Wednesday, February 8, 2023

The sales tax report for January has been issued by Wanda Rivers, Sabine Parish Sales/Use Tax Administrator.  It shows that $541,423.11 more was collected this year over January 2022.   The bulk of it went to the School Board, who enjoyed a $226,461.86 increase.

Word coming to Observations is that Dillon Barrett, former head coach at Grant High School, will be the new head coach of the Mighty Many Tigers. His college football career as quarterback and tight end included stints at Fort Scott Community College, Lamar University and at Ole Miss, playing in the Sugar Bowl in 2015, when they defeated Oklahoma State. We understand his employment at Many High School is to be formally announced next week.

Signs Along Life’s Highway

Saw this one recently in the men’s restroom at a convenience store in Richfield, NC.

Early this week Sheriff Aaron Mitchell announced the arrest of Eric Lamar Samuel, age 51, of Natchitoches late Friday night, Feb. 3.

The arrest happened after Sabine Parish Sheriff Patrol Deputy Jeriah Steinke stopped a vehicle for speeding 70 mph in a 55-mph zone on Hwy. 6 west of Many around 10:30 p.m. on Friday.

After a short investigation, Dep. Steinke located a bag containing suspected methamphetamine under the passenger seat.

The meth weighed approximately 1,031 grams (2.27 lbs). The estimated “street value” of the meth is approximately $10,000.

Samuel was booked into the Sabine Parish Detention Center for Possession with intent to distribute schedule II (Meth) and Speeding 70/55.

As of press deadline, no bond had been set by the 11th Judicial District Court.

Sheriff Mitchell and Chief Deputy Brad Walker commended Dep. Steinke and the Patrol Division for preventing this large volume of drugs from reaching Sabine Parish communities.

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

After major efforts by Many Mayor Robert Hable and his staff, and after years of planning, fundraising and collection of historic items by former Mayor Ken Freeman and his administration, Many’s Depot Museum will officially open its doors this Saturday, Feb. 11. The Grand Opening will take place from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. All are invited to attend the celebration at 750 Hwy. 171 Bypass in Many.

Mayor Hable is excited to finally welcome the public to enjoy this unique museum setting and for locals and visitors alike to have the opportunity to more fully appreciate Many and Sabine Parish history. We hear some bus tour groups already stopped by to tour the Museum recently and enjoyed a sneak peek of what it offers.

The museum features Many and Sabine Parish history and also includes a model train room complete with replicas of many local landmarks. Town of Many employees Bruce Tatum and Suzanne Williams have worked hard to produce the Sabine Parish landmarks and complete the Train Room for visitors to enjoy. Last fall, Train Room director Bruce Tatum was recognized with the Lois Wyatt Bannon “Heart and Soul” Service Award for his work by the Louisiana Association of Museums in Monroe.

The initial idea and many materials for the Train Room exhibit were donated and made possible by Betty Miller of Many and through the efforts of Many Councilwoman at Large Mary Brocato from 2017-2021.

Back in the early 2000s, then-Mayor Freeman located a $400,000 grant to help save the historic Many KCS Depot from ruin, and in 2013 he shared the Town of Many’s hopes to renovate the building into a Sabine Parish Historical Museum. Until his retirement from office, he worked to secure support and help from various entities and elected officials to raise funds to renovate the old building, make it a viable structure and unveil it as a museum to be enjoyed for decades to come.

Last summer the former mayor shared, “Looking forward to the opening of ‘Many’s Sabine Parish Museum.’ For years, many people gave their time, talents and money to make this a reality.”

Museum guests at Saturday’s celebration are invited to enjoy refreshments, explore the interesting beginnings of Many and Sabine Parish and to examine the Train Room, complete with the newly created model replicas of beloved Sabine Parish landmarks.

(Special thanks to my wife Laurie for the article above.)

It is with sadness that we learned of the death of Brother Wilton “Tony” Anthony.  He almost made it to 88.

A native of Negreet, he was graduated from Florien High School.  He attended East Texas Baptist College, and his first church to pastor was Pleasant Hill Baptist Church while he was still in college.  He received his master’s degree in Theology from Southwestern Theological Seminary.

He was married to the former Florence King.  Together they served nine different churches, the last being Siloam Baptist Church, west of Many.  During his ministry there, new facilities were constructed, and new souls were won for the Lord.

We extend our deepest sympathy to members of the Anthony family.  He will be greatly missed.  We were fortunate to be able to call him a friend.

HERE’S YOUR CHANCE! Relive the excitement of the Mighty Many Tigers’ 2022 State Championship win and donate to the football team’s fundraising efforts to purchase championship rings. A replay of the exciting game will be shown Saturday, Feb. 18 at the Sabine Theater at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m. and concessions will be available.

The Many Police Dept. has worked hard, along with local officials, to secure two additional School Resource Officers (SRO). The two SROs are located at the SPARK school in Many and at Many Elementary.

Chief of Police Cheryl Wooley noted it was a cooperative effort with the Sabine Sheriff’s SRO program, the Town of Many, Many Mayor Robert Hable and the Sabine Parish School Board.

“One of my first goals was to get an SRO,” Chief Wooley explained, “And we got one within my first year. Now we have two!” she shared enthusiastically.

SROs help maintain safe school campuses, they handle problems that may arise involving students during the school day, and they provide positive role models to the school children. 

The Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office has multiple School Resource Officers serving the entire parish, and Many PD is happy to provide officers to help staff this great group who fill these much-needed positions. 

SROs’ responsibilities include:

1. Providing law enforcement and police services to the school, school grounds and areas adjacent to the school; investigating allegations of criminal incidents per police department policies and procedures; enforcing state and local laws and ordinances; and making appropriate referrals to juvenile authorities or other governmental agencies.

2. Working to prevent juvenile delinquency through close contact and positive relationships with students; the development of crime prevention programs; and conducting security inspections to deter criminal or delinquent activities.

3. The establishment and maintenance of close partnerships with school administrators in order to provide for a safe school environment; assisting school officials with their efforts to enforce Board Of Education policies and procedures; ensuring school administrator safety by being present during school searches, which may involve weapons, controlled dangerous substances or in cases that involve a student’s emotional state; and assisting school administrators in emergency crisis planning and building security matters.

4. Being visible within the school community; attending and participating in school functions; and building working relationships with school staff as well as with student and parent groups.

“We are proud to welcome these two officers to Many PD and to the Sabine Parish School District.  We have worked closely with the Sabine School Board in order to get these School Resource Officers in place,” Chief Wooley stated. “We understand it is critical to build good connections with our kids. We want communication [with students] to be two-way street. This is just one way to start with our youngest citizens and next generation of leaders,” she said.

Throughout the school year, the SROs also participate in various educational and teaching experiences with students.

A School Resource Officer has served at SPARK since 2022; currently stationed there is Officer David Self. The newest SRO is Officer Brad Raynes, who now serves at Many Elementary School on the main Many campus.

Word has it that the Many Town Council met the last of January to consider an ordinance to allow open drinking on the streets of Many during parades.  We heard that two council members were absent.  At the meeting of those present, two voted in favor of the move, and one voted against.  Rules were that all three had to vote in favor, so the motion failed.

It was said another meeting was going to be called the next day but did not materialize because enough votes to pass the ordinance could not be obtained.

The Annual Blanket Drive is going on now. Donate blankets for winter use by senior citizens to the Many Sabine Council on Aging (SCOA) located at 200 Legacy Dr., Many, LA 71449; the Toledo Town SCOA located at 29275 Hwy. 191, Many, LA 71449; the Florien SCOA located at 1227 Nolan Trace, Florien, LA 71429; or the Converse SCOA, located at 211 N. Front St., Converse, LA 71419.

New or gently used blankets may be dropped off at any of the four locations Monday thru Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. until Tuesday, Feb. 28. Blankets may also be ordered and shipped through Amazon to any one of these locations at the address provided above. Participants may also donate their blankets in memory or honor of someone.

“Happiness is making a senior smile,” the SCOA posted. “Share the warmth.”

There was a gas leak in the old Sabine Theater building last week, we understand.  Some of the folks nearby were asked to evacuate. We heard service to the building was turned off.

WANTED: TIMOTHY DUSTIN MESHELL

Sheriff Aaron Mitchell reported on Tuesday morning that two recent felony theft cases were solved by Detectives at the Criminal Investigations Division and as a result, an arrest warrant has been issued for Timothy Dustin Meshell, age 38, of Natchitoches who is wanted at this time.

The cases began in mid-January when a 31′ travel trailer and 10’x12′ portable building were stolen from two victims who live near the Sabine-Natchitoches Parish line, close to Marthaville. The travel trailer’s contents included two firearms.

SPSO Det. Don Flores investigated the cases and was able to develop a couple of suspects. Det. Flores was assisted in the case by Natchitoches Parish Sheriff Det. Lt. Jonathan Byles.

On Friday, Jan. 27, detectives obtained and executed a search warrant on Richard Jordan Lp. in Natchitoches Parish off Hwy. 120 where detectives located the portable building. A week later, Friday, Feb. 3, detectives located the stolen travel trailer at a gas well location in Desoto Parish. The two firearms were not inside.

An arrest warrant was obtained for Timothy Dustin Meshell, age 38, of Natchitoches for Theft over $25,000 and two counts of Theft of a firearm.

Meshell is wanted at this time. Persons with any information on Meshell’s whereabouts are asked to contact Det. Flores at (318) 590-9475 or to submit an anonymous tip through the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s App.

Det. Flores said the investigation is ongoing, and more arrests and charges are pending.

Sheriff Mitchell and Chief Deputy Brad Walker commended Det. Flores for his work on the case and thanked Natchitoches Parish Sheriff Detectives for their help in this investigation.

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

WE GET LETTERS. And we are always happy to hear from longtime friend and faithful Observations reader Dr. Ronald Byrd of South Boston, VA. We must mention that Ronny, a native of Marthaville, taught at Louisiana State University for 40 years and has had around 200 published research articles. He is also a two-time national badminton champion. His most recent note to Observations follows.

“Robert, the climate change fanatics have been in the news this week [mid-January], meeting in Europe and spreading doomsday lies again (Al Gore… ‘boiling oceans, rain bombs…’). He’s shameless… none of his predictions have come to pass, and it is obvious that he’s incapable of being embarrassed by being caught lying.  When global warming ceased, they changed their message to climate change, adding that mankind’s use of fossil fuels is responsible. These people support the UN’s IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) as does the mainstream media and the majority of the education establishment.  The IPCC is a politicized body that ignores the tenets of science and focuses only on those who agree with their agenda, depending mostly on flawed models that predict what they want them to predict. Anyone into programming will tell you that you can set up models to predict anything you want; still, they give grants galore to applicants who will do their bidding, producing more ‘evidence’ of the coming end of civilization as we know it.  The IPCC and a multitude of liberals claim that the science is settled, with 97% of scientists in agreement regarding climate change.  An example to the contrary is that about one hundred scientists produced the IPCC Kyoto, Japan summary in 1997, and there was a rebuttal signed by 31,478 American scientists.  Who got press coverage?  The lying IPCC! Almost nobody learned about the fact that over thirty thousand American scientists urged the US Government to reject the Kyoto Report.  Among their points: ‘There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing, or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate.’ The media’s hysterical coverage of anything out of IPCC makes it clear that theirs is a political knee jerk response rather than an educated and science-supported approach. For more info: www.heartland.org. This is an address that all public and private school science teachers should investigate. …I just finished reading my second book regarding the reasons that real scientists generally disagree with global warming and climate change warnings. I can only guess at the psychological damage caused by these climate lies and the gender cultists on impressionable, young children. Oh, my goodness, Robert.  I got carried away again!  Ronny”

Northwestern State University hosted the first of this semester’s Louisiana GEAR Up events by presenting an Experiential Learning Day for 110 Sabine Parish high school students on Jan 27. Activities included an ACT Prep Workshop led by School of Education professors and the Winning Workshop Series which focuses on mindfulness and career readiness. 

Students from Converse, Florien and Negreet high schools workshopped with college faculty from the departments of Psychology, Computer Information Systems (CIS), Fine and Graphic Art, New Media, Journalism and Communication Arts, and Nursing and Allied Health.  Lunch was provided so the visiting students could network with NSU faculty, staff and students between academic workshops. 

“We heard from students that they enjoyed today’s experiential learning activities, dining at Iberville Cafeteria and touring our campus.  We look forward to welcoming them back for future youth educational programming events planned for February and March,” said Steven Gruesbeck, executive director of La GEAR UP. “We also hope that they’ll return to NSU as freshmen, where we will continue to do our part to prepare them for successful entry into the workforce.”

A federally funded national initiative, Louisiana Gear Up (Louisiana Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is supported by the U.S. Dept. of Education, which awards grants to states or institutions of higher learning to create partnerships with high-poverty middle or high schools. In partnership with 16 school districts and the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA), Louisiana Gear Up aims to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in post-secondary education. 

(The above article was written by Leah Jackson, NSU Director of Public Information and Media Relations, and shared with us by NSU Director of Communications David West. We thank them both.)

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