Wednesday, December 23, 2020

We want to wish our readers a very Merry Christmas! May the true spirit of Christmas shine in your heart and light your path. Winston Churchill said, “Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing, but of reflection.” As we do that, let us remember the One who loved us enough to send His only son.

We would be remiss if we did not mention the “Christmas Star,” as it was referred to countless times over the last few days.

A great conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter took place Monday night and it was easily seen in the clear night skies locally. It was the first time in 400 years the two planets’ orbits had aligned so closely, and the first time in almost 800 years the conjunction occurred at night. In addition it fell on the winter solstice, only a few days before Christmas, when the birth of Christ is celebrated.

It is widely held that a similar event is what is described in the Bible as the Star of Bethlehem, which guided the biblical Magi to the birthplace of Jesus.

Magi, a plural of the Latin “magus” is derived from the Old Persian “magus,” which references kings of a particular religious caste. The priests of this religion paid particular attention to the stars, gaining an international reputation for astrology.

Many in this area reported seeing Saturn and Jupiter in the southwestern skies shortly after sunset and at early dark on Monday. Observations saw it from Natchitoches, and we were awfully glad we did.

Attorney Verity Gentry and Many native, who recently opened a second law office here, announced that Michael Tyler of New Orleans, better known as Grammy-nominated rapper Mystikal, has been cleared of first degree rape and second degree kidnapping charges by a Caddo Parish grand jury. If convicted of rape, Tyler would have faced a mandatory life sentence. 

“I am thankful to the Caddo District Attorney for re-presenting my case to the grand jury. I have maintained my innocence from day one and was confident the truth would come to light,” Tyler said. “I am also thankful for my legal team – Verity Gentry, Joel Pearce and Timothy Yazbeck for their work on my case. I look forward to getting back to work, making music and performing,” the rapper shared.

The Caddo Parish District Attorney announced Thursday, Dec. 17, it had re-presented the case to a grand jury, and the grand jury declined to indict Tyler on the offenses. Based on the jury’s decision, the Caddo DA intends to dismiss charges against the rapper.

Gentry, Pearce and Yazbeck worked diligently to prove Tyler’s innocence after he was arrested in 2017 and his case was presented to a grand jury. The alleged incident took place in October 2016 while Tyler was in Shreveport to present a rap concert.

A woman claimed that after spending time together earlier in the evening, Mystikal and another rapper lured her to a Shreveport casino hotel room with a date rape drug and then raped her.

“I looked at the sexual assault exam lab results of her blood and urine,” Gentry explained, “Nobody had really studied those. After making some important discoveries, I sent the lab results to an expert to double check what it looked like to me.”

The expert confirmed Gentry’s findings. The lab results totally undermined the claim of a date rape drug being used. In her allegations, the woman never claimed verbal non-consent, so the issue of whether she was able to consent or not rested on her story of having been drugged. 

Luckily for Tyler and his defense team, casinos are heavily blanketed with video surveillance of their patrons.

“The alleged victim said she was given a drink in a Styrofoam cup and she didn’t know what was in it. Casino hotel lobby video footage showed the woman drinking from that Styrofoam cup,” Gentry explained. “Thank God, the cup was later taken into evidence and its contents saved.”

Further, to explain the presence of cocaine in her system, the woman had also claimed she was given a hand rolled cigar to smoke and said it must have contained cocaine.

The expert’s conclusion that the alleged victim was not under the influence of any date rape drug at the time of the alleged offense is what led the state to test evidence from the hotel room where the woman claimed assault. After testing the contents of cups and hand rolled cigar butts, all turned up negative for the presence of any illegal substances, including any date rape drugs.

“When the cigarette butts in the hotel room were content-tested, they all came back negative for anything except tobacco,” Gentry stated.

Tyler and his legal team were extremely pleased with the outcome of his vigorous defense. 

“I appreciate, more than I can say, the District Attorney’s office being totally committed to finding the truth – wherever that might lead – and making sure justice prevailed,” Gentry said.

This ad showed up on Facebook last week. The man is serious about serving again as Many Mayor. He said a Facebook page of his own is being readied, and that he plans to conduct a very active and aggressive campaign.

We hear that a lot of folks are interested in Sarah Lee running for the Alderman position from District D in Many. She is very interested in town government and has a lot of thoughts about improving our town. At one time she was thinking about running for Mayor. We’ll just have to wait and see.

State Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn, who represents District 24 in the Louisiana Legislature, spoke of his conservative values at a meeting of Pete Abington’s Vultures Club last week. He is a Republican and represents parts of Sabine, Natchitoches and Vernon Parishes.

He is currently finishing up his first year in the Legislature. He has an office in Hornbeck and reports that he is staying busy. When running he promised he would be a full-time representative, and he was glad to report that he has been.

This sign showed up last week in all the new brick flower planters along San Antonio Ave. in Many. It was a project of the Town of Many.

The Mighty Many Tigers have done it again! They dominated the General Tass Panthers in Friday night’s game with a final score of 83-36, and now progress to play in the State Finals this Sunday, Dec. 27, in Natchitoches at Turpin Stadium, located at Northwestern State University. They will face off against Kinder, who is ranked sixth.

Best wishes to the Many Tigers Football Team, Coach Jess Curtis and all their supporting staff for a great victory this Sunday! 

Sheriff Aaron Mitchell and his staff met with Chiefs of Police from Sabine Parish Monday morning. The meeting was to discuss any narcotic and burglary/theft problems in the towns they represent. The goal of Sheriff Mitchell is to work closely with each chief and town and to share information. The Sheriff plans to conduct such a meeting once a month. And Sheriff Mitchell reminds all:  if you have information about a crime, please call (318) 256-9241 or submit a tip through the Sheriff’s Office App.

CORRECTION:  In early December Derek Campbell wrote us a note, which we used. Last week he notified us that he wrote “the 90s” in the report, not “the 80s.”  We apologize for the error. The gremlins just seem to get in our stuff sometimes.

DON’T FORGET:  The postponed Dec. 19 Many Christmas Fireworks show is upcoming this Saturday night, Dec. 26, at 6 p.m. at the Sabine Parish fairgrounds. It promises to be a night to remember with more spectacular fireworks than ever! People will be directed where to park on the grounds, and each group is asked to remain in or close to their car and social distance from other cars and attendees.

Cheryl Wooley was sworn Tuesday, Dec. 15, as the Town of Many Chief of Police. Sabine Parish Clerk of Court Shelly Salter performed the brief swearing-in ceremony at the Courthouse. Wooley will serve out the remaining term of Police Chief Roger Freeman, who recently passed away.

Many Mayor Ken Freeman nominated Wooley for the position and her appointment was approved unanimously by the City Council in a specially called meeting.

Wooley has 26 years of law enforcement experience, serving for 11 years as an investigative agent for the Oklahoma Task Force on narcotics, and the remaining years working for the Department of Human Services in the areas of domestic and sexual abuse.

Wooley will serve as Chief of Police until a new chief is elected in Spring 2021 and is sworn in and takes office in July 2021. She is Many’s first female Chief of Police.

Many’s 2020 “Together Apart” Christmas Parade honorees were recognized in a special ceremony at Many’s City Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Many Mayor Ken Freeman presented the four honorees with plaques, and since the Christmas Parade has been postponed until Easter-time due to the coronavirus, he asked the group to participate at that time.   

 “We WILL have a parade in 2021 and celebrate the resurrection of Christ instead of the birth of Christ,” the mayor promised.

The honorees and their family members attended to enjoy the brief ceremony and have pictures made around City Hall, which is all decked out for the Christmas holidays.

The first plaque was presented to Adrianna Payne, who was selected as a Rising Star in Sabine Parish. Adrianna is a student at Negreet High School where she maintains a high grade point average, is active in many extra-curricular activities and is considered a student leader at her school. Adrianna’s mom, sister and grandparents all attended the ceremony with her.

Mayor Freeman then presented the Young Achiever Award to Shelly Haigh, owner of Gypsy Boutique, a women’s dress shop located in Wright’s Shopping Center.  Haigh features upscale women’s fashions at her shop and carries shoes and jewelry, as well. Rapidly becoming a popular destination for fashionable clothes, the shop was Shelly’s dream for most of her life. She has worked long days and nights to make her dream come true and see her boutique become a success. Shelly is married to Josh Haigh, who strongly supports her efforts.

Also honored were Mary Beth and Rick Tarver, who have called Sabine Parish their home for their entire lives. They were selected as Honorary Grand Marshals because of their selfless service to their community, their church and especially the children of Sabine Parish. Long-time teachers, Rick recently retired from Northwestern State University; Mary Beth still teaches online courses there. They are animal lovers and live on a farm in Ft. Jesup where they have horses. They maintain close ties to their three grown children and their grandchildren. 

Receiving highest honors were Lauren and Shawn Moore, owners of the historic Nichols department store chain. The Moores were selected as Grand Marshals for the 2020 Christmas Parade, which will now take place at Easter. Mayor Freeman presented the Grand Marshal’s plaque to the young couple and complimented them on their astute management of the prosperous chain of stores. “Because of your stores, we have people who drive to Many for the sole reason of ‘going to Nichols’,” Freeman said. “Nichols has been in existence for over a century and it just keeps getting better every single year,” the mayor added. 

As there could not be a Christmas Parade last Saturday, Dec. 19, the mayor promised the award recipients that there will be a parade given in their honor in Spring 2021 and joining them will be the Easter Bunny.

As always, thanks much for reading. To share your ideas for future columns, please call me at (318) 332-8653 or send an email to robertrgentry@gmail.com. See you next week.

-30-