The Sheriff’s Office has about $300,000 that officers found, if you’re missing such. But be advised you will have to provide information regarding your entitlement.
About a month ago deputies stopped an out-of-state driver on I49 north-bound for allegedly following too close.
Finding narcotics, the drug enforcement team was alerted and found $282,345 cached away in the vehicle.
The accused driver bonded out the next day and went on his way, less the cash alleged to be proceeds of drugs transactions.
Now officials propose to keep the money. Anyone wishing to contest the forfeiture should contact RPSO or the DA’s Office by July 21.
In doing so you’ll have to attest to the circumstances of your acquisition of any ownership of the money. Just saying.
In 1990 Julie Evans gained employment as a school bus driver for Calvin High School. The position was perfect, “I brought my kids to school and home again” Julie laughs, and states “I always knew they arrived safely”. Julie retired after 23 years of service to fulfill the requirements of a higher education.
Julie graduated from Northwestern State University in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in Addiction Studies, with a minor in Psychology, and again in 2014 with a Master’s degree in Counseling with concentrations in school counseling.
After graduation, Evans enter the school system again as student counselor in Red River Parish. “It was a blessing to begin my professional career with such a supportive administration”, shared Evans. She later gained employment with Winn Community Health Center where she humbly serves as student counselor for the Winn Parish students. She went on to say, “I am thankful for my employer, Mr. Deano Thornton, and my position within the school-based clinic”.
In 2020 Julie enrolled into the University of Holy Cross in New Orleans in the Ph.D. Counseling, Leadership, and Education program. Having graduated with her Ph.D. Evans calls it her last degree while her family just nods and laughs.
In 2022, with a nudge from the Holy Spirit, Julie began forming a private practice offering Christian counseling services. Evans says, “There is such a need, people want more than what the secular world can offer”. She counts her practice, Ash Street Ministries LLC, as a blessing from the Lord and without Him, she states, it “just wouldn’t work”. Evans admits being called Dr. Evans will take some getting used to, as she humbly says, “Ms. Julie works just as well”.
Julie is a wife, mother, grandmother, and a child of God. ASM takes all insurances, and welcomes new patients.
Julie Evans, Ph.D. National Board Certified Licensed Professional Counselor Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor Certified Telemental Health Provider
POINTING THE WAY: Wilbert Ellis makes a point during his inspiring interview Saturday night as he was inducted in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and receiving the Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award. (Photo by BRET H. MCCORMICK, for the LSWA/LSHOF)
By T. SCOTT BOATRIGHT, Lincoln Parish Journal
NATCHITOCHES — The numbers spoke volumes, but the spontaneous response said it all.
College Baseball Hall of Fame coach and Grambling State icon Wilbert Ellis was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Saturday night.
Ellis became only the second honoree of the LSHOF’s Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award, joining national broadcaster and Shreveport resident Tim Brando, who was inducted in 2020. The Ambassador Award recognizes exemplary representation of the state on a national scale by a Louisiana sports figure.
Judging from the small army of supporters that showed up at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, ambassador might be an understatement for Ellis.
On Saturday, Ellis became both Louisiana sports royalty and minister while accepting his honor during an on-stage interview with broadcaster and 2018 LSHOF inductee Lyn Rollins.
The night began with the Walk of Legends featuring previous LSHOF inductees, followed with the new inductees walking across the stage, with Ellis receiving his first standing ovation of the night before the induction interviews ever began.
“There have been other inductees over the years that have had big crowds of followers like Coach Ellis did, and who got long ovations,” said Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame chair Doug Ireland. “But the thing that struck me was Coach Ellis received the first-ever standing ovation, probably a half-minute long, during the Walk of Legends. It stopped the Walk for a few moments. That never happened before.”
After that, each new inductee in attendance took to the stage for live interviews with one of two well-known broadcasters, Rollins, or Baton Rouge’s Victor Howell.
When it was his turn in the induction lineup, following a short video featuring Ellis’ history including comments by lifelong friend James Davison of Ruston, former GSU and Major League Baseball standout Gary Eave, current Grambling State baseball coach Davin Pierre and his pastor, Maurice White of Zion Traveler Baptist in Ruston, Ellis was called to the stage.
What followed was a near minute-long standing ovation.
Rollins began the interview with Ellis talking about the impact of youth baseball camps that are part of the reason he was honored with the Ambassador Award.
“I always wanted to give back,” Ellis said. “I always wanted to make a difference. I always wanted to teach fundamental baseball skills, but I also wanted those teachings to go into life, and to motivate young people to build the right roots and be able to make a difference in their lives.
“That was my prayer. God gave me that prayer. I’ve been all over the country doing it. I had some of the greatest people in the world supporting me, starting with my mother and father, Mattie, and Houston Ellis. There are so many people in my community (that helped him). Then when I got to Grambling State University, I met some of the finest people in the world.”
Ellis, 88, then rattled off a Who’s Who list of Grambling State royalty — former president and baseball coach R.W.E. Jones, iconic football coach Eddie G. Robinson, and basketball coaching legend Fred Hobdy.
“I could go on and on,” Ellis continued. “And I met so many people in my community — people that cared about young people and wanted to give people chances and talk about rights and wrongs. That motivated me. … They made me want to be the best and I worked hard at that. …. I could call out a lot of names tonight, but I don’t want to get into any trouble, either, by forgetting someone.”
Ellis then proved how much support he has had over the years, saying that the small army of supporters appearing to be at 175 if not 200 had made him shed tears with their show of love. People traveled from coast-to-coast to attend and share Ellis’ official entry into the state sports legend status.
He then asked that small army to stand, receiving another standing ovation in the process.
“That right there could be my speech tonight,” Ellis said. “I know that you didn’t have to come, but you showed that somewhere down the line we’ve touched lives together. I love all of you and wish I could call out all your names. But let’s move on.”
As his speech again turned to his desire of teaching life skills to youth, Ellis told the crowd he did not want to take it too far, but felt it is an important subject and that the key is ending the obvious divide our nation is currently undergoing.
“We all need to be involved (in helping youth in America),” Ellis said. “We’re in serious trouble. And it’s not serious about one person, it’s serious about the whole United States of America. We’re going to have to come together. I know I didn’t come to preach, but we’re going to have to come together and do some things to make a difference in the lives of our young people.
“You know, they want to be helped, and it’s our duty and responsibility to help them.”
And as Ellis’ time on stage ended, Rollins asked one favor — that Ellis keep preaching.
“Well thank you for that, but I think that everybody here tonight has had some responsibility with young people, even in your own home with your own children. I know all of you have done that in the community,” Ellis said.
“Don’t turn your head (away from youth) — they want to be helped. They want to be nourished. They need some direction. And don’t be afraid to sit down and talk with them about direction. Tell them about right and wrong, going to church and doing great things in life so that when you see them again, they’re doing great things. They can be lawyers. They can be doctors. But we must work with them in such a way to help make our communities and nation a better place.”
You can’t drive forward while looking in a rear-view mirror.
You can try and some do.
Ministers spend a great deal of time in a car driving to various places. I enjoy my automotive world. With technology, I can hear the phone ring despite playing my radio loud enough to change my heart rhythm. I play the radio so loud because I don’t hear well after all these years of playing the radio very loud in my car. The vehicle allows the phone call to interrupt my musical moment. I never miss a phone call while driving. When I am alone, the air-conditioning is on the “freeze out” setting. I want to make sure that my glasses fog up heavily when I exit the vehicle. If I can’t see at all, the air conditioning was cold enough. I also look for sermon illustrations while I am driving. Jesus is certainly watching, but I am too! When I raise the phone while driving, I’m not texting. I am photographing.
This morning driving to work, I had the radio loud and the air conditioning on “freeze out,” while I observed the world. In front of me was a black mustang convertible. There was a girl in the car. I could tell because she had her rearview mirror cocked in the “installing make up while driving” position. We sat at the light, and I watched as she applied some ointment, powder, or treatment to her face while the light was red. Because of the angle of the Mustang rear window, I could not tell if she continued applying make-up while driving. She was going “my way” and I did note she was an excellent driver and I’ll bet a super multi-tasker.
I have witnessed full facial make-overs while the person was driving the car. I have seen men put on a tie, send a text message, and read the newspaper at the same time while driving on the Interstate. But I am fascinated by the women who can put on that eye makeup stuff while driving. I have seen mascara going on while the nice lady was driving the car and making a cell phone call. I am amazed. They are doing all of this while looking backwards. The road they are traveling on is out the front window!
But really, you can’t drive forward looking in a rear-view mirror. Jesus said, “If you put your hand to the plow and look back you are not worthy of the kingdom.” Jesus was saying you need to keep your spiritual focus and your life looking forward. If you look back to regrets, mistakes, slights, hurts, sins, or even successes you will miss the beauty of this day. Today is out there, it is not back there!
You didn’t know your car was spiritual, did you?
Doug de Graffenried is the Senior Pastor of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, Louisiana. You can reach Doug at his email: DougDeGraffenried
Bobby Joe Womble June 30, 1932 – June 23, 2024 Service: Thursday, June 27, 2024, 11am at oak Grove Mission Church, Hineston.
Docia Anne Smith July 22, 1942 – June 25, 2024 Service: Thursday, June 27, 2024, 5pm at Hixson Brothers, Pineville.
James Wiley Bryant November 7, 1944 – June 18, 2024 Service: Saturday, July 13, 2024, 2pm at River Outreach Church, Pineville.
The Rapides Parish Journal publishes paid obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $95. Contact your funeral provider or RPJNewsla@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Notice of Death shown above are FREE of charge. You may email them to RPJNewsla@gmail.com)
There’s good news and there’s better in the City of Alexandria Employees Retirement System audit report.
The system’s net position for pensions grew $23 million to $217 million in the year ending December 31, 2023, almost entirely from growth in investments value.
That’s the good news.
The better, from the city perspective, is the employer contribution rate of 23.72% of payroll this fiscal year will drop to 20.03% in the next, based on actuarial recommendation. The rate in the audit period was 22.65% on a $23.1 million payroll.
City contributions in the audit period totaled $5.2 million and employees contributed $2.1 million.
Auditors noted the system has no unfunded actuarial liability.
The system CEO, the legendary Richard G. Moriarty, was paid $57,225, auditors noted.
Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital is seeking bids for creating a private water system.
Offers will be opened July 16.
Envisioned for the system are a well, six storage tanks and booster pumps station. Notice of the bid solicitation doesn’t specify where the well site is anticipated.
A hospital without water faces extreme issues and a stable alternative potable supply is a key addition to emergency management inventories.
The necessity of potable water is obvious; that of non-potable necessary in a host of functions perhaps not so.
U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow was successful in having $775,000 allocated toward the project in the FY 23 Community Services appropriations.
She noted:
“Multiple times in the past few years, natural disasters have hit Alexandria, Louisiana which have caused the hospital to lose access to necessary water supply. This project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because having access to a stable water supply is essential to maintain medical operations during natural disasters.
“Additionally, located in the state’s central evacuation area during hurricane season, it is important the hospital is fully functional and able to serve supplementary patients routed to the area. This project will ensure that the hospital will be able to continue providing life-saving medical care to patients without interruption.”
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Drew Brees came to the rescue for the New Orleans Saints and, by extension, the city of New Orleans and even the state of Louisiana.
But in the aftermath of his disappointing absence from the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremonies Saturday night in Natchitoches, Seimone Augustus, Wilbert Ellis, Kerry Joseph and the rest of the honorees came to the rescue to make it one of the Hall’s more memorable induction ceremonies ever.
The best line of the night? Let’s give it to Tom Burnett, winner of the Dave Dixon Sports Leadership Award, who was the honoree that followed Brees. In a taped Q and A video for the ceremony, Brees said he couldn’t attend because he was on vacation in Japan for two weeks with his family. That served as a cue for a punch line from Burnett, a West Monroe High and Louisiana Tech graduate who capped a career in sports administration by chairing the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee for the 2021-22 season.
“On behalf of Drew Brees,” Burnett said before his Q and A session, “it’s good to be here tonight. Our Japan trip is next week.”
One gentleman who showed up under difficult circumstances for the “Walk of Legends” of past inductees was rodeo legend T.B. “Teaberry” Porter of Leesville. He didn’t walk across the stage, but it didn’t matter. At age 97, sporting an eye patch and hobbled enough that he walks with a cane, he got a rousing ovation. Just showing up is the first victory in any competition, and it’s triumphant when you’ve given your all.
If you love Louisiana, the saying goes, Louisiana will love you back, and that was the case with Porter. It was also the case with Lafayette native and wrestling and MMA legend Daniel Cormier, who was not able to attend because he was working as a commentator for a UFC telecast in Saudi Arabia.
The much-decorated Cormier said being inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame was “as big an honor as I’ve had in my entire life.”
Perry Clark, a native of Washington D.C., had unprecedented and amazingly quick success resurrecting Tulane basketball’s fortunes after the New Orleans university’s four-year self-imposed shutdown in the wake of a point-shaving scandal. Again, like so many others, he spoke of his love for New Orleans and Louisiana.
“This is the most wonderful group of people in the country,” he gushed. “You love with your heart. You give with dedication and care. We had to live up to your energy, your desires and the things you hold very, very special – loyalty and caring. If I ever get accused of being too loyal, I hope they find enough evidence to find me guilty.”
There was a genuine, endearing quality to the 10 inductees who were present. Repeated themes, and timeless ones, were the value of faith in God, hard work, and good mentoring by parents or coaches or others, to achieving success.
Baseball coach and ambassador Wilbert Ellis, the last of the three titans of Grambling’s fabled sports history, along with the late Eddie Robinson (football) and Fred Hobdy (basketball), had a little more than 180 fans and admirers at the banquet, which had its second largest crowd ever (800-plus), according to LSHOF chairman Doug Ireland.
Ellis stressed his passion in coaching was to “make a difference in the lives” of the young people.
He encouraged other coaches and parents and grandparents to tell young people – in these times when “we are in serious trouble” — about right and wrong.
Former LSU women’s basketball star Seimone Augustus, the greatest woman’s basketball player in Louisiana history, recently took a job as assistant coach under LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, and she confided to Mulkey of some worries of how she might best communicate as a coach with the players.
“She told me. ‘Be yourself,’” Seimone said. Which isn’t a problem for her. Never has been. She defied the trend of fellow coveted recruits who were signing with either Tennessee or Connecticut, by signing with LSU in 2002.
“I’ve never considered myself a trend follower but a trend setter,” said Seimone, a Baton Rouge native.
Any of those honored Saturday could have said the same. Folks in the Bayou State love it most when the trend setting is woven, with love and loyalty, into the fabric of Louisiana.
“I need to lose a few pounds,” is an expression that many of us mutter with a grumble. None of us want to go on a diet, but what if that diet was a steak diet in which we ate more steak and less vegetables? Now, that’s a diet I could sink my teeth into. That is exactly the diet Dr. James proposed.
James Henry was born in Scott, New York in 1823. In his twenties, he studied his way through the collegiate hierarchy and by the time he was 30, became a doctor and a well-respected chemist. We might never have heard of Dr. James had it not been for America’s bloodiest and most divisive conflict, the Civil War. During the Civil War, Dr. James served as a physician for the Union army. There was little he could do to help soldiers wounded in battle other than try to repair their damaged and broken bodies. Dr. James recognized that he was treating more soldiers for diseases than from battle wounds. According to the National Park Service, more than twice as many Union soldiers died from diseases than from battle. Most of the soldiers Dr. James treated were suffering from severe diarrhea, which led to dehydration, and often proved fatal. Now that was a problem that Dr. James thought he could solve by using his background in chemistry.
Dr. James began studying the soldiers’ diet. At the start of the war, soldiers on both sides were allotted a small ration of pork, bacon, or salt beef, hardtack (hard bread), beans, peas, potatoes, rice, corn, and other available vegetables. Dr. James concluded that vegetables and starchy foods produced poisons in the digestive system. He blamed vegetables for a host of illnesses such as heart disease, tuberculosis, mental illness, tumors, and, of course, diarrhea. Had my younger self known of Dr. James’s conclusions, I certainly would have used them in an attempt to avoid eating my broccoli. Dr. James believed that the troops suffering from diarrhea could be treated with a diet of coffee and lean chopped beefsteak. Dr. James claimed that healthy soldiers could avoid getting diarrhea if they utilized the same diet. Dr. James had a hard time getting military leaders to adopt his diet because of limitations in supplies of meat.
Following the Civil War, Dr. James continued to encourage people to adopt his diet of coffee and steak. Contrary to what we might expect in a capitalistic society, Dr. James was not seeking profit. He shared his recipes openly with anyone who would listen. His recipes often appeared in newspapers. His most popular recipe was for his steak, which he suggested should be eaten three times a day. In 1888, newspapers throughout the country declared that Dr. James’s steak “appears to be giving remarkably good results as a diet for people troubled with weak or disordered digestion, but who require the supporting power of animal food.” The article shared the manner for preparing the steak as described by a Dr. Hepburn in the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter. “The surface of a round steak is chopped with a dull knife, the object being not to cut but to pound the meat. As the meat pulp comes to the top, it is scraped off, while the tough and fibrous portion gradually reaches the bottom of the trough. The pulp is then made into cakes and lightly and quickly broiled so as to leave it almost raw inside.”
Today, Dr. James’s dietary work has been largely forgotten with the exception of his steak. Many of us still eat his steak as his recipe suggested — flavored with onion and other seasonings, then broiled, and covered with thick gravy or brown sauce – though not three times a day as he would have liked. Perhaps we cancel out the healthy properties of his steak as we consume it with hearty helpings of vegetables. We still know the steak by his last name, which upon hearing may subconsciously cause your mouth to water. Now you know how and why Dr. James Henry Salisbury invented the Salisbury Steak.
Sources:
1. Manitoba Weekly Free Press, February 19, 1885, p.10.
BATON ROUGE – The voice came from behind me early Monday morning as I was cleaning the “gifts” left on my back patio by Skippy the Wonder Bichon and his brother Buddy II.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Hall of Famer,” said a familiar voice.
I turned around. Skippy was standing in the doggie door, wearing his usual smirk.
“What’s the deal, Famer?” Skipper asked. “Wasn’t there a Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer pooper scooper in your swag bag? Hall of Fame czar Dougie ‘Fresh’ Ireland is one of my fans. I’m sure he could have gotten one made for me.”
“Hello, Skip,” I said. “So, you’re talking to me now? You didn’t have much to say yesterday after you and Buddy’s 3½-day stay in boarding.”
“Frankly, I was exhausted,” Skipper said. “On Thursday about an hour after you dropped us off, a lady accidently crashed her car through the front of the building.
“We heard the crash. Buddy got excited. He said, `I knew Dad was coming back to break us OUT!’ He got depressed again when I told him you and Mom were heading to Natchitoches for `RonFest.’ He immediately went into pout mode until you picked us up late yesterday afternoon.
“But I did watch the Hall of Fame ceremony streamed live on my iPhone. The best part of your induction was your introduction video that included a picture of me and Buddy. I thoroughly enjoyed the inductions of the other 9 inductees who showed up in person.
“Absent Lafayette-native mixed martial arts world champ Daniel Cormier’s pre-taped acceptance interview with Jacques Doucet of WAFB was sincerely heartfelt.”
“Yes, I thought it was great,” I said. “He’s trying to build a career as an ESPN MMA analyst. He got an unexpected call last week for a telecast assignment and chose to go instead of being inducted. He struggled with the decision.”
“Saints Super Bowl-winning QB Drew Brees didn’t show up,” Skip said. “He said in his video with Jacques, in an extremely disingenuous explanation, he couldn’t attend because he and his family were on a planned vacation in Japan. How does that happen?”
“Skipperoo, since we selected the Hall of Fame 2024 class last August, Hall of Fame Foundation CEO Ronnie Rantz and your friend Dougie Fresh tried to accommodate his availability to determine an induction date,” I said. “In November before Thanksgiving, they finally had to set the date because of the planning and logistics involved.
“Previous superstar LSHOF inductees — such as Peyton and Eli Manning, the Duck Commander Phil Robertson and Shaquille O’Neal – arrived Friday on the second day of the three-day celebration when they were inducted. They were genuinely thrilled to be part of the ceremony.
“Skip, all Drew Brees had to do was fly in on Saturday, be inducted, and fly out. I can’t believe he didn’t consider that his absence was a slap in the face to the city of Natchitoches and all the volunteers who work to make the event better each year, not to mention Saints fans who wanted to see him.
“The silver lining is the rest of this year’s Hall of Fame inductees – all either Louisiana natives or who played or coached in Louisiana high schools and colleges – were overwhelmed with gratitude. The packed house in the Natchitoches Events Center felt that love and returned it.
“As it turned out, the best way to describe Drew Brees’ absence is the lyric from a Dixie Chicks song `Goodbye Earl’ that says, `He was a missing person nobody missed at all.’”
“So, Mr. Famer, what was the best part of the weekend for you?” Skip asked.
“That’s easy,” I replied. “Having my family there and bonding with the rest of the induction class. I already knew three of them personally – fellow journalism inductee Bobby Ardoin, former Tulane basketball coach Perry Clark and former Southland Conference commissioner Tom Burnett.
“But I loved getting to know jockey Ray Sibille, who won 4,264 horse races in his 35-year career. And Frank Monica, who won three high school state football championships. And Baton Rouge native and LSU women’s basketball great Seimone Augustus. And former LSU wrestler and Olympic gold medalist Kevin Jackson. And former McNeese State quarterback and CFL star Kerry Joseph. And especially former Grambling baseball coach and athletic director Wilbert Ellis, one of the finest people I’ve ever met.
“The strangest thing was people wanting my autograph. I wanted to say “Why?’ Instead, I profusely thanked them. Well, all but the guy who asked for my signature on the drive back Sunday afternoon.”
“Who was that?” the Skipster said.
“That was an Evangeline Parish sheriff’s deputy,” I said. “He needed me to sign the speeding ticket he issued me.”
“Maybe you could have gotten out of it saying you were Drew Brees,” Skip said.
“Nah,” I replied. “The deputy would have said, `I thought you’re on a family vacation in Japan.’”
Each week, the Rapides Parish Journal’s always-hungry reporter visits a different restaurant and tells you about the experience.
By ANON E. MUSS
It’s summertime, which also means that it’s vacation time and I’m heading north for what I hope will be cooler temperatures. Restaurant reviews will resume when I return in July. Wishing everyone an early happy 4th. Eat well and stay cool!
Is there a restaurant you would like the Journal to visit?Email: Anon E. Muss
1 Fork: Would rather eat a box of dirt 2 Forks: Will return, but only if someone else is buying 3 Forks: Will return and look forward to it 4 Forks: Will return and go out of my way to do so
Bobby Joe Womble June 30, 1932 – June 23, 2024 Service: Thursday, June 27, 2024, 11am at oak Grove Mission Church, Hineston.
James Wiley Bryant November 7, 1944 – June 18, 2024 Service: Saturday, July 13, 2024, 2pm at River Outreach Church, Pineville.
The Rapides Parish Journal publishes paid obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $95. Contact your funeral provider or RPJNewsla@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Notice of Death shown above are FREE of charge. You may email them to RPJNewsla@gmail.com)
What led the three to a Simmons Street residence Wednesday night, we don’t know. We do know only one left alive.
That one, Rentis Austin, is charged with allegedly killing Ronald Landry, 55, of Boyce and Jeremy Swafford, 38, of Alexandria, then fleeing.
Austin, 46, of Alexandria was arrested the next night and charged with two counts of murder in the second degree as well as parole and probation violations. His bail is set at $2 million.
He was last booked in the parish lockup in March 2023 with charges including armed robbery, auto theft, possession with intent and parole violation and had been jailed there twice this decade.
Swafford’s felony rap sheet dated to at least 2019 and includes domestic abuse, stalking, home invasion, sexual battery, narcotics, resisting arrest and flight from officers charges.
NATCHITOCHES — Pineville journalist John Marcase was honored with a prestigious Louisiana Sports Writers Association award Sunday while Rapides Parish Journal writers Bob Tompkins, Ron Higgins and Doug Ireland picked up writing prizes at the LSWA’s annual Awards Brunch.
Marcase, who is a contributing writer for the Journal and 446Sports.com after a long career as a writer and sports editor at the Alexandria Town Talk, received the LSWA’s treasured Mac Russo-Jack Brittain Jr. Award. It is presented to one person annually who has made remarkable contributions to the progress and ideals of the LSWA.
Marcase was also installed as the new LSWA president, moving up from the vice president’s role and replacing former Town Talk sports editor Raymond Partsch III, who served a pair of two-year terms.
The LSWA’s Writing Contest rewarded work for stories published in the calendar year 2023. A record number of entries were received, said Partsch.
Tompkins, whose column appears every Tuesday in the RPJ, was a second-place winner in the LSWA’s General Columns category (Class II) for a piece that noted it was the time of year to endure coaching jargon. Tompkins also received a fourth place in the Columnist of the Year competition for Class II, a remarkable award considering that only about half of his columns are sports oriented, and he is a weekly columnist.
Higgins, who was enshrined in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Saturday night with the LSWA’s Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism, picked up four contest awards Sunday. The Journal’s LSU beat writer since last July won for work written earlier in 2023 for Tiger Details, including a first place for his story on the Tiger baseball team’s College World Series championship game victory.
Ireland took a third in Class I Columnist of the Year competition and was fourth in the Class I Prep Column contest for his column bemoaning the poor information flow from the 2023 girls Marsh Madness state basketball tournament in Hammond.
Ireland won in the general column contest in Class II for a piece that originally ran in the Natchitoches Parish Journal, addressing cancellation of Northwestern State’s football season after a player’s shooting death last October.
Ireland was the Class I third-place finisher in the Columnist of the Year competition for work that was originally published in the Shreveport-Bossier Journal. He captured the Class II Columnist of the Year award was for work that initially ran in the Natchitoches Parish Journal.
Adding in awards won by writers from the Shreveport-Bossier Journal and the Lincoln Parish Journal, the Journal Services team collected a combined 24 writing honors handed out during the LSWA’s annual awards brunch that caps the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction weekend.
SHINING BRIGHTLY: Members of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 stood together at the end of the opening Walk of Legends Saturday night in Natchitoches during the 65th LSHOF induction ceremony. Shown (l-r) are Kerry Joseph, Kevin Jackson, Ray Sibille, Ron Higgins, Frank Monica, Wilbert Ellis, Bobby Ardoin, Perry Clark, Tom Burnett and Seimone Augustus. (Photo by BRET H. MCCORMICK, for the LSWA)
By JASON PUGH, Written for the LSWA
NATCHITOCHES – The 12 members of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 brought worldwide acclaim to their home state – adopted or natural.
Fittingly, two of the newest Hall of Famers brought the world to Natchitoches Saturday during the annual induction ceremony at the Natchitoches Events Center.
Although New Orleans Saints Super Bowl-winning quarterback Drew Brees and former UFC champion Daniel Cormier joined the proceedings via video from Japan and Saudi Arabia, respectively, the stories of the 12 inductees started much closer to home – specifically within their homes.
“I had the greatest parents,” Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism honoree Bobby Ardoin said in tears, “because they didn’t have to adopt me, and they did. They let me do just about anything I wanted. I wasn’t always a summer’s breeze, but they’re the reason I’m here today.”
That reasoning resonated throughout the eight competitive-ballot inductees and the four award winners who officially joined the state’s athletic shrine during the ceremony attended by over 800 at the Natchitoches Events Center. It was live streamed on LPB.org and can be viewed there on the LPB YouTube channel, or the Hall of Fame’s YouTube link through LaSportsHall.com using the multimedia button.
The inductees’ praise Saturday night did not stop at biological family members.
“I had some of the greatest parents in the world, and I have some of the greatest people in the world here tonight,” said Wilbert Ellis, the longtime Grambling baseball coach who became the second-ever Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award recipient. He had nearly 200 supporters in the crowd from nearby and around the country.
“I always wanted to give back. I always wanted to make a difference. That was my prayer. God gave me that prayer, and I’ve been all over the country doing it.”
Baton Rouge saw one of its most notable, successful products honored Saturday night.
LSU All-American Seimone Augustus spent her high school career at Capitol High School being feted as the nation’s No. 1 player. In an era where Tennessee and UConn “had a chokehold on the recruiting game,” according to Augustus, she made the decision to stay home and build something.
That something included the start of five straight Final Four runs for her hometown university and a sweep of the 2006 National Player of the Year honors.
“I was never a trend follower,” Augustus said. “I was a trendsetter. A lot of players as soon as they got a letter from Connecticut or Tennessee, they committed. I was like, ‘Don’t you want to take a visit?’ ‘Don’t you want to meet your teammates?’ I begged to differ. When I didn’t go to Tennessee or Connecticut, a lot of people thought I was crazy. Coach (Sue) Gunter, coach (Pokey) Chatman, coach (Bob) Starkey, they were sending me handwritten letters from when I was eight or nine years old.
“I went through every recruiting letter. Some were authentic. Some you could change my name for someone else’s, and it read the same. LSU’s authenticity and the fact it was in my backyard and the chance to build something that had not been build before (were factors). I could go somewhere else and be one of the greats, or I could be THE great. That was my thought process.”
Staying at home to build the program she grew up watching appealed to Augustus, whose initial impression on Starkey came in an athletic setting but not at an athletic event. It gave him insight into where the woman who now has a statue outside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center’s priorities laid.
“The very first time I saw her in person was Thanksgiving at the Riverside Centroplex (now the Raisin’ Cane’s River Center) and she was serving food to the less fortunate,” Starkey said. “Here’s the No. 1 high school player in the country, and she’s spending her Thanksgiving making others feel better.”
Those lessons began at home, forming both Augustus’ altruistic side and a work ethic that forced the LSU staff to adjust its practices.
“No one was going to outwork me,” Augustus said. “I learned that from watching my parents. Within my household, I was driven because I watched two people sacrifice so I could have. I wanted to work hard to give them something to be proud of.”
Along with her parents, among a large contingent of LSU staff and fans was Tigers’ head coach Kim Mulkey, who recently hired Augustus as an assistant coach. Mulkey is the youngest-ever LSHOF inductee, enshrined in 1990 at age 28 after her playing career at Hammond High, Louisiana Tech and for the USA Olympic gold medal team in 1984.
Augustus played on three USA Olympic gold medal squads, and won four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx. She will be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in October, and entered the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in April.
If anyone in the Class of 2024 could identify with Augustus regarding elevating a college basketball program, it was former Tulane men’s basketball coach Perry Clark.
When Clark arrived in Uptown New Orleans in July 1988, the Green Wave program was in its infant stages of being resurrected following a self-imposed, four-year shutdown following a point-shaving scandal.
Within two seasons, Clark took Tulane from a resurrection point to the first – and still only – conference championship in program history.
“He had to restart a Division I men’s basketball program, and there was no blueprint for him to follow,” former Tulane sports information director Lenny Vangilder said. “From no program to two years later winning a conference title, it was truly remarkable and may never be done again in the history of college athletics.”
Clark did just that in his own way – focusing on what Tulane could have instead of what it didn’t.
“I knew we weren’t going to get the best offensive players,” he said. “We were able to build defensively. We had the best defensive player in the conference at each position. That first year, we upset Memphis State, who was ranked No. 4 because we were able to stop Elliott Perry. We had a top-20 win every year because we could lock in defensively and believe in what we were doing.”
Armed with a bench group nicknamed “The Posse” after Clark’s favorite NFL team – the then-Washington Redskins – and their dynamic receiving corps, the Green Wave had all three of its NCAA Tournament appearances in Clark’s 11 years at the place he called Camelot.
While Clark left his mark on Tulane, winning 185 games in those 11 seasons, it left just as much of an imprint on him.
“I’m very privileged to be in the state of Louisiana,” Clark said. “The people here have inspired me in my growth as a person, my growth as a coach. This is the most wonderful group of people in the country. You love with your heart. You give with dedication and care. We had to live up to your energy, your desires and the things you hold very, very special – loyalty and caring. If I ever get accused of being too loyal, I hope they find enough evidence to find me guilty.
“I kept asking how do I get in this Hall of Fame. I kept hearing, ‘It’s too hard. It’s too hard.’ I kept asking, ‘What do I have to do?’ This is extremely special to be called a Cajun. I’m happy to be here and happy to be recognized as a Cajun.”
