Come see the newly renovated Entertainment Center (formerly the Expo Hall) next to Rapides Parish Coliseum with performances by Rearranged (Little River Band Tribute), Knuckle Sammich, and The Cartoons on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, at 6pm. 

Tickets are $10 or $5 with 2 nonperishable food items. Food items will be donated to the Food Bank of Central Louisiana.

The Entertainment Center is the perfect place for intimate concert experiences, as well as parties, receptions, banquets, and trade shows.

Tickets are available the Coliseum Box Office or at the door on the day of the show.

By JIM BUTLER

The Police Jury projects a relatively conservative growth in sales taxes revenue in 2025.

Its overall budget adopted this month forecasts sales tax income at $186.1 million, about 3 percent above the 2024 projection.

Sales tax revenue combines with dedicated property taxes and fees and a hotel/motel tax to form the parish revenue base.

A host of approved millages are dedicated to specific uses.

The General Fund, which constitutes the Police Jury’s discretionary spending account, is expected to have $12.69 million earmarked to it, with expenses forecast at $11.4 million.

The current year budget was $12.1 million in and $11.5 million out.

The Public Works Fund income will be about $7.2 million, compared to an expected $8.5 million this year. Forecast expenses are $7.04 million.

A proposed Title IX rule by the Biden-Harris administration was withdrawn on Friday, Dec. 20. This proposed rule would have required all publicly-funded schools to allow athletes to participate in female sports if those individuals identify as female.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced earlier this year that 18 school boards filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration in response to the proposed rule. The Rapides Parish School Board was included in that lawsuit and was the first school board in Louisiana to file suit.

RPSB Superintendent Jeff Powell provided the following statement in response to the withdrawal of the proposed rule: 

“We were excited to hear about the Biden Administration’s pulling of their proposed Title IX regulations that would have redefined biological sex and potentially put our female students in harm’s way. As cited in a recent news article, it was because of the over 125,000 public comments and numerous lawsuits that led to this action. I am thankful that the Rapides Parish School Board, our attorney, Mike Johnson, and the Alliance for Defending Freedom stood up to this attempt by the federal government to create chaos in our public schools. We are also thankful for Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and her support for Rapides Parish and our great state in leading this fight.”

By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports

With Alexandria Senior High’s unbeaten regular season and historic run to the Caesars Superdome, where the Trojans finished as the Division I Select runner-up, the 2024 version of the Rapides Parish Journal’s All-Parish Football Team has a distinctive Trojan feel to it. 

ASH landed 11 players on the all-parish team along with all three major award winners. 

Senior running back JT Lindsey was selected as the Offensive MVP after rushing for a school-record 2,476 yards with 33 rushing touchdowns and 37 total touchdowns on the season. 

The LSU signee was joined by junior teammate Xzavier White as the Defensive MVP. The Trojans’ middle linebacker piled up an astonishing 188 tackles with 15 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and 13 QB hurries. 

ASH’s ninth-year head coach, Thomas Bachman, repeated as the parish Coach of the Year after leading the Trojans to a school-record 13 wins along with their first District 2-5A championship, their first trip to the Superdome and their second state runner-up finish in the past five seasons. 

Below are the players selected for the all-parish team on both sides of the football based on nominations by parish football coaches and consultation with local sports media members. 

OFFENSE

Quarterback: Karsen Sellers, So., ASH (6-2, 170) – The Trojans’ first-year signal-caller earned District 2-5A first-team all-district honors after completing 64% of his passes on the season for 1,714 yards with 27 touchdowns and four interceptions. 

Running Back: Travis Adams, Sr., Tioga (5-10, 170) – The Indians’ workhorse running back was the brightest spot in a difficult season, carrying the ball 204 times for 1,556 yards and 16 touchdowns. 

Running Back: JT Lindsey, Sr., ASH (5-11, 185) – One of the best running backs in the country, Lindsey was the Offensive MVP of District 2-5A and carried the Trojans to the Division I Select state title game, rushing for 2,476 yards on 324 carries. Lindsey averaged 7.6 yards per carry, scored 33 rushing touchdowns and ran for over 200 yards six times on the season. He rushed for 100 or more yards in 13 of 14 games. 

Receiver: TJ Hullaby, Sr., Peabody (6-0, 165) – Arguably the top receiver in all of Central Louisiana, Hullaby was Peabody’s most explosive offensive weapon. One of just two returning players from last year’s all-parish offense, the McNeese State commit caught 54 passes for 856 yards with 16 receiving touchdowns and 21 total TDs.

Receiver: Kervin Johnson, Jr., Tioga (6-3, 200) – The Indians’ big-play threat showed flashes of the superstar he might become, catching 49 passes on the season for 733 yards and seven touchdowns. 

Receiver: Darius Washington, Sr., ASH (5-6, 135) – Last year’s all-parish return specialist, Washington continued his late-season surge from a year ago and was the Trojans’ leading receiver in 2024 with 59 receptions for 826 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Offensive Line: Malik Armstead, Sr., Peabody (6-2, 230) – The Warhorses’ center earned first-team all-district in District 2-4A after not allowing a sack all season. 

Offensive Line: Elias Brazell-Sellers, Sr., Pineville (6-2, 297) – A unanimous selection to the District 2-5A first team, Brazell-Sellers was the Rebels’ best lineman and a powerful run blocker who helped paved the way for Ayden Tate’s 1,000-yard season. 

Offensive Line: Jayden Hagger, Sr., Tioga (6-3, 235 lbs) – The best offensive lineman for the Indians, Hagger helped open holes for Travis Adams, Kenny Ponthier and Cace Malone to rush for more than 2,000 yards combined. 

Offensive Line: Jakobi Morris, Sr., ASH (6-3, 310) – The Trojans’ right guard was a powerful run blocker for JT Lindsey and was selected to the District 2-5A all-district first team. 

Offensive Line: Caleb Purl, Sr., ASH (5-10, 215) – The Trojans’ center was the leader on the offensive line and played much bigger than his size for a unit that was dominant for most of the season. 

Athlete: Ayden Tate, Jr., Pineville (5-11, 200) – Tate was the Rebels’ offensive workhorse, playing both tailback and quarterback, and becoming the first Pineville player in more than a decade to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Tate set a school record with 400 rushing yards in the Rebels’ win over Tioga, ran for 100-plus yards in five straight games, and finished the season with 1,075 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. 

DEFENSE

Defensive Line: Ben Good, Sr., Menard (6-1, 240) – The senior defensive end was one of the most productive players on the Eagles’ defense, finishing the season with 59 tackles, eight tackles for loss, five sacks, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. 

Defensive Line: Jordan Mason, Sr., ASH (5-11, 250) – The Trojans’ top defensive lineman and coaches’ all-state selection was a space-eater at nose tackle, taking on double teams and creating lanes for the linebackers to make tackles. Mason finished the season with 59 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. 

Defensive Line: Grayson Thibodeaux, Jr., ASH (6-1, 230) – The junior defensive end was a disruptive force for the Trojans, making 76 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks on the season. 

Linebacker: Sam Brocato, So., Menard (5-9, 185) – The Eagles’ star rarely left the field, playing both linebacker and running back. It was on the defensive side of the ball where he excelled, making 93 tackles with three sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions. 

Linebacker: Lamarcus Thirs, Sr., Pineville (5-9, 205) – A first-team all-district selection in District 2-5A, Thirs led the Rebels with 125 tackles on the season, making 15 or more tackles in five games. 

Linebacker: Jordan Veal, Sr., Peabody (6-0, 160) – The undersized senior moved from the secondary to linebacker and earned first-team all-district honors in District 2-4A after leading the Warhorses with 106 tackles, including 89 solo, with 10 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and three interceptions. 

Linebacker: Xzavier White, Jr., ASH (6-1, 215) – A first-team all-district selection in District 2-5A, White was a tackling machine for the Trojans in 2024. White was selected to the Class 5A coaches’ all-state team after leading ASH with 188 tackles, including 114 solo, with 15 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, adding one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and 13 QB hurries on his way to being named all-parish Defensive MVP. 

Safety: Jacob Miranda, Sr., Pineville (6-1, 190) – For the second straight year, Miranda was the Rebels’ best defensive player from his free safety position, making double-digit tackles in each of the team’s final nine games and finishing the year with 120 tackles. 

Safety: Kartez Simon, Sr., ASH (5-7, 145) – One of the smallest players on the field for the Trojans may have played with the biggest heart. The senior earned a role as an in-the-box safety and made big play after big play, finishing the season with 79 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two fumbles recoveries and an interception. 

Cornerback: Jaden Lewis, Sr., ASH (5-11, 165) – Lewis started the year as the Trojans’ top cornerback before moving around between corner and free safety, making 68 tackles with two forced fumbles and a team-high five interceptions on his way to being selected to the coaches’ all-state team. 

Cornerback: Ja’Kyrin Griffin, So., ASH (5-8, 165) – The most versatile member of the Trojans’ defensive backfield, Griffin moved all over the field from cornerback to free safety to strong safety. He finished third on the team with 96 tackles, two tackles for loss, three interceptions, one fumble recovery and a team-high nine pass breakups. 

SPECIALISTS

Kicker/Punter: Ethan Bridges, So., Tioga (6-2, 175) – Bridges was a weapon for the Indians on punts, kickoffs and field goals. He kicked 20 touchbacks on the season and had 11 kicks inside the 5-yard line while making seven field goals, including a long of 36 yards, and 45 PATs. 

Kick Returner: TJ Hullaby, Sr., Peabody (6-0, 165) – Not only was the McNeese State commitment the Warhorses’ star at receiver, he was also dynamic in the return game, taking two kickoffs back for touchdowns along with one punt. 

BEST OF THE REST

Quarterback: Cace Malone, Jr., Tioga; Jake Vaughan, Jr., Menard.

Running Back: Jim Burlew, Sr., Buckeye; Vaughn Darbon, Sr., ASH.

Receiver: Haidyn Boone, Sr., Buckeye; Jimmie Duncan, Sr., ASH. 

Tight End: Ryan Reeves, Sr., Tioga; Tanner Townsend, Sr., ASH.

Offensive Line: Dayton Bass, Sr., Pineville; Ryan Desselle, Jr., Buckeye; Tucker Landry, Jr., Tioga; Peter Lofton, So., ASH; Connor Reed, Sr., ASH.

Defensive Line: Peyton Hobbs, Jr., ASH; Elijah Nelson, Sr., ASH; Dailyn Tatum, Jr., Pineville.

Linebacker: Ty Curtis, Jr., Buckeye; Jacob Jeanise, Jr., Menard; Jackson Townsend, So., ASH.

Defensive Back: Corren Coleman, Jr., Peabody; Briant Dearborne, Sr., Pineville; Jay Frazier, Jr., ASH; Jackson Spradling, Sr., Buckeye.

Athlete: A.J. Butler, Jr., Northwood; Ty Sanders, Sr., Pineville; Kolt Vercher, Jr., Buckeye.

• Monday, Dec. 30 – regular garbage pick-up; dumpsters out by end of business day
• Tuesday, Dec. 31 – no pick-up
• Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 – no trash collection
• Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 – regular garbage pick-up; dumpsters will be removed
• Friday, Jan. 3, 2025 – regular pick-up

Trailers will be out from the evening of Monday, Dec. 30, to the morning of Thursday, Jan. 2. 

The Town of Cheneyville reported a change on Thursday to its holiday sanitation schedule. Trash pickup will be Monday, Dec. 30, instead of today, Dec. 27. The town apologized for the the inconvenience.

The Alexandria Farmers Market has closed for 2024. It will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. 

The Market reported that 2024 was very successful, with 50 markets for the year. They expressed hope that their vendors, staff, and amazing shoppers will have a fantastic holiday.  They cannot wait to see everyone in 2025.

December 27 is National Fruitcake Day, a time to appreciate the dense, fruit-filled dessert that has sparked humor and tradition alike. With origins in ancient Rome, fruitcake’s longevity as a holiday staple owes to its ability to be preserved for months, making it a practical and celebratory gift.

Love it or laugh at it, the fruitcake remains a symbol of holiday cheer, blending nostalgia with a taste of the past.

An usher was escorting visitors to a seat in the sanctuary. As they walked down the aisle the usher inquired, “Clapping or non-clapping?” You can stir up some hot mess debates about clapping in the church, especially when the clapping follows a musical selection. Congregations have been applauding children’s programs and Choir cantatas as we roll through this season. Applause breaks out every Christmas season, even in the most staid of congregations.

I think we should add applause to our Christmas celebrations.

A brief history of applause tells us that it became a more formalized cultural convention in the early days of the theater. Roman theater audiences, for example, were told “Valete et plaudite!” “Goodbye and applause” at the end of every performance, which was the ancient equivalent of today’s “Give it up for “Your favorite home team” as they enter the arena!

Given that the theater was the only place in those days where you could gather the bulk of the people, politicians also used applause as a form of early polling data, gauging the crowd’s reaction when they entered the venue and took their seats. Once, when the Roman emperor Caligula attended a performance, a certain actor received more applause upon his arrival than had the emperor himself when he arrived at the venue. The maniacal emperor Caligula reportedly muttered (while fingering his sword, no doubt), “I wish that the Roman people had one neck.” Whether it’s in an ancient theater or in a modern arena, the strength of applause is still the thing that can make or break a performer or a politician.

The Romans, in fact, had three categories of applause that further made its connection to the sounds of the material world. “Bricks” was the flat-handed clapping of polite applause, while “roof tiles” or the clapping of cupped hands meant that the audience liked you a lot. The best type of applause, however, was the sound of “bees” — a cacophonous buzz that included not only clapping hands but shouting voices as well. Listen to a modern audience clapping and you can definitely tell the difference between the smattering of applause that sounds like raindrops and the full-throated roar that sounds like thunder.

In Europe especially, synchronized applause is common.

And applause is accompanied by vocal acclamation, i.e., cheering.

One part of the Christmas story reads: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Do you suppose the angels were also cheering? The angels were sharing “good news of great joy” for all of humanity. For some reason I don’t see or hear them announcing this good news with an orotund delivery. I hear joyous applause and cheering.

It is like the joy of a child on Christmas morning.

Go ahead, “Let’s give it up for Jesus!”

Merry Christmas!

When Tyler Jordan shot a huge buck on December 7, 2020, he made a prediction that fortunately didn’t hold true.

“I may never shoot another 190-inch buck. I’m in the woods a lot and I have never seen a buck that size,” Tyler told me when I wrote the story for LA Sportsman about a huge buck he had taken, a buck that scored 190 4/8 inches of mass. Because one of the buck’s hooves was infected by foot rot, leaving a stub in its place, the buck earned the name of “Stomper.”

Jordan was hunting in Catahoula Parish on the 20,000-acre Honey Brake property when he took the buck. Fast forward four years when Jordan, now age 32 encountered a buck that has earned the name of Stomper, Jr. because of similar genetics as Stomper.

The son of Bill Jordan, founder and CEO of Real Tree, the leading licensor of camouflage patterns in the world, Tyler works in the marketing department of the company. He lives in Columbus, Georgia.

“We became interested in Honey Brake in 2018 and would bring business guests down to duck hunt. We had no idea at first that the property was capable of producing quality deer but as we learned what the folks at Honey Brake were doing our interest was piqued,” said Jordan.

Putting out trail cameras this past September, plenty of quality bucks began showing up but it was not until November 1 that Stomper Jr. started showing up on cameras.

“We purchased a ground blind to set up on the food plot where we felt was the best chance to see the deer. One afternoon, two minutes after legal shooting hours had ended, Stomper Jr. showed up at 20 yards. A cameraman and I were in the blind and apparently the buck saw the camera light and he spooked and took off. We didn’t see any more evidence of him for 2 ½ weeks,” Jordan recalled.

A couple of days prior to Thanksgiving, the buck was showing up fairly consistently on a different field half a mile away. It became an issue of looking for favorable weather when deer would more likely to be active.

“On December 2, I checked the weather forecast and it looked like things would be pretty decent and I felt that if deer would move at all, it might be then. We had the north wind we needed and on the morning of December 3, he showed up four minutes before legal shooting time,” he said. Setting up a ground blind in the area where this photo was taken, Jordan got in the blind around 2:30 the afternoon of December 5.

“There was plenty of action as does and smaller bucks were displaying rutting activity and then at 5:10, I looked up and there stood Stomper Jr. I shoot a Franchi .308 and got on him. When I hit the trigger, he dropped on the spot,” Jordan continued.

The rack the 250-pound buck carried was mind boggling. There were 14 points, evenly distributed on each side and the inside spread was 19 5/8 inches. Main beams were 26 ½ inches each with bases measuring 5 2/8 and 5 1/8. The buck was determined to be 6 ½ years old.

The tale of the tape measured a gross score of 203 inches with the net score being 192 3/8 inches.

The current Louisiana state record for typical whitetail bucks is a record that has held since 1939 when Marshall McKay downed a massive buck in Madison Parish that measured 186 6/8 inches. After a drying time of 60 days, it is very likely that Tyler Jordan can lay claim to a new Louisiana state record for typical bucks.

Well Tyler, you won’t ever be able to say what you told me in 2020 that you may never shoot another 190-inch deer. You just did.

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

The Central Louisiana Regional Chamber of Commerce invites the public to its 111^th Annual Meeting, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, from 11am to 1:30pm at the Randolph Riverfront Center in Alexandria. The Annual Meeting typically brings together over 400 business and industry leaders from throughout the region.

The Annual Meeting and Luncheon celebrates the year-ending accomplishments of the Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce and provides an opportunity for Chamber leadership, investors and members to discuss plans for 2025. The program will include recognition of chamber board members and volunteers. The prominent keynote speaker will be announced one week prior to the event.

To attend, register using this link or on the event page. 

Arrests are accusations not convictions. 

December 23

Johnny Callis, 56, Alexandria — OWI 1st, open container, expired MVI, running yellow light, 11:15 pm, $1,300 bail;

Laura Durand, 53, New Port, NC — OWI 1st, improper lane, hand signals or lamps required, 1:56 am, $1,200 bail.