By JIM BUTLER

It may feel like more than 100 degrees outside but that doesn’t mean Fall-Winter-Spring hunting isn’t front and center on some outdoors enthusiasts’ minds.

Seasons and bag limits have been announced, along with some significant changes. 

See attachment for details: 

BATON ROUGE – There are no more Cinderella stories in college athletics.

Cinderellas who once fantasized about playing college sports now sells the glass slipper for a bag of cash.

College head coaches’ “dream jobs” no longer exist.

The only place coaches now “always wanted to be” is the one that puts the most zeroes on the end of their paychecks.

Recruits often once said they committed to “a school I’ve wanted to play for since I was a little kid.”

In the brazen new lawless world of college athletics in which everything is negotiable and everyone has a price, athletes commit and decommit to a list of suitors while trying to squeeze every penny from NIL deals and jock-sniffing sugar daddies.

Each decommitment is announced through a social media post with the recruit asking the general public “Please respect my decision.” Which is ironic since each decommitment is waffling that subtracts respect.

There are rarely any surprises in college athletics.

Not even Texas A&M head baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle after his team’s Monday night loss in the CWS finals to Tennessee, sniping at a reporter daring to ask him (“I think it’s pretty selfish of you to ask me that question,” he said) to address rumors he may be leaving to become Texas head coach (“I took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again, and that hasn’t changed in my mind,” he said) and then accepting the Texas job before suppertime the following day.

No one is naïve enough to think college athletics weren’t getting paid under the table for decades and decades.

But despite being against the alleged amateurism rules, maybe because not every other athlete was demanding an annual six-figure salary or because it wasn’t done blatantly in the open or because rigid NCAA transfer rules kept athletes from rarely jumping schools, there was a bit of remaining pureness in college athletics.

Sure, it was a business. But because every athlete wasn’t being bought, there seemed to be a sense of loyalty between athletes and their schools.

Fans appreciated that and in return gave unconditional love. They could build relationships with players because they stayed at the same school for at least three years or more. This doesn’t happen anymore.

The only legislation the spineless NCAA approves these days as rules is anything goes.

Care to transfer as many times as you want? Go ahead.

Want to renegotiate your NIL agreements or cash deals with your school after every season or you’ll leave for a new situation with greener money pastures? Give it a whirl.

Hire as many assistant coaches as possible on a football staff? The NCAA gave greenlighted that on Tuesday.

Sooner or later as college athletic departments became financed mostly by network TV contracts in their respective conferences, it became clear athletes needed a share of the bounty.

Why? Because college athletes train year-round. It’s a job, not a sport. They deserve a piece of the pie.

But college sports have accelerated at an alarming pace into a soulless money grab where athletes promoting their brand override individual development and team goals.

There’s an argument that college head coaches – especially those with multi-million contracts coaching football, basketball and baseball – are just as transient and money-hungry as athletes.

The difference is coaches, now more than ever, earn every penny of their salaries. Because there aren’t rules limiting anything, coaches must recruit and drastically re-build their rosters yearly.

Coaches either adapt or retire. Ones that attempt to retain their principles and speak honestly about how the transfer portal and NIL deals are intended to work risk losing recruits.

Back in early May in a TV interview after he couldn’t convince several top defensive tackles in the transfer portal to sign with LSU, Brian Kelly had the cojones to say what other head football coaches won’t.

“We’re not in the market of buying players and unfortunately right now that’s what some guys are looking for,” Kelly said. “They want to be bought. If you’re just looking to get paid, you’re looking in the wrong place.

“If you like all the things that we do here in developing our players, bringing you into a championship program, playing in front of the best fan base in America, playing for championships and having an opportunity for NFL, you should be a Tiger. But if you just want to get paid, this is not the place for you.

“What we’re asking our players to do is all part of a bigger picture. And if they can be helped out with NIL money, absolutely. We’re going to be able to provide those opportunities for you. But if you’re looking to retire playing college football, this is the wrong place.”

In the meantime, Texas A&M is looking for a new head baseball coach. Whoever the Aggies hire won’t be taking over a team that was the national runner-up.

By the time A&M makes a hire, the 2024 squad will be a carcass, stripped to bare bones by opposing speed-dialing rival head coaches plundering the transfer portal like dive-bombing vultures.

The only thing remaining should be the stench of what college sports have become. And no one yet has a solution to get rid of that stink.

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

Arrests are accusations, not convictions.

June 21

Gregory Rusk, 47, Boyce — OWI 1st, improper lane usage, expired MVI, failure to update register/renew sex offender registry, 3:04 am, $1,200 bail;

Gabryell Washington, 27, Alexandria — OWI 1st, OWI child endangerment 3 counts, improper left turn, possession, 5:55 pm, $3,600 bail.

June 22

Candy Aldana, 46, Ball — OWI 2nd, careless operation, misdemeanor possession, 11:16 pm, $2,100 bail.

June 23

Zachary Daze, 34, Deville — OWI 1st, unlawful refusal to take chemical test, open container, obstruction highway, 6:47 am, $2,100 bail;

Delbert Lofton, 67, Vick — OWI 1st, open container, improper lane usage, 1:42 am, $1,200 bail;

Jorge Bartolo-Martinez, 37, Pollock — OWI 1st, open container, no driver’s license, tint violation, driving left of center, improper lane use, 6:48 pm, $1,500 bail;

Scotty Watts Jr., 37, Pineville — OWI 1st, suspension/revocation, no MVI, improper driving left, improper lane use, 3:11 am, $1,400 bail.

June 25

Rodolfo Fernandez, 36, Ball — OWI 1st, possession, hit & run, 4:52 pm, $2,000 bail.

June 26

Lerin Pennington, 45, Atlanta, TX — OWI 1st, improper use, telecom device usage by minor while driving, 11:17 pm, $1,200 bail. 

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

June 26

Weapons

Tiann Reed, 36, Alexandria — aggravated assault with firearm, $1,000 bail;

Other

Laura Barton, 57, Alexandria — felony fugitive, contempt, $5,000 bail;

David Cooper, 26, Alexandria — battery 2nd degree, $20,000 bail;

Ronald Estes, 50, Pineville — stalking 2 counts, unlawful communication telephone/telecommunications, contempt, $24,500;

Shane Johnson, 24, Bail — domestic abuse battery child present, $1,000 bail. 

This date: 24 arrests, 12 including one or more contempt counts.

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

June 26

Tdarius Hampton, 31, Alexandria — possession 2 counts, improper bike operation, $500 bail;

Jermaine Johnson, 51, Alexandria — possession, resisting, expired MBI, no driver’s license, no plate light, fugitive, parole violations, $3,800 bail.

By Jeanni Ritchie

The Christus St. Frances Cabrini’s Hospice Promise Foundation held their second Senior Disco last Saturday night at the Ball Senior Center.

The benefit dance assists patients and families with essential, non-hospice related expenses they are unable to afford themselves and provides funding for patients’ last wishes, burial assistance, and community projects like bereavement camps for children.

During a very touching tribute ceremony, Air Force Tech Sgt Scott Meche, Pineville, pinned all veterans in attendance. Following the pinning, the crowd stood in impromptu unison and sang as the DJ played Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA.

It was then that I noticed Julie Kerry signing the words to the patriotic hit.

“I think we taught together,” I’d said. It was 1996 and I remember vividly how hard she worked with one of the girls in the first grade department where I’d been student teaching. She was a speech therapist and the child was a selective mute. It had profoundly impacted me at the very start of my career.

But I didn’t bring up the story at the dance or the fact that I’d looked for the girl often over the years. I just told her my name and we reminisced over our school days.

There was a lot of reminiscing going on at the Senior Disco as well, not just with old friends but memories and tunes as well.

I started dancing to “You Dropped the Bomb on Me” while an older gentleman exclaimed he’d never heard such a song. I laughed. At least it was some consolation that I was in the younger demographic of the senior citizen dance of which I qualified in age to attend!

Bryan Bunting and Suzanne Morrison were crowned King and Queen of the Disco, their boogie shoes outdancing the rest.

It was a great evening of fun for a very worthy cause!

To find out more about Christus Hospice or upcoming dances, call Teresa Bledsoe at 318-266-8656 (office) or 318-792-0706 (cell).

Trinity Community Health Care will celebrate 15 years of “Primary Health Care Service Regardless One’s Ability to Pay,” opening in Winnfield July 1, 2009, and expanding through the years to provide services in Grant, Bienville, Lincoln, Rapides and Avoyelles parishes.

Launched as Winn Community Health Center with 5 employees and one small office behind the old Sonic on the 5-lane, the health center has grown to include the 6 parishes with over 300 employees.  The name “Trinity” was adopted as the center expanded over time with multi-parish clinics.  In 2023, Trinity treated 144,000 patients, including those on Medicaid, Medicare, private pay and uninsured.  Since 2009, Trinity has served 850,000 patients.  Trinity has a $20 million annual payroll and over $55 million in assets.  

Services include primary care medicine, pediatrics, mental health and behavioral services, dental health, podiatry, pharmacy and at some centers, gastro-intestinal services.  They also offer diagnostic testing in eye care and diabetics.  Trinity has 40 school-based clinics in Winn and Rapides parishes, with some 12,000 students enrolled.

During the spring groundbreaking of the 3-story, 52,000 square foot headquarters in Winnfield of their multi-parish health center, CEO Deano Thornton explained that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he was mayor at the time and became acutely aware of the lack of local health care services available to Medicare patients.  

An answer seemed to lie in the Federally Qualified Health Center program which local individuals began to pursue.  In July 2009, Winn Community Health received that FQHC designation.  Thornton would resign as mayor to pursue this larger dream.  In the face of early observers suggesting that they “might be moving too quickly,” the CEO noted, “We now have 7 stand-alone clinics plus our 40 school-based clinics.” 

He told the Journal, “At Trinity, we want to bring more specialty services to our communities.  There are several expansion projects in the works that should be announced in the next few months.”

The new Winnfield facility is now under construction and is expected to take 18 months to complete. The first floor will house the pharmacy, pediatrics, primary care, behavioral health and radiology. The second floor will house oral health services, vision health services, and physical therapy. The third floor will house administration, billing, finance, IT and medical records for the entire Trinity network, along with a large meeting room and a commercial kitchen. 

It was just over a week ago, last Tuesday, that Willie Mays walked into a cornfield in Iowa. It is heaven, after all.

As great a baseball player as there has been or ever will be, Mays lived 93 years. In an Old-Timers All-Star Game in his early 50s, he made a running, tumbling, circus catch – basket style, in his trademark fashion.

Just a day before he passed, he wrote a beautiful note to his friend Dusty Baker, the Astros’ manager, expressing regret that he couldn’t make it to Birmingham, Ala., for last Thursday’s “MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues” game at the country’s oldest pro baseball park. Mays began his career there as a teenager in 1948, and ended that season playing in what turned out to be the final Negro Leagues World Series, with his Birmingham Black Barons losing to the Homestead Grays in five games.

You probably know all that.

You’ve probably recently read at least a few thousand of a million words, and seen a few minutes of video or TV, remembering the Say Hey Kid. Great tributes, unforgettable memories, and all treasures to savor.

Here’s an unknown gem.

Jerry Rushing was a non-traditional student at Northwestern State from 1990-95, and served in the Louisiana National Guard. He also became a high school football official.

He married a Shreveport girl — he and Karla are still loving life together, nowadays empty nesters in North Carolina. BTW, Jerry just got home from working with West Point cadets, many football and baseball players, training them on simulators for tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

Jerry is the ultimate good ole boy, just a charming, friendly fellow with a thick country accent. He’s smart as a whip. Loves sports. Never met a stranger. Keep that in mind.

In college, Jerry took a student job working in the NSU sports information office, continuing through getting his master’s degree in sports administration. Not long after, the Demons needed an athletic ticket manager just when Jerry was in the job market. Great fit.

Jerry is a huge Astros’ fan. So big that he and a pal had season tickets for a few years. In 2004, Barry Bonds was on the verge of passing the 660-home run milestone that Mays, his godfather, clubbed in his career, topped only by Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. Bonds and his San Francisco Giants opened the season in Houston in early April with a four-game series against the Roger Clemens-led ‘Stros.

Jerry and pal were there. Having been in the ticket business, Jerry had some useful insight. After Game 3, he reached out to the Astros’ ticket staff and asked if there was any chance, considering Game 4 was an afternoon, getaway game, there might be some seats in a better location that they could get into. It never hurts to ask. And Jerry has never been scared.

Bingo! They got prime seats. Right behind the plate, a few rows up. Professional courtesy. Of course, Jerry and pal arrived for batting practice. As first pitch neared, the stands were filling. Jerry noticed some men in dark polo shirts with earplugs, wearing shades, casing out their section. No secret, President George H.W. Bush lived in Houston and was frequently at Astros games, sitting smack-dab behind home plate.

A few minutes later, coming down the stairs flanking the section where Jerry and pal were sitting, here comes Bush 41. Right behind him are three athletic-looking, middle-aged African-American men. Their group comes closer row by row, and incredibly, turns into Jerry’s row. They walk toward Jerry and pal, and YES!!

Being a patriot, Jerry had to pay his respects. “Mr. President, I’m Jerry Rushing, and I serve in the Louisiana National Guard. It’s an honor to shake your hand, sir.”  

“Jerry, great to meet you,” said Bush 41, as his Secret Service detail stood by, nervously. “Thanks for your service. Where are you from?”

Jerry said he lived in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The president replied: “I know Natchitoches. The contractor who built my house here in Houston is from Natchitoches. I know all about Chief Caddo, Steel Magnolias, Cane River, the Christmas Festival – I hope I can visit someday.

“Can I introduce you to my friends?,” said  Bush 41, turning to his companions. “This is Tony Gwynn.”

Replied Jerry, shaking Gwynn’s hand: “Tony Gwynn! What an honor to meet you. Fifteen All-Star Games, a .338 career batting average, 3-thousand hit club. One of the greatest hitters of all time!”

Said President Bush: “Jerry, this next fellow is Rod Carew.”

Jerry, nobody’s fool, was on point. “Wow, Mr. Carew, a thrill to meet you sir. Eighteen straight All-Star Games, that’s amazing! Three-thousand hit club, .328 career batting average. A Baseball Hall of Famer!”

Then Bush 41 stepped in again. “Jerry, this fine gentleman here is the Say Hey Kid, Willie Mays.”

Momentary silence during another strong handshake. Then Jerry finally managed to speak.

“D-d-do-do-do-do you-you-you-you KNOW you’re WILLIE MAYS?”

Everybody laughed. Willie produced a baseball. It sits in Jerry and Karla’s house, in Dunn, N.C., with an autograph that he didn’t ask for. He’ll never, ever, ever forget that meeting, or sell that ball.

That’s how big a deal Willie Mays was, and will always be.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

He was no doctor. His formal education ended when he graduated from high school after the 11^th grade; more than 65 years ago, there was no 12^th grade. As a kid, Thomas Ernest Harris, born March 5, 1909, was given the nickname by an older gentleman who for some unknown reason, began calling him “Little Doc.”

The Doc Harris I knew growing up was a dad that I cherished and wanted to emulate. His career with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries working in Predator Control, made me the envy of kids at school. I got to go with my daddy to run his traps where we would find a variety of wildlife such as wolves and bobcats in his traps. When I told classmates about what dad had trapped, I’m sure my chest stuck out a bit as I noticed their envy.

Dad enjoyed squirrel hunting but never had the passion for deer hunting. Yet on his one and only deer hunt, he brought home a trophy 9-point buck weighing over 200 pounds.

Working for Wildlife and Fisheries, one of his annual tasks was to assist at wildlife management areas, checking in hunters and recording the deer taken.

One year, his assignment was on a wildlife management area in Sabine Parish and after checking in the hunters, there was a lull before they began trickling back with their deer. Dad, not being a deer hunter, didn’t have a deer rifle but one of the guys working with him at the check station had brought his 3030 but had no plan to use it that day, asking dad if he’d like to use it.

Dad borrowed the rifle, walked out back behind the check station and took a seat on a log, probably enjoying the coolness of a fall morning. His enjoyment came to an abrupt end when this big buck stepped out of the thicket in front of him, dad shot, brought down the only buck he would ever take on the only deer “hunt” he would ever make.

Before starting work as a trapper, he held a variety of jobs, one of which was a salesman for Watkins Products. He’d sometimes take me with him as he drove around the countryside visiting with folks and I never remember him as a high-pressure salesman. He would sit and visit and tell tales with customers and if they were interested in what he was selling or if they weren’t, he enjoyed just sitting and visiting.

Once I went along with him and at one of his stops, while visiting, the customer he was talking with pulled out a plug of Brown’s Mule chewing tobacco. He cut off a chunk, handed it to daddy who followed suit. Being the curious kid I was, I asked if I might try it – I was maybe 6-7 years old.

Daddy thought it was a good time to teach his young son a lesson on the evils of tobacco, so he cut a piece off, handed it to me with the expectation of watching me retch and turn green and never want to fool with tobacco again. To his surprise, I loved it and instead of being repelled by the nasty stuff, I wanted more.

Daddy grew up on his dad’s farm in Goldonna. After his Naval career ended, he met and married a pretty young lady from the neighboring village of Readhimer and together, they raised three children, me, my brother Tom who was two years younger than me and our sister, Linda. Daddy was a Christian, deacon and Sunday School teacher and faithful church member.

The daddy I knew was a mixture of seriousness and fun, mostly fun. He could turn any project into fun and that’s why today, my memories of my daddy were basically all good ones.

On the day he died from lung cancer in 1976, I had taken my mom to visit him in the Veteran’s Hospital in Shreveport. For a few moments, he and I were in the room alone when he told me he had overheard his doctor tell a colleague that his condition was terminal. He told me to take mom back home, that he was tired of fighting it and was ready to go meet Jesus. I got a call from the hospital that night telling me daddy had passed away.

Having just experienced Father’s Day, I had to write this column in my daddy’s memory and honor. How blessed I am to have been raised by a daddy like Doc Harris.

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

June 25

Devon Barron, 27, Centerpoint — unauthorized entry occupied dwelling, $5,000 bail;

Tervell Coleman, 28, Lecompte — violation protective order first offense 5 counts, resisting, theft, criminal damage, $4,000 bail;

Joshua Piercy, 28, Glenmora — battery on officer 2 counts, resisting 2 counts, $3,000 bail;

Stephen Turner, 49, Ball — aggravated assault, $500 bail;

Kristin Williams, 40, Pineville — aggravated assault 3 counts, domestic abuse battery intentional serious injury, cruelty to juveniles 2nd degree, theft 2 counts, $36,000 bail;

Quentavis Woodard, 32, Alexandria — domestic abuse battery with child present, $10,000 bail. 

This date: 16 arrests, 4 including one or more contempt counts. 

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

June 25

Kaitlin Breland, 37, Alexandria — possession, $2,500 bail;

Dustin Desoto, 23, Alexandria — possession with intent, felony fugitive 2 counts, contempt 3 counts, $112,000 bail;

Larselle Estes Jr., 36, Wisner — possession 2 counts, paraphernalia, criminal trespass, identity fraud, $3,500 bail;

Kayla Reams, 32, Wisner — possession 2 counts, resisting 2 counts, paraphernalia, $4,000 bail;

Antonio Williams, 47, Pineville — possession, violation protective order, domestic abuse battery, stalking, robbery, fugitive, probation violation, $172,500 bail. 

Congratulations to BOM’s Raegan Cunningham, Clint Oliver, Jonathan Wall, Dylan Knotek, and Titan Marler on graduating from Louisiana Tech University from the 2024 Louisiana School of Banking. The LA Tech College of Business presents this program in collaboration with the Louisiana Bankers Association. The Louisiana School of Banking aims to expand the skills and knowledge base of rising bank leaders, regulators, and vendors and the program has a strategic focus on fintech, innovation, regional economic development, technology in banking services, and information security.

By JIM BUTLER

For Elizabeth Domite holding on to School Board dollars must be like trying to cup water in your palms.

The system CFO watched another million or so slip away this month through construction change orders.

As she noted for the Finance Committee, all of the changes are for issues unknown and undetected prior to project starts.

And each appropriation is from total funding set aside for the schools involved in the District 62 bond issue allocations.

Still, it’s a million bucks gone.

Peabody Magnet ($334,000), Acadian ($447,009) and Martin Park ($317,000) are the project sites.

District 62 is entering the third and final phase of improvements financing through a $100 million bond issue as well as deciding how and when to apportion a considerable premium earned.

By JIM BUTLER

Three years ago Bryan Johnson was accused of attempted murder. Monday he was charged with committing murder.

Johnson, 53, of Forest Hill was booked under $300,000 bail and charged with second-degree murder in an incident around 3 a.m.

Circumstances of the charge, including where and who, had not been divulged as of early Tuesday evening.

In May 2021 Johnson was arrested on an attempted 2nd degree charge.

Subsequently, he was jailed on narcotics and animal cruelty charges in August 2022.