Louisianans ages 12 and up can now receive the COVID-19 vaccine, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) action late Wednesday formally recommending the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for this age group. Prior to this announcement, the Pfizer vaccine was recommended and authorized for people no younger than 16 years of age.

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine for this age group earlier this week. On Wednesday, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices overwhelmingly recommended, and the CDC approved, this use of the vaccine, based on clinical trial data that found it to be safe and effective.

State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter said the vaccine has now passed the same safety benchmarks for this younger age group as it did for those ages 16 and older. The Louisiana Department of Health on Thursday morning alerted vaccine providers that they can begin administering the Pfizer vaccine to people ages 12 and up. This updated guidance goes into effect immediately.

“We have the utmost confidence in the FDA and CDC’s rigorous safety and efficacy review and, after looking at the data ourselves, are excited to now expand eligibility for more young people in Louisiana,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter, Louisiana State Health Officer. “Today is a good day, and it means more families have the ability to protect their children and their families and enjoy summer with confidence.”

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has joined state and national health officials and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in urging young people, their parents, and all adults to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is available to them.

“As a parent, I know that decisions regarding the health of our children are among the most important ones we make. I hope all parents of adolescents will consider protecting their children with the COVID-19 vaccine and, if they have questions, that they ask their child’s pediatrician or another trusted medical professional,” said Governor Edwards. “Today we enter a new phase in our fight to slow the spread of COVID-19, with the expansion of the Pfizer vaccine to 12-15-year-olds. This vaccine is proven to be safe and effective and already we’ve seen a major decrease in the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in older people who are fully vaccinated.”

There are currently about 1,500 locations in Louisiana that offer the COVID-19 vaccine. To get your questions answered, find a provider or event near you, or get your appointment scheduled, just call our COVID Vaccine Hotline at 855-453-0774.

For a person younger than age 18, parental/caregiver consent is needed to get the shot. To make it easy, the Louisiana Department of Health has developed a consent form that can be found on its website at: covidvaccine.la.gov

The guidance issued by the CDC states the vaccines are safe and effective for people between the ages of 12 and 16. In clinical trials, the Pfizer vaccine has demonstrated 100 percent effectiveness in children as young as 12 years old with minimal side effects.

The reviews by the FDA and the CDC concluded that people ages 12 and above will not have side effects that are different from people who have already been vaccinated. These side effects are mild and include moderate pain or swelling in the arm where the shot was given, fever, chills, tiredness and/or headaches. These are normal side effects that usually go away within a couple of days.

---

In April, I fished the American Bass Anglers Ray Scott National Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Tennessee. This is a four-day event you have to qualify for by finishing in the top ten overall in your division. There are divisions all over the United States especially the Eastern half of the country from Texas up to Minnesota over to Maine and down to Florida. For me, this makes my fifth Ray Scott Championship that I have qualified for in the last 6 years.

Covid 19 has had a big impact on this event the last two years and all the protocol that goes with it. Don’t get me wrong, ABA (American Bass Anglers) does a great job with organizing this event. We no longer have a pre-tournament banquet to honor the Anglers of the Year and we don’t have the great door prizes anymore; something the anglers really miss. The night before the event we do a personal check-in and pick up some free product, caps and t-shirts. We still have a meal but it’s in a to-go box and this year we had beef nachos. If there’s one thing anglers can do, it’s eat! This is also when you have to be on guard for fishing information designed to throw an angler off his game. We call this ‘dock talk” and its people who like to talk to hear themselves. While none of us are fishing for a living, we are fishing for thousands of dollars and a new loaded 20-foot Triton boat and the one and only opportunity for one of us to be a true national champion.

Day one was not what I expected as I only weighed two fish for 5.21 lbs. Now even though I felt good about what I thought I could catch, the first thing I noticed as I arrived at my starting spot, was how the water level had dropped. From the time I arrived at Chickamauga on Sunday, the lake was 3 feet low and continued to fall each day. But I was able to find fish in two areas on the northern end of the lake. One was a creek that held some good quality fish, and the other was a spawning flat with fish on beds. As I have said before, tournament fishing is a game of decisions and if you choose wrong, you will take yourself out of the competition. This is exactly what I did by choosing to fish the northern end of the lake instead of south. Now I did pre-fish on the south end with some success but, it was very crowded as there was not a fifty-yard stretch that did not have a boat on it. I don’t fish well in crowds, and it was at this point (day 2 of practice) that I decided to fish north. I really felt good about this decision especially after my day 3 practice with the fish I found. One thing you have to understand about river systems like Chickamauga, the water closest to the dam (south end) remains more stable than the water level up the lake. So, while the south end remained more stable with little effect on the fishing, the northern end had a constant drop in water level every day which pulled the fish out of the areas I had, or they were so shallow I could not even get to them by day two of the tournament. These are not excuses but just the facts as to how all the anglers that committed to going up the lake, struggled to weigh not just quality but even a five fish limit.

I still had a great time on this trip and like my previous five Ray Scott National Championship events, it was a huge success. ABA Tournament Director Chris Wayand does an outstanding job running this tournament and I encourage anyone who wants to fish a really good circuit, jump on board with the ABA Open Series or fish the new ABA Top 150 Solo Tour. By writing these articles, I hope you learn from my mistakes. The one great thing about any sport is that once that event is over (win or lose) you have the opportunity to redeem yourself and get better. Even at 60 years of age and all my experience as an angler, I’m still learning. Remember, it is through failure that we become better. Till next time, don’t forget to set the hook!

Steve Graf
Owner/Co-host
Hook’N Up & Track’N Down Show
And Tackle Talk Live

---

May 14th Sudoku
Click on the pdf below and print.
Enjoy the puzzle.

---

Yesterday, Crawford Elementary School Principal Edwin Mason presented 5th grader Elizabeth Harlan with a plaque recognizing her as Student of the Year.  Mr. Mason said Miss Harlan “was a virtual student this year. She has been a consistent honor student all her elementary years.  We wish you much success!!”

Congratulations, Miss Harlan, from the Bienville Parish Journal!!!

---

1607 – Jamestown, Virginia was settled as an English colony.

1610 – Henry IV of France was assassinated by Catholic zealot François Ravaillac, and Louis XIII ascended to the throne.

1643 – Four-year-old Louis XIV became King of France upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.

1796 – Edward Jenner administered the first smallpox inoculation.

1800 – The 6th United States Congress recessed, and the process of moving the U.S. Government from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., began the following day.

1804 – William Clark and 42 men departed from Camp Dubois to join Meriwether Lewis at St. Charles, Missouri, marking the beginning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s historic journey up the Missouri River.

1842 – Illustrated London News; the world’s first illustrated weekly newspaper, began publication.

1878 – The last witchcraft trial held in the United States began in Salem, Massachusetts, after Lucretia Brown, an adherent of Christian Science, accused Daniel Spofford of attempting to harm her through his mental powers.

1925 – Virginia Woolf’s novel “Mrs Dalloway” was published by The Hogarth Press.

1927 – “Ain’t She Sweet?” hit #1 on the singles chart by Ben Bernie.

1938 – “The Adventures of Robin Hood”, directed by Michael Curtiz, William Keighley and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland was released.

1939 – Lina Medina became the youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five.

1942 – US Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was formed.

1944 – Nazi General Erwin Rommel, Speidel & von Stulpnagel attempted to assassinate Adolph Hitler.

1945 – Physician Joseph G. Hamilton injected misdiagnosed cancer patient Albert Stevens (CAL-1) with 131 kBq (3.55 µCi) of plutonium without his knowledge. Stevens lived another 20 years, surviving the highest known accumulated radiation dose in any human.

1961 – Civil rights movement: A white mob twice attacked a Freedom Riders bus near Anniston, Alabama, before fire-bombing the bus and attacking the civil rights protesters who fled the burning vehicle.

1967 – New York Yankee Mickey Mantle hit career HR #500 off Baltimore Oriole’s Stu Miller.

1968 – The Beatles announced formation of their own record label, Apple Corp.

1969 – Chevrolet built its last Corvair.

1973 – Skylab, the United States’ first space station, was launched.

1986 – Netherlands Institute for War Documentation published Anne Frank’s complete diary.

1988 – Carrollton bus collision: A drunk driver traveling the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky hit a converted school bus carrying a church youth group. Twenty-seven died in the crash and ensuing fire.

1989 – The final TV episode of “Family Ties” aired on NBC with a an audience of 36 million.

1998 – Seinfeld’s final 2-part episode “The Finale” aired on NBC to 76.3M viewers (commercials priced at $2M for 30 seconds)

---

Yesterday, the Arcadia Lions Club held their Second Thursday Meeting. Kirk, Gary, David and Amber from the Bienville Medical Center spoke about current happenings at the hospital.  Amber is a nurse practitioner who will be taking care of kids at the new clinic in the Brookshires shopping center.  The clinic will be opening soon.  

---

May 14th Word Search
Click on the pdf below and print.
Enjoy the puzzle.

---

The 2021 turkey harvest in Louisiana was down almost 11 percent from 2020 and the culprit was likely heavy spring rains that plagued the state for much of the season, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Small Game Program Manager Cody Cedotal said. A total of 1,886 birds were harvested during the 2021 season, based on turkey tag validation data, down from 2,117 in 2020.

Since 2009, the harvest has averaged 2,006 birds per season.

“Unfavorable weather conditions for much of the season likely affected the overall success of turkey hunters in 2021,’’ Cedotal said. “We had good weather for the Good Friday (April 2) opener and it stayed favorable for much of the first week of the season. During this first week, with the good hunting conditions that existed, harvest was slightly higher compared to the first week of the 2020 season.’’

But the weather for the final three weeks of the season turned sour and harvest figures declined for those weeks from previous year reports for the same time period. Cedotal also said that hunter effort and harvest were likely elevated in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic as many more hunters entered the field with additional time on their hands. The 2021 turkey season ended on May 2.

Cedotal said reports and season assessments from hunters ranged from poor to very good. Many hunters indicated increased encounters with jakes, which is an indicator of moderate to good reproduction. Similar reports were noted in 2020.

“However, the intense rain events we continue to experience in some parts of the state are of immediate concern,’’ Cedotal said. “These rain events will likely have a negative impact on reproduction for this year causing nest failures and increased mortality of young wild turkey poults. Hopefully, we can begin to see some dry weather soon which will improve nesting and brood rearing conditions.’’

---

Katherine D. Washington, FNP-BC

A native of Shreveport, LA, Katherine Washington, FNP-BC, received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA in May 1998. Over the past 17 years, she has worked on the Medical-Surgical and Neonatal Intensive Care Units as an RN at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, and later the Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units at Christus-Schumpert Shreveport-Bossier and Suny Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. After 7 years of travel nursing throughout the United States, she went on to receive a Master of Science in Nursing from Northwestern State University in May 2015. During this tenure Katherine was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society and became a member of the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners. Katherine is certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. She began her employment with Bienville Community Health Center in Ringgold, LA as a Primary Care Provider in September 2015. Katherine and her family reside in Shreveport, LA.

Bienville Community Health Center
3265 Military Rd, Ringgold, LA 71068
Phone: 318-894-2341
Monday – Friday: 8:00am – 5:00pm

---

Since the launch of the Bienville Parish Journal’s Historical Video Archive, several more 8mm films have been digitized.  The first 30 seconds of this film shows the Saline Christmas Parade in the late 1970s or early 1980s. 

Is that Merle Wayne Cheatwood on the horse carrying the American Flag?  Is that Ronnie or Gene Humphrey in the race car?  Joe Harper is walking behind the “Merry Christmas from Joe’s Barber Shop” sign.  Jereme Dison is holding the sign on the left side.  Blackie Ellis is leading a donkey which is carrying Carolyn Dison dressed as a clown.

Click here to see more videos from the Bienville Parish Journal’s Historical Video Archive.

If you have 8mm or super 8mm film which pertains to Bienville Parish in any way, please contact the Bienville Parish Journal at BPJNewsLA@gmail.com or call the editor at 318-332-0558.  

---

None reported

---

Before sunrise on Saturday, May 8th, while most of us were still asleep in our cozy beds, members of the His Mission team gathered at the home of Samantha Watkins to construct a a 5’x8’ deck with 20’ ramp.  Samantha has been in a nursing home for five months battling Covid-19 and has been in COVID-19 rehab.  Doctors said Samantha could only return home if she had a ramp.  The His Mission team learned about Samantha’s predicament and decided to take action.  By 12:30 p.m. that day, the His Mission team had completed Samantha’s new ramp.  Samantha will now be able to return home after a grueling five months.  His Mission team members who worked on this project were Janice Wise Lindsey, Edward Lindsey, Glen A. Davis, Keith Duck, Brittany Toms, Kristen Myranda Dillon, Thomas Dison, Larry Ramsey, Dewayne Ramsey, Ronald Aaron, Lane Tims, Steve Cloud, Justin Davis, David Leggett, and Ken Roberts.

His Mission is a local non-profit multi-denominational team of men and women who have done countless projects for the betterment of the community including working on the homes of the less-fortunate at no cost to the homeowner. In the past His Mission team members helped build an orphanage and churches on the Yucatan Peninsula, and numerous projects in the foothills of Tennessee. Most recently, His Mission has turned their attention to local missions in Bienville, Jackson, Lincoln, and Winn Parishes.

Materials for these projects are expensive and the cost of building supplies is constantly increasing.  If you would like to help by making a donation, please mail checks to:

His Mission
6286 Hwy 155
Saline LA 71070

Do you know of anyone or any group who is doing something positive in our parish?  If so, please email the Journal at BPJNewsLA@gmail.com

---

---

On Monday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the American Rescue Plan will deliver $350 billion for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and bring back jobs.  The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provide a substantial infusion of resources to help turn the tide on the pandemic, address its economic fallout, and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery.

The State of Louisiana is slated to receive $3,011,136,886.60.  Bienville Parish is slated to receive $2,571,909.00.

Treasury is launching this much-needed relief to:

• Support urgent COVID-19 response efforts to continue to decrease spread of the virus and bring the pandemic under control
• Replace lost revenue for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs
• Support immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses
• Address systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the inequal impact of the pandemic

The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provide substantial flexibility for each government to meet local needs—including support for households, small businesses, impacted industries, essential workers, and the communities hardest hit by the crisis. These funds can also be used to make necessary investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.

Congress has allocated Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to tens of thousands of eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments. These allocations include:

Type	Amount ($ Billions)
States & District of Columbia	$195.3
Counties	$65.1
Metropolitan Cites	$45.6
Tribal Governments	$20.0
Territories	$4.5
Non-Entitlement Units of Local Government	$19.5

Local governments will receive funds in two tranches, with 50% provided beginning in May 2021 and the balance delivered approximately 12 months later. States that have experienced a net increase in the unemployment rate of more than 2 percentage points from February 2020 to the latest available data as of the date of certification will receive their full allocation of funds in a single payment; other states will receive funds in two equal tranches. Governments of U.S. territories will receive a single payment. Tribal governments will receive two payments, with the first payment available in May and the second payment, based on employment data, to be delivered in June 2021.

The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provide eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments with a substantial infusion of resources to meet pandemic response needs and rebuild a stronger, and more equitable economy as the country recovers. Recipients may use these funds to:

• Support public health expenditures, by, for example, funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, and certain public health and safety staff
• Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector
• Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic
• Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors
• Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, and to expand access to broadband internet

Within these overall categories, recipients have broad flexibility to decide how best to use this funding to meet the needs of their communities.

Source:  

1. “Treasury Launches Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to Deliver $350 Billion,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, accessed May 11, 2021, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0169.

2. “Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, accessed May 11, 2021, https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-state-local-and-tribal-governments/state-and-local-fiscal-recovery-funds.

---

On Friday, May 7th, after rushing back from Baton Rouge where Tyrin competed in another state championship in which he placed 4th in 200m dash and 7th in 100m dash, Ringgold High School’s powerlifting coach Shon Trent presented Tyrin with his official championship ring. 

Tyrin Cunningham is Ringgold High School’s first state power lifting champion in the 181 lb. division.  Tyrin , a junior at Ringgold High School,  outlifted nine other lifters at the state powerlifting meet which was held March 18th at Fant-Ewing Arena on the campus of the University of Louisiana Monroe. Tyrin wowed the crowd with his first lift squatting an impressive 430 lbs. He followed that up by benching 245 lbs. which separated himself from the pack. Lastly, he left no doubt with a powerful deadlift of 460 lbs.

At the state competition, Cunningham was being courted by several colleges wanting his services for powerlifting throughout the meet. Tyrin was told several times by the LHSAA judges about his impressive lifting skills which only motivated him more to push forward. Through it all Tyrin stayed humble and appreciative of being the trailblazer for Ringgold High School.

 

---

All-new series LOUISIANA LAW follows the men and women of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) as they patrol one of the most geographically diverse states in the U.S., with a jurisdiction that ranges from 200 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico up to the border of Arkansas. With the authority to enforce all fish and wildlife laws in addition to state and federal criminal laws, the wildlife agents of Louisiana are tasked with protecting the natural resources of the state and are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, often patrolling alone and miles from backup. Audiences will travel deep into the woods and bayous with these wildlife agents as they encounter perilous situations that affect wildlife and citizens alike, all in the name of conservation. LOUISIANA LAW premiered exclusively on Animal Planet Sunday (May 9) at 8 p.m.

“This show is a window into the day-to-day experiences of our dedicated and professional wildlife agents,” said LDWF Secretary Jack Montoucet. “I am happy and proud that the public will get to see the decisions these men and women have to make daily to maintain our Sportsman’s Paradise.”

“We are super excited to show the world what we do as wildlife agents day in and day out for the state of Louisiana,” said Col. Chad Hebert, head of the LDWF Law Enforcement Division. “We are proud of the show and the jobs our agents do to help conserve the wildlife resources for this Sportsman’s Paradise for generations to come. The show will also highlight the many other facets of what it takes be a wildlife agent for the state.”

Nicknamed “Sportsman’s Paradise” because of the state’s rich resources and activities like fishing, hiking, and hunting, Louisiana is home to more than one million alligators, countless crawfish, shrimp, oysters, bobcats, black bear, deer, 160 species of birds, and an abundance of fresh and saltwater fish. With this wealth of species, legal fishing and hunting is a way of life for some residents; to preserve the land and to protect both citizens and wildlife, the wildlife agents patrol Louisiana’s beautiful bayous, massive river deltas, and thick pine forests.

In the premiere episode of LOUISIANA LAW, audiences met the courageous wildlife agents who patrol this rich, diverse state. Sgt. Scott Dupre and Senior Agent William Carpenter tracked down and investigated a crab fisherman allegedly stealing hundreds of traps belonging to other fishermen in the southern waters of St. Mary Parish. Sgt. Dupre and Senior Agent William Carpenter rescued an injured eagle on the side of the road, while in Cameron Parish, Cpl. Michael Hebert seized an illegally caught flounder and donated the fish to a family in need. In Bossier Parish, Sr. Agent Emily Sexton and Cpl. Justin Greer faced a tough dilemma when a young hunter’s first deer is brought illegally across state lines by his father. And Cpl. Blaine Wagner and Sr. Agent Austin Landry were on oyster patrol off the southern coast of St. Bernard Parish, where they encountered a Captain that had a full boat of oysters with no proper licenses; the situation escalated when they suspected the captain of driving under the influence.

Animal Planet viewers can join the conversation on social media by using #LouisianaLaw, and follow Animal Planet on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates.

---

Registering for the giveaway is easy.  No purchase is necessary.

Click here and enter your name and email address before May 31st.

We DO NOT share your email address with anyone.

If you already receive the Journal in your email, you’re already signed up for the giveaway.  Be sure to tell a friend.

If you have any questions, please email the journal at BPJNewsLA@gmail.com.

---

NOTE:  There was a numerical error in this article which has been corrected.  The Bienville Parish Journal and Bienville Parish School Board apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused.

The School Board held its regular meeting on May 6th in Arcadia.  Download official agenda and minutes for this meeting at the end of this article.

• The board unanimously passed a resolution designating May 10-14, 2021 as “Employee Appreciation Week.”
• The board recognized several board members with Certificates of Merit for completing more than twenty CLU hours in the 2020 Calendar year.  State law only required them to complete 6 CLU hours.  The following members went beyond the six-hour requirement:
  • Sharolyn Boston (District 1) – 20 hours
  • Mickey Hampton (District 2) – 21 ½ hours
  • Freddie Blow (District 3) – 21 ½ hours
  • Bonita Reliford (District 4) – 21 ½ hours
  • Dr. Larry Knots (District 6) – 20 Hours
• The board unanimously passed a resolution on behalf of the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board for underground storage of natural gases, or other gases or vapors, located on the 16th Section Land on Lake Bistineau in Bienville and Bossier Parishes.

  Superintendent William Wysinger said, “We’re authorizing the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board to accept nominations to advertise and award bids, and execute mineral leases, and accept the terms and conditions of the storage. Back in October, the school board passed a resolution for McGinty-Durham to do the oil, gas and mineral lease. They couldn’t do that until the state gives the underground storage for the gas. That’s what this resolution will accomplish.”

• The board unanimously passed a resolution providing for the issuance and sale of One Million Six Hundred Eighty-Seven Thousand Dollars ($1,687,000) of General Obligation School Refunding Bonds, Series 2021, of Consolidated School District No. 33 of Bienville Parish, Louisiana and providing for other matters in connection therewith.

  The rate Superintendent Wysinger had previously obtained for the refunding was 1.4%.  He got a lower rate from Louisiana National Bank which was 0.9%.  Superintendent Wysinger said, “That will be a lot of savings on that interest that we’re going to have to pay.”

• The board unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the issuance of a one-time additional compensation for staff that worked in person to prepare, prevent, and respond to the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic.  The amount will be $1,200.  It will be the same for all employees, certificated and non-certificated.  There are some guidelines which will have to be met for an employee to be eligible;
  • Employee must have been an employee of the district from August 3, 2020, until May 20, 2021,
  • Employee must not have missed more than 50% of workdays during the 2020-2021 school year,
  • Employee must be on active status on the date of distribution, which will be May 19th, 2021,
  • Part time employees will be prorated based on their daily work schedule,
  • For employees hired during the 2020-2021 school year who are on currently active status, the stipend will be prorated by the number of contract days employed as long as 10% of the contract days were worked.
• The board considered and unanimously passed two requests for use of school facilities, both of which were for the Arcadia High School Gymnasium.  Two AAU basketball teams requested to use the gym in Arcadia to practice two nights a week, on different days so they won’t be in the gym at the same time.  The teams agreed to follow all of the safety guidelines and protocols set by the school board.
• The board had no requests for out of state educational trips.

• As a stipulation for renewal or continuation of one of an ad valorem tax, Superintendent Wysinger read an announcement for a public meeting. 

  Notice is hereby given that at a meeting to be held Thursday, June 3rd, 2021, at 6 pm, at its regular meeting place, the Bienville Parish School Board Annex, 1956 first Street, Arcadia, Louisiana, the Parish School Board of the Parish of Bienville, State of Louisiana, plans to consider adopting a resolution ordering and calling an election to be held in parish-wide school district of the Parish of Bienville, State of Louisiana, to authorize the renewal continuation of an ad valorem tax therein.

  The board will consider the resolution at the June, 2021 school board meeting.

• Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the school district was unable to have the academic banquet.  Superintendent Wysinger reported to the board that the total dual enrollment hours for the parish was 1,559.  Of the graduating seniors, 16 received general studies certificates and 4 received associates degrees.

• Superintendent Wysinger also announced that sales tax distribution for certificated personnel is $1,063, and support personnel is $759.

---

---

---

On Sunday, May 9, 2021, just after 7:00 p.m., Louisiana State Troopers assigned to Troop G began investigating a two-vehicle fatality crash on Louisiana Highway 154, west of Louisiana Highway 4. This crash killed 19-year-old Taylor Madison Weaver of Castor.

The initial investigation revealed that a 2009 Honda Accord, driven by Weaver, was traveling westbound on Louisiana Highway 154. At the same time, a 2015 Freightliner truck was traveling eastbound on Louisiana Highway 154. For reasons still under investigation, Weaver lost control of her vehicle and crossed the centerline which resulted in a collision with the Freightliner truck.

Weaver was unrestrained and sustained fatal injuries. The driver of the Freightliner was not injured.
Although impairment is not a suspected factor, toxicology samples were taken and will be submitted for analysis. This crash remains under investigation.

Troopers would like to remind all motorists that while not all crashes are survivable, buckling your seatbelt makes your chance of survival far greater, should you be involved in a crash. Also, avoiding driving distracted and obeying all posted speed limits can prevent crashes from occurring.

In 2021, Troop G Troopers have investigated seven fatal crashes resulting in seven fatalities.

The Bienville Parish Journal sends its thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of Taylor Weaver.

---

On Friday, May 6th, Governor John Bel Edwards and Amazon announced the company’s first robotics fulfillment center in Louisiana, with over 1,000 jobs and a $200 million capital investment coming to an LED Certified Site in north Shreveport. Located in the Hunter Industrial Park, the site is near Interstates 20, 49 and 220 and provides ideal access for Amazon’s logistics operations.

The Amazon robotics fulfillment center will include contemporary robotics technology, inventory and shipping operations in a multi-level building with a 650,000-square-foot foundation. The project will create over 1,000 full-time jobs with starting pay of $15 per hour and comprehensive benefits beginning on day one — full medical, vision and dental insurance; and 401(k) savings with a 50 percent company match. The development will generate 800 construction jobs, and Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in an additional 1,118 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 2,100 permanent new jobs in Northwest Louisiana.

“This new Amazon project is a major advancement for the Shreveport-Bossier City metro area and for Louisiana’s economy,” Gov. Edwards said. “In addition to providing strong benefits, Amazon will pay workers double the minimum wage or more in a state-of-the-art technology environment. Only a year ago, we dedicated Hunter Industrial Park as one site in a growing inventory of LED Certified Sites that now numbers 126 statewide. Through partnerships with our elected officials, economic development allies and utility partners, we are proving that great things are possible in Louisiana when we make smart plans for the future.”

One of every five U.S. residents lives within a 500-mile radius of Shreveport, making the location enviable for distribution and logistics companies. Amazon will begin construction of its Shreveport fulfillment center immediately, with plans to open the site in September 2022 in time for its busiest e-commerce season.

“Amazon may be a global business, but it’s made up of small businesses and communities. From the local jobs we bring, to the local people we employ, train, and upskill – our business is made up of people from communities like Shreveport,” said Amazon Regional Director of Operations William Hicks. “We’re thrilled to be able to expand our operations in Northwest Louisiana and we look forward to becoming part of the fabric of the local community.”

The Amazon robotics fulfillment center in Shreveport is the largest of seven Amazon facilities operating, announced or under construction in Louisiana. The company’s committed investment in the state to-date is more than $600 million and includes seven Whole Foods Market locations. In Shreveport, Amazon employees will pick, pack and ship smaller customer orders, such as books, toys, electronics and other household items.

“The City of Shreveport is committed to developing a diverse business community,” Mayor Adrian Perkins said. “We are excited to be the new home for a state-of-the-art distribution center. This will be a valuable asset to our community and will provide employment opportunities to hundreds of our residents. This project could change the life trajectory for many of our citizens who are still dealing with the financial fallout from the ongoing pandemic.”

LED and its economic development partners began formal discussions with Amazon about a potential Shreveport fulfillment center in August 2020. To secure the project, the State of Louisiana offered the company a competitive incentive package that includes the comprehensive workforce solutions of LED FastStart®, the nation’s No. 1 state workforce training and talent attraction program. To offset site infrastructure costs, Amazon will be eligible for a $5 million performance-based grant payable in two installments during 2022 and 2023. In addition, the Caddo Parish Industrial Development Board is negotiating a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement with the company.

“Great things are happening in Caddo Parish, and we are delighted to welcome Amazon into our parish and region,” said Caddo Parish Commission President Lyndon B. Johnson. “The arrival of such a large and multidimensional distribution center to Caddo Parish will undoubtedly have a significant impact on our area’s economy. The ability to utilize over 1,000 members of our community’s diverse and talented workforce will enhance the quality of life for our residents, and is a result of the strong collaboration between our governing bodies and community partners to create a winning opportunity for Amazon and the parish.”

In 2020, Amazon ranked Louisiana No. 5 among all states for the fastest annual growth among its digital entrepreneur partners. More than 14,500 small and medium-sized businesses in the state participate in Amazon’s fulfillment network and collectively recorded a 49 percent growth in recent year-over-year sales.

“We are thrilled to have Amazon become a new major employer in North Louisiana,” said Chairman Chap Breard of the North Louisiana Economic Partnership. “Their decision to locate in Shreveport confirms that North Louisiana’s competitive strategic location, strong stakeholder partnerships and project-ready industrial sites are critical for success in economic development.”

The hiring of most employees for Amazon’s Shreveport fulfillment center will begin in the summer of 2022, approximately three months prior to the launch of the facility. To keep up-to-date with career opportunities at Amazon in Shreveport, visit https://opportunities.ledfaststart.com/AmazonShreveport.

About LED
Louisiana Economic Development is responsible for strengthening the state’s business environment and creating a more vibrant Louisiana economy. LED cultivates jobs and economic opportunity for the people of Louisiana, and promotes business opportunity for employers of all sizes. In 2020, LED attracted 58 new economic development projects representing 11,600 new jobs, 8,600 retained jobs and $12.7 billion in new capital investment. LED’s Small Business Services team, in conjunction with the Louisiana Small Business Development Center Network, assisted more than 17,500 Louisiana small businesses and entrepreneurs in 2020. For more information, visit OpportunityLouisiana.com.

---

The Bienville Parish Police Jury will hold its regular monthly meeting this morning, May 12th, at 9:00 a.m. at the Bienville Parish Courthouse.

Look for a follow up article on this meeting in Friday’s issue.

---

1215 – English barons served ultimatum on King John which eventually led to the creation and signing of the Magna Carta.

1777 – First ice cream advertisement; published by Philip Lenzi in the New York Gazette.

1780 – American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina was taken by British forces.

1789 – Britain abolished the slave trade.

1846 – The Donner Party of pioneers departed Independence, Missouri for California, on what became a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism.

1862 – American Civil War: U.S. federal troops occupied Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1871 – Segregated street cars integrated in Louisville, Kentucky.

1926 – The Italian-built airship Norge became the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.

1932 – Ten weeks after his abduction, Charles Jr., the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, was found dead near Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the home of the Lindberghs.  

1934 “Cocktails For Two” by Duke Ellington became a #1 hit.

1937 Coronation of King George VI at Westminster Abbey, London.

1938 Sandoz Labs began manufacturing LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide).

1941 – Konrad Zuse presented the Z3, the world’s first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.

1942 – World War II: The U.S. tanker SS Virginia was torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German submarine U-507.

1949 – First foreign woman ambassador received in USA (Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India).

1960 Elvis Presley appeared on a Frank Sinatra special.

1963 – Bob Dylan walked out of “The Ed Sullivan Show” over a dispute about his song choice.

1965 – The unmanned Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashed on the Moon.

1967 “Are You Experienced” album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience was first released.

1980 – First nonstop trans-North American balloon flight landed at Sainte-Félicité, Quebec. Maxie Anderson and son Kristian piloted the Kitty Hawk for five days.

1982 – During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpowered Juan María Fernández y Krohn before he was able to attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet.

1989 – The San Bernardino train disaster killed four people, only to be followed a week later by an underground gasoline pipeline explosion, which killed two more people.

1994 – “Pulp Fiction”, directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

1997 – “It’s Your Love” single was released by Time McGraw and Faith Hill.

2002 – Former US President Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro.  He was the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro’s 1959 revolution.

2008 – An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occured in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.

2008 – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted the largest-ever raid of a workplace in Postville, Iowa, and arrested nearly 400 immigrants for identity theft and document fraud.

2010 – Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crashed on final approach to Tripoli International Airport in Tripoli, Libya, and killed 103 out of the 104 people on board.

2012 – The discovery of a missing Mayan calendar piece disproves 2012 Armageddon.

2015 – A train derailment in Philadelphia killed eight people and injured more than 200.

2015 – Massive Nepal earthquake killed 218 people and injured more than 3500.

2017 – The WannaCry ransomware attack impacted over 400 thousand computers worldwide, which targeted computers of the United Kingdom’s National Health Services and Telefónica computers.

2017 – Former One Direction singer Harry Styles released his self-titled debut solo album.

2018 – Paris knife attack: A man was fatally shot by police in Paris after killing one and injuring several others.

2020 – Russia’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 reached 232,000, second highest in the world, a day after President Vladimir Putin eased the country’s lockdown.

---

By Royal Alexander/Opinion

Crushing new taxes on job creators, along with workers staying home because they make more money not working, are harming our very productive economy.

President Reagan once stated, “I believe the best social program is a job.” That simple truth remains, and the Biden Administration would be wise to heed it.

The $2 trillion Biden plan will directly reduce wages, eliminate jobs, and restrict economic growth while decreasing private market investment, ultimately causing the U.S. to become less competitive. Why is that?

Because, among several other reasons, the proposal will increase the tax burden on entrepreneurs who create the very jobs a strong economy needs by raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent. Biden also plans to raise the long-term capital gains tax rate from its current 23.8% to a whopping 43.4%. (Note, the top capital gains tax rate for Chinese investors is only 20%. Yes, that means the U.S. will be punishing investors more than Communist China).

The corporate tax rate is damaging enough but that, unfortunately, is not all the Biden plan does. Among other things, it will also add a new minimum 15% tax on “book income” (income corporations publicly report on their financial statements to shareholders), increase taxes on multinational corporations based in the U.S., and undermine and weaken American competitiveness through a new international agreement between high-tax countries. (Heritage.org). It will also continue hammering the fossil-fuel industry, this time with targeted tax increases. (Recall on his first day in office Pres. Biden revoked a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline and also froze new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal lands and the issuance of new drilling permits).

What does all of this mean? In the simplest terms, if our federal (or state) government too heavily taxes economic activity we will have less economic activity. Taxes create a disincentive to provide or produce goods or services. For this reason, the power to tax is also the power to destroy. (Chief Justice John Marshall). Along these same lines we should also note that one of the most critical elements of job and business creation is the presence of individuals who are willing to take a risk—often a significant financial risk—that their business will succeed. The way you entice these individuals to do that is with affordable financial capital (start-up/investment dollars) to buy the equipment, lease or buy the space and/or location, and hire the people they will need to launch their business. If they cannot afford to borrow this start-up capital the business—and those jobs—will never be created.

Although we never seem to learn it, the lesson never changes when the government dramatically increases spending and significantly raises taxes the result is less economic growth, fewer jobs, and lower wages. Always. And, given that we are still recovering from government mandated Covid shutdowns the last thing we need to do is impose huge new taxes.

Taken together, these plans and the vast new taxes they include serve to put a drag on our increasingly vibrant post-Covid economy. I am hopeful that Congress will reject such harmful tax increases and instead focus on a concrete pro-growth agenda that keeps all taxes low—and job creators and job creation thriving in our economy.

---

May 3

• Michael Scott Sr. (Jonesville)
  • Failure to Appear – Execution of Sentence
  • Violation of Probation/Parole

May 6

• Shondace Kemp (Ringgold)
  • Violation of Probation/Parole
  • Domestic Abuse Battery

May 7

• Deshawn Gipson (Gibsland)
  • Criminal Trespass – Immovable Structure
• Kenneth Price Jr. (Ruston)
  • First Degree Rape (Sex Offense) – 2 Counts

May 8

• Kymberly Brinkman (Gibsland)
  • Improper Supervision of Minor by Parent/Legal Custodian

---

by Brad Dison

During World War II, allied forces used naval mines, self-contained underwater explosives, to destroy enemy ships and submarines. Sailors armed and deposited the mines in key areas where enemy ship traffic, especially German submarines known as U-boats, was likely. The slightest nudge ignited the mines. Sharks became an issue in the allied forces’ naval mining operation. Naturally curious, sharks frequently swam up to the naval mines for a closer look. In trying to determine what the mines were, sharks often bumped into the mines which triggered the mines and led to explosions. The military was not as much concerned for the welfare of the sharks as they were for the loss of the mines. Naval mining operations were time consuming, tedious, dangerous, and expensive. They needed some way to repel sharks from the mines.

Soon after the United States entered World War II, Carolyn McWilliams felt drawn to the war effort. She said later in life that “Everybody that I knew was in the Army or the Navy or down in Washington, so that’s where I went.” Carolyn tried to join the Women’s Army Corps (WACS) and the Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), but was rejected by both because, they claimed, she was too tall. Carolyn stood 6’2” tall. Undeterred and eager to do her part, Carolyn volunteered to work in the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Carolyn was just one of 4,500 other women who worked for the OSS. She worked as a file secretary and typed up thousands of names on small note cards for a system which was used to keep track of officers’ locations in the era before computers. Carolyn was well-educated and ambitious. Within a short time, she was transferred to the Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section, a top-secret experimental research project.

One of Carolyn’s tasks within the OSS was more suited to a chemist than someone whose previous work was as a file secretary. Carolyn’s job was to develop a chemical shark repellent. Her superiors hoped that in addition to keeping sharks away from naval mines, downed pilots in the ocean could use a shark deterrent to stave off shark attacks while they awaited rescue.

Sharks have a heightened sense of smell, hundreds of times more powerful than a human’s. They have the ability to detect trace amounts of various compounds in millions of gallons of water. During her experiments, Carolyn learned that sharks avoided dead sharks. With this information, Carolyn set out to develop a recipe which smelled like a dead shark.

Carolyn was pampered in an upper-class household. Her father graduated from Princeton University and became wealthy in the real estate business. Her mother was an heiress to a paper company. Her grandfather was a lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. Carolyn had no experience with recipes or cooking because the family had hired cooks. Undeterred, Carolyn eagerly accepted the challenge.

Carolyn tried various combinations of putrid-smelling recipes, many of which attracted sharks rather than repelled them. Finally, after numerous attempts, she found one which showed a slight repellence. Carolyn’s recipe was a mixture of copper acetate and black dye made into a cake. Although the CIA eventually released Carolyn’s dead shark cake recipe, its use during World War II remains classified. Some sources claim that Carolyn’s shark repellent “was a critical tool during WWII, and was coated on explosives that were targeting German U-boats.”

Carolyn learned that the OSS was planning to send people overseas. She had always wanted to travel and pushed for overseas duty. In 1944, the OSS transferred Carolyn to Ceylon, present day Sri Lanka, and Kunming, China, where she worked as Chief of the OSS Registry. The Registry served all American intelligence branches, and Carolyn, who had the highest security clearance due to her position, knew every top-secret message that passed into and out of her office.

While abroad, Carolyn met another OSS officer who was well-educated, well-traveled, and loved fine French cuisine. Carolyn and Paul fell in love. In September of 1946, just over a year after the allied victory in World War II, Carolyn and Paul married. With the war over, Carolyn returned to civilian life while Paul continued to work in intelligence. In 1948, Paul was assigned to the U.S. Information Agency in France. Carolyn had always wanted to visit France, but, being the driven person she was, she needed a task, a purpose. She enrolled in one of France’s most prestigious cooking schools, Le Cordon Bleu. Up until this point, the only significant recipe she had experimented with was her shark repellent cakes.

In 1951, Carolyn graduated from Le Cordon Bleu. For most people, graduating from such a prominent school would have been enough. Carolyn, however, knew that there was more that she wanted to learn. She studied under several master chefs in France and continued to experiment in the culinary arts. In that same year, she began working with two authors on a French cookbook for Americans. Ten years later, the trio finally found a publisher who was interested in publishing their 726-page Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The book was a best-seller and is still in print.

The book was the first leap in Carolyn’s culinary career. Carolyn became a syndicated author, wrote numerous books which were designed to teach Americans how to cook French cuisine, and became the most widely seen cooking host on television from the 1960s until the 1990s. It is difficult to imagine that Carolyn’s culinary career began during World War II with a recipe for shark repellent. Rather than repel, her recipes have attracted the attention of millions of people around the world. Back in 1948, Julia Carolyn McWilliams married Paul Child, and became Julia Child.

Sources:
1. News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida), July 10, 2015, p.A13.
2. Naval Aviation Training Division Guide, Shark Sense, March, 1944.
3. “Julia Child Helped Develop Shark Repellant During World War Ii,” the National World War II Museum of New Orleans, accessed April 30, 2021, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/julia-child-shark-repellant-world-war-ii#:~:text=The%20recipe%20of%20Child’s%20and,to%20deter%20sharks%20from%20attacking.
4. “Julia Child: Cooking up Spy Ops for Oss,” Central Intelligence Agency, accessed April 30, 2021, https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/julia-child-cooking-up-spy-ops-for-oss/.

---

The Bienville Parish Library is pleased to be partnering with St. Francis Medical Center Mobile Health Unit on May 17 and May 18 at the Bienville Parish Library – Arcadia located at 2768 Maple Street, Arcadia, Louisiana 71001. The Mobile Health Unit will be scheduling Heart Health Screenings for $25.00 for anyone who is interested in obtaining a great baseline of their heart health. The Spirit of Healing Mobile Health Unit will screen participants using the following tests or medical measurements:

• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Ultrasound
• Ankle Brachial Index
• Blood Pressure
• Body Mass Index (BMI)
• Carotid Artery Ultrasound
• EKG (12 lead)
• Peak Systolic Velocity

These screenings do not replace regular visits with your primary care physician or specialist. Screenings of this nature are helpful and should be used as a way to draw your attention to any potential heart health issues. The Mobile Health Unit will be stationed at the back parking lot between the Arcadia Main Library and the old Bienville Parish Courthouse for the two days the Mobile Health Unit is scheduled. There will be plenty of parking spaces available to accommodate visitors participating in the screenings.

For questions, or to schedule an appointment,

call 318-966-BUS1 (2871).

Cash or Check ONLY

We urge our Bienville Parish Library patrons and the community to take advantage of these painless heart health screenings.

While you are waiting for your appointment or when you’ve finished with your screening, we invite you to come in and visit with us and check out your neighborhood Bienville Parish Library.

We are open and ready to serve you!

---