Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Many Mayor Ken Freeman has decided to postpone the “Together Apart” Many Christmas Parade set for Dec. 19.

“The Louisiana State Fire Marshal approved the Many Christmas Parade and fireworks display; however, due to the alarming increase of COVID-19 in Sabine Parish, I have decided to err on the side of caution by postponing this year’s parade until Easter, when we will celebrate Christ’s resurrection [instead of His birth],” Mayor Freeman announced.

The State Fire Marshal was in town Monday and approved the Town of Many holding both a parade downtown and a fireworks display at the fairgrounds. Earlier, Observations had heard talk of possibly cordoning off sidewalk parade access so only a certain number of persons would be allowed into a certain size area along the street. We had also heard the parade route might be changed to go down San Antonio Ave. and then back up Main St., to provide twice the viewing area than San Antonio alone. Looks like those potential plans are now a moot point.

Despite the postponement of the annual parade, folks can still safely enjoy some holiday cheer at the Fairgrounds with a fireworks show.

“Our fireworks display will continue as planned on [Saturday] Dec. 19, 2020 at the Sabine Parish Fairgrounds,” Mayor Freeman explained. “It’s going to be a spectacular fireworks display. We do ask you and your family to stay in your car or around your car and social distance.”

Town of Many staff is busy calling everyone who had planned to enter the parade and Fairgrounds vendors to inform them of the decision. The parade postponement and other adjustments have the full support of all who have been contacted.

“These are uncertain times and all of our decisions are made with your safety and well-being in mind. The City Council, City employees and I wish you a happy, healthy and safe Christmas,” Mayor Freeman concluded.

In recent days, three prominent Many citizens have passed, including two from COVID-19. It is with sadness we report this, and we offer our deepest sympathy to members of their families.

Roland Dees died Sunday, Nov. 29, after an extended fight with the coronavirus. Roland was very active in our community. He served as a Deacon at Alford Heights Baptist Church (which he loved), he was a Volunteer Fireman since early on and he retired from the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office as a jailer and Transportation Officer. He had a great love for his family, his many friends, his church and the Town of Many. In addition, Roland enjoyed watching his grandchildren play sports, he loved deer hunting, camping and fishing on Toledo Bend, and he loved to work.

Another deeply felt loss is the death of Dr. Willie Jack Corley Jr. who passed away on Saturday, Dec. 5. He was 71. Dr. Corley, always known as “Jack,” was family doctor to countless Many and Sabine area patients. There’s hardly a person in the parish who did not see Dr. Corley at some point or other during his years practicing medicine.

He was a talented musician, a free spirit and a man not afraid to take risks. Dr. Corley loved helping his patients, adored his grandchildren and had a deep compassion for all living beings. It was noted of Jack, “What a wonderful doctor, husband, parent, grandparent, brother and friend to all.”

When Observations was posted Tuesday evening, we erroneously reported that Dr. Corley had died from COVID-19. His sister, Gay Corley, said this is not the case, and posted the following:

“Jack, Dr. Corley (Willie Jackson Corley II), did NOT die from COVID. He tested negative before he was released from Byrd Hospital and kept testing afterwards, [and he received] three negative tests. He was wanting to regain his strength to get back to his patients and life. God took Jack, my brother, home by means of a heart attack. No suffering, instant. We all mourn our loss, but not as much as the family does. He was our rock.”

Many Chief of Police Roger Freeman died Monday, Dec. 7, after waging a remarkable fight against his health problems. Some weeks back he had foot surgery, but diabetes complicated his recovery. He then had bypass surgery to place stents in blood vessels in his leg to help his surgical wound heal. After that, he contracted COVID and he gave it his best shot. The healing that many prayed for came, but it was not an earthly, temporary healing.

Freeman had a long law enforcement career at the Many Police Department and as a Jailer and Patrol Deputy for the Sabine Sheriff’s Office. He was regarded as a “people person” and helped many people with their problems during his years of service. The Many Police Department posted on Facebook:  “It is with unfathomable sorrow we announce the passing of Chief Freeman. With broken hearts, we bid our friend goodbye and uplift his family in prayer. Life is hard and 2020 has not eased our suffering. So let us bind together, uplift the Freeman family, uplift one another and make it together.”

We extend our deepest sympathies to the Dees, Corley and Freeman families.

Sabine Parish is slated to get $474,734 in funding from the first installment in the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) for damages from Hurricane Laura. A total of $40 million is available for 21 parishes based on FEMA Individual Assistance Program data.

Additional funds will be announced in the near future for this and other parishes that are declared for FEMA Public Assistance.

Funds are to be used on projects that potentially save lives and reduce property damage. Your tax dollars at work.

Another Sabine teacher has been charged with indecent behavior with a juvenile. Sheriff Aaron Mitchell announced the arrest of John Anthony “Jay” Booker, 46. He was charged with indecent behavior with a juvenile during the time he was a teacher and coach at Many Junior High School. Last school year he was transferred from the Junior High as an instructor to the Sabine Career Academy (SPARK) in Many.

According to reports, a female juvenile student and her mother came forward and disclosed inappropriate behavior by Booker. Detectives conducted an investigation and discovered the alleged incidents occurred twice in September 2019 at Many Junior High.

Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Booker from Eleventh Judicial District Judge Stephen Beasley for two counts of Indecent Behavior with Juveniles. Judge Beasley set bond of $10,000 Friday afternoon and Booker was released.

Jay’s brother, Norman Booker III, principal at Many High School, was arrested in late October.

The Sabine Parish School Board placed Jay Booker on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of his trial. A news release from Supt. Sara P. Ebarb stated, “We have and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement officials. Since this situation involves both an employee and a student, confidentiality laws prohibit us from releasing any information at this time.”

When questioned by Observations about how long Booker’s paid leave would last, Supt. Ebarb commented, “For now his leave is paid.”

It should be pointed out that these two teachers were arrested after unsolicited persons reported alleged activities by them to the Sheriff’s Department. After that, Detectives investigated each case to see if there was enough evidence to justify an arrest.

It should be noted that since 2013, the Sheriff’s Department has made 85 arrests for Indecent Behavior with a Juvenile. When he was a Deputy, Sheriff Mitchell made 22 of those arrests.

Sheriff Mitchell, who took office the first of July, told Observations, “I want kids to be safe and feel safe at school. We will do everything we can to make it the safest place possible. The Sheriff’s Office is always open for any complaints or reports concerning safety at school.”

We get letters:  This one from Derek Campbell:  “They picked up Jay Booker today, fooling with under-aged girls. Just think, if he and his brother were stopped back in the 80’s how many girls would have been protected? It’s no secret what’s been going on, after all!”

Cherry Murray Williams of Many recently made her views known about Saturday’s election: “The State of Louisiana can waste more money. Someone please tell me why this one amendment could not have been on the November ballot or wait until the next election. How much was spent for this one day? People aren’t even going to vote.”

We agree.

In Sabine Parish, only one amendment was on the ballot. In some other parishes, there were also run-offs on the ballot from the Nov. 3 election. Sabine Parish has a total of 15,123 registered voters:  5,030 Democrats, 6,541 Republicans, and 3,552 others.

In Saturday’s voting, only 1,236 persons cast their votes in the parish’s 39 precincts. A total of 1,153 voted “No” on the amendment and 83 voted “Yes.”

I am proud to report that my youngest daughter, Verity Gentry, has been selected as a Top-Rated Criminal Defense Attorney and Rising Star by Super Lawyers.

The group selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process. To select honorees, peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team of Super Lawyers to receive the honor.

The selection process for the Rising Stars list is the same as the Super Lawyers process, with an exception. To be eligible for the designation of Rising Star, an attorney must be either 40 years of age or younger or in practice for 10 years or less. No more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are named Rising Stars.

Verity said she is thrilled to be recognized by Super Lawyers for work done by her on behalf of her clients. She said she is also very happy to bring her law practice to her hometown, Many, where she opened an office in the summer. Verity has been in practice for 10 years and works around the clock to get favorable results for her clients.

In addition, Verity was named one of the Top Attorneys for 2020-21 by Shreveport-Bossier Magazine.

Verity was graduated from Many High School and got her Bachelor of Science in Business, Pre-Law from Louisiana State University in 2007. While in college, she served as a Legislative Intern for Sen. Mary Landrieu in Washington, DC and as a legal intern for Attorney General Charles Foti.

She earned her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University, College of Law, in New Orleans in 2010. While there she served as the Substance and Citation Editor for The Maritime Law Journal and became a member of the prestigious St. Thomas More Inn of Court. She was also named a William L. Crowe, Sr. Scholar and graduated Cum Laude in the top 10 percent of her class.

After passing the bar, she joined the Orleans Public Defenders Office where she had already interned a year, and stayed another three years gaining invaluable courtroom experience as she represented hundreds of clients in trial cases. In addition, she has worked for other prominent Louisiana law firms.

She specializes in criminal defense, personal injury and family law practice areas.

In January 2017, Verity opened her own law office in Shreveport, where she is about to start her fifth year.

Her second office, the new Many location, is at 690 San Antonio Ave. directly across the street from Sabine Theater. She may be reached any time at (318) 701-8127.

We were happy that Dr. Ted “Bussey” Mims, a native of Many, visited with us on Thursday and Friday of last week. He joined our coffee drinking both mornings at the Gulf Station Café.

The son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Mims of Many, Bussey is the retired former head of the Computer Science Department at the University of Illinois in Springfield. He still lives up there, but visits his old stomping grounds here a time or two each year. It is always good to see him.

DECEMBER MOVIES IN MANY CANCELLED

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Movies in Many for the month of December has been cancelled. It has been decided that despite the theater mask mandate and social distance seating plan, COVID numbers are too high to host movie-goers inside the theater. The Movies in Many schedule will resume when the coronavirus poses less threat.

On Thursday of last week, the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Department was again busy looking back in the well located on the Rector Road. It was here on April 18, 1986 that a man’s bones were found. The adult male was never identified. Sheriff Aaron Mitchell re-opened the cold case recently in an attempt to identify the person. Officials began their new search of any contents in the well at 8:20 a.m. and continued until 2:30 p.m.

Donnie Thomas of the Sheriff’s Department built what was called a “clam bucket” to lift mud and any items that might be discovered out of the well. Barksdale Air Force Base provided an underwater camera.

The well is 28 ft. deep to the bottom and has silted in since the bones were originally found back in 1986. The hunt is not over. Someone will go into the well next time to see what can be found.

“We need to find some good bones from the victim that may have some DNA in them,” Sheriff Mitchell said. “That is the only way we stand a chance of identifying the victim.”

If you have any information about this case, please call the Sabine Sheriff’s Office at (318) 256-9241.

New Sheriff’s Office App Proves Popular

Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Walker reports that 1,500 persons had downloaded the Sheriff’s Department’s new app as of the end of last week. The app offers several features for users. With just a few clicks, they can submit a tip to the Sheriff’s Office, view sex offenders, do a current inmate search, view Sabine Parish’s “Most Wanted,” connect to the Sheriff’s Department social media platforms, read their latest news and press releases, receive instant push notifications and more.

He said that later all persons arrested will be added along with their photos and information about their arrests. In an effort to be an information-only source regarding arrests, Walker stated, “We will not allow people to comment about the arrests.”

Search “Sabine Parish Sheriff” from the App Store or in Google Play to find the free download.

On Thursday, Nov. 12, the ATM at the Bank of Montgomery Many Branch was burglarized.

Chief Deputy Walker said the investigation into the matter continues. “We feel it is a regional theft organized crime group reaching all the way from west Texas to Florida,” he commented.

We’ll keep you posted.

A School Resource Officer and a Reserve Deputy have been fired from the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office after they were involved in an incident with juveniles. The two took a group of youth to a church and graveyard in a secluded area of DeSoto Parish for Halloween. 

According to reports, they wrote on the inside walls of the church, (as other visitors to the church had done previously), and they were using profanity within the church. 

Now, the folks who operate the church were a jump ahead. They had already had a camera with video and audio installed at the church, and after the incident, brought the film to the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Department.

That office called Chief Deputy Walker, and the two officers were terminated after a review of their actions.

“We feel that law enforcement officers are judged by a higher bar, by a higher standard,” Sheriff Mitchell told Observations. “Our policy is zero tolerance.”

A joint investigation by the Sabine and Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office has led to the arrest of a wanted person and his companion, who allegedly attempted to pass a stolen check, according to Sabine Chief Deputy Brad Walker. It was a $2,000 check on Toledo Flooring, owned by Doyle Scaife of Many. The attempt to pass it was made at the City Bank Campti Branch. 

Bank employees called the Natchitoches Sheriff’s Office and deputies arrived on the scene within two minutes. 

Arrested were Tess Nash, 35, and Samuel K. Welch, 32. Both are from Montgomery. Welch is a former employee of the business and he had a key. It is reported about six checks were stolen during the Thanksgiving holidays.

Welch was wanted by the State Department of Corrections for an Illegal Carrying of Weapons conviction.

Nash was booked for Accessory to Monetary Instrument Abuse and Welch for Illegal Carrying of Weapons, Possession of CDS Schedule III Narcotics, Illegal Possession of Stolen Checks and Monetary Instrument Abuse. Detective Brad Sculthorpe was assigned the case.

The Many Police Department is seeking information concerning an attempted break-in at Nichols in Many on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 11:13 p.m. Here are three photos caught on Nichols security cameras. If you have any information, please call (318) 256-5617.

Sheriff Mitchell wants to remind everyone this is a big time of the year for scammers and asks everyone to please be very cautious. 

“Please do not give out any of your personal information to anyone you do not trust,” he cautioned.

Continuing, he stated, “We have received several reports of calls claiming your social security number has been compromised or locked. This is a scam, and we encourage citizens to delete and block the numbers and report the calls to your phone company.”

“We have received reports of spam emails. Victims stated they received emails confirming their orders from Amazon. If you have not placed orders with Amazon or do not have an Amazon account, do not open or click on any links in these emails,” he said. “This is a scam. Delete the emails and report it to Amazon.”

“Some of the scammers will ask you to purchase gift cards for large amounts from Walmart or Walgreens,” he concluded. “They want you to send the cards to them or send them a photo of the cards. They will try to threaten you and/or claim this will keep your accounts secure. Please never do this as it is a scam.”

As always, we thank you for reading and we’ll see you again soon.

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