Wednesday, March 11, 2020
At its February meeting, the Winn Parish Police Jury passed a motion to end the payment of health insurance premiums for the Jurors by the end of the current term. Several Jurors had chosen not to take the health insurance, but if they had it would have cost $66,000 annually. It was pointed out that premiums will continue to rise and that doing away with the health insurance will leave more money for the general fund.
It has been reported that the matter was a big topic of discussion in Winn Parish and had created negative impact on the Jurors. The argument was made that since being a Juror is a part-time job, health insurance should not be offered.
Now let’s take a look at the Sabine Parish Police Jury: Last year on Jan. 31, the monthly premium for medical insurance for Jurors was $10,746.27 per month. This year in January, it had dropped to $8,847.67. The drop was caused because two new Jurors who took office in January refused to take the insurance. They are Bo Steward of District 1 and Jeff “Gilligan” Davidson of District 5. Also, the Jury President’s total for January 2019 was $580.49, and it has now dropped to $53.69, for a monthly savings of $526.80. It should also be noted that Ricky “K-Wall” Sepulvado, District 7, is not listed on either year as participating in the insurance program.
Below is a chart supplied by the Police Jury showing the expense at the end of January 2020. The column listed “SPPJ” is the amount paid by the Jury, i.e. you the taxpayers. The premium increases over January 2019 are: Brown, $72.33; Byrd, $56.11; and Garcie, $75.58. It is noted that three Jurors – Brown, Byrd and Garcie – have a total of 8,656.05 in insurance premiums. If you break it down per district, there is nothing equal about it.
A lot of folks in Sabine think the Jurors who are part-time employees should not receive this benefit. We laud Stewart, Davidson and Sepulvado who chose not to take it, but instead think the funds should be spent on our horrible Sabine Parish roads. Will there be a change in the Police Jury’s actions? We bet not.
Our new State Representative Rodney Schamerhorn, District 24, has hit the ground running and we are proud of him. He has introduced a bill in the current session of the State Legislature to completely do away with governing bodies paying for retirement and health insurance for public officials. “This includes everybody from the Governor to the dog catcher,” he told Observations. “I look at being an elected official as serving the public and it is what you choose to go into. It should not be something that you use to enrich yourself.” He said his bill, if passed, would save the over-taxed taxpayers money.
“Currently the retirement account for the state is $22 billion underfunded,” he stated. “You don’t hear anybody talk about that. They don’t want to. The interest on the amount is tremendous.”
His bill won’t pass. There are not enough members of the State Legislature who have the cojones to vote for it. But we are proud that our State Representative does.
There are other bills that Rep. Schamerhorn has also filed. One is to do away with the publication of legal notices by governing bodies in newspapers. His bill would require that governing bodies run only a small notice or banner announcing where their minutes and notices can be found on the internet. In other words, all governing bodies would have sites on the internet where their minutes and notices could be found. And it would save the government a ton of money that they are now spending to run legal notices in newspapers. Rep. Schamerhorn said he is pleased with the support he has already gotten for this bill, and said he thinks it stands a chance of passing.
In this electronic age, it is long overdue. Print is dying, and not so slowly in some places.
Another bill would put electric linemen in the category of being a first responder. “They get called out at all times when there are emergencies, and they deserve to be placed in this category,” Schamerhorn stated.
A final bill concerns feral hogs. The bill would allow the killing of feral hogs at any time. Presently, the hogs cannot be killed during deer hunting season. Rep. Schamerhorn’s bill would also allow the killing of hogs on your property or on property you have permission to hunt. “Feral hogs are taking over and do a lot of damage to our land,” he stated. “We need to work hard to cut down on the population.”
Sabine School Supt. Sara P. Ebarb has issued the following statement: “Following an incident last month involving members of the Many High School boys’ basketball team, investigations were begun by both law enforcement agencies and school system administrators. Pending the completion of those investigations, the coaches of the team (Ryan Vines and Darrin Dyess) were placed on administrative leave. The Louisiana State Police indicated Friday that it has found no wrongdoing on the part of the coaches. The School Board investigation reached the same conclusion. As a result, Coach Vines and Coach Dyess will be returned to full duty effective Tuesday, March 3, 21020.”
Word is that right-of-way for the 36-inch pipeline that will come through Sabine Parish is now underway. The line is slated to run from DeSoto Parish to near Gillis, which is near Lake Charles. It is reported that somewhere around 500 employees will handle the job. We’ll have more information in a future Observations.
One of our beloved regular readers of Observations is David West, Director of Communications at Northwestern State University. He has been a friend for a lot of years and does a great job in his position at Northwestern. David was graduated from high school at Berwick and got a degree in government from Nicholls State University.
His first cousin is Shelly Salter who will take over soon as our Sabine Parish Clerk of Court. Their grandparents were Chester and Elizabeth West. They are also related to the Loveladys in Sabine through their great-grandfather.
Said he of Shelly, “There’s no doubt she will do a wonderful job. She is in that position to serve and will never consider herself a politician.”
Tickets are now available for the big 23rd Annual Sabine Hall of Fame banquet upcoming on Tuesday, March 31.
Major sponsors for this year’s event are Curtis Family Pharmacy, Interstate Building Materials, Nichols, Sabine Retirement & Rehabilitation Center and Walsh Timber Co.
Since 1998, the Sabine Hall of Fame has selected a parish resident, who has amassed a lifetime of achievement and is age 70 or older, for annual induction into the Sabine Hall of Fame. It is Sabine Parish’s highest honor. The group recently announced their 2020 slate of honorees as follows:
EDITH J. PALMER – 2020 Sabine Hall of Fame Inductee
OTTO O’NEIL MEYERS III – Achievement Award; presented to a Sabine Parish native now located elsewhere who became very successful in his or her field of endeavor.
SAVANAH and SIARAH HALL – Accomplishment Award; presented to Sabine Parish citizens, age 25 or below, who have performed deeds deserving recognition.
DALE SKINNER – Special Recognition Award; presented to a Sabine Parish citizen whose achievements have bettered our communities, parish, its organizations and endeavors.
FRANCES HOPKINS – Good Citizen Award; presented to a Sabine Parish resident whose community involvement has benefitted citizens throughout the parish.
DR. WARREN L. FOUNDS and COACH MALVIN OGDEN – Posthumous Awards
The banquet is Tuesday, March 31, at 6:30 p.m. at Siloam Baptist Church at 35480 Hwy. 191 in Many. It promises to be a memorable night of celebration with interesting stories of the honorees, fine musical entertainment and dinner.
Tickets are $50 per person, and profits this year will benefit Pink Sisters of Sabine, a new non-profit for local breast cancer patients. Payment may be sent to Sabine Hall of Fame at P. O. Box 294, Many, LA 71449, or tickets may be obtained at 1030 San Antonio Ave., and Nichols in Wright’s Shopping Center in Many, from Nell Britner, (318) 256-4344; Board Members William Ruffin, (318) 256-3135; or Martha Henderson, (318) 294-3362.
Reserved premium seating is available – a table of eight for $400, and reserved table buyers will be featured in the printed event program as a Table Sponsor.
For more information, contact Nell Britner at (318) 256-4344 or douciere.nb@gmail.com; or Laurie Gentry at (318) 332-7873 or lauriegentrydesigns@gmail.com.
At each year’s banquet, the grand finale is the Hall of Fame induction with the unveiling of a bronze relief plaque, which is later placed permanently in the entry corridor of the Sabine Parish Courthouse. The group’s stated purpose is “A non-profit charitable organization appreciating our history through its outstanding citizens.”
Music lovers throughout Sabine Parish will want to attend the annual Spring Concert given by the Many High School Band.
The award-winning band is under the direction of conductor Scott DeBose.
The concert is at the Many Community Center (Sabine Theater) this Friday night, March 13, at 7 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults and $2 for children. Everyone is encouraged to attend and enjoy the music.
The award-winning band’s spring performance will delight music lovers throughout the parish who attend.
All admission fees and donations will help the band with the expenses of a trip later this year to represent Sabine Parish and Louisiana at a parade in Washington, DC.
Make Friday the 13th a lucky night and support the talented MHS and MJHS bands by attending the band concert.
Concessions will be available at the concert.
The amazing Disney fantasy film Aladdin is the featured free film playing at the Many Community Center on Saturday, March 14.
The movie is free and is suitable for families with young children. Ken Freeman, mayor of Many, said that Aladdin is one of several movies this spring that are suitable for the entire family to enjoy. “We want our families to come and enjoy the movies together,” Freeman stressed. “That’s why the movies we play at the Many Community Center are never rated ‘R’. We play G, PG, PG-13 movies here at the theatre.”
Aladdin is a 2019 American musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a live action adaptation of Disney’s 1992 animated film of the same name which itself is based on the story from One Thousand and One Nights. The film stars Will Smith as Aladdin.
Aladdin, a kind-hearted street urchin living in the Arabian city of Agrabah along with his pet monkey, explore and rescue Princess Jasmin who is tired of her sheltered life. Meanwhile, the grand vizier, Jafar, schemes to overthrow Jasmine’s father as the Sultan with the support of Iago, his sardonic pet parrot. He seeks a magic lamp hidden in the Cave of Wonders that will grant him three wishes. He has been unable to retrieve the lamp himself because only “the diamond in the rough” is allowed to enter the cave.
Jafar discovers Aladdin is the diamond in the rough and when Aladdin sneaks back into the royal palace to talk to Jasmine (while also meeting Jasmine’s handmaiden Dalia, and pet tiger Rajah), he is captured and persuaded by Jafar’s deal to help him retrieve the lamp: since only Aladdin can enter the cave alive, he will retrieve the lamp for Jafar and Jafar will make Aladdin rich enough to impress Jasmine. Jafar warns Aladdin not to take anything but the lamp. Inside the cave, Aladdin finds a magic carpet and obtains the lamp, but Abu accidentally causes the cave to collapse after he catches a falling ruby. Aladdin gives the lamp to Jafar, but he double-crosses Aladdin and kicks him and Abu back into the cave, though Abu steals the lamp back. The magic carpet catches Aladdin and saves him from falling to his death.
Trapped in the cave, Aladdin rubs the lamp, unwittingly summoning an omnipotent Genie, who lives inside it. The Genie explains that he has the power to grant Aladdin three wishes, with the exceptions of murder, romance, the resurrection of the dead, and more wishes. Aladdin gets the Genie to free them from the cave without using a wish on a technicality: Aladdin didn’t rub the lamp as he stated the wish. After they get out of the cave, Aladdin uses his first official wish to become a prince to impress Jasmine, and promises to use his third wish to free Genie from servitude and turn him human. Abu is temporarily transformed into an elephant in the process.
You’ll find out what happens next in this magic story that has endured throughout the ages when you bring your family to see Aladdin at the Many Community Center on Saturday night, March 14, starting at 7 p.m.
And here’s some good news. If you like the movie, you’ll be happy to know that Disney Pictures is already making a sequel that will come out in 2021. It will play at the Many Community Center as soon as it is available.
Movies in Many is sponsored by Many Mayor Ken Freeman, the Many City Council and the Many Cultural Advisory Committee.
A special thank you to Mary Brocato for the two previous articles.
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What a week: it started with changing our clocks, it has a full moon, and ends on Friday, the 13th. P.S. Don’t forget to wash your hands.
Thanks for reading, as always. I welcome your thoughts and suggestions for future articles. Send an email to robertrgentry@gmail.com or call (318) 332-8653. To see older, archived Observations, visit our Facebook page, where they are listed by date under Photo Albums. To see newer ones, follow the pages below. To print, save or send this week’s column, click on the appropriate icon below.
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