yanking players briefly after one defensive mistake.

Getting a quick hook from Mulkey is something Van Lith has experienced many times this season in her one-year Tigers’ education, but not against the Gators. She was a pest on both ends on the floor, scoring 13 of her career-high LSU points total when Poa entered the game several times at point guard which shifted Van Lith to her natural shooting guard position.

“I’ve been inconsistent and it’s my job to bring it every game,” Van Lith said. “I’ve accepted that responsibility and it’s just time to move forward. It’s the attitude and the competitiveness that I can bring to the table. I have to bring it or we’re not going to reach our potential.

“(We need) competitiveness to fight every game, everyone is going to give us their best shot. Everyone wants to play us. The stands are always going to be packed. The key is us just taking on that challenge and not running from it anymore.”

With upcoming games at Vanderbilt on Thursday and home vs. Alabama next Monday, Mulkey wants to see a repeat of Sunday’s tipoff-to-final horn effort.

“The proudest moment I had today,” Mulkey said, “we’re up 40 in the fourth quarter and Angel went for a loose ball out of bounds and then flipped it in, then Morrow flips it back over her head, it’s knocked around and we’re getting on the floor.

“When you give that kind of effort in the fourth quarter and not (just the) first quarter. I think you’re getting your message through.”

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com