Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Sabine Parish voters approved the renewal of three taxes in voting Saturday.  Only 14% of registered voters cast their ballots.  A total of 2,067 of about 14,700 registered voters went to the polls.

The vote for renewal of the one-fourth of one percent sales tax for the Sheriff’s Department passed by a vote of 1,575 or 76% for to 492 or 24% against.  The funds will be used for the operation of the Sheriff’s Department.

The one-fourth of one percent sales tax for the Sabine Council on Aging passed with 1,427 or 69% in favor to 635 or 31% against.

The Sabine Parish Police Jury one per cent sales tax for operation of the solid waste system received 1,388 votes in favor for 67% to 669, 33% against.

All three taxes will run for 10 years.

Registrar of Voters Zachary Faircloth issued a report to Observations showing that 369 persons voted in person early and 272 voted by absentee ballot. That comes to a total of 641. Of those, 187 were Democrat, 343 were Republican and 111 were identified as other. A demographic breakdown shows 551 were white, 47 were black and 43 were listed as other.  Female voters totaled 348 and male voters numbered 293.

What a Coincidence!

Three Many High School graduates, Lara Rigsby Duffie of Augusta, MI, Class of 1996; Paul Ammons of Wilmington, NC, Class of 2004; and Cody Faust of Lafayette, LA, Class of 2005; all attended the Final Four College Basketball play-offs in New Orleans on April 2-4.

The trio once lived a stone’s throw from each other on Cobb Drive in Many.  Ammons and Faust played basketball for the MHS Tigers.

Ammons was rooting for Duke University and Faust was cheering on North Carolina State. 

Lara and her husband, B.W., along with their children, Alaina and Jackson, were on vacation in New Orleans.  B.W. is employed by Kellogg’s of Battle Creek, MI, who was a sponsor of the Final Four, so tickets weren’t a problem.  His son, Jackson, met Shaquille O’Neal, a basketball legend, and had a jersey signed.

(Special thanks to Donna Smith-Ammons for sharing the article above.)

Observations enjoyed much attending the 29^th Annual Choctaw-Apache Pow Wow at the Ebarb Tribal Grounds on Saturday. After a rainy start Saturday morning, the skies cleared, and the sun shone brightly across the grounds. Just moments after the program started, a large flock of white pelicans flew overhead. It was surely a beautiful omen of things to come.

We were happy to see Chief Tom Rivers, School Board Member Donald Garcie, historian and creative talent Deborah K. West, VFW Post Commander Walt Korb, Pow Wow Princess Kayla Moore, Town of Many Councilwoman Mary Brocato, our friend Marie Montgomery of The Arc of Sabine and several other fine folks. For the record, Donald’s Native American cracklings and Marie’s Indian tacos were out of this world. Well worth a trip just for those two treats.

The event was a great time to learn more about our Native American roots in this area and the special traditions which make this celebration remarkable. We watched the Gourd Dancers, and though we could not stay late enough to see the Grand Entry this time, we have seen it at Pow Wows past and it is, indeed, something to see.

Our family left full of food, with an armload of beautiful Native American crafted items, and best of all, with a greater knowledge of Choctaw-Apache customs and history.  

Candidate for Judge Verity Gentry has been making the rounds, and we were happy she helped support the Sabine Hall of Fame this year by underwriting all their printed material expense. She later posted about the April 26 event, “Tuesday evening we were reminded what makes this parish great at the annual Sabine Hall of Fame induction banquet. Our people are second to none. They have the kind of heart, hardworking spirit and faith that shows up to serve friends, neighbors and their communities. Congratulations to all the night’s honorees! It was a pleasure to learn more about each of you and your meaningful contributions to life in Sabine. In these busy, often stressful times, it is essential to set aside special moments to shine a spotlight on the good. The Sabine Hall of Fame induction banquet was heartwarming, entertaining and fun. Can’t wait to see what next year’s event holds!”

We agree.

The night was made extra special by this year’s major sponsors, who graciously helped cover event expenses to honor Hall of Fame inductee Edith Jones Palmer, Achievement Award winner Otto O’Neil Meyers III, Accomplishment Award winners Savanah and Siarah Hall, Good Citizen Frances Hopkins, Special Recognition honorees Dale Skinner and Mary Bozeman, and Posthumous honorees Dr. Warren L. Founds Jr. and Coach Malvin Ogden.

Sponsoring were Nichols, Curtis Family Pharmacy, Interstate Building Materials, Walsh Timber Co. and Sabine Retirement and Rehabilitation.

Sen. Louie Bernard also made a special donation toward this year’s event which was much appreciated.

Observations especially enjoyed the touching “I Bowed On My Knees and Cried Holy” Gospel song shared by William Ruffin and Henry Reggans, and a wonderful original song by Sheriff Aaron Mitchell, “This Ole House,” which hearkened back to times past when family and faith were foremost. The sheriff did a fine job as he accompanied himself on guitar.

Continuing with Sabine citizens contributing to the good of their communities, we received a great report on the Town of Many cleanup effort which took place recently.

“On Saturday, April 23rd, employees from the Town of Many’s Street, Water and Sanitation departments, along with Mayor Robert Hable, worked together for our annual ‘Get Off Your Fanny and Clean Up Many’ Trash Bash event as part of Louisiana’s ‘Love the Boot Week’ in an effort to help keep Many beautiful,” Town Clerk Amie Brown shared.  “Together they worked four hours and walked a total of approximately 12 miles and picked up 83 total 30-gallon size bags of trash.  The Town of Many would like to thank all who participated and ask that you please do your part to help keep Many a beautiful place to live and work.”

Sheriff Aaron Mitchell announces Devonte Marquise Taylor, age 26, of Many was arrested by Patrol Deputies shortly after midnight in the early morning hours of April 28.

Deputy Brennan Jones noticed a Ford truck that had a brake light not working as it turned onto Ponder St. from San Antonio Ave.  Deputy Jones conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and identified the driver as Taylor.

Further investigation led Deputy Jones to discover approximately one ounce of suspected methamphetamine inside Taylor’s truck and $2020 cash in Taylor’s pants pocket. The drugs and cash were seized and logged into evidence.

Taylor was booked into the Sabine Parish Detention Center for Possession with intent to distribute schedule II (Meth), Brake lights required.

Sheriff Mitchell commends Deputy Jones on his alertness and further investigation during this traffic stop to get more illegal narcotics off the streets in Sabine Parish.

(Special thanks to Det. D.W. Seegers for the above article.)

A bill currently before the Louisiana Legislature would prohibit the publication of mug shots taken by law enforcement agencies.  At present, mug shots are considered a part of public information which can be released.  The bill was offered by Rep. Royce Duplessis of New Orleans and has passed the House.  Our Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn voted against, as did Rep. Alan Seabaugh. Rep. Larry Bagley, who represents DeSoto Parish and the northern part of Sabine Parish, supported the bill restricting the publication of booking photos. [After redistricting is complete, Bagley will represent the area north of Hwy. 6 in Sabine Parish, assuming the courts uphold the districts.] The bill is scheduled on the Senate Floor for debate on May 22.

“I oppose this bill,” Chief Sabine Deputy Brad Walker said.  “I feel the public should be aware of who and for what reason someone is arrested.  A person may only be known to the community by facial recognition.  Concerned citizens play a major role in identifying criminals and their activity and may only be able to identify the individual from a booking photo that was published.  Many times, law enforcement have made arrests and following the publication of the arrest, including the booking photo, other victims and or witnesses have come forward related to the case or separate crimes.”

We totally agree with everything that Deputy Walker says.  Observations has often urged Sheriff Aaron Mitchell and Deputy Walker to print all the mug shots.  They haven’t done so yet, but maybe they will.

My advice would be, “If you don’t want your mug shot published, don’t get arrested.”

Another interesting bill provides for the burial of pet remains with human remains in a cemetery.  The pet may be buried before, at the same time or after the death of the human.  The bill was offered by Rep. Wayne McMahen, a Republican from Minden.  On March 21, the bill was referred to the Committee on Commerce.

Sales tax collections in Sabine Parish for April 2022 were up by $406,960.70 over the same month in 2021, according to a report issued by Sales Tax Collector Wanda Rivers.  Total taxes collected for April were $3,101,369.22, compared to $2,694,435.52 collected in April 2021.  Her report follows:

Our local observance of the National Day of Prayer will be held at noon on Thursday, May 5, in the parking lot of District Attorney Don Burkett’s office, located at 495 S. Capitol St. in Many. This event is put together annually by the Sabine Ministerial Alliance, and we appreciate their good efforts.  We will see you there. NOTE: The promo flyer that was provided is dated “May 6,” but be aware Thursday is May 5.

A strange, sad situation was discovered in Sabine Parish recently. It came to our attention several weeks ago, then we saw where Many Police Chief Cheryl Wooley thanked the officers of the Many Police Dept. for “an outstanding job in our joint investigation that culminated with the FBI executing a federal search warrant today on a residence on Marthaville Rd. in Many.” She posted the information on the department’s Facebook page on April 1, also noting, “The search warrant resulted in the arrest of Exzavior ‘Rick’ McCulley on firearms charges.”

Our curiosity was piqued when we learned the firearms arrest came about in a rather unusual way.

Apparently, McCulley and his wife or companion were caretakers of an elderly couple in Virginia. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, they appeared in Many and began living in a home on Marthaville Rd.

“The couple, in their 90s, were declared legally incompetent by a court in Virginia and moved to Louisiana without the court’s knowledge or permission,” Chief Wooley later explained to Observations.  “Many PD was requested by the [Virginia] Guardian Ad Litum for the couple to do a welfare check on the couple after it was learned the couple had been moved to Many. That welfare check began an investigation that culminated in a search warrant and the arrest of McCulley,” she said.

There was no connection known between McCulley and Louisiana or any reason known why he and his female companion chose to move the elderly couple away from their home in Virginia to Sabine Parish.

“There is an ongoing investigation here and in Virginia into [their] financial dealings with the elderly couple,” Chief Wooley told Observations.  “There were five rifles and two handguns found in the home where McCulley was residing with the elderly couple. There was also ammunition seized. Mr. McCulley is a multiple convicted felon and has an arrest history in three states,” she explained.

It is unlawful for a convicted felon to be in possession of a firearm until a period of ten years has passed with no additional criminal convictions, at which time firearm rights may be restored.

Several aspects of this investigation are still ongoing. The couple was removed from the home here in Many by the new Guardian in Virginia after concern about the couple’s care and health.

Tragically, the elderly gentleman became ill and was hospitalized at the Veterans Administration hospital in Alexandria, where he passed away recently.

McCulley remains in detention in Shreveport, and the investigation continues. Additional charges are anticipated.

As Observations learns more about this sad story, we will update.

Miss Victoria Gaspard has done it again. You will recall she is the talented daughter of Austin and Sabine Chamber Director Shanna Gaspard. Victoria recently won the Sabine Prevention Alliance/Town of Many art poster contest sponsored earlier this year. Now, we learn she just won First Place in U.S. Congressman Mike Johnson’s annual Congressional Art Competition.

She received a Congressional Commendation from Congressman Johnson on Tuesday morning, as she was honored along with other young Louisiana artists at the Bossier Parish Community College campus in Bossier City.

Speaking of Victoria’s piece, titled “Psalm 104:27 On the Bend,” the congressman said, “I’m looking forward to walking past the First-Place artwork in the U.S. Capitol each day.” He said the Second and Third Place pieces will hang in Congressional offices nearby.

Miss Gaspard, age 16, is the first from Sabine Parish to ever place in or win the Congressional Art Competition, which has been held for about six years. She is a sophomore at Many High School, where she attends the Talented Art Program taught by Cassie Toten.

Victoria’s winning art was done with Prisma colored pencils, and it will soon travel to Washington D.C. to hang for one year in the U.S. Capitol representing the State of Louisiana.

“It was a fantastic morning honoring this year’s Congressional Art Competition winners,” Johnson said. “We have so many talented students in our district and seeing their artwork each year is one of my favorite parts of serving our district in Congress.”

Others who placed were Lily Ni of Shreveport, 2^nd; Ashley Smith of Bernice, 3^rd; Reagan Campisi of Shreveport, 4^th; and Keirsten Lejeune of Leesville, 5^th.

Congratulations to Victoria Gaspard for her win and for representing our area so beautifully.

Two Recently Sentenced

Sheriff Aaron Mitchell announced Dustin Lee Crow, 33, of Noble was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to 286 months (23 years, 10 months) in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

In July 2019, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) reported three cybertips to the Louisiana Bureau of investigations. The cybertips concerned images and videos of child pornography contained on three Twitter accounts belonging to Crow. The child pornography images which were uploaded contained videos and a still image of a victim under the age of 6.

These videos and image were uploaded to Twitter and sent in a direct message to another Twitter account. Agents executed a search warrant at Crow’s house and [he] admitted his involvement in the offenses to law enforcement agents.

Crow pleaded guilty on June 9 of last year to one count of sexual exploitation of children. The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigations Cyber Crime Unit and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica D. Cassidy and Earl M. Campbell.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

In addition, Sheriff Aaron Mitchell announced Chief U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. sentenced Bennie Sylvester Epps, 32, of Zwolle to 66 months (five years, six months) in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Epps pleaded guilty on December 14 of last year to one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. 

On July 21, 2020, agents with the Sabine Parish Sheriff Tactical Narcotics Team made a traffic stop on a vehicle for having a shattered windshield. Upon stopping, the driver exited the vehicle and fled the scene and agents were unable to locate him. Moments later, an individual later determined to be Epps exited from the rear of the same vehicle carrying a black duffel bag and fled. During the pursuit, Epps tossed the bag as he ran but he was soon apprehended. The duffel bag was recovered and found to contain marijuana and other drug paraphernalia. Agents also recovered a loaded handgun near the bag.

The case was investigated by the ATF and Sabine Parish Sheriff Tactical Narcotics Team and prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown.

(Thanks to Det. D.W. Seegers for all the information provided above.)

Our good friend Shoji Tabuchi who has not performed in Branson since his theater was damaged by fire in 2019, is returning for a one-year series of performances.  He has been a top draw in Branson for many years and at one time lived in Bossier City and was part of the David Houston Show.  Recently he was inducted into the National Fiddlers Hall of Fame in ceremonies in Tulsa, OK.

He has performed in Branson for more than 30 years and now has prepared a new show called “An Evening With Shoji.”  He will be performing in the Little Opry Theater at the Branson IMAX Entertainment Complex.

So, if you visit Branson, be sure to experience a show that’s decades in the making, a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the incomparable performer in the intimate setting of the Little Opry Theater.  The show will be a unique evening featuring all of Shoji’s timeless hits accompanied by a full band.

Shoji had ties to Sabine Parish for a long time. He loves to fish and at one time owned a lot on Toledo Bend.  Many Realtor Lewis McBride sold the lot for him a few years back.

Shoji and his daughter Christina, who produces their fine stage show, will guest on “Open Line” with host Tedd Dumas and Yours Truly this coming Monday, May 9, from 7:30 until 8 a.m. Be sure to listen in on KWLA 103.1.

New Northwestern State University President Dr. Marcus Jones was a speaker at the Tuesday, April 19 meeting of the Vultures Club.  Also speaking was Drake Owens, Executive Director of the NSU Foundation and Alumni Association.

Dr. Jones is a native of Winnfield and has an extensive academic, business and legal background.  He has been a member of Northwestern’s faculty since 1994 as an instructor of business, assistant professor of business law and international business, associate professor of business law and international business. In that capacity, he held the Ben D. Johnson Endowed Professorship since 1999.

He served as NSU’s executive vice-president for university and business affairs from 2017-20.  For the past year, he has served as executive vice-president and chief operating officer for the University of Louisiana System.

Dr. Jones said the University is hopeful to get a new administration building to replace the aging Kyser Hall and a new athletic field house.

Owens brought the group up to date on the activities of his Association.  He pointed out that a Ms. Gillespie left 2,000 acres of land, mostly in DeSoto Parish, to NSU at her death.  He noted the funds generated from this transaction has meant much to the university.

Pete Abington and Dr. Virginia Burkett, both of Many, are members of the NSU Foundation Board of Directors.

The top of the atrium in the beautiful new Community Bank Building on San Antonio Ave. in Many has been lit up at least twice now, and it is gorgeous. We noticed it first on Wednesday night, April 20, when it looked outstanding in Community Bank gold, shown above. More recently, it glowed red all last weekend to honor the Many High School Tigers and Lady Tigers in their LHSAA Baseball and Softball postseason games.  It has taken a while, but it seems the end of construction of the new bank is almost here.  Head man J. J. Blake III and his staff are ready for the move.  And the folks in Many are very happy to have this fine building added to our community.

We are proud of Andrew Austin who has been recognized as a Top Reader all four years at Many High School.  This school year he read 3,678,718 words.  Over the four years of high school, he read 11,129,861 words and set the bar high for his underclassmen.  The MHS Library Club has established the Andrew Austin Distinguished Reading Legacy Award in his honor.

They are called “Speed Awareness Trailers,” and in recent months you have seen them all around on Louisiana highways.  According to Brandan J. Rush, Customer Service Manager for the Department of Transportation and Development, “We place them in locations to alert drivers of their speed for specific reasons.  For example, if a speed limit was recently changed.  Local law enforcement will also place them in areas where they have had a problem with speeding to alert people of their speed.”

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