Dear Faculty, Staff, Students, and Natchitoches Community,

It is with gratitude that I announce my departure as President of Northwestern State University (NSU) to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the University of Louisiana System, where I will also serve as a senior advisor to President Gallot. Serving Northwestern State University for the past 25 years has been an immense pleasure and a profound honor.

These mixed emotions are a direct reflection of my incredible time at NSU and the opportunity to build upon these successes on a statewide level. Higher education is at a crucial juncture – one in which universities must rapidly and aggressively innovate to ensure we meet the needs of all learners and bring positive, impactful growth to the communities and economies we serve.

I have seen the benefits of this mindset firsthand over the past few years at NSU, and I am eager to do so in service to the other universities that comprise the UL System. Serving in this capacity is an honor and a distinguished opportunity. With my decades of experience within the UL System and commitment to advancing student success across Louisiana’s public higher education institutions, I am excited to collaborate with President Gallot in innovating and re-envisioning the future of higher education in our state.

Reflecting on my time at NSU, I am thankful for the incredible memories and the growth we have achieved together. From capital outlay initiatives to significant expansions in our academic programs, our university’s momentum is undeniable.

Here are just a few reasons why I believe NSU is on a positive trajectory and shines brightly as a premier regional institution dedicated to the personal and professional success of our students:

• Our graduates excel in critical fields such as healthcare, STEM, business, and education. They are filling essential workforce gaps and propelling industry advancements, creating high-paying jobs, enhancing Louisiana’s economic competitiveness, and strengthening national security.
• Our esteemed Dear School of Creative and Performing Arts continues to evolve, serving as the cultural heartbeat of our campus and a hub of activity for Natchitoches and the surrounding region.
• Our graduates consistently make their mark in various fields: as music educators and performers in schools across Louisiana and on stages worldwide, as journalists navigating an ever-evolving media landscape, as actors and dancers on Broadway, cruise ships, and theaters globally, and as artists and designers shaping the visual world.
• We have made tremendous strides in recruiting and retaining high-quality students. Enrollment applications continue to rise, with ACT scores and GPAs of incoming freshmen surpassing the state average.
• The NSU Foundation secured $7 million in private contributions, leading to transformative contributions across campus. This generosity, coupled with a 16% return on our endowment, fuels our historic growth.
  Investments such as the Entrepreneurial Innovation Center, a partnership with Louisiana School for the Math, Science, and the Arts, will serve as a hub for entrepreneurial activity in northwest Louisiana. Meanwhile, funding from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation will alleviate nursing shortages, with the potential of helping us contribute over 1,000 nurses to the state by 2032.
• Speaking of our nursing programs, they continue to excel – with a 100% job placement rate for graduates in 2023 and exceptional NCLEX pass rates of 99% for BSN students and 98% for ASN students.
  Our new School of STEM includes five departments focused on interdisciplinary collaboration, ensuring NSU remains a leader in STEM education.
• Our teacher preparation programs rank among the top five in Louisiana for Praxis® Elementary Education pass rates.

The list can go on and on. Our collective accomplishments in innovation, student success, and community impact are a testament to the dedication and hard work of our faculty, staff, students, graduates, and expansive network of 61,000 living alumni. Together, we continue to make NSU a beacon of excellence and a premier research institution.

I am both proud and excited about the future of this extraordinary institution. I am proud because of our 140-year legacy of excellence in higher education and our lasting impact on countless lives and the broader community. I am excited because of the future I see ahead – one that I will continue to be part of, albeit in a different way that will enable me to support the exciting futures of all the institutions that comprise the UL System.

President Gallot will share more information with the NSU community in the coming weeks as I begin my transition into my new role with the UL System.

Thank you for the privilege of serving as your 20th president. I am deeply grateful to the NSU community for your support and look forward to witnessing and contributing to the continued success of this remarkable institution.

Steadfast and True,

Dr. Marcus D. Jones
President
Northwestern State University

By JIM BUTLER

The Alexandria Zoning Board of Adjustment will hear a request to allow special use on property at 96 MacArthur Drive.

The board meets at 4 p.m. June 10 to review the petition of Willow Neo LLC and hear any support for or objection to it.

A now-closed business exists at the location but because the tract is zoned SF2 (residential) a special exception is required to locate another enterprise there, in this case a proposed tire service center.

Automotive aficionados or jingle followers will most recall the site by “Double-A-Beep-Beep-M-C-O”.

For everyone else the tract near Virginia Avenue was the location of AAMCO Transmissions.

Search and rescue teams with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office, Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Sabine Parish Fire District responded to a fatal boating incident in Sabine Parish on Tuesday.

The body of Macy Richard, 27, of Opelousas, was recovered by the search and rescue teams from Toledo Bend Lake shortly after responding to the incident. Search and rescue teams recovered the body of Jerilyn Hebert, 57, of Opelousas, from Toledo Bend Lake around 4:30 p.m.

According to the survivors, five customers chartered a fishing boat with a fishing guide on Toledo Bend Lake. The wind and waves quickly picked up around 11:50 a.m. and a wave hit the pontoon boat, causing it to capsize, and sending all six people into the water. The guide was able to call 911.

When LDWF agents arrived on the scene, they found three of the customers and the guide clinging to the capsized vessel and were able to pull them onto the LDWF vessel around 1 p.m.

The bodies of Richard and Hebert were turned over to the Sabine Parish Coroner’s Office to determine official causes of death.

The U.S. Coast Guard will be the lead investigative agency for this fatal boating incident.

The baseball and softball teams at Holy Savior Menard had very successful seasons and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s All-State committee noticed.

Menard had four first-team Class 2A All-State selections and five more honorable mention picks among the softball and baseball teams announced Thursday by the LSWA.

Three Eagles made the All-State first-team baseball roster: first baseman Drake Aldredge, pitcher Cooper Scott and catcher Ben Wade, all seniors.

One Menard softball standout, senior infielder Emily DeSelle, was a first-team All-State selection.

The Lady Eagles’ honorable mention selections were Emma Davis, Sophie Giordano, Kaylee Methvin, and Sawyer Shelton.

For the Eagles, Coen Laroux was an honorable mention choice.

All of the All-State first-teamers made the Rapides Parish Journal All-Parish teams announced earlier this month. Their bio capsules from the All-Parish roster follow below.

Softball

Designated Player: Emily DeSelle, Sr.– Last season’s All-Parish Outstanding Player was one of the top power hitters in the parish, batting .554 with seven home runs, 12 doubles, five triples and 43 RBIs as the shortstop and only senior on the Lady Eagles’ Division III quarterfinal team. 

Baseball

Pitcher: Cooper Scott, Sr. – The 2024 All-Parish Most Outstanding Player, the LSUE signee was lights-out on the mound, finishing with a 9-0 record, 1.02 ERA and one save in 12 appearances. He gave up just 13 total runs, including nine earned, and struck out 59 batters in 62 innings. When he wasn’t pitching, Scott found a home in right field and shook off an early-season slump to finish with a .292 batting average, eight doubles, five triples, three home runs and 20 RBIs while leading the team with 24 walks, 33 runs and 23 stolen bases. 

Catcher: Ben Wade, Sr. – The College of the Desert (California) signee returns for a second straight season on the All-Parish team after batting .300 with three doubles, one triple and 15 RBIs while making just three errors and throwing out nine runners trying to steal. Wade was batting just .204 through March but was the team’s second-leading hitter with a .444 average in April and May.

First Base: Drake Aldredge, Sr. – The Eagles’ most consistent hitter throughout the season, the Louisiana Christian signee returns for a second straight season as the All-Parish first baseman after leading the Eagles with a .402 batting average, 39 hits, 11 doubles and 26 RBIs while also adding a home run, scoring 13 runs, striking out just six times and making just three errors in 218 chances.

By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

CHAPEL HILL, N.C – Tommy White’s two seasons as LSU’s big bat bopper have flashed like a streaking meteoroid burning across the college baseball universe.

Just 16 months ago after he transferred from North Carolina State, White ripped the first pitch he saw in a Tiger uniform for an RBI single.

Since then, despite a labrum injury that bothered him all last year until he underwent surgery in the off-season, White, a junior, has developed into a complete third baseman projected as a top 15 pick in July’s major league baseball draft.

But as he makes his 128th start of his LSU career today when the Tigers (41-20) open NCAA tournament play vs. Wofford at 11 a.m. in the Chapel Hill Regional, White’s total focus is the here and now.

“LSU is everything to me, it’s been there from the start when they (his teammates) just accepted me,” said White, a.k.a. Tommy Tanks,  who leads the Tigers with a .337 hitting average with a team-high 69 RBI, 24 homers and a mere 3 fielding errors. “I just want to play as long as possible. It’s what everybody should want to do being here.

“This is the last time I’ll wear an LSU jersey making a postseason run and I don’t want to take it off yet. I wanted to fight to get to that spot.”

In the Tigers’ last-gasp push to earn an SEC bid by winning 7 of their last eight games, White is batting .416 (15 of 36) 13 RBI and 4 homers.

His fight has proven contagious since LSU scored 43 runs in winning its first four SEC Tournament games before losing 4-3 in the finals to No. 1 and NCAA tourney top-seed Tennessee.

“I just think that the whole team wanted it just as much as I did,” White said. “It was pretty cool to see that it wasn’t one guy stepping up. It was everybody stepping up. It was like we said, `We can do this, let’s just do it.’

“You all saw where we started (a 3-12 start in SEC play) to where we’re at now. It’s completely different.”

Though most of White’s batting numbers are down from a year ago when he led the nation with 105 RBI, he also had the luxury of being situated just behind Golden Spikes winner Dylan Crews in the batting order.

Crews, the No. 2 overall pick by Washington in last July’s MLB draft, was third nationally in batting average (.426) and second in on-base percentage (.567).

Because Crews reached base in all 71 games last season, 18 of White’s 24 homers drove in multiple runs. With no Crews to set the table this season, only 10 of White’s 24 homers have scored multiple runs.

It hasn’t deterred White from doing things his way, like slamming 15 first pitches in his LSU career for home runs and leading off an inning 10 times with a homer. He’s also continued to spray the ball all over the park. Of his 48 career homers as a Tiger, 18 have been to left field, 17 to right field, 5 to center field, 5 to right centerfield and 3 to left centerfield.

White has 75 career homers, the first 27 at North Carolina State where he set the NCAA single season freshman home run record. He is No. 8 all-time in NCAA history in career home runs and is just the fourth player in NCAA history to reach the 75-homer mark in three seasons.

“I really look at a game one pitch at a time,” White said.

No. 2 seed LSU (40-21) vs. No. 3 seed WOFFORD (41-18)

WHAT, WHERE: NCAA baseball Chapel Hill (N.C.) Regional

SCHEDULE/PITCHING MATCHUP

Game 1: Today, 11 a.m. CT ESPNU

LSU –TBA

WOFFORD – TBA

LSU’s all-time NCAA tournament record: 174-72 (.707) in 35 appearances, 7 College World Series championships (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009, 2023 in 19 CWS appearances.

Wofford’s all-time NCAA tournament record: 0-2 (.000) in one appearance.

LSU PLAYERS TO WATCH 3B Tommy White (.337, 24 HR, 69 RBI, 3 errors in 99 chances), 2B Steven Milam (.328, 6 HR, 36 RBI, 5 errors in 211 chances), SS Michael Braswell III (.304, 3 HR, 33 RBI, 13 errors in 203 chances), DH Hayden Travinski (.278, 15 HR, 52 RBI), P Luke Holman (9-3, 2.54 ERA in 85 innings, 116 strikeouts, 32 walks), P Gage Jump (6-1, 3.42 ERA, 73.2 innings, 89 strikeouts, 20 walks), P Griffin Herring (4-1, 6 saves, 1.88 ERA in 43 innings, 57 strikeouts, 13 walks).

WOFFORD PLAYERS TO WATCH

3B Dixon Black (.368, 13 HR, 75 RBI), 1B Tyler Hare (.327, 12 homers, 62 RBI), C Daniel Jackson (.362, 12 HR, 67 RBI), CF Marshall Toole (.383, 9 HR, 64 RBI), P Zac Cowan (9-2, 3.55 ERA in 104 innings, 118 strikeouts, 18 walks), P Camden Wicker (4-3, 4.14 ERA in 16 appearances, 51 strikeouts, 43 walks), P Kenny Michaels (3-1, 2 saves, 4.20 ERA in 45 innings, 56 strikeouts, 22 walks).

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

May 29

Weapons

Dylan Funderburk, 30, Alexandria — aggravated assault firearm, probation violation, $500,000 bail. 

Other

Sherterrock Henderson, 46, Alexandria — theft of motor vehicle, $5,000 bail. 

This date: 11 arrests, 6 that included at least one contempt count. 

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

May 29

Buck Stafford, 25, Alexandria — possession, paraphernalia, theft, $3,500 bail;

McKinley Wilton Jr., 43, Alexandria — possession, paraphernalia, fugitive, $600 bail. 

By JIM BUTLER

The annual accounting summary of the Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority gets the most attention of a half dozen Rapides audit reports recently issued.

Auditors found no substantive issues in reports for GAEDA, Rapides Area Planning Commission, Red River Waterway Commission, Alexandria City Court, Rapides Parish Library and Cenla Community Action Committee.

GAEDA, ensnared in controversy since February, had revenues in 2023 of $898,000, essentially all from a hotel-motel occupancy tax.

Expenses totaled $957,000, leaving a net position of $1.27 million, all unrestricted in use.

Economic development grants took $484,000, payroll and benefits $297,000, legal and professional fees $82,000.

Executive Director Clifford Moller’s base pay was $157,015. Fringe costs raised the total to $187,000.

His sudden retirement due to health issues was the linchpin for the current agency imbroglio.

Other reports:

Rapides Area Planning Commission – fund balance $454,000, unrestricted $377,000, portion of reserves used to enhance services, executive director compensation $104,992;

Alexandria City Court – net position $1.23 million, General Fund unrestricted $881,000, non-fiduciary revenue $455,000, expense $491,000, Judge Richard Starling base pay $171,684;

Rapides Parish Library – net position $20.8 million, unrestricted $12.7 million, revenues $7.9 million (7.5 from tax), expenses $6.4 million, head librarian base pay $70,438;

Cenla Community Action – net assets $274,000, revenues all programs $3.35 million, CEO base pay $78,853;

Red River Waterway Commission – net position $118 million, unrestricted $31.6 million, total revenues $18 million, total expenses $15.1 million, executive director base pay $175,527.

Social media has been flooded with pictures since Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton died Monday at age 71 from colon cancer.

Those photos – all of a smiling, gracious 6-11 Walton towering over someone he just met wanting a selfie with him – tell everything you need to know why he was so beloved.

He loved people. All races. Tall or short. Skinny or overweight. Rich or poor.

Whether he kibitzed at courtside with the CEO of a multi-million company or shot the breeze with an elderly security guard working the players and media entrance at an arena loading dock, he always had time for conversation.

Wanted to know where you were from, what college you attended, what you did for a living, if you were married and if you had kids. It was important for him to connect.

One of the first times I talked to Walton was when I worked in Memphis for almost three decades writing for The Commercial Appeal newspaper.

I was writing an extensive feature on former Memphis State head basketball coach Larry Finch, a legend in his younger years a Tigers’ All-American guard who led MSU to the 1973 NCAA national championship game vs. Walton and coach John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty.

Finch scored 29 points but Walton scored 44 (still a championship game record), hitting 21 of 22 field goals and grabbing 13 rebounds in an 87-66 victory.

With under three minutes left, Walton injured his ankle and had to leave the game. Finch helped him off the floor all to the UCLA bench, an apparent act of magnanimous sportsmanship.

Five years after Finch had been fired as Memphis State’s coach at the end of the 1996-97 season, he suffered a massive heart attack and two strokes that left him partially paralyzed and affected his speech.

But it didn’t alter his memory or his sense of humor when I visited him in a nursing/rehabilitation center for my story. I asked him why he helped the injured Walton to the bench.

“Larry, some people think to this day it’s one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship they’ve ever seen at the Final Four,” I said.

Finch, who died in 2011, smiled as best he could, then gestured for me to lean close to him so I could hear his answer.

“Sportsmanship. . .my. . .ass,” he said in a halting cadence. “He was kicking our butt. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t coming back in the game.”

Finch laughed long and hard, just as Walton did when I tracked him down by phone for a response to what Finch said.

For the next 30 minutes, Walton quizzed me on Finch’s health and what he could do to help him.

He remembered UCLA would have been in trouble in the title game had the Tigers’ high-flying forward Larry Kenon not been in foul trouble and how UCLA had no answer stopping Finch. He also admired Finch later when he became a head coach because he never cheated in recruiting and was loyal to his kids.

I had no idea how Walton knew all of that. But he did. He tried to learn the best attributes of everyone he met.

His positivity was intoxicating, despite the fact he had (by his estimation) 38 surgeries over the years mostly to his knees, feet, ankles, toes and wrists. Those injuries and the constant pain he endured forced him to play in just 44 percent of the games in his 13-year NBA career.

He still managed to post career averages of 13.3 points and 10.5 rebounds, was the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 1978 and NBA Finals MVP in 1977 for Portland before injuries took away his marvelous athleticism. He was also named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 1986 when he won another NBA title as a backup for Celtics’ center and former Centenary star Robert Parish, a Shreveport native.

The first thing Walton did when he was about to join the Celtics in September 1985 was go to Parish’s house in Boston and tell him he had no aspirations of replacing him in the starting lineup. He just wanted to help the Celtics win.

“He (Walton) thought enough of me to make sure I was comfortable with him being on the team,” Parish told the Boston Globe in 2016. “That’s why I have the utmost respect for Bill Walton and that’s the main reason why he was my inductee into the Hall of Fame (in 2003). Bill Walton is my main man, for that reason.”

Walton once tried to tutor former LSU star Shaquille O’Neal when Tigers’ head coach Dale Brown brought him to Baton Rouge for a week at the start of the 1992-93 season.

Most of the younger generation knew Walton, who once had a personal 142-game winning streak that lasted almost five years from high school through his senior season at UCLA, for his off-beat color commentary on college basketball telecasts.

They didn’t realize Walton, a pontificating master of hyperbole, overcame a stuttering problem at age 28. He started his broadcast career in 1990 and called his last game in February.

Lionel Hollins, Portland’s starting guard on the ’77 NBA title who later became head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, loved talking about Walton’s competitive spirit.

But he always concluded there was one indisputable characteristic about the big redhead, who married twice and had four sons including Adam, who played 22 games for LSU from 1995-97 before transferring.

“He’s simply a great human being,” Hollins said.

Yes. He was all that and more.

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

NATCHITOCHES — The Southland Conference officially hugged and made up with Stephen F. Austin Wednesday, three years after a bitter divorce.

Not far removed from kicking the SLC to the curb in 2021, the Lumberjacks announced their return to the Southland and got a resounding embrace from SLC members including neighborhood rival Northwestern State.

“We are extremely excited,” said NSU athletic director Kevin Bostian. “It makes us stronger in the competitive arena across numerous sports and strengthens us geographically. With the history between our institutions, their addition to the conference will stir emotions from our alumni and those who competed against Stephen F. Austin in the past. Having a nearby rival always adds to the atmosphere during competition. Having SFA in the Southland just feels right.”

His predecessor as Northwestern’s AD, Greg Burke, concurred.

“It’s great for the Southland Conference and especially good for Northwestern State to have SFA back in the fold,” said Burke, who led NSU Athletics for 26 years. “Too many times in today’s ever-changing and transitional world of college athletics, longtime rivalries go by the wayside. The fans. student-athletes and communities of Natchitoches and Nacogdoches will all benefit from this development.”

A focal point of fan reaction on social media: resumption of an annual football rivalry, which capped the regular season each year since NSU and SFA became conference cousins in 1984 until after the teams’ last league football showdown in 2019.

SFA becomes a full Southland member immediately, leading to a major reshuffle for all sports schedules.

“The conference is working through the scheduling process for football and for all sports with the addition of SFA,” said Bostian. “We should be hearing something in the near future regarding football and fall sports as well as the 2025 spring sports calendar.”

The Lake Charles American Press reported McNeese officials expect the revised SLC football schedule will be released as soon as today.

After 34 years, the Nacogdoches, Texas institution departed the Southland hurriedly in 2021, joining the expansive Western Athletic Conference, which had visions of moving up from Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) to Football Bowl Subdivision status. SFA joined Southland members Abilene Christian, Lamar and Sam Houston heading west into a league that stretched across much of the western U.S., and owned a better men’s basketball profile anchored by Grand Canyon University.

The WAC’s football aspirations never gained traction. Meanwhile, division arose in the league’s ranks.

A few weeks ago, Grand Canyon and Seattle University – both non-football athletic programs — jilted the WAC for the hoops-rich West Coast Conference, which features basketball heavyweight Gonzaga and other nationally-reputable teams.

SFA won only won one WAC sport title in its three seasons, and didn’t make it into March Madness after going four times as the SLC champ from 2014-18. Meanwhile, dramatically-increased travel costs reportedly nearing $400,000 annually and road-weary coaches and players were stress points. Even more aggravating: seeing its nearby rival, Sam Houston, skip the WAC and join Conference USA for the 2023-24 seasons.

SFA hiked its athletic budget to over $23 million while in the WAC, a figure that more than doubles the money Northwestern spends. While away, SFA became part of the University of Texas system, providing an economic boost in spite of declining enrollment and other problems that led to a series of university leadership changes.

SFA is the second WAC member to join the Southland lineup this spring. In April, Texas-Rio Grande Valley signed on while announcing a commitment to start football in 2025, which will give the league 10 members in that signature sport. Lamar returned to the Southland fold after just one season in the WAC.

“I love the addition of SFA,” said McNeese athletic director Heath Schroyer told Jim Gazzolo of the American Press. “It’s an established D-1 institution, a rival and is in our footprint. I think this addition truly solidifies our brand as a league.”

Said Burke: “It’s positive to see the Southland Conference rise again and speak to the foundation that, while not necessarily obvious in some corners, was always in place and now positions its membership for unprecedented growth and success.”

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

The small Concordia Parish village of Ferriday has received national if not worldwide acclaim for three reasons: Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart. Three cousins, who grew up in Ferriday, would become known across the globe for Lewis’ and Gilley’s piano-pounding music and Swaggart’s preaching.

Seven miles up the road from Ferriday, the Franklin Parish hamlet of Gilbert has produced another notable figure who’s behind the scenes work with his video camera has made his name known throughout the outdoors industry. He is John L. Brown, Jr. who for some 20 years worked as videographer for the National Wild Turkey Federation, eventually being named executive producer.

For more than two decades, his expertise with the camera put him in close quarters with every well-known name in the outdoors industry.

Brown has now retired and has moved back home to his north Louisiana roots. He finally had time to put together a wonderful hard cover book, “Gathering Light” that covers his life from growing up along the Tensas Basin to his years of loading up and packing his camera gear to film hunts with the most notable outdoors personalities across the country.

“Gathering Light” begins as Brown, a youngster, watched and lamented over the destruction of the thousands of acres of prime hardwoods in his beloved Tensas Delta being brought to the ground and burned. The reason for this horrific destruction had to do with the fact that the fertile land along the Tensas could grow soy beans, a crop seen at the time as more valuable than oak trees. Soy beans could grow back every year while you could just about forget about ever replacing the hardwoods.

At the age of 24, Brown and his roommate, Rex Moncrief, were working at a lumber yard when an earlier chance encounter with the promotions director of a local NBC affiliate led to an escape from loading lumber for customers. Brown and Moncrief pitched the idea of producing a local outdoor program for the station. Long story short, their program, “The Outdoor News” was born and enjoyed success for several years.

From “The Outdoor News” came the opportunity to do free-lance work for companies such as Knight and Hale, Primos and others.

“Gathering Light” covers Brown’s eventual expertise with his video camera to capturing the attention of other companies. He was slowly but steadily climbing the ladder to him eventually  anding a plum of a job with the wild turkey federation, a position he held for two decades until an unceremonious release from the organization.

One thing that led to his career success probably more than anything else was imparted to him by well-known outdoors video producer Ron Jolly, a fellow Louisianian.

“John,” Jolly told him, “there are two things that I’ll tell you about this business that are absolutes regarding the job. One, you must be an eternal optimist. You must believe that without a doubt that the buck you’re hunting is about to walk past your stand, or that the next yelp will elicit a gobbler. Number two, you must enjoy seeing others succeed.”

Brown writes that as time passed, he understood what Jolly was saying as he saw the failure of others who couldn’t derive satisfaction seeing someone else pull the trigger.

I finished my copy of “Gathering Light” in one sitting. It brought back memories of the times I was privileged to visit with John over the years and as an outdoors writer, my association with so many he writes about. If you have any interest at all in the outdoors, it’s a book you’ll thoroughly enjoy.

“Gathering Light” is available at Amazon.com. For an inscribed copy of the book, which sells for $25, contact Brown at 486 Marion Sims Rd., W. Monroe, LA 71292.

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

 Pictured left to right: BOM’S Titan Marler, Mark Pritchard, Chris Blair (play-by-play Voice of the LSU Tigers), and BOM’s Mark Leger.

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

May 27

Weapons 

Jamarcus Ellis, 31, Alexandria — firearm possession by convicted felon, illegally carrying weapon, suspension/revocation, improper plate display, misdemeanor possession, paraphernalia, contempt 2 counts, $26,700 bail. 

Other

Michael Bynog, 55, Boyce  — theft 2 counts, forgery 2 counts, $11,000 bail;

Jasmin Colligan, 33, Beaumont, TX  — violation protective order, $1,500 bail;

Bobby Thomas, 62, Alexandria — unauthorized entry inhabited dwelling, probation violation, $5,000 bail. 

This date: 8 arrests, 4 that included one or more contempt charges. 

By Jeanni Ritchie

Did you know it used to be considered in poor taste to smile in public?

In 1702, French priest and educational reformer Jean-Baptiste de La Salle published “Rules of Christian Decorum and Civility,” which advised against smiling and laughing, calling them ‘indecorous’ displays of emotion.

It wasn’t until the 1950’s that smiling in portraits became a common practice, largely due to advances in dentistry and a belief that smiling was contagious.

Created in 2018 by dentists Dr. Tim Stirneman and Dr. Jim Wojdyla from Compassionate Dental Care in Illinois, the motivation for the holiday is to get people to smile more.

Some famous smile quotes:

“You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.” Charlie Chaplin

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” Mother Teresa

“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.” William Arthur Ward

“Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.” H. Jackson Brown Jr.

“If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.” Andy Rooney

“Children learn to smile from their parents.” Shinichi Suzuki

On this final day of Mental Health Awareness Month, make sure you greet everyone with a smile!

Jeanni Ritchie is a mental health advocate and journalist from Central Louisiana. She can be found at www.jeanniritchie.com.

By JIM BUTLER

Cleco seeks PSC approval to bill its 295,000 customers for about $315,000,000 in costs associated with closing the Dolet Hills Power Station in 2021 and the two lignite mines serving it.

The “securization” proposal was filed this month, on the heels in April of the PSC accepting a plan for the Pineville-based utility to refund customers a total of $20 million a year in June, July and August of 2024, 2025 and 2026.

That was based on Cleco and its Dolet partner, SWEPCO, settling claims that it incorrectly billed fuel costs as the closing of the DeSoto Parish plant approached.

Authority to securitize and ask the PSC to order customers to pay securitized debt was granted by the Legislature last year, a stroke of clairvoyance perhaps generated by alert lobbying.

The new filing forecasts a net monthly “Energy Transition Charge” of $3.16 monthly for a 1,000 KWH bill until the bond debt is retired.

When the utilities, faced with changing market and environmental conditions, decided to close the 35-year-old plant the estimated customer savings when renewable resources are fully on line was $60 million a year.

Why?

I have never successfully answered the “why” question. There are times in a relationship when one will ask the other one, “Why did you hang the picture in that particular place?” “Why did you eat the last of the Blue Bell ice cream?” “Why did you mow the lawn as you did?” I think I have failed in answering those questions. It is because the answer to the question moved behind the realm of action into the realm of motivation. How many of us have the emotional intelligence to authentically answer a motivational question? Why did you blow up at the nice person in the restaurant, when they didn’t melt the cheese on your cheeseburger? 

I had an unanswerable “why” question this weekend. The dogs escaped the yard. When our dogs get out of the yard, they jet. Rolo is part Beagle and the sniffer in him takes over and he has to run each scent in the neighborhood. I know that if anything happens to Rolo, I will be in the eternal doghouse. He got out by opening a gate. No kidding, one of the dogs opened a gate. I don’t know how, and they are not confessing.

Why were the dogs in that part of the yard? That part of the yard is gated off on four sides, because my greenhouse is in that part of the yard. I was working in the greenhouse and the dogs were with me. I don’t know what motivated the dogs to be with me. I can’t explain canine motivation. I took a break and went inside; the dogs decided to execute an escape plan. The dogs did return, exhausted. I was released from the doghouse. However, the why questions continued. I know I am frustrating because I have never answered a why question, well.

The same in my professional life. Yes, I am called to this ministry. Yes, I read and study scripture daily. Yes, I talk to God several times a day. Even in ministry, I’m not good with the “why” question. “Why did this happen to me?” “Why am I sick?” “Why is my life falling apart?” I have been doing the preacher thing for forty-eight years. Here is how I now answer the “why” question. The answer to the “why” question is the purview of management, I’m only in customer service.

That is not where the conversation stops, although I have never been able to answer “why” question, I do have some insights about the better question; “how.” How do I move forward given my life circumstances How do I trust in Jesus in the middle of this storm? How do I put one foot in front of the other so I can take the next step? The question for all of us is….

How?