The Kisatchie Ranger District announced the reopening of the Sandstone Multiple Use Trail in Natchitoches Parish on Wednesday, May 1. This scenic, challenging 36-mile-trail loops through pine upland forest and sandy hardwood bottoms, including sandstone bluffs and picturesque vistas. Hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and off-road vehicle users are welcome to use this fun trail. A map of the trail may be found here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/…/FSE…/stelprdb5398472.pdf
Dennis “Skinny” Hallmark passed something along to me that was special. So special in fact that what I learned on that visit to Alabama with him in 1992 ignited a passion I had never felt before or since. He guided me on my first turkey hunt and when I drew a bead on a gobbler and he dropped, I was hooked just as solidly as if I had mainlined a narcotic.
For the next 20-something years, hunting wild turkeys in spring was my passion and not only did I finally learn how to do it on my own, I have had special opportunities to pass along my love for the sport to several other rookies like I was that day in Alabama.
Sarah Hebert was the first. On opening day of turkey season for youth several years later, I was asked to do for Sarah what Skinny had done for me. In other words, I was her guide for a hunt on what was then the Jackson-Bienville wildlife management area. I was privileged to call in a gobbler for this young teenager and saw in her eyes the same fire I experienced when my Alabama gobbler bit the dust.
Still later after having several successful turkey seasons under my belt, my Ruston friend, Jody Backus, asked if I would accompany him to his property to see if I could guide him to success with gobblers that inhabited his land. He was successful in downing a big one.
Each episode differs in the way it plays out. When I called the gobbler in for young Sarah Hebert, it came right off the roost to the decoy we had set out. The hunt ended quickly because soon after daylight, she was packing out her first longbeard. In Backus’ case, the weather was chilly and nasty and we were on the verge of giving up when at the last minute, a big longbeard decided to make Jody’s day.
On two other occasions, I shared my know-how with a couple of other hunters who took what they had experienced when I guided them to call in and take gobblers on their own. I wasn’t there when Carla Johnson and Ross Downer got their gobblers but their success was almost as gratifying as if I had been there.
Louisiana’s turkey season opened this past Saturday and I found out about another situation in which one hunter guided another hunter, a novice, to take their first longbeard.
My nephew, Dan Dupree, lives on Clear Lake in Natchitoches Parish with his wife, Debbie and two offspring, daughter Rachel who will graduate from college this summer as a nurse, and high school senior Johnathan, who has been successful in killing a gobbler or two.
“I had located some turkeys on our hunting lease and had gone out and scouted to sort of get them located. When opening day came, I had planned to take my dad and guide him but he wasn’t able to go,” said Johnathan. “Rachel asked me if I would take her so rather than going out to chase gobblers on my own, I agreed.”
Rachel had been successful on her deer stand having taken a nice 9 point buck this past deer season but had never tried turkey hunting. They got to the woods early and as it began to get daylight, the gobblers began waking up and long story short, Johnathon used his turkey calls to entice a big longbeard to Rachel’s gun. She dropped the 21-pound bird with a 10 ½ inch beard at 30 yards with one shot from her 20-gauge Remington.
Her reaction? “I’m hooked; I think Johnathon has created something in me that I’m going to love” she said.
That’s the way it is, one hunter helping another experience the thrill of something that means so much to the guide and ultimately to the novice hunter. In my case, my helping Sarah and Jody and Ross and Carla to getting their first gobblers was right up there in soul satisfaction equal to the day Skinny watched me jump up and down with excitement over my first.
That’s the magic turkey hunting induces.
Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com
Arrests are accusations, not convictions.
April 16
Gary Anderson, 40, Alexandria — firearm possession by convicted felon, illegal carry firearm with drugs, possession with intent 2 counts, paraphernalia, $55,500 bail;
Jessica Bledsoe, 29, Alexandria — murder 2nd degree, $200,000 bail;
Matthew Grassa, 29, Alexandria — firearm possession by convicted felon, no headlight, $15,100;
Jerald Huel, 29, Alexandria — firearm possession by convicted felon, illegally carrying weapon 2nd offense, probation violation, $25,000 bail;
Ahmad Lee, 23, Alexandria — firearm with drugs, possession, suspension/revocation, resisting l, obstruction of highway, $5,800 bail;
Michael Taylor, 38, Ball — murder 2nd degree, $200,000 bail;
Jarvis White, 29, Alexandria — murder 2nd degree, firearm possession by convicted felon, probation violation, $1,100,000 bail;
Keith White, 41, Alexandria — firearm possession by convicted felon, firearm with drugs, possession 2 counts, aggravated battery on officer, criminal damage, suspension/revocation, disobeying traffic device, contempt, $56,300 bail;
Tyrance Wright, 49, Alexandria — firearm possession by convicted felon, discharging firearm, disturbing peace intoxicated, hit & run, expired driver’s license, criminal damage, resisting, contempt, $18,785 bail.
Three murder suspects booked Tuesday in two separate slayings
Arrests are accusations, not convictions.
April 16
Alane Bradley, 19, Alexandria — aggravated battery, battery, criminal damage, criminal trespass, $10,000 bail;
Cartinez Hammond, 29, Alexandria — 1st- degree rape, armed robbery, burglary inhabited dwelling, criminal conspiracy, burglary, kidnapping 2nd degree, sexual battery, contraband penal facility, aggravated battery 2nd degree, obscenity, resisting, $335,500 bail;
Dondrakus Williams, 40, Alexandria — unauthorized entry inhabited dwelling, resisting, parole violations, contempt, $3,500 bail.
This date: 28 arrests, 13 of which included at least one contempt count.
Arrests are accusations, not convictions.
April 16
Clifton Cotton, 53, Pineville — possession, lamps/reflectors, $2,600 bail;
David Lejeune, 39, Pineville — possession, $2,500 bail;
Jessica Lujan, 47, Alexandria — possession, paraphernalia, $3,000 bail.
I am upping the game of your plain-o sausage ball with this Red Lobster Sausage Ball Recipe. So so SO good. These are great to go along with your supper or to make for a crowd, no matter the occasion. They are 100 percent sure to please!
Ingredients:
* 1 box Red Lobster biscuit mix
* 1 pound Jimmie Dean sausage, cooked
* 16 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
* Butter as directed on the biscuit mix box
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cooked sausage with the biscuit mix and cheese in a stand mixer. Use a large cookie scoop to drop scoops onto baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Mix butter and the seasoning packet from the box. Brush onto each baked sausage ball when removed from the oven.
Ashley Madden Rowton is a wife, mom and published cookbook author who lives in Minden, La.
By JIM BUTLER
Two suspects accused last week of crimes involving minors remain in jail while three others were booked Monday in two different cases.
Information about the allegations had yet to be provided as of Tuesday night through spoon-feeding procedures to area media.
It should be noted that extraordinary care is taken by authorities providing information in cases involving juvenile victims, for obvious reasons.
The nature of two of the current cases indicate there could be multi-agency efforts involved, adding to hoops that have to be negotiated.
As for the record:
Cartavious King’s bail is $3.6 million. King, 26, was charged April 9 with five counts each of 1st-degree rape, trafficking children for sexual purposes and molestation of juveniles.
Austin Reed’s bail is far less. It is set at $75,000 after the April 11 booking for alleged computer-aided solicitation of a minor, sexual battery oral and unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling.
Reed, 28, has a parish rap sheet dating to August 2016, according to records.
He was charged in 2016 with three counts each of conspiracy, criminal damage and burglary in connection with a series of burglaries in the Monroe-Chester streets area.
In March 2021 Reed was accused of domestic abuse, aggravated assault child endangerment.
He was charged in July 2022 with unauthorized entry, home invasion, resisting arrest, contempt and parole violation.
Records indicate he was released from Department of Corrections custody last October 25.
The most-recent cases in question are the arrests Monday of Thomas Deville, 37, and Misty Wall, 41, both listed as of the same address in Deville, and Daniel Wells of Ball.
Deville is charged with 10 counts of cruelty to juveniles. His bail is $150,000.
Wall faces 12 cruelty counts and one each of child desertion and obstruction by evidence tampering. Her bail is fixed at $210,000.
Wells, 58, is accused of sexual battery, indecent behavior with juvenile and contributing to delinquency. His bail is $75,000.
Background noise from spouse’s TV as a remodeler broke into Sheetrock: “Look, behind the wall it’s a front page from the Delta Democrat-Times.”
I looked up from folding laundry to see and hear what would be read or said next about the front page or about the paper itself, only to see walls coming down and hear Ben and Erin discussing raising a ceiling.
And like that mention of a legendary Greenwood, MS, newspaper, with connections to our area, gave way to the next scene.
Nothing noted about the role the newspaper played in emergence of a new South. Nothing about a newspaper that carried the fight to bigots and won.
Nothing about two journalists from this area who began their careers with The Town Talk before joining the DDT.
Merrit “Pic” Firmin, an Avoyelles native who grew up in Concordia Parish, was a reporter, then an editor on the Town Talk city desk.
Wallace Anthony, from Grant Parish, worked on the Town Talk’s wire/copydesk after a stint in the U.S. Army.
In the mid-1960s Firmin was hired as managing editor of the Delta Democrat-Times. When he left for Mississippi he took Anthony as his copy desk chief.
And they and Firmin’s staff and publisher Hodding Carter III launched several years of setting the pace for civil rights changes in their state and region.
Pic left about a decade later for the editor’s job in Gulfport, where he thrived and his paper was named one of the best 40,000- and-under daily circulation papers in the nation.
Wallace returned to The Town Talk, where he was wire desk/copy desk chief for the next quarter-century, regularly advocating at daily news coverage planning meetings the rattling of cages to get things done.
They died within two months of each other in 2010, Pic at 69, Wallace at 73.
All these years later their trailblazing paper gets only a passing mention. Well, it was home-garden, not a history show. Too bad.
Jim Butler, a Bolton High School alumnus, was an acclaimed writer and editor at the Alexandria Town Talk for 36 years, the last 23 (1977-2003) as editor-in-chief. He led Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina for the Gulfport (Miss.) Sun-Herald in 2005. Butler returned home to Cenla a few years ago, and shares his talents and insight with Rapides Parish Journal readers.
By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
Alexandria is home to two of the best discus throwers in Louisiana.
They don’t just live in the same city. Even better, they reside in the same house.
Alexandria Senior High’s Hunter Rivet, a senior two-sport athlete who started on the Trojans’ football offensive line, owns the top Louisiana high-school discus throw during the 2024 outdoor season.
Younger brother Carter, an eighth-grader at Caroline Dormon Junior High, has the top discus and shot put marks among all middle-schoolers in the state.
Discus has become a family passion and a way for the Rivet brothers to bond. Hunter, who learned about throwing the discus by doing research with his dad, Doug, has become a de facto coach for Carter, sharing all of his learned knowledge with his younger brother.
“We spend a lot of time doing disc, talking disc, even shot, jav(elin), hammer,” Hunter said. “I just like all the throwing events.”
Hunter, who finished third at last year’s Class 5A state track and field championships with a throw of 147 feet, 2 inches, began throwing the discus in eighth grade. By the end of that year, he was pushing nearly 100 feet with the 1-kilogram middle-school discus. A couple of years later, he was throwing in the 130s with the 1.6-kilogram high-school discus, hoping to continue developing into a college thrower.
This year, all of Hunter’s hard work – watching YouTube videos, studying great discus throwers, working in the weight room, perfecting his technique – has paid off.
He has been remarkably consistent during his senior season. In his first meet of the season, the Pineville Rebel Relays, Hunter set ASH’s school discus record with a throw of 169-1. He has thrown at least 165 feet at every meet and has broken his own school record two more times, throwing 169-8 at ASH’s Trojan Relays on March 15 and 171-3.5 at the Louisiana High School Coaches Association Meet of Champions at Southern University on April 5.
The honors student who carries a 4.2 GPA with a 31 ACT score and was a finalist for ASH’s Student of the Year award announced his commitment to throw the discus at Louisiana Tech on Monday.
Hunter has, at most, three track meets left in his high-school career, starting with today’s District 2-5A meet at Ruston.
He has won all eight of his discus events this season, and he is the favorite to win district, regionals and the Class 5A state title. His best toss in the shot put – 51-7, set last week at Scotlandville – is the second-best throw in the state this year, even though he just picked up the event this past summer.
Over the next three meets, Hunter said his goal is to win a state title in the discus and to extend his own school record as close to 180 feet as possible. He’s hoping that Carter doesn’t break that record next year as a freshman, something he’s already accepted will happen eventually.
“He’s trying to set that ASH record high for me to beat,” Carter said. “If he sets it really high, I have to be even better.”
“I’m very happy with where I’m at,” Hunter said. “I’m not content because obviously there’s more I’d like to achieve over the next three weeks. I’ve accomplished the goals I set.”
Carter, who is also a standout in the classroom with a 4.0 GPA, has the top middle-school throw in Louisiana in both the discus (194-7) and the shot put (52-6), and the expectation is he will surpass all of Hunter’s numbers, possibly as soon as next year.
First of all, at 6-foot-1 and about 190 pounds, he’s much bigger than Hunter was in eighth grade. (Hunter currently is about 6-1 and 225 pounds, but he said he enrolled at ASH weighing only 140 pounds.) Carter started throwing the discus earlier, in sixth grade as opposed to eighth, and he’s been competing with his older brother, in the weight room and the throwing ring, for multiple years.
Carter has thrown the middle-school discus more than 100 feet farther than his older brother did at the same age, and while practicing with the high-school discus consistently throws in the 140s and 150s.
“He’s trying to keep up with me,” Hunter said. “He doesn’t see the four-year age gap. It’s just, ‘if he can do it, I can do it.’ He’s very advanced in that mentality.”
Carter has been the beneficiary of all of the family’s research, which allowed him to accelerate his pace in the event. He is “very technically sound,” Hunter said, and has four more years to improve upon a throwing technique that is already “very comparable” to Hunter’s.
He believes his little brother can become one of the top college discus prospects in the country for the Class of 2028, and he hopes that Carter can break the Class 5A state record of 197-2, set by Ruston’s Larry Jones in 2006, and the overall composite record of 201-1, set by Catholic-New Iberia’s Tommy Killeen in 2005.
“I’m excited to see what he’s gonna do,” Hunter said. “I’m ready to see what he’s gonna throw. I expect him to beat my records. I’d be disappointed if I have anything left.”
“The No. 1 thing I need to do is just get stronger – a lot stronger,” Carter said. “My technique, it’s not up there yet, but in four years time, I can get up there. But I need to get stronger.”
The boys’ mother, Olivia, said watching her sons bond over a shared passion “means everything to me” and is “an answered prayer.”
“Hunter sets high expectations for himself, and he pushes Carter to exceed those expectations and be better than he is,” she said. “Not just in discus, but in everything. Carter is Hunter’s protégé. He is a good big brother and role model to Carter, and really to all kids. Carter follows his footsteps, but is also creating his own journey. They are exceptionally bonded as brothers, but also best friends.”
In addition to the hours the brothers spend together weekly practicing at the ring they constructed at home and watching video, Hunter also spearheaded a project to leave the ASH track and field program in a better position for his brother to inherit, helping to install a new discus ring at the school.
“We did the research. We found the ring. We got it ordered,” Hunter said. “We had some complications, but eventually we got it in. A lot of manual labor, doing concrete, the poles, all that type of stuff. The hard part was laying it out. There’s a lot of math involved, getting these poles in the right spot because it really matters.”
Carter, who has traveled to all of Hunter’s meets this year and is an unofficial member of the Trojans’ throwing squad, said he’s excited to utilize the new ring and thankful that his older brother is so supportive of him.
“I’m just very grateful to be in the position I’m in,” Carter said.
It seemed almost inevitable, and it was. Tioga and Pineville will square off Friday evening at 6 at the Ward 10 Complex in an LHSAA Select Division I state quarterfinal softball game, with the winner advancing to the state tournament next weekend in Sulphur.
Both teams posted second-round wins Tuesday. They were among six Rapides Parish softball squads surviving and advancing to the quarterfinal round.
ASH made the most dramatic move. The Lady Trojans trailed visiting Captain Shreve 7-0 Tuesday, but came all the way back to win 8-7 in eight innings.
Also on to the quarterfinals: Buckeye, Menard and Grace Christian. Eliminated in Round 2: Oak Hill, which fell 11-7 to Family Community, and Glenmora, beaten 15-0 by D’Arbonne Woods.
The Lady Trojans’ big comeback began with a four-run bottom of the sixth, highlighted by an RBI double from Jordyn Turner and a two-run double by Mary Claire Brinkman.
Sara Grace Buckles opened the bottom of the seventh and ignited ASH. Freshman Caitlyn Land slammed a three-run homer to draw the locals even with Captain Shreve and force extra innings.
An inning later, Brinkman got a hit and advanced all the way to third. The Lady Gators issued two intentional walks to load the bases and set up a force at the plate, but Amiyah Wilson drew a walk to end the game and complete a remarkable comeback by the Lady Trojans.
The win sends ASH, seeded seventh in Select Division I, to No. 1 St. Thomas More for a Friday 5:30 quarterfinal.
The rest of the local winners left no doubt.
Tioga, No. 3 in Select Division I, rolled over Caddo Magnet 16-0. Sixth-seeded Pineville smacked Lafayette 10-0.
Buckeye, the top seed in Select Division II, pounded the Willow School 15-0 Monday and will host No. 8 David Thibodaux on Friday at 5 o’clock.
Menard, No. 3 in Select Division III, thrashed University Lab 10-0 Tuesday. The Lady Eagles host No. 5 Notre Dame in a game slated for a 5 p.m. Saturday first pitch, but if the weather forecast holds, that start time could be moved up to beat incoming rain.
Grace Christian is the No. 1 seed in Select Division V, and will play No. 8 Avoyelles Public Charter Friday at 5 for a spot in the state tournament. Grace had a bye into the quarterfinals in the smaller Division V bracket.
By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
Glenmora will host a best-of-three playoff series this weekend, while Pineville and Peabody will both hit the road after the LHSAA released baseball playoff brackets for its five Select and Non-Select divisions on Tuesday.
Pineville, the No. 17 seed in Division I Select, is one of three Rapides Parish schools to make the playoffs in the state’s largest division and one of 10 parish teams to make the baseball postseason.
The Rebels (10-18) will travel to New Orleans to face 16th-seeded Warren Easton. The winner of the series advances to face the state’s top-ranked team, Catholic High of Baton Rouge.
No. 6 ASH and 10th-seeded Tioga both received first-round byes. The Trojans (17-10) will host No. 11 Riverdale for a best-of-three series on April 26-27, while the Indians (16-11) will travel to face No. 7 Brother Martin.
The state’s five Select brackets feature 20-team fields with the top 12 receiving first-round byes, except in Division V, which has only 10 teams. Non-Select brackets feature 24 teams with byes going to the top eight seeds.
All teams in Rapides Parish play in Select divisions. Division I, II and III feature best-of-three series during the first three rounds of postseason play, while Divisions IV and V are single elimination. All games at the state tournament in Sulphur, which includes the semifinals and finals, are single elimination.
After starting the season 1-15, Pineville won nine of its last 12 games. Coach Cullen Guerriero said the Rebels had some players step up into key leadership roles late in the season.
“After the loss to Ruston at Ruston (on March 22), we had a heart-to-heart talk in the outfield,” Guerriero said. “It was one of those deals where basically we can either go 1-30 or we can do something different. What do we have to lose? After that, we started to play more loose and more free. We just got after it.”
ASH coach Greg Briggs said he feels “pretty good” about where the Trojans are heading into the playoffs. Sophomore Jaxon Ross has emerged as a reliable shortstop, while freshman Jack Lee has been phenomenal on the mound along with a solid senior class of Chase Cook, Ben Eskew and EJ Scott.
“Everybody always says they’re young,” Briggs said. “I get it. Everybody is always young. We’ve got three seniors and the three seniors we have are contributing immensely. I feel pretty good about where we are.”
Briggs, in his fifth year with the Trojans, said this is the deepest team he’s had and he hopes that pays off in the postseason.
“We have more options this year than I’ve ever had,” he said. “Guys to come in to pinch hit, relief pitchers, courtesy runners and pinch runners. It’s kind of been a collective group effort.”
Peabody (7-22) will travel to face No. 14 Kenner Discovery at Mike Miley Playground in Metairie. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday. If the two teams split those games, the decisive third game will begin at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Buckeye (21-8) and Menard (20-8) both received the No. 4 seed in their respective brackets. The Panthers will host the winner of No. 13 Evangel and No. 20 McDonogh 35 in the second round of the Division II playoffs, while the Eagles will face the winner of the 13-20 matchup in Division III between Fisher and Haynes.
Glenmora (17-9), the 14th seed in Division III, is the only parish seed that will be hosting a best-of-three series in the first round as the Wildcats welcome No. 19 Beekman Charter. The teams will play at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday and up to two games on Friday starting at 4 p.m.
Grace Christian, the No. 2 seed in Division V, is the highest-seeded team in the parish and one of three parish teams in the state’s smallest postseason classification.
The Warriors (24-9) will host the winner of the first-round matchup between No. 7 Downsville and No. 10 Northside Christian. Fifth-seeded Rapides (14-16) will travel to Baton Rouge to face No. 4 Family Christian in the quarterfinals.
No. 8 Oak Hill (7-20) will host No. 9 Episcopal School of Acadiana at 5 p.m. on April 24 in the first round with the winner advancing to play at top-seeded Avoyelles Charter.
Grace dropped a pair of games, 4-2 and 5-3, last month to lose the District 5-B title to Avoyelles Charter, last year’s state champion. Warriors coach Josh Brown, whose team is seeking its first state title since 2017, said his players know a potential rematch against the Vikings looms, but they can’t worry about that just yet.
“Right now, our focus is on what we’ve got to improve on,” Brown said. “We’ve got to refocus. We’re gonna heal up and take a little break before a tuneup game. … We’re preaching us, us, us and not really talking about the opponents.”
Brown said he wished the Warriors could play a best-of-three series like the larger classifications because he feels good about his team’s pitching depth led by seniors Kanyon Wright and Seth Cook, junior Maddox Attales and eighth-grader Logan Maricle.
“The past three times we’ve been (to the state tournament in Sulphur), I feel like we’ve got one dude and if he comes off the mound we’re in trouble,” Brown said. “Now we’ve got four guys. We feel good with our pitching staff.”
Arrests are accusations, not convictions.
April 15
Isreal Jones, 30, Alexandria — firearm possession by convicted felon, contempt, probation violation 2 counts, $30,000 bail.
Arrests are accusations, not convictions.
April 15
Thomas Deville, 37, Deville — cruelty to juveniles 10 counts, $150,000 bail;
Surkelyn Sykes, 19, Pineville — felony flight, no head light, criminal damage, criminal trespass, reckless operation off-road vehicle, $26,100 bail;
Misty Wall, 41, Deville — cruelty to juveniles 12 counts, child desertion, obstruction of justice/evidence tampering, $210,000 bail
Daniel Wells, 58, Ball — sexual battery, indecent behavior with juvenile, contributing to delinquency, $75,000 bail.
This date: 14 arrests, 4 of which included at least at least one contempt count.
Arrests are accusations, not convictions.
April 15
Jada Mcginty, 38, Pineville — possession 2 counts, $4,000 bail;
Benson Morgan, 29, Pineville — possession, $2,500 bail;
Jared Nelson, 43, Alexandria — possession 2 counts, $3,000 bail.
The 27th annual Natchitoches Jazz/R&B Festival will be held in historic downtown Natchitoches on the riverbank of Cane River Lake, the festival will kick off Friday evening, May 10 with “Tribute to Legends Night.”
Appearing first at 7 p.m. will be “Lone Star Skynrd”, the award nominated Lynyrd Skynrd tribute act from Texas which faithfully recreates the atmosphere and energy of Lynyrd Skynrd concerts. Closing out Friday at 9 p.m. will be “Rumours-ATL”, the award-winning Fleetwood Mac tribute band out of Atlanta, Georgia which is widely recognized as the ultimate Fleetwood Mac tribute with its note for note recreation of the Mac’s hit songs.
Craig Morgan and Chapel Hart are set to headline the Main Stage on Saturday, May 11.
Craig Morgan has been a country hit maker for over a quarter century and during his award-winning career has had seventeen charting country hits including the number ones “That’s What I Love About Sunday” and “Redneck Yacht Club”. Morgan is known for his high energy performances and is also a huge supporter of the military and veterans causes. He currently serves in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Opening for Morgan is the super-hot Nashville group “Chapel Hart” who were finalists on the hit television show “America’s Got Talent” a few years ago and then emerged again on the show’s special “Fantasy League” series which aired just a few weeks ago.
Millions have seen them on TV, they are selling out venues nationwide performing their number one hit “You Can Have him, Jolene” and many others.
Preceding “Chapel Hart” will be regional favorites “Johnny Earthquake and the Moondogs” who have been hailed as “Louisiana’s top show band” and are the only band to have appeared in all twenty-six previous festivals. They are making this a stop on their 30th anniversary “Over the Moon Tour” and promise some “special surprises” during their performance. The Moondogs performance is scheduled for 5:20 p.m. As always, they’ll deliver a high quality and high energy mix of rock and roll and R&B horn-driven favorites.
For more information and to purchase tickets, go to http://www.natchjazzfest.com.
There will be 20 bands in all performing on three stages, which will feature a wide variety of music, including country, rock ‘n’ roll, funk, soul, Gospel, Latin, Celtic, and yes, plenty of jazz and R&B. This is a family event, and as always, there will be plenty of great food and fun activities for the kids.
By JIM BUTLER
Whatever the circumstances, those involved weren’t planning an egg hunt.
Jessie Tatum III, 49, was shot, and subsequently died, in a 3 a.m. Easter dispute on Pisciotta Street in Alexandria.
One of his alleged killers, Shaheem White, was apprehended Friday in North Carolina, according to Alexandria police.
Still at-large Monday was the other suspect, Jarvis Dontay White, 29.
Both brothers are accused of 2nd-degree murder, possession of a firearm by convicted felon, and illegal use of weapons.
Each has been previously accused of attempted murder since relocating here from Gastonia, N.C. during the pandemic’s height.
Last Spring, Shaheem was booked on charges of illegally handling a machine gun, aggravated resisting with force or violence and firearm possession by a convicted felon. He was released in September.
Back in October 2020 he was accused of armed robbery and attempted 1st-degree murder. He was in custody until April 2022.
The older suspect was charged in a different incident with attempted 2nd-degree murder in July 2020.
He allegedly violated probation in November 2021, committed felony battery in January 2022 and was booked on seven counts of possession with intent to distribute and resisting in September that year.
His most recent arrest was February 23 this year, accused of assault, criminal damage and resisting.
By JIM BUTLER
Mayor Jacques Roy has returned a City Council-approved supplemental reapportionment ordinance to the legislative body without comment.
Once proper legal time lapses it becomes city law and Districts 2, 3 and 4 boundaries change.
However, a proposed resolution on today’s council meeting agenda seeks to request an attorney general’s opinion on whether the re-reapportionment was proper.
Opponents claim lines drawn two years ago should stand. The re-do moves Council member Lizzie Felter’s side of Polk Street back into her district as well as streamlining other inner city district boundaries.
She said during pre-passage discussion her intentions were for the good of the districts. The line changes were made a couple of months before her election. Opponents scoffed.
The council voted 4-3 two weeks ago for moving the lines. The three voting with Felter had nothing to say at council sessions regarding the change, other than yes at roll call.
Fairly or not, the issue has been touted as a racial one. The 4 are white, the 3 Black.
The posted agenda does not indicate who added the AG item to the agenda.
Also on the agenda is public hearing and consideration of the budget for the fiscal year that begins May 1.
The General Fund revenue/spending forecast is $73.5 million and projects maintaining a substantial fund balance. There is also a substantial Capital Outlay budget.
The administration proposes a 4.25 percent pay boost for all classified employees, excluding fire and police, who have separate pay plans.
Four non-Civil Service employees would be included under agreement between the administration and the council. They are administrative employees authorized by the home rule charter but outside Civil Service.
Salaries total $31.6 million and fringe benefits $17 million, with public safety taking the largest bite.
“O gather me the rose, the rose,
While yet in flower we find it,
For summer smiles, but summer goes,
And winter waits behind it.”
–William Ernest Henley
I can’t top Mister Henley in writing about roses, but they spoke eloquently on their own to me this past weekend.
Suddenly, it seemed, on a gorgeous day they were in full bloom in our back yard. Beautiful blood-red roses. They were showing off their splendor on a bush in our back yard, planted from a cutting of a bush from the back yard of my mother-in-law, who planted it there many years ago.
On the night Myrt died, the priest who prayed at her bedside had some of her daughters go cut some flowers from the rose bush outside and bring them into her room. Then he put them on her chest.
Memories of her roses and, more poignantly, memories of her massaged my heart. Moments before she died, while several of us surrounded her bed, someone said, “Look at her.” Many of us lifted our bowed heads to see her face glowing as if lit by an interior lantern. It was enough to catch your breath. It was like that for a few precious moments before fading out.
“Gentle woman, quiet light,” are some lyrics to a Catholic song about Our Blessed Mother Mary. This song sung at Myrt Vanhoof’s funeral Mass was about her, too. Those words, at the end of her long life, could’ve been engraved on her tombstone.
Then there was an announcement at our Sunday morning service that the Mass intention was for, among others, Maria Tompkins. She was the first name mentioned, and even though I had known it was coming, it briefly took my breath away. Nine years ago yesterday, April 15, she died in a NICU unit, only two days old. A kidney disease that started in the womb ultimately resulted in her premature death.
And on a rose-colored weekend, I recalled the “Maria Garden” my son and daughter-in-law, Matt and Elizabeth, nurture in their front yard in Maria’s honor with orange roses. Although it pierces my heart every time I think about Maria’s death, somehow I am comforted by the interior Whisper that reassures: “Be not sad; she is with Me.”
We don’t know when the final horn will sound for our lives, but we know we all will suffer, in some form or another. We all will laugh and we all will cry. We all will mourn and we all will rejoice. There will be storms and there will be sunshine, even as we experienced in a short span of time last week.
And, yes, there will be thorns, but there will be beauty. The rose exemplifies this. The rose bush in our yard comes from good stock and somehow has thrived, no matter what adversity it faces. The bigger the adversity, the more determined it seems to be to give its best.
Maybe there’s a metaphor there upon which we can meditate and then give our best.