Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Dr. Virginia R. Van Sickle-Burkett, Chief Scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey and wife of Sabine District Attorney Don Burkett, made the first cut in her bid for Northwestern State University President. The Northwestern Presidential Search Committee, in their meeting last week selected six semifinalists to interview. Many initially applied for the job; the field had been narrowed to 13 within the last few weeks. Northwestern’s 20th President will be selected from among the six.
The top six semifinalists will be interviewed on Northwestern’s campus Nov. 1-3 with opportunities for student and campus community involvement. The next president will then be selected by the full Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System at a special meeting on Nov. 8. UL System Board Members are Vice Chair Elizabeth Pierre of Monroe, Parliamentarian Jimmy Clarke of Lafayette, Barry Busada of Shreveport, John Condos of Lake Charles, Steve Davison of Ruston, Lola Dunahoe of Natchitoches, Thomas Kitchen of Metairie, Mimi Methvin of Lafayette, Alejandro “Al Perkins of Prairieville, Dana Peterson, Virgil Robinson Jr. of New Orleans, Mark Romero of Lafayette, Kristine Russell of Thibodaux, Joe Salter of Florien (Baton Rouge), Brad Stevens of Hammond and Southeastern Louisiana University Student Board Member L’Oreal Williams.
Of all the candidates, Dr. Burkett has the vast administrative experience required for the job. She is a hard worker, a devout Christian and a person who knows how to get things done. Without question, she is the woman for the job.
Her extensive credentials include:
- Proven leadership and administrative expertise statewide, nationally, and globally
- Management of State and Federal budgets in excess of $140 million dollars annually
- Management of over 750 full-time employees
- Contributing Lead Author to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007
- Recipient of a national Diversity Award five times by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior (2021) and the U.S. Geological Survey (2020, 2017, 2015 and 2014)
- Recipient of Minority Student and Faculty Enhancement Award (2003), National Urban & Community Conference for Minority and Underserved Communities
- First female to direct a state fish and wildlife agency in the U.S.
- Invited lecturer at Harvard, Stanford, West Point, Columbia, Princeton, Wheaton, U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, Royal Institute of Foreign Affairs (UK) and other respected institutions
- Appointed by the White House to Co-Chair a $2.4 billion Global Change Research Program
- One of three generations to attend and graduate from NSU
- Long Purple Line inductee in 2011
- NSU Foundation Board from 2012 until present
- Service on approximately 70 other Boards, Committees and Science Panels
There are those who say Dr. Burkett does not have enough experience in academia to get the job. A lifetime spent in academia does not a leader make. We feel her stronger administrative skills are by far more valuable. NSU needs a stellar administrator and leader who can move the university forward, who understands real accomplishment is achieved by inspiring others to action. Her career is a shining example of her unwavering commitment to excellence, intellect, an outstanding work ethic and integrity. Dr. Burkett is exactly who NSU needs to achieve greater levels of success on all fronts. The fact that she shared in a Nobel Prize for her scientific research is lagniappe.
The University of Louisiana System Board Members welcome email in support of whomever the public feels they should select for President of NSU. So, please take a few minutes and let’s champion a woman we can be proud of, Dr. Virginia Burkett. We are told your email will be forwarded to each member, and that they will read them. So, it is vitally important that you write and express your support.
Email your letter to: northwesternpresidentialsearch@ulsystem.edu
In addition, we are told that on the day of Dr. Burkett’s interview, interested persons are urged to attend and voice their opinions.
Visit and “Like” the Burkett for NSU President Facebook page, which is run by her supporters, to find all the latest news and learn how you can best back Dr. Burkett as she moves forward. You can also read her complete Curriculum Vitae – a summary of her career, qualifications and education – on the Facebook page.
There are some stories you just can’t make up. On Saturday, Oct. 9, wife Laurie and I were attending the Cumberland River Music Festival in Gainesboro, TN put on by Country music duo and Grand Ole Opry members Dailey & Vincent – the Vincent being Darrin, a longtime friend of Laurie’s. We had a little extra time that afternoon before the program started and saw a sign along Hwy. 56 pointing to Rosewood Wedding Chapel, which we took to be a tourist attraction. Being lovers of historic church chapels, we drove up to the top of the mountain to take a look. Since there was a sign on the highway, we assumed it was a scenic spot much like beautiful Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Spring, AR where we married. We were celebrating our 15th Wedding Anniversary that weekend and were feeling romantic, so we stopped to see Rosewood. We later learned it is a wedding chapel and events center.
When we got to the top of the mountain, we saw a few buildings with the name Jones and a few street signs, and we came to the conclusion the property was owned by Glenn Jones, Archivist of Putnam County, TN. We had met Jones a few years earlier as my ancestors are from Putnam County and I have a relative who works in the Archives. We go by and visit her when in the area and have made some donations to the Archives. My second, third and fourth grandfathers are buried near Baxter, which is where Glenn was raised. In fact, while in the area recently, I started the process of having markers placed for two ancestors who do not have marked graves.
Anyway, back to my story. After we arrived to the little complex, we saw the chapel a short way up a little narrow road and took it. Once we got to the chapel, we went to the back of it to turn around in a small grassy area so we could head back out the way we came. There was no other vehicle or person in sight. After we got turned around, we stopped in the lane by the side of the chapel to take a quick look and snap a picture. There was a house near the chapel and right after we stopped, across the lawn came a man hollering who accosted us and was beyond angry because he said we were going the wrong way on a one-way drive. Since there was no one else there, and the narrow, circular one-lane drive had an incline on one side upward to the chapel and a steep mountain drop-off on the other side, I asked him if we could simply drive out the way we were headed. He said, “Absolutely not!” It was only a short distance to a safer part of the drive, and we could see all the way to where it intersected a wider road. He was very agitated and angry, insisting that we back our car around the circular, narrow mountain drop-off section. He told us there were “one way” signs, but we had not seen them. Some we saw later on our way out were very small and hardly noticeable. He also said there had been a “head-on crash” there recently. I’m 81 years old and before the short exchange with him ended, I thought he was going to hit me. I have never had a fight in my life, and I sure didn’t want to whip him and make it my first. So, I slowly started backing toward the passenger side of our vehicle as Laurie was doing the driving. No exaggeration. We were absolutely taken aback by his actions.
Laurie did not realize what was going on at first. She did not step out of our car until he had already started across the lawn toward me. She was about to compliment him on the beauty of his property, and she did ask him if he was Glenn Jones and he huffed a quick “yes” before continuing his rant. She tried to tell him we had met him at the Archives and that Carol Hall Bradford was a relative. He was too busy shouting at us to hear a thing apparently. It didn’t make any difference at all to him. Laurie withdrew her hand, which he had refused, and her smile quickly faded when she saw how he was acting.
As soon as we realized from his instant verbal barrage that we needed to proceed the other way on the drive, we returned the few feet to our vehicle. His response to such an insignificant matter was so over-the-top we were floored. As I continued to back away, I told him, “We are leaving. Don’t have a heart attack.” Wrong thing to do. He stepped toward me threateningly and said, “Nobody’s going to be a smart-ass with me.” I asked what I had done that was smart. Shoot, I was trying to leave. At that point, I can assure you he didn’t want us to leave any more than we wanted to leave. Jones responded that I told him not to have a heart attack, and that was being a smart-ass. Then he quickly followed with, “I’m a good guy and nobody’s going to be a smart-ass with me.” Just for the record, a “good guy” would never act so ugly.
In all his thundering, Jones said he had a wedding that evening. Okay. We got it. We were leaving just as quick as we could, but he continued. Why was he so rude? We were told by Jamie Dailey time and again at the Music Fest that his hometown Gainesboro was proud and happy to welcome visitors. He encouraged all attendees to visit the local places in the little town and spend our money there. We were trying. Old Jones certainly didn’t make us feel welcomed. Don’t guess he got the message. Seems it would have been easier and way less trouble for Jones to simply put a “private” sign on the highway so that he would not have to go ballistic on innocent passersby.
We learned later that we are not the only ones who have had a bad experience with this man. In an online review, Kim Reed wrote: “…the owner was completely rude and got very abrasive. One of our [wedding] guests was disabled. We asked if he could be dropped off at the front. He said ‘Absolutely NOT!’ We explained the situation – it’s a very long uphill walk and we were afraid he’d fall as he wears braces. [The owner] started screaming, ‘Is that a threat? I’m a business owner and you don’t talk to owners like that.’ …Really shocking! The future bride began to cry. …There were several people who witnessed his out-of-control behavior. All I could see after that was pure ugliness. Beware.”
My wife and I are peace-loving, respectful people and in 15 years of traveling around the world together, we have never had a confrontation with others anywhere. Jones made a deliberate, unnecessary verbal assault on us. Laurie was fighting back tears as she drove away. I was incredulous a grown man would act that way about something so trivial.
Needless to say, we would never plan an event there.
We remind all that Mayor Robert Hable and the Alderwomen of the Town of Many have announced the date and times for the town’s upcoming Halloween activities. They are as follows:
On Friday, Oct. 29, local businesses will hand out candy from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. Neighborhood and Church Trick-or-Treat activities will take place from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. the same evening, then a free movie will show that night at Many Community Center [Sabine Theater], “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” which begins at 7 p.m.
It looks to be a jam-packed evening of fun for families and all their little ghosts and goblins, so be sure to mark it down and make plans to enjoy these special events in the Town of Many.
The Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office (SPSO) is asking families to download the free Sabine Parish Sheriff App before Halloween to check the Sex Offender Registry before children go trick-or-treating.
The SPSO reports there are approximately 112 registered sex offenders in Sabine Parish, and the Sheriff’s Office wants parents to know which houses their children should avoid when trick-or-treating.
“Registered sex offenders report their home address to us. If you are going trick-or-treating, visit our Sabine Parish Sheriff App to see whose door you don’t want to knock on,” says Sheriff Aaron Mitchell. “Parents should search for offenders on their trick-or-treat route, and near any addresses where their children spend time. The search and maps on the App pinpoint where offenders live.”
On the SPSO website, citizens can also sign up for free email notifications from them should a sex offender move into their neighborhood or around an address important to the parent.
“If you aren’t planning on trick-or-treating in your neighborhood, but will be in a family or friend’s neighborhood, search their address beforehand so you know which houses to avoid,” says Sheriff Aaron Mitchell.
They suggest these three things parents should do before Halloween:
• Search for sex offenders on the Sabine Parish Sheriff App.
• Sign up for email alerts from the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office: https://sabinesheriff.org/.
• Download the Free OffenderWatch App from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store or the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office website: https://sabinesheriff.org/.
The OffenderWatch App is a free app partnered with law enforcement to inform families on registered sex offenders. Parents can find sex offenders near them, track their children while they are trick-or-treating and receive updates from law enforcement.
For further information, please contact the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at (318) 590-9475, and ask for Detective Chris Abrahams.
(A special thanks to Det. Wade Seegers for the above information.)
Pictures Along Life’s Highway
Annie Oakley said it and she meant it.
Congratulations to the five Sabine Parish Sheriff Deputies who graduated from the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office Correctional Academy on Oct. 13.
Johnathon Knippers, Charlotte Thomas, Robert Asbell, Kyle Roberts, and Michael Wilson were among 26 cadets who received their POST Level 2 Basic Correctional Peace Officer Certifications.
Level 2 consist of a minimum of 249 hours and is for peace officers whose duties are the care, custody, and control of inmates and includes POST Firearm Certification.
Louisiana Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) was established by Act 397 of 1976 to develop training standards for peace officers in the State of Louisiana.
These five Deputies persevered through nine weeks of intense training to complete Session 51 of Rapides Correctional Academy.
Deputy Kyle Roberts also received the “Top Gun” Award for having the highest firearm qualification score in the class.
Deputy Knippers, Asbell, Roberts and Wilson are Correctional Deputies assigned to the Sabine Parish Detention Center. Deputy Thomas is a Correctional Deputy assigned to the Sabine Parish Women’s Jail.
Sheriff Aaron Mitchell commended these five Deputies for their strength and determination and shared that he is proud to have them as part of his department.
(Thanks to Det. Wade Seegers for this information.)
Congratulations to our long-time friend Jerry Pierce who will be inducted into the Northwestern State University Long Purple Line in ceremonies at the Natchitoches Events Center on Oct. 22 starting at noon. He is Vice-President of External Affairs at Northwestern, a position he has ably held for almost 30 years.
I first met Jerry, a native of Springhill, when we both studied journalism at Northwestern. He was graduated in 1961 with a degree in journalism and went to work for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. At the age of only 24 he became Executive Sports Editor for the newspaper.
In 1965 he returned to Northwestern as Sports Information Director and later served as New Bureau Chief and Assistant to the President.
Throughout his career he has continued writing – including books, articles, stories, etc. He served as co-chairman of Northwestern’s 125th Anniversary, served as representative to the NCAA and Southland Conference and was Northwestern’s liaison when the movie “Steel Magnolias” was being filmed in Natchitoches.
Jerry brought the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame to Natchitoches in 1972 and directed the program there for 20 years. During that time, he was named by the Times-Picayune as one of the 20 most influential persons in sports in Louisiana.
He has been honored as a member of both the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the N Club Hall of Fame. He and wife Regina have established endowed scholarships in athletics and education at Northwestern.
We were sorry to learn of the death of former Sabine resident Evelyn Dees at the age of 101. She died Oct. 12 in Lafayette. She was the widow of the late J. E. “Buddy” Dees.
Dees’ services were held at Warren Meadows Funeral Home Chapel Saturday, with burial following in Many Cemetery.
She was born and raised in the Warren Community. She had a nursing career which spanned 40 years. We extend our deepest sympathy to her loved ones.
Our faithful Observations readers know that for years we have followed the case of the “Man in the Well.” We are happy to report that new evidence has come to light and a positive identification of the body has finally started to crack this 35-year-old cold case.
In 1984, Lester Rome (age 58 at the time) from Grand Isle, LA was reported missing to Jefferson Parish authorities.
In April 1986, a Sabine Parish landowner discovered human skeletal remains in a water well on his property. The skeletal remains were recovered at the time, but a positive identification was unable to be determined.
In October 2013, LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) Laboratory made a possible connection with the remains from the well and Lester Rome. The skeletal remains had shotgun pellets embedded in the pelvic area. Rome had been shot in the abdomen area with a shotgun some years prior to when he went missing.
On December 10, 2020, former D.A. Investigator Ted Delacerda gave several news clippings and photographs about the case to the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office (SPSO).
In February 2021, with the current landowner’s permission, Sabine Parish Sheriff Detectives attempted to recover more skeletal remains from the well by mechanical means but were unsuccessful.
In April 2021, the Central Sabine Fire Department’s confined space entry team personnel came on board to help, and more skeletal remains and other items of evidence were recovered from inside the well.
On October 18, 2021, Sabine Parish Coroner Mark Holder issued a Fact of Death Certificate stating the skeletal remains recovered from the well were those of Lester Rome. Next of kin has been notified.
Sabine Parish Sheriff Detectives are still investigating this case and searching for more information that may lead to the person(s) responsible for the death of Lester Rome.
(Thanks to Det. Wade Seegers for the above information.)
The embattled Sabine Parish Tourist Commission is currently taking applications for a new director. Deadline to receive applications is Tuesday, Nov. 2, by 4 p.m. and interviews will be conducted Tuesday, Nov. 9. The salary ranges between $50,000 and $65,000 per year. Complete information and applications can be found on the Commission’s Facebook page.
Some months ago, Director Linda Curtis-Sparks decided she was going to retire but would remain on the payroll. She highly recommended Chip Davis of Greenville, SC for the job and the Board rubber stamped her recommendation. It seems he was not vetted and Pepper Rains who runs the “Transparency in Sabine” Facebook page brought to light that Chip and his girlfriend Diana Fuller, whom he brought down with him, were being sued by his mother.
In the meantime, Chip fired Curtis-Sparks whom the Board re-hired. He then advised the Chamber of Commerce that Commission President Lauren Manasco Moore should be removed because she missed three meetings. She had good reason to miss – she had COVID. And he contacted the Chamber of Commerce because Ms. Moore was appointed by the Chamber.
Before being fired, Chip decided to resign and Ms. Moore was selected as Interim Director until a new one could be hired. Folks have a lot of faith and confidence in her ability and integrity. There had been a lot of criticism of the prior process and hire because Curtis-Sparks not only went out of the parish, but out of the state to hire a new director. The general thought was, “Surely, we have some qualified folks in Sabine who can bring new life and their own vision into the Commission.” There are high hopes the Commission will do their job this time around and make a good decision.
At its Sept. 22 meeting when Chip resigned, the Commission voted to give him compensation of $5,433.67 for earned time off and vacation pay and to pay his health insurance until Sept. 30. The huge mistake in hiring him for the four months he was on the job probably cost the Commission somewhere around $40,000 or more. Chip had a good time, but what did the Commission get for that kind of money? Not even a hotel or a nice “Visit Greenville”-type web page.
The Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT) obtained arrest warrants for seven subjects on Friday, Oct. 15.
Thomas D. Dew, Christi R. McPherson, Lionel G. Somersall Jr., Sharon N. Taylor, Joseph V. Lewing, and Kenneth R. Smith were arrested Friday evening. Dew, Somersall, Taylor and Lewing were already in jail. Gary D. Smith is still wanted as of press deadline.
The warrants were for one count each of Criminal conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute schedule II (methamphetamine).
Criminal conspiracy is the agreement or combination of two or more persons for the specific purpose of committing any crime when one or more of such parties does an act in furtherance of the object of the agreement or combination.
TNT Agents began an investigation in December 2020 after Somersall was arrested during a traffic stop for Possession with intent to distribute schedule II (Meth) while driving Dew’s Ford truck. The investigation continued into February and throughout the summer of 2021.
Agents discovered communications and relationships between the seven subjects about illegal narcotics use and sales. Countless hours were spent by agents and detectives obtaining and analyzing various digital forensic data of the seven subjects.
Subsequently, all seven subjects were arrested in August and September for various felony drug and firearm charges. Over 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine were seized during the investigation and arrests of the subjects.
Bonds were set Monday at $50,000 each by the 11th Judicial District Court.
(Thank you to Det. Wade Seegers for this report.)
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