Incumbent Chief of Police Jared McIver has been given another four-year term by Minden voters, claiming a majority in Tuesday’s primary against three challengers.
McIver avoided a runoff with 62 percent of the votes (2,328) to runner-up Ryan Barnett’s 1,021 (27 percent). Other challengers were Tim Morris, who received 243 votes (6 percent) and Darrell Morris with 181 votes (5 percent).
McIver said he did not know if the race would be close, but he was confident that he had done his best to bring his message to voters.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m humbled to know the people respected us enough to give us the win over three other candidates,” McIver said Tuesday evening. “I’m thankful folks thought enough of us to get out and vote and give us this kind of percentage.”
McIver said he appreciated all the hard work of the many people who put their faith in him. He said a key component to his win was keeping a positive approach during his campaign.
“We did not run a negative campaign, not on social media or in the forums,” he said. “We stayed on point, stayed positive and I’m thankful folks believe in us enough to give us another four years.”
McIver’s 62 percent matched what he had received during the early voting period. Early voters had given him a 62-27 percent lead and the numbers didn’t change.
Two of three contested seats on Minden City Council are headed for runoffs December 12.
Not in a runoff is District D incumbent Michael Roy, who sails back into office with 63 percent, or 482 of 760 votes over challenger Braley Raborn who had 37 percent or 278.
District B seat, held by Lavon “Charlie” Thomas for the past four years, will see a runoff between Anthony “A.D. Douglas” with 41 percent of the votes (240 of 583) and Terika “Reek” Walker who had 31 percent, or 183 votes. Walker held the seat for four years prior to Thomas, when she ran for Minden mayor. She was defeated by current Mayor Nick Cox. Thomas declined to run for a second term.
District C incumbent Latasha Anderson Mitchell, with 26 percent of the vote (176 of 677), will be in a runoff with Janice “Louise” Keener, who had 40 percent or 269 votes.
Springhill
City of Springhill has a new mayor. Councilman Derek Melancon took 51 percent of the vote, which was 703 of 1,368, while Councilman Adam Harris had 49 percent or 665.
Will Lynd remains police chief of Springhill with 54 percent or 749 of 1,395 votes, while his challenger Ronnie Coleman had 46 percent or 646.
District 2 alderman for City of Springhill is Dennis Smith with 66 percent or 116 of 177 votes, while his opponent Reva Rice received 34 percent or 61 votes.
Springhill’s new City Marshal is Lance Stockman with 1,708 votes or 50 percent of the 3,407 votes cast. The other 50 percent was split between Heath Stephens with 43 percent and Charles Edgell with 7 percent.
South Webster
Fire District 3 in Doyline will be able to continue functioning with an overwhelming thumbs up from local voters. Their millage continuation for the next decade passed with 73 percent of the vote.
Multi-Parish
In multi-parish races, U.S. Representative for the 4th Congressional District Mike Johnson will not have to worry about a December runoff, as he aced his race with 59 percent of the vote (111,025 or 188, 994.
Julia Letlow is the U.S. State Senator with 55 percent of the vote.
John Atkins is the new Public Service Commissioner representing the area with 64 percent of the vote over James Green.
Amendments
Ten Constitutional Amendments graced the ballots in Tuesday’s polls.
Runoffs will be held for three Webster Parish School Board seats after voters went to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots in eight district races, including five where incumbents fell victim to term limits.
In Dist. 5, Yolanda Shaw Palmer will face “Mike” Wilkes in December. Palmer received 393 votes (43 percent) and Wilkes pulled in 263 votes (29 percent). Ricky Thomas ran third with 249 votes. Ronald Rhymes was term limited in this district.
Incumbent Glenda Sherill Broughton was forced into a runoff by “Miss Chris” Broussard in Dist. 8. Broughton picked up 355 votes (36 percent) to Broussard’s 339 (34 percent). Heather Feeback placed third with 295 votes.
And in Dist. 9, Lloyd Davis, Jr. will meet Belinda Neloms Evans in the runoff. Davis led with 350 votes (44 percent) and Evans followed with 238 (30 percent). Coming in third was Patricia Williams with 215. Incumbent Jerri Lee did not seek reelection.
District 3 will be represented by Elizabeth Simmons who easily defeated Patricia McMurray by a 799 to 181 vote margin. Charles Strong was term limited in the district.
In the closest race of the evening, Terry Combs slipped past Tina Douglas in Dist. 7 by a margin of 450 votes to 429. Combs will replace the term-limited Linda Kinsey.
Danielle Phenix swept into the Dist. 10 seat past two challengers, gaining 365 votes (68 percent) to avoid a runoff. Jeanine Major Franklin had 319 votes and Robert Louis Stewart, Jr. collected 113. School Board President Johnnye Kennon was term limited.
Gary Cooper will take over the Dist. 11 seat held by former Superintendent of Schools Jerry Lott who was term limited. Cooper swept past Tamara Tanner by a margin of 687 votes to 256 to take the win.
Incumbent Susan Addington easily dispatched challenger “Jackie” Lockett to hold onto her Dist. 12 spot. Addington had 751 votes (81 percent) to Lockett’s 173 (19 percent).
A dispute between neighbors escalated into an incident involving a weapon and a 29-year-old Minden man is in the parish prison as a result.
Chief of Police Jared McIver said Jarvis Robinson, a resident of the 500 block of Richardson St., is charged with aggravated assault with a firearm after his arrest around 8:40 a.m. Tuesday.
Robinson was booked into Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center. Bond has not been set.
McIver said officers were dispatched to the Richardson St. residence where they learned Robinson and his neighbor had become involved in a heated verbal altercation. Further questioning reportedly revealed several past confrontations between Robinson and his neighbor where threats allegedly had been made by both.
Officers learned that during the argument, Robinson had gone inside his residence and retrieved a handgun. Surveillance video reportedly showed Robinson pointing a black firearm at the neighbor.
A 9MM handgun reportedly was confiscated.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Superintendent Johnny Rowland addresses the board during his monthly report.
By Pat Culverhouse |
Interviews for the next Superintendent of Webster Parish Schools are scheduled for Monday, Nov. 16 and the public will be welcome.
School Board President Johnnye Kennon ended Monday’s shortened school board meeting with the announcement that the two candidates for the position will be interviewed by the current board beginning at 4 p.m.
“We invite the public to attend the interviews, but they will not be allowed to ask questions,” Kennon said. “They will be able to hear the answers to questions we will pose.”
Candidates for the position are Dr. Rebecca Wilson, the current school board Personnel Director, and Bewanchi Sheppard, current Federal Programs and Technology Supervisor in the Claiborne Parish school system.
Current Superintendent Johnny Rowland is retiring effective Dec. 20.
Also during Monday’s meeting, members approved, in globo, $294,204.88 in payment s from the various maintenance and tax funds. Those included:
Consolidated Dist. 3 Maintenance Fund: $4,346.90. Payments were $4,200 to install breakers and run wire for heaters for the car line; $146.90 to repair phones at Lakeside Jr/Sr High.
Cotton Valley Maintenance Fund: $105,000 for demolition of the football stadium at North Webster Upper Elementary.
Dist. 6 One-half cent Sales Tax Fund: $39,068.24. Major expenditures were $23,030 to install countertops in 18 rooms, 22 vanities and other items at Jones Elementary; $4,792 to install gates and repair fencing at Phillips Elementary; $3,400 to replace touch screen on chiller at Webster Jr. High; $3,300 to change mini-split in office at Webster Jr. High.
Doyline Maintenance Fund: $52,790. Payments include $48,000 to support new HVAC system at Doyline High; $2,535 to replace condenser coil on AC unit in locker room at Doyline High; $1,555 to replace motor for AC unit in gymnasium at Doyline High.
Sarepta Maintenance Fund: $2,100 to replace board, two capacitors and refrigerant at North Webster Jr. High.
Springhill Maintenance Fund: $90,899.74. Invoice payments include $41,057.54 to install access controls including card readers on outside entry doors and copier room doors at Browning Elementary; $16,776.20 to purchase new chairs for office, entryway, auditorium and parent center at Browning Elementary; $15,600 to clean fence rows and haul debris at Browning Elementary; $11,446 to install graphics to interior doors at Brown Upper Elementary.
What began as an attempt to serve a felony arrest warrant Monday became a hunt for narcotics at a local apartment and a 28-year-old man is now facing a number of drug charges.
Chief of Police Jared McIver said Kentravian Venquariae Washington, a resident of the 900 block of Carolina St., was arrested after a large quantity of drugs and cash were discovered in his residence.
McIver said officers went to Washington’s apartment to serve a warrant for aggravated flight from officers. Washington was confronted outside his apartment, detained and searched. Officers reportedly found just over $4,000 in his front left pocket.
Officers reportedly noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the apartment and obtained a search warrant. Officer Kendale Booker and K9 Reef were dispatched for a search, and the K9 reportedly gave a positive response at two locations.
A subsequent search by officers reportedly revealed roughly 437 grams of natural marijuana, two marijuana cigarillos, and clear bags containing Ecstasy, hydrocodone and crack cocaine.
Officers also found digital scales, a spoon with crack cocaine residue, a dollar bill with crack cocaine residue, a milk jug containing just over $200 in cash, a safe and numerous clear zip bags, some with assorted labels of flavored cannabis depicted.
Washington reportedly is charged with possession of CDS Sch. I (marijuana) with intent to distribute, possession of CDS Sch. II (Ecstasy), possession of CDS Sch. II (Hydrocodone), possession of CDS Sch. II (crack cocaine), possession of drug paraphernalia and on warrant for aggravated flight from an officer.
He is being held at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center under a $45,001 bond.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
As the sun slithered through the dipping western clouds, goblins in all sizes converged on the Minden Recreation Center (the Rec) on Saturday, Oct. 31 to celebrate Halloween with candy, hot dogs, and other treats and games.
There was something for everyone, from scoping out the huge firetruck to bouncing and sliding from the colorful bouncy houses. A large crowd started trickling in before opening time, rushing folks who had their trunks still full. But everything came together as the skies darkened to night, the rain having cleared out earlier.
Kids, parents, and teenagers of all ages had something to do, including a tour of the Haunted House inside the Rec. The fees for visiting the Haunted House are used to supplement next year’s festival.
The annual event is sponsored by The Rec, the City of Minden, area law enforcement agencies and emergency services’ first responders, the Order of Eastern Star Chapter 173, and this year attracted a few politicians. (Photos by Marilyn Miller)
Congratulations Murray Sparks of Minden, our Week 9 winner of WPJ’s Pick’em contest. Sparks got 10 for 10 and didn’t need the tie breaker. He is shown above, receiving his $100 prize from Title Sponsor Under Dawgs Manager Emily Bobinger.
Pick’em players: Week 10 of Webster Parish Journal’s Pick’em Contest has begun.
You can click below for this week’s games, pick the winning teams and get in the running to win $100. The game closes out at 6 p.m. Friday, and a new game starts Monday.
Our four parish high school teams will be featured in the contest (unless there is a bye), as well as some college and pro teams and two tie breakers.
Each week, the contest closes at 6 p.m. before Friday’s high school games, unless there is a Thursday game, then it closes at 6 p.m. that day.
Weekly winners will be notified and announced in the Journal. If you win, your photo will be taken with the owner of our Title Sponsor Under Dawgs. Remember, you must 18 or older to play.
Thank you to all our sponsors this year. In addition to Title Sponsor Under Dawgs, Broken Bean will be our anchor sponsor. Others include Holcomb’s Body Shop, A.J. Price Tire, Brown Chrysler, Shelter Insurance, KASO/KBEF, Express Tax and Title and Mike’s Hometown Spirits with Hugh Woods Specialty Meats and Catering. Please patronize these local businesses.
So, fire up your phones, tablets or computers to pick ‘em, click the button below and get started.
Riding in a vehicle with defective equipment has cost a local woman a trip to the parish jail after drugs were found in her possession during a traffic stop.
Chief of Police Jared McIver said Annie H. King, a 40-year-old resident of the 1200 block of Shreveport Rd., was booked for
possession of CDS Sch. II (methamphetamines), possession of CDS Sch. I (synthetic marijuana) and possession of drug paraphernalia.
She reportedly was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by police just after 11:30 p.m. Monday for defective taillights and a modified exhaust.
Officers became suspicious while questioning the driver and passenger and received permission to search both the vehicle and a purse reportedly belonging to King.
Inside King’s purse and makeup bag the officers reportedly found a glass pipe and blue straws containing residue consistent with methamphetamines, a plastic bag containing a substance consistent with synthetic marijuana and another bag containing a substance consistent with methamphetamines.
Two syringes, one of which reportedly was loaded with a clear liquid, were also found. King reportedly admitted all items belonged to her and that the glass pipe was loaded with methamphetamine.
She reportedly was booked into the parish jail. Bond has not been set.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” — Henry David Thoreau, Walden
BARBARINO-TAVARNELLE, TUSCANY—For 25 years I have owned a company named after that line, and until this week I would have bet good money that Robert Frost wrote it. Maybe Walt Whitman. It turns out it was Thoreau, a man better known for living in a cabin by a pond than for writing poetry.
I have published a shelf full of books under that name and never once looked it up. That’s the literary equivalent of naming your restaurant after a dish you’ve never tasted.
The company is Different Drummer Publishing. I started it when I decided to publish my own books, which was something people just didn’t do back then. Bookstores call it a vanity press.
Granted, there was probably some vanity involved (I have enough ego to go around, and the people who work with me would be happy to provide sworn affidavits). But it gave me 100% creative control.
I’m writing this from Tuscany, where I am hosting a group of travelers, and something happened over here last week that got me thinking about that quote, and that company, and 65 years of bucking what folks expected of me.
I grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and I loved it. Still do. My childhood was a good one, and so were the people in it. Nothing I’m about to write should be read as a 65-year-old man nursing a grudge against his hometown or his upbringing. Whatever bucking went on, it went on inside my own head.
My mother was big on manners. My brother and I were corrected constantly— grammar, table manners, pulling out chairs, and how to conduct ourselves at every social function in town. I heard “It’s ‘may I,’ Robert, not ‘can I'” so many times I assumed it was my middle name.
By the time I was 10, I could pull out a chair for a lady faster than most maître d’s in New Orleans, and with a lot less attitude. My mother was right about all of it.
Though manners and expectations are two different animals. In Hattiesburg, like a lot of small Southern towns, there was some groupthink, an unspoken agreement about how everybody should dress, act, work, and live. If you didn’t know the rules, somebody’s aunt would be happy to explain them to you in the fellowship hall after church.
I have always felt a pull against that. It wasn’t about bucking authority, though there was a stretch in my late teens when I bucked plenty of it (my mother could have provided that sworn affidavit). It was more of a need to be my own person, and I have had it as long as I can remember.
I fell in love with the restaurant business early. By 19 I was managing a deli during the day and waiting tables at night, and I ended up waiting tables for close to seven years.
Some of my friends thought that kind of work was beneath them, and they would have felt lesser than if they ever had to stand at a stranger’s table and ask whether he’d saved room for dessert, but it never bothered me one bit, because I wanted to be around restaurants and in restaurants, and carrying plates was the only door I could find that was unlocked.
Granted, in the early 1980s, a lot of people in the restaurant business were doing a lot of drugs. That wasn’t a great environment for someone with my personality, and it’s a big part of the reason I was in rehab at 21. I’ve been sober for 43 years now, one day at a time.
So there was a tug-of-war going on inside me for a lot of years, with part of me pulling toward the person I really was and the rest of me getting yanked back toward the comfortable, accepted way of doing things, where you’re a restaurateur, you stay in your lane, and that is the way it’s supposed to be.
I have never liked “that is the way it’s supposed to be.”
If this column is starting to sound like a man staring at his own navel, I understand. At 65, there’s a lot more navel to stare at than there used to be.
The reason it’s on my mind is the business I’m working in over here. Ten years ago, some people asked if I would take them to Tuscany. The place had gotten to me, and apparently other people wanted to see it, too. One trip led to another, and Yonderlust Travel has now hosted more than 80 of them, which is a lot of trips for a guy who never sat down and decided to start a travel company.
Every so often that old voice still shows up and asks the same question. You’re a restaurant guy, so what are you doing leading 25 people through the Italian countryside? It usually shows up at dinner, over a Florentine steak as big as your face, and I just tell it to pass the bread.
Last week I had a guest in my group whom I have known since the day she was born. Her brother and I were in kindergarten together. Our families were friends, we all went to Main Street Methodist, and our mothers were in the same Sunday school class.
Because she was younger, I mostly knew her from a distance, but I always admired her. She marched to the beat of her own drummer, and she never seemed to break a sweat doing it.
One afternoon I pulled her aside and told her so. I told her how hard that is to do in a small Southern town, and that watching her do it over the years probably helped me break loose, too.
“I’m not sure you ever knew it,” I said, “but you made it a lot easier for me to be ‘different.’”
The times I spent trying to fit somebody else’s idea of who I should be, wearing what I was supposed to wear and saying what I was supposed to say, were restless times, and I wasn’t much fun to be around, but the times I’ve just been myself have been the happiest years of my life, and those are the years that I was also the most productive, I started businesses, wrote books, founded Extra Table, and did the most good for other people.
The best example was my paternal grandmother, Eunice Holleman St. John. She was the picture of a Southern lady, and decorum and manners mattered to her as much as anything. But she was also real. She was genuine and sincere, and she was the same person at Sunday lunch, carving a leg of lamb for a table full of family, as she was anywhere else.
She never marched to a different drummer in her life (I’m not sure she would have approved of drums at all). But she never pretended to be somebody she wasn’t, either, and of all the examples I’ve borrowed over the years, hers is the one I’ve leaned on most.
Take this for what it’s worth. I’m 65, I’m sitting in a little bakery in Tuscany, the same one I walk to every morning over here, with a hot tea and a pastry I have no business eating, and I’m doing something nobody would have predicted for a restaurant guy from Hattiesburg.
Thoreau said to step to the music you hear, however measured or far away. Mine turned out to be more than 5,000 miles away. Better late than never, I finally know who wrote the song.
Onward.
Sweet Potatoes and Not a Marshmallow in sight
4 cups Sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled and mashed 1 cup Sugar 1/2 cup Honey 2 cup Brown Sugar, divided 4 Eggs, beaten 1 cup Heavy cream 3 sticks Butter, divided 1 tsp Cinnamon 1 tsp Nutmeg 1 cup Corn Flakes 1 cup Pecans, chopped 1 cup Slivered Almonds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly butter a 13 x 9 casserole dish. Combine prepared sweet potatoes, sugar, honey, one cup of the brown sugar, eggs, cream, half of the butter, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl; mix thoroughly. Place sweet potato mixture to lightly buttered casserole dish.
Combine Corn Flakes, pecans, almonds and remaining butter and brown sugar into a bowl. Mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over sweet potato mixture.
Bake 40-45 minutes or until center is hot.
Yield:10-12 servings
(Robert St. John is a chef, restauranteur and published cookbook author who lives in Hattiesburg, Miss.)
George Baldwin Selden was a brilliant New York patent attorney, but his passion was inventing. George only became an attorney at the insistence of his father, Henry Selden, a prominent attorney who defended Susan B. Anthony in her 1873 trial for voting as a woman. It was around that time that inventors began looking for a way to replace horses as transportation. Horses required constant care and horse manure was a constant sanitation problem. George designed a “gasoline and oil type” automobile and submitted his patent request on May 8, 1879. For George, a patent attorney, the process to attain a patent was almost second nature, but George intentionally delayed the finalizing of his patent. George’s strategy was to stall the patent process until interest in automobiles was peaking. After 16 years of intentional delays, on November 5, 1895, George was granted patent No. 549,160 for “a road vehicle, the motor being a liquid hydrocarbon gas engine of the compression type.”
George’s plan worked well. His patent granted him the exclusive right to manufacture, sell, and use gasoline powered automobiles for 17 years. It was considered “the pioneer invention” in the automobile industry. In 1899, George transferred rights to his patent to the Electric Vehicle Company in exchange for compensation which included future royalties. In another clever move, George made a huge profit and would continue earning royalties while the task of collecting royalties was done by the Electric Vehicle Company. In 1903, thirty-two members of the Manufacturer’s Mutual Association formed the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM) and leased the right to manufacture and sell gasoline powered automobiles. Lessees eventually included manufacturers such as Buick, Cadillac, Hudson, Packard, Pierce Arrow, and Studebaker. Notice that Ford was not included in the list. Henry Ford had applied for a license through the ALAM, but his application was rejected. A large group of independent manufacturers refused to pay royalties on the Selden patent and Henry Ford joined them. At one point, Henry tried to lure the ALAM into court to have the patent thrown out because of its “monopolistic control and exploitation by the automobile trust.” In a bold move, Henry Ford offered the ALAM $1,000 if they would file suit against him. He got his wish in October 1903 when the ALAM filed suit against the Ford Motor Co. and C.A. Durer & Company for manufacturing automobiles, the O.J. Gude Company for advertising their cars, and John Wanamaker, an owner of a Ford car. The court case dragged on for years and the Selden patent was upheld until January 9, 1911, when the United States Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the lower court and concluded that Selden’s patent was limited to a particular type of engine, which Ford’s automobiles did not use. George and the ALAM said they would take the case all the way to the United States Supreme Court if they had to but ultimately decided against it because the exclusive rights provided by the patent were set to expire in September of the same year. George B. Selden’s plan was brilliant. His plan is even more impressive when you learn that at the time he received the patent which granted him control over the automobile industry, he had never built a single car.
Sources:
1. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, November 12, 1900, p.12.
2. The Flint Journal, October 24, 1903, p.1.
3. The Union and Advertiser (Rochester, New York), September 16, 1909, p.9.
Ladies, here’s some information that probably won’t shock you. Most men don’t look at how much something costs if it’s something they really want. THEY BUY IT NO MATTER WHAT!
A few men might know the actual price, but it doesn’t factor into the equation or their decision as to whether they buy it or not. It’s a bottom line question — how bad do they want it?
Men are simple and selfish creatures and will not allow the price of something to decide if they purchase it. They will buy it, then ask for forgiveness later if their significant other handles the finances.
We, as men, do have a few considerations that might affect our decision. Will I be the only one of my friends that has one of these? Is this a product that will help me put more fish in the boat or more meat on the table to feed my family? Will this product help me win a bass tournament?
This also applies to men who grocery shop. While the rest of the nation is complaining about the high price of eggs and beef products, men are more concerned about making sure they get enough to feed everyone. If we’re having a hamburger cookout, we don’t look at how much ground beef is per pound. WE JUST BUY IT!
Even at the check-out counter, especially self-check-out, men don’t always pay attention to how much a product costs that we just scanned. We scan it, bag it and move on immediately. Whatever price is on the screen, that’s what we’ll pay. Very seldom do we stop and consider if that’s the right price or not.
I’m not saying we don’t care, because that’s not true. But we’re just not as conscious as we should be.
My wife brought this to my attention recently when she was checking out and had an issue with a tomato she was buying at the local grocery store. As she weighed it, the price came up way more than the tomato was supposed to be.
She contacted the clerk overseeing the self-check-out area and they made sure the right price was charged. But had that been me, I would have never looked at the price and would have walked out as if nothing was wrong … until my wife checked the receipt.
After watching several TV reports lately about how people are being overcharged at supermarkets and discount stores, there’s no telling how many times I have walked out of a store overcharged for whatever was in my buggy.
But with the economy still in distress and grocery prices unstable, the time has come to pay attention to what we are being charged. Some stores are in survival mode and are trying to stay in business.
While I don’t think a lot of this is intentional, it’s up to all of us to make sure we are not being taken advantage of as consumers and pay closer attention to what the register is showing.
So ladies, if you want to make sure your household budget stays intact, don’t ask your man to go shopping.
‘Til next time, to all the men out there, be aware of what you’re paying at the cash register and be more conscious of what things cost; our reputation is at stake.
State Fire Marshal investigators work multiple fatal fires
BATON ROUGE, LA (November 2, 2026) – The Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal (SFM) is investigating two separate deadly fires that occurred across the state over a ten-hour period, from October 30-31, 2026. Tragically, each fire resulted in a fatality. Incident Summaries: JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISH – On Friday, October 30, 2026, around 6 p.m., Jeff Davis Fire District 3 responded to a camper fire in the 19000 block of Highway 90 E in Iowa. A 56-year-old woman lost her life in the blaze. Investigators continue to work to determine the cause of the fire. ST. MARY PARISH – Around 4 a.m. on Saturday, October 31, 2026, the Morgan City Fire Department dispatched to a fire in the 1000 block of 6th Street in Morgan City. Paramedics transported a 35-year-old man to the hospital where he died. The origin and cause remain under investigation. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families, friends and loved ones affected by the heartbreaking fire incidents over the weekend,” said Chief Chad P. Sonnier, Louisiana State Fire Marshal. “Every life lost to fire is a profound tragedy and a sobering reminder of how quickly lives can change.” These fires remain under investigation. No further details are available at this time.
Two arrested following police response to Youree Drive bar
Shreveport police arrested two individuals following an Oct. 25 disturbance at Round Bar, 3044 Youree Drive. Officers responded around 2:30 a.m. and encountered 20-year-old Blain Nielson, who was reportedly drinking beer inside the establishment, which restricts entry to customers 21 and older. Nielson was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace by intoxication and underage possession of alcohol and tobacco. A second individual, Bryant Brown, was arrested on charges including public intimidation and retaliation, negligent carrying of a firearm, resisting an officer, public intoxication and possessing a firearm on premises where alcoholic beverages are sold. Police announced the arrests Monday, Nov. 2.
Downtown road closures announced for CASA Superhero Run Saturday in Natchitoches
The City of Natchitoches has announced downtown road closures Saturday, Nov. 7, for the CASA Superhero 5K/Fun Run. The riverbank will close to vehicular traffic from 6 a.m. to noon. Beginning at 8 a.m., police will provide rolling barricades along the race route, including portions of Touline, Fourth, Church, Second and Williams streets, along with the Church Street Bridge and several nearby roads. Motorists are encouraged to plan alternate routes and use caution while traveling downtown during the event.
10 a.m. until 1 p.m., Mission Adoption Bazaar, Craft, Makers Fair, Bake and Casserole Sale, Silent Auction and Lunch
First Baptist Church, Family and Community Life Center, Minden.
All proceeds go to participating families adopting and/or fostering.
4 until 6 p.m., Fall Festival, 814 Constable St. (back parking lot), hosted by The Christian Church at Minden and Joe LeBlanc Food Pantry. Outdoor movie playing immediately afterward.
7 p.m. Movie Night, sponsored by Men and Women of Courage, 314 Dixie Street (behind Seafood Empire), Minden.
November 10
8:15 a.m. Breakfast with the Experts: The Power of Business Storytelling, Greater Minden Chamber Office.
November 11
9 a.m. Doyline High School’s Veterans Day Program. Veterans are asked to arrive between 8:20 and 8:50 a.m., https://forms.gle/4dcPrMHnQnFrQGr18 .
6 p.m. Honoring Our Heroes: 7th Annual Parish-Wide Veterans Day Gumbo. Citizens About Progress (CAP) is proud to honor the life, service, and legacy of Adrian L. Mendenhall, United States Army Veteran. Jacob Hall, Fellowship Hall-SUPC, 1211 3rd St. SE, Springhill, LA 71075. For more information, contact: (318) 639-7008
November 14
8 until 10 a.m., American Legion Hall in Minden, Veterans Day Pancake Breakfast, hosted by Minden Evening Lions Club, with support from Webster Parish Veterans Safety Net and American Legion. Veterans and their families are invited to come out, share a meal, and spend the morning together.
3:30 until 5:30 p.m., Girl Scout Hut, Victory Park, Girl Scout Troop 203 is serving those who served by collecting donations for Woody’s Home for Veterans! Help us give back to those who sacrificed so much for our freedom. Or Donation Box: Minden Blend, 725 Main Street, Minden, LA 71055. We’re accepting snacks, men’s clothing, house shoes, and hygiene items. Every donation counts! Questions or drop-offs? Contact gstroop203.lati@gmail.com.
November 16-28
Community voting for Joe LeBlanc Food Pantry’s “We CAN make a difference: canned food competition. Vote on the organization’s Facebook page. Each vote is $1. The participants that are open to the public will also have in person ballot boxes. There will also be a passport for voters to get stamped at each location. Voters can turn their completed passports in to be entered into a drawing for a prize. Winners announced Nov. 30.
November 17
9:30 a.m. Veterans coffee, Webster Parish Council on Aging, 1482 Sheppard St., Minden.
November 21
3:30 p.m., doors open for LaMa Animal Rescue Game Night, with games beginning at 4:30 p.m. Bingo, Raffles, door prizes, gameshow games like Let’s Make a Deal. CAC building, 303 W. Church St., Springhill.
Courtney Lee Brooks, 39, 200 block Roosevelt, Minden: arrested Oct. 31 by Minden PD on bench warrant. Bond set $20,000 surety or $800 cash.
Jeremy Smith, 37, 400 block Hwy. 797, Simsboro: arrested Oct. 29 by Minden PD for theft, obstruction of justice, possession of CDS Sch. I (synthetic marijuana), possession of drug paraphernalia. Bond set $3,750.
Jerrica D. Phillips, 34, 2800 block Charles Pathe Dr., Ryskin, Florida: arrested Oct. 30 by WPSO for no brake lights, possession of CDS Sch. II (Ecstasy). Bond set $5,001.
Jimmy Fisher, 39, 100 block Robertson, Minden: arrested Oct. 30 by Minden PD for domestic abuse battery, bench warrant. Bond set $6,200 cash or $20,750 surety.
Ronald Eugene Garner, 54, 500 block Wilkinson St., Shreveport: arrested Oct. 31 by Minden PD for hit and run driving, driving while impaired. Bond set $2,000.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Davis Harold Wiggins November 23, 1938 — October 23, 2026 Minden Visitation: 9 a.m. Thursday, November 5, 2026, City On A Hill, Minden. Funeral service: 10 a.m., immediately following visitation. Burial: Gill Cemetery, Old Arcadia Rd., Minden.
William B. (Bill) Stocking March 11, 1937 – October 18, 2026 Memorial service: 11 a.m., Saturday, November 14, 2026, Heflin Methodist Church.
Billy Carrol Morgan August 23, 1936 — November 2, 2026 Shongaloo/Keithville Visitation: Noon until 1 p.m. Thursday, November 5, 2026, Rose-Neath Funeral Home, Shreveport Southside. Funeral service: 1 p.m., immediately following visitation. Burial: Keithville Cemetery.
Joyce Carpenter LeBaron November 19, 1945 – November 2, 2026 Springhill Visitation: 1 p.m. Thursday, November 5, 2026, Bailey Funeral Home, Springhill. Memorial service: 2 p.m., immediately following visitation.
Thomas Wayne “Tommy” Spillers, Sr. February 10, 1975 — October 29, 2026 Minden Visitation: 5 until 7 p.m. Wednesday, November 4, 2026, Rose-Neath Funeral Home, Minden. Funeral service: 10 a.m. Thursday, November 5, 2026, Rose-Neath Funeral Home. Burial: Gardens of Memory Cemetery, Minden.
Judy Jeraline Willis June 10, 1938 — October 9, 2026 Lisbon Graveside service: 11 a.m. Saturday, November 7, 2026, Lisbon United Methodist Church.
Webster Parish Journal publishes paid complete obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $80. Contact your funeral provider or wpjnewsla@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Above death notices are no charge.)
These siblings are from the same litter but do not require a joint adoption.
Velvet
MUST fill out application for adoption.
Intake # 26303 “Velvet” is an approximately 5-month-old female lab mix, 24 lbs. Velvet has been started on age appropriate vaccines, deworming, and flea, tick and heartworm prevention. She is very people friendly, a lot less timid than her litter mates. She’s good with other dogs. Likes cats. Velvet loves playing with toys and does “zoomies.” She loves playing with the shelter kitty.
Adoption fee– $75 (covers spay, age appropriate vaccines, deworming, flea prevention and heartworm prevention)
All available animals are always available to 501c3 rescue
Raisin
MUST fill out application for adoption.
Intake # 26304 “Raisin” is approximately 5 months old, a female lab mix. 22 lbs. Raisin has been started on age appropriate vaccines, deworming, and flea, tick and heartworm prevention. She is very people friendly, but a little timid at first. She’s good with other dogs. Loves cats.
Adoption fee– $75 (covers spay, age appropriate vaccines, deworming, flea prevention and heartworm prevention)
Adoption application- forms.gle/TfS5pe939gbP4t2i6
If you would like to foster for a rescue to help save a pup–
All available animals at the shelter are always available to a 501c3 rescue.
To find a previously featured pet, simply go to the “Search” box at the top right corner of websterparishjournal.com, type in “Pet Project,” and click on “Search.”
