By Brad Dison

Bonnie and Clyde. What comes to mind when you hear their names? Crime? Freedom? Running from the law? Robbing Banks? Robin Hood? Kidnapping? Terrorism? Murder?

The annual Authentic Bonnie & Clyde Festival will be held in Gibsland today and tomorrow, May 26-27. The festival is not held to glorify the crime spree of Bonnie and Clyde but to commemorate a historical event that is forever linked with Bienville Parish.

Bonnie and Clyde were among the most notorious gangsters during the Great Depression. Unlike John Dillinger, Ma Barker, Alvin “Old Creepy” Karpis, “Baby Face” Nelson, “Machine Gun” Kelly, and “Pretty Boy” Floyd, there is something about the Bonnie and Clyde story which has kept them in the public eye. Their story has been told in numerous books, films, documentaries, television shows, theater productions, songs, and even cartoons, although few of those are based on actual facts. Even today, 89 years later, the deaths of Bonnie and Clyde remain a controversial subject.

On the morning of May 23, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde were driving toward Sailes on LA Highway 154 from Mount Lebanon when they were caught in what Sheriff Henderson Jordan referred to as “the trap.”

The sheriff, his chief deputy Prentiss Oakley, and four Texas lawmen, Frank Hamer, Maney Gault, Bob Alcorn, and Ted Hinton, waited on a hidden embankment. Ivy Methvin, father of Bonnie and Clyde associate Henry Methvin, parked his truck in the roadway and removed the truck’s front passenger tire. Whether he was a willing participant or forced participant in the trap has been debated ever since that fateful day. At about 9:15 a.m., the lawmen saw the stolen Ford V8 sedan driving toward the trap. Upon seeing Ivy and his apparent broken-down truck, the car stopped. After a brief conversation between Bonnie, Clyde, and Ivy, the lawmen opened fire. The lawmen said they had given Bonnie and Clyde an opportunity to give up but Clyde reached for the gun in his lap. Within a few seconds, their crime spree was over.

Many people in Bienville Parish have grown tired of discussing Bonnie and Clyde. Retired history teacher Charles Butler described the ambush to his students by saying the ambush of “Bonnie and Clyde is the most famous thing that’s happened in Bienville Parish – not the most important, the most famous.” Whether we like it or not, Mr. Butler’s quote is an indisputable fact. People from all over the world have visited the ambush site and have had their pictures taken with the often- vandalized granite marker and the recently stolen bronze marker.

As a historian who was born, raised, and who continues to live in the parish where the criminal duo was killed, researching Bonnie and Clyde is inescapable. I have learned through countless interviews and casual conversations that people tend to take sides in the matter. Like picking teams in a football game, some people are for Bonnie and Clyde while others are for the lawmen who ended the crime spree. Finding someone in the area who has no opinion on the matter is a rarity.

Here are some of the most common phrases I usually hear when discussing Bonnie and Clyde:

“They weren’t as bad as people said they were.”

“They didn’t do all of the things the newspapers said they did.”

“They were good people.”

“They got what they deserved.”

“They were nothing but white trash.”

“They cared for nobody but themselves.”

A few years ago I interviewed Buddy Barrow and Rhea Leen Linder, outspoken members of Bonnie and Clyde’s family. (Buddy Barrow is the nephew of Clyde Barrow. His father was L.C. Barrow, younger brother of Clyde. Rhea Leen Linder is the niece of Bonnie Parker. The name on Rhea Leen’s birth certificate is Bonnie Ray Parker. She was born in October of 1934, just five months after Bonnie and Clyde were killed. Her father was Hubert “Buster” Parker, older brother of the infamous Bonnie. Under the guidance of her aunt, Billie “Jean” Parker, sister of Bonnie Parker, Bonnie Ray Parker began using the alias Rhea Leen Frazier to distance herself from her notorious aunt. Rhea Leen’s name was officially changed from Bonnie Ray Parker a few days before she was to be married. During my interviews with them, both agreed that Bonnie and Clyde were outlaws. Mr. Buddy and Mrs. Rhea Leen did not condone the actions of Bonnie and Clyde and do not glorify their criminal deeds. Mrs. Rhea Leen once told me, “It’s sad for the victims. We certainly don’t want to take anything away from them.”

The victims are often only a sidenote when speaking about Bonnie and Clyde’s crime spree. They are often forgotten. Most people can relate a great deal about Bonnie and Clyde off the tops of their heads. Many people can name at least one or two of the six lawmen who made up the ambush posse. Very few people can name a single murder victim of the outlaw gang. Above all others, it is they who should be remembered.

John N. Bucher of Hillsboro, Texas: Died April 30, 1932

Eugene Moore of Atoka, Oklahoma: Died August 5, 1932

Howard Hall of Sherman, Texas: Died October 11, 1932

Doyle Johnson of Temple, Texas: Died December 26, 1932

Malcolm Davis of Dallas, Texas: Died January 6, 1933

Harry McGinnis of Joplin, Missouri: Died April 13, 1933

Wes Harryman of Joplin, Missouri: Died April 13, 1933

Henry D. Humphrey of Alma, Arkansas: Died June 26, 1933

Major Crowson of Huntsville, Texas: Died January 16, 1934

E.B. Wheeler of Grapevine, Texas: Died April 1, 1934

H.D. Murphy of Grapevine, Texas: Died April 1, 1934

Cal Campbell of Commerce, Oklahoma: Died April 6, 1934

By Paige Nash

Many family members, friends, elected officials and supporters showed up at 1941 1st Street in Arcadia on Wednesday, May 24 to celebrate the grand opening of Melisa Rudd Consulting, LLC.

This new business will be providing a wide range of services and products to the community including office supplies, custom banners and signs, notary services and dry cleaning pick-up and drop-offs.

Although this is a new business in Arcadia, business owner Melisa Rudd is already a familar face to many local residents in town.

“Last year I opened Rustic Faith Design Co. here as my side hustle, but due to my full-time job, which was my guaranteed money, I couldn’t be open but a few nights a week and on Saturdays,” said Rudd. “The demand for what I was doing wasn’t really there, but I had built a relationship with several of the downtown business owners and I loved the enviroment.”

Rudd previously worked at a corporation, but did not enjoy that enviroment as much as she liked the “mom and pop” atmosphere.

She said, “I turned in my two weeks notice and started following up with people that I knew might need someone to work for them.”

Moving down her list of contacts in the area, she text Tambra Bell at Crafty Skills, another local business.

“She spoke to me like a mentor and has become my second biggest cheerleader besides my family,” said Rudd. “She encouraged me to follow my dreams and my husband stated, ‘you’ve always like it best when you were working for yourself.’ So, here I am.”

Upon hearing the the local DMV has re-opened it’s doors, the closing of an attorney’s office and the void of a notary at her personal bank, she knew there was a need for her services here in Arcadia now more than ever.

Rudd has over 7 years of paralegal experience under her belt and with that the ability to prepare wills, Power of Attorneys, affadavits, estate planning packages, provisional custody letters, LLC packages and more.

She has office supplies available that are competitively priced and will be taking after hours and weekend appointments for notary work. Custom banners and signs can be made with a quick turnaround of 7-10 days. Dry cleaning pick up is available on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Rudd said, “I am truly blessed to have so much support from the people here in Arcadia. God made a way and here I am.”

Stop by and visit Melisa Rudd Consulting or give her a call at 318-578-1431.

By Paige Nash and Michelle Bates

The North Bienville Fire Department has begun responding to fire calls on Interstate 20.

Newly appointed board member Bill Sims said after the emergency meeting held in April that the NBFD began responding to calls on I-20.

“They responded to one last week,” he said. “The district attorney had a meeting with them and said they had to answer calls on interstate because it was just on the verge of malfeasance in office not to calls on interstate.”

The emergency meeting was called on April 3 to address the previous refusal to respond to calls on I-20. This was following an incident that occurred the week before with a vehicular fire at the Ada Taylor exit along I-20 in which NBFD refused to respond. This inaction led to Troop G calling on dispatch and the Dubberly Volunteer Fire Department traveled into the parish to extinguish the fire.

“We have been talking about this for quite some time and we were under the impression that all the responses we were doing up there was a courtesy,” Fire Chief Gary Hathorn said. “To the best of my knowledge that is not parish property.”

Hathorn brought the option on whether or not to respond to fires on the interstate to a vote among his volunteer fire fighters and they unanimously voted to not respond.

He questioned District Attorney Danny Newell on if the interstate was included as parish property and if they were required to respond.

Newell said, “In my opinion you do have an obligation. You have taxpayers’ money and I don’t think ownership has any relevance as far as what fires to put out. If it does, are you going to spend the time to research ownership before you respond to a fire? I am not aware of that happening in any other districts at all.”

The DA expressed his biggest concern was liability.

“I don’t see any legal out for refusing to respond to a fire in your district. I can see situations where it’s volunteer and you don’t have enough firemen to respond, but you still make an effort,” said Newell. “Just to say we don’t own this property, so we are not responding to this fire. I don’t think that’s a good basis for refusing to respond.”

He brought it to Hathorn’s attention that if someone were to perish due to the fire departments refusal to respond, a jury would find them liable, especially if the department has a history of not responding.

Hathorn said the fire department receives the smallest fire protection millage in the parish and that they were the only ones who are responsible for any property along the interstate or railroad.

“I guess what I am going to have to do is look to try to get some federal funding or something on a regular basis,” said Hathorn.

Bienville Parish Schools may just be letting out for summer, but preparations are already underway for the 2023-2024 school year. Registrations are coming up and students’ first day back will be August 14. The school calendar is posted below with breaks and holidays noted.

PFC John Roy Thompson (June 18, 1945 – June 11, 1966)

John Roy Thompson was the son of Roy and Rosa Thompson.

He was an armor intelligence specialist with the Army.

John’s Vietnam tour began on March 17, 1966. He was attached to the 1st Infantry Division, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, Unit Hhc.

Operation El Paso II took place at the Loc Rubber Plantation on a foggy morning. Air assaults were delayed by two hours due to the dense fog. John was working with the Recon Platoon. They were heading westward when they came under intense automatic rifle fire and grenades. Without any cover, they headed toward a trench. The VC had placed a machine gun at one end of the trench and opened fire on them as they headed in. The U.S. captured both hills involved, but it was at the loss of 34 U.S. troops and 98 VC.

He was only 20 years old at the time of his death. Thompson is buried at the Shady Grove Memorial Garden located in Saline

AWARD: Purple Heart

Sources: Find a Grave – findagrave.com

She’s old, gotten fairly long in the tooth and like most of us, we tend to slow down once this happens to us. There is hope, however, for one of this area’s favorite lakes, Lake Claiborne.

I was fortunate to live in Homer when the lake was constructed and watched water begin trickling over the spillway half a century ago indicating that at long last the lake was now what it was designed to be, a brand new 6400 acre body of water that would provide recreational opportunities not only for the folks living in Claiborne Parish but around north Louisiana as well.

I found a lot on the Beaver Creek branch of the lake, put my money down and purchased the lot so I could enjoy what this new lake had to offer, and boy, did it offer some good stuff.

After purchasing the lot, clearing it off, I did something then I couldn’t think of doing now. With the help of friends, I built a pier and boat house where I kept my ski boat and fishing boat and there weren’t many afternoons after work that I was not out there taking my kids skiing and searching for some of the best fishing holes.

One particular hot spot for bass was a row of green willows that grew in the middle of Beaver Creek just a long cast from my pier. This was one of the hottest spots on the lake to ease up early morning before the sun began to peak over the distant trees to the row of willows, cast out a Tiny Torpedo next to the greenery. I’ve had successful fishing trips since but nothing to me was more fun than being close enough to be able to glance over my shoulder at my boat house, cast the lure and watch a bass explode on it. Man, that was some genuine fun.

I eventually moved from Homer, sold my lot and my trips back to the lake became fewer and further between and it was just as well because the red hot fishing Claiborne had offered was starting to wane. The lake began acting like most lakes with some age on them as vegetation died away and things just weren’t the same any longer.

Something has happened to this half a century old lake over the past few years. First off, the Lake Commission arranged to purchase and release in the lake a species of bass that would hopefully add a shot in the arm to the lake, Tiger bass. Genetically, they’re a special combination of native largemouth and those of the Florida strain that while not having the potential of growing as large as pure Florida’s, tend to be more aggressive and more likely to strike a lure.

I recently visited with Fisheries Manager for Northwest Louisiana for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Jeff Sibley, who is responsible for the management of Lake Claiborne.

“In addition to the Tiger bass that have been released in the lake over the past five years or so, our department is also releasing pure Florida bass which may not be as easy to catch but have the potential of growing quite big,” Sibley said.

Another shot in the arm for Claiborne took place a few weeks ago when the Major League Fishing circuit was in Louisiana fishing on Caney Lake and Bussey Brake. This group has a habitat project they fund on lakes in the states where their tournaments are held.

“They choose a lake not on the tournament circuit and this year they chose Claiborne and contributed some $25,000 to improve the fishing habitat. Special fish attracting structures were put together and placed in the lake in several locations, mainly around the State Park with coordinates available so anglers could locate the structures that should attract fish,” he said.

Time will tell if these “shots in the arm” will return Lake Claiborne to one anglers will be hitting more frequently with the real possibility of bringing in bragging sized fish.

Q: If someone is shooting at me while I’m in my car, can I shoot back at them?

A: Sure, you can. Although, a better question might be, “should you shoot back?”

Thinking ahead allows us to consider multiple responses before we’re thrust into “fight or flight” mode. Hick’s law tells us, “More options equals more time.” Time being the most precious commodity during any fight, knowing and limiting our options beforehand can save valuable seconds during a life-threatening situation.

If someone is shooting at you while you’re inside your car and the car is in motion, shooting back will be ineffective at best and, at worst, criminally negligent. Most folks can’t shoot accurately while walking much less while driving. Before we go any further, let’s cover the universal firearm safety rules:

1.) Treat all guns as if they are always loaded.
2.) Never point a gun at anything unless you’re willing to destroy that thing.
3.) Be certain of your target and what’s beyond it.
4.) Keep your finger OFF the trigger, until your sights are on the target, and you have made the decision to shoot.

I don’t like to speak in absolutes when it comes to self-defense. Other than the four universal firearms safety rules which are omnipresent, there are very few instances of “always” or “never” when it comes to preservation of life. So, I won’t say never, but I will say that shooting while driving is generally a horrible idea. Either drive or shoot. Don’t drive and shoot.

If the car is in motion when some (insert your personal favorite term of endearment) bad guy starts slinging lead at you, do your best to keep the vehicle moving. Your safest bet is to drive away as quickly as possible. Know that there are two types of terrain – drivable and non-drivable. We’re conditioned to view things like sidewalks, people’s lawns, shallow ditches, curbs, and parking stops as things we should not drive over. You must know the limitations of your specific vehicle, of course, but when you’re fleeing a dangerous situation, traffic laws and traditional driving rules no longer apply. However, you must remain cognizant enough to avoid injuring any innocent people.

If you’re stopped when the shooting starts, I recommend your plan-A should be to get the car moving as fast as possible. Press the skinny pedal on the right and go! If the deadly threat is in your route of escape, run him over! V8 beats 9mm ten out of ten times, and contrary to popular belief, V8 beats .45 too. If the deadly threat is behind you, put your car in reverse and, you guessed it, press the skinny pedal on the right.

One important consideration when behind the wheel is the space you leave between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you, especially when stopped. Whether at a traffic light or in a drive- through line, leave enough space to be able to drive around the vehicle in front of you. You can accomplish this by making sure the rear tires of the vehicle ahead of you are visible, without you having to lean up in your seat. I understand that isn’t always possible. You might get blocked in by adjacent vehicles, which could make a driving escape impossible. If that’s the case, you might need to fight / shoot your way out of your car.

Yep. I said, “out of your car.” There could be a situation where after you shoot, you’re able to simply drive away. However, if you have no vehicular escape route and you’re forced to deploy other means, you need to get out of that car as soon as possible and beat feet to the closest cover you can find. Please understand that cars ARE NOT adequate cover. Bullets zip and zing through auto bodies with the ease of a gas station burrito sliding through a colon – no stops along the way. Staying inside your vehicle during a gunfight makes you a stationary target in a shooting gallery and using your vehicle as cover is like putting on sunglasses and pretending no one can see you.

Avoidance, avoidance, avoidance. Don’t be a jerk on the roadway. Sure, you could inadvertently get caught up in some gang banger turf war, but the most likely thing to initiate a deadly force encounter on the roadway is good, old fashioned road rage. Be courteous to other drivers. Don’t tailgate people. Don’t blow your horn unless it’s necessary to avoid a crash. And because I know that someone out there needs to hear this, for crying out loud, use your turn signal! That’s the lever on the left side of your steering column that moves up and down. Moving it up signals a right turn and moving it down signals a left turn. Not moving it at all, signals you’re a (insert your personal favorite term of endearment) dork.

Thanks for reading. And remember…

Avoid what you can. Defeat what you can’t.

-Ryan

Please submit your questions to Ryan via email at Ryan@9and1tactical.com

Ryan Barnette is not a licensed attorney and no information provided in “Slicing the Pie” or any other publication authored by Ryan Barnette should be construed, in any way, as official, legal advice.

CHICAGO— I have been coming to this city almost every May for the past 35 years. This time of year is a perfect time to be in Chicago because the weather is brisk, the throng of summer vacationers have yet to arrive, and the restaurants and bars are jamming. The reason they’re so busy is because the National Restaurant Association’s annual trade show and conference is in town. The show brings around 65,000 restaurateurs to the city each year to peruse through the 700,000 square feet of convention center space dedicated to everything that has anything to do with the restaurant business.

For a guy like me, it’s Disneyland. I eat, sleep, and breathe, restaurants. It’s been that way ever since I got my first job in a restaurant at 19. I fell in love with this industry, instantly. I knew sometime within the first week of working that first restaurant job, what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Actually, what I was “supposed” to do with the rest of my life. I couldn’t get enough. I went back to college and majored in Hospitality Management. Between classes I spent hours in the periodical section of the library reading the restaurant trade magazines cover to cover. I wanted to gather as much information about restaurants as I could. I worked two jobs. One managing a delicatessen during the day and the other waiting tables at night at another restaurant. After my shifts I stayed up late designing kitchens and floorplans and coming up with concepts and menus for future restaurants. I still have all those notebooks.

The first time I came to the restaurant show in Chicago it was if I had found my utopian wonderland. Everything I was interested in that had to do with restaurants, food, equipment, supplies, design elements, was in one building. In the days before the Internet, it was the only way to see all the things I dreamed about or saw in magazines. I believe it kept me ahead of the game in my hometown restaurants by staying on the cutting edge of what was going on in the country.

Chicago is my favorite American big city. It’s also a great restaurant city. I have always preferred Chicago over New York. It’s much more accessible. Granted, there aren’t as many restaurants in Chicago as there are in New York, and there aren’t as many Michelin stars, but how many restaurants can I go to at once? In the early days I used to stay in hotels along Michigan Ave. About 15 or 20 years ago I started spending more time the surrounding neighborhoods. These days I mostly stick around the West Loop.

Most of the national figures I have idolized in the restaurant business over the years have come from Chicago. In the 1980s and 1990s Richard Melman was the man. I followed everything he did and every restaurant he opened. If he would have had a fan club, I would have been the president. These days there are several operators I admire. Donnie Madea and Paul Khan of One Off Hospitality do an amazing job. Their concepts are creative and some of the city’s best. Brendan Sodikoff has created several concepts of which I am a fan. But Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz of the Boka Restaurant Group leave me humbled.

This trip is a 100% Boka restaurant trip. My son and I are staying at the Hoxton Hotel in the West Loop which has three Boka properties in it. Momotaro, their Japanese concept, is directly across the street. Stephanie Izard’s Girl and the Goat and Duck Duck Goat are within two blocks, Swift & Sons, one of the city’s great steak houses— in a city full of great steakhouses— is just a few blocks away. During this visit we will also hit Le Select a French Bistro and Alla Vita, Boka’s Italian concept that opened a little more than a year ago.

Five years ago today I was in Chicago with my son. He had just finished his final year of 11th grade. He had been telling me for a few years that he wanted to go into the restaurant business. It’s something that I didn’t pay attention to at first because this business is too brutal to get in on a whim. But he kept persisting so I thought I would take him to the restaurant show in Chicago to see what he thought. He came in lieu of going to the beach with some friends. At the time I think he would have rather been with his friends and the show didn’t speak to him as it does to me. I was a little disappointed— internally— that it didn’t connect with him as deeply as it did (and does) with me. I wondered if the industry decision was a impulse for him. But I told myself that I couldn’t expect him to be as enthusiastic and passionate about this business as I was early in the process.

Fast forward five years. He and I are in Chicago for the restaurant show, again. This time is different, a lot different. He is in culinary school in New York and is “all in” on the restaurant business. He gets it now. As we were having dinner last night the conversation was much different than it was five years ago with me cautiously trying to tell him about aspects of the ins and outs of the trade. This time it was full give and take. He had opinions, he had knowledge, the excitement was there. He’s becoming a restaurateur and a chef.

He’ll spend another 18 months in school and then he’ll come to this city two work for a couple of years before heading back home and hopping into the family business. There is something special about having professional conversations with your grown up children that is unique and singular to all other discussions with all other people. Our conversations used to be over superheroes and if we were granted a superpower what would that be and how would we use it. Then we moved into the fatherly advice stage. These days— at least when it comes to discussions about our industry— we are contemporaries.

We’re not too far from the days where he’ll be teaching me what he knows about this industry to which I’ve dedicated 40+ years of my life. I welcome that day and look forward to it. I look forward to visiting him often during his two-year restaurant stint up here. I look forward to watching him grow in this profession. I have always said, “I have a lot of job titles, but of all of them, ‘dad’ is the most important.” It’s also the most fun.

Onward.

Pesto Pasta with Roasted Portobello Mushroom Strips and Asparagus

For the Portobellos:

1 cup creamy balsamic dressing

2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 cup vegetable broth

2 tsp creole mustard

1 tsp hot sauce

2 tsp creole seasoning

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

5-6 fresh portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed*

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a mixing bowl. Dip each portobello mushroom in the mixture to coat them completely. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

After the mushrooms have marinated, place them on a baking sheet with the top side down. Cover the baking sheet completely with aluminum foil and bake for 7 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5 more minutes. Allow the mushrooms to cool, then cut them into 3/4 inch wide strips.

For the asparagus

1 lbs Asparagus, fresh

2 Tbl Olive oil

1 tsp  Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet lined with wax paper. Bake 12 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle the almonds over the asparagus.

Pesto

3 cups loosely packed basil leaves, washed and dried very well

1/3 cup pinenuts

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1 Tbl garlic, minced

1 tsp kosher salt1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor, combine the basil, pine nuts, cheese, garlic and salt and puree. With the processor still running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Remove the lid and scrape down the sides of the processor to make sure there are no large pieces of basil, puree for another 30-40 seconds. Use immediately or refrigerate covered with plastic for up to 4 days. The plastic wrap should be placed directly on the surface of the pesto to prevent discoloration. Pesto make also be frozen in an airtight container and held for one month.

For the pasta

1 pound Bowtie pasta

2 Tbl unsalted butter

1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth

3/4 cup fresh pesto

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tspfresh ground pepper

3/4 cup Romano cheese, coarsely grated

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package, drain and rinse with hot water.

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Place the cooked mushrooms in the pan and heat for 3-4 minutes. Add in the broth, pesto, salt and pepper. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and mix well so that the pasta is evenly coated with the pesto.

Divide the pasta onto serving dishes, and sprinkle the pasta with the shredded Romano cheese.

Divide the asparagus among the serving dishes and serve immediately. 

• The gills are on the under side of the mushroom and become tough and bitter when cooked. They are easily removed by gently scraping the underside of the mushroom with a teaspoon.

(Robert St. John is a chef, restaurateur and published cookbook author who lives in Hattiesburg, Miss.)

0017 – Germanicus of Rome celebrated his victory over the Germans.

1328 – William of Ockham was forced to flee from Avignon by Pope John XXII.

1521 – Martin Luther was banned by the Edict of Worms because of his religious beliefs and writings.

1647 – A new law banned Catholic priests from the colony of Massachusetts. The penalty was banishment or death for a second offense.

1660 – King Charles II of England landed at Dover after being exiled for nine years.

1670 – A treaty was signed in secret in Dover, England, between Charles II and Louis XIV ending the hostilities between them.

1691 – Jacob Leiser, leader of the popular uprising in support of William and Mary’s accession to the English throne, was executed for treason.

1736 – The British and Chickasaw Indians defeated the French at the Battle of Ackia.

1791 – The French Assembly forced King Louis XVI to hand over the crown and state assets.

1805 – Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned King of Italy in Milan Cathedral.

1831 – Russians defeated the Poles at battle of Ostrolenska.

1835 – A resolution was passed in the U.S. Congress stating that Congress has no authority over state slavery laws.

1836 – The U.S. House of Representatives adopted what has been called the Gag Rule.

1864 – The Territory of Montana was organized.

1865 – Arrangements were made in New Orleans for the surrender of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi.

1868 – U.S. President Andrew Johnson was acquitted, by one vote, of all charges in his impeachment trial.

1896 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average appeared for the first time in the “Wall Street Journal.”

1896 – The last czar of Russia, Nicholas II, was crowned.

1908 – In Persia, the first oil strike was made in the Middle East.

1913 – Actors’ Equity Association was organized in New York City.

1926 – In Morocco, rebel leader Abd el Krim surrendered.

1938 – The House Committee on Un-American Activities began its work of searching for subversives in the United States.

1940 – The evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War II.

1946 – A patent was filed in the United States for an H-bomb.

1946 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed a military pact with Russian leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin promised a “close collaboration after the war.”

1948 – The U.S. Congress passed Public Law 557 which permanently established the Civil Air Patrol as the Auxiliary of the new U.S. Air Force.

1956 – The first trailer bank opened for business in Locust Grove, Long Island, NY. The 46-foot-long trailer took in $100,000 in deposits its first day.

1958 – Union Square, San Francisco became a state historical landmark.

1959 – The word “Frisbee” became a registered trademark of Wham-O.

1961 – Civil rights activist group Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee was established in Atlanta, GA.

1961 – A U.S. Air Force bomber flew across the Atlantic in a record time of just over three hours.

1969 – The Apollo 10 astronauts returned to Earth after a successful eight-day dress rehearsal for the first manned moon landing.

1972 – The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) was signed by the U.S. and USSR. The short-term agreement put a freeze on the testing and deployment of intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles for a 5-year period.

1973 – Kathy Schmidt set an American women’s javelin record with a throw of 207 feet, 10 inches.

1975 – American stuntman Evel Knievel suffered severe spinal injuries in Britain when he crashed while attempting to jump 13 buses in his car.

1977 – George H. Willig was arrested after he scaled the South Tower of New York’s World Trade Center. It took him 3 1/2 hours.

1978 – The first legal casino in the Eastern U.S. opened in Atlantic City, NJ.

1987 – Sri Lanka launched Operation Liberation. It was an offensive against the Tamil rebellion in Jaffra.

1988 – The Edmonton Oilers won their fourth NHL Stanley Cup in five seasons. They swept the series 4 games to 0 against the Boston Bruins.

1994 – U.S. President Clinton renewed trade privileges for China, and announced that his administration would no longer link China’s trade status with its human rights record.

1998 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ellis Island was mainly in New Jersey, not New York.

1998 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police officers in high-speed chases are liable for bystander injuries only if their “actions shock the conscience.”

1998 – The Grand Princess cruise ship made its inaugural cruise. The ship measured 109,000 tons and cost approximately $450 million, making it the largest and most expensive cruise ship ever built.

1998 – The United States Senate approved legislation that allowed the U.S. Mint flexibility on how the mandatory inscriptions on the Washington quarter could be placed. H.R. 3301 allowed the mandatory inscriptions to be moved to the front of the quarter for the 50 States Circulating Commemorative Coin Program.

Please send all non-profit events to bpjnewsla@gmail.com

May 25 (1 p.m.)

Family Bingo – Ringgold Branch Library

May 25 (5:30 p.m.)

Slabtown Meeting – Sheriff Department Annex Building Downtown Ringgold

May 26 (1:30 p.m.)

Family Bingo – Saline Branch Library 

May 26 at 5 p.m. – May 27 at 6 p.m.

The Authentic Bonnie and Clyde Festival – Downtown Gibsland

Please check out their Facebook event page for a full list of speakers, performances, and parade times.

May 27 (11 a.m.)

Veteran’s Museum Dedication Ceremony

Shady Grove Recreation District of Bienville Parish  – 10896 Hwy 501 in Saline 

June 2

4th Annual Louisiana Sheriffs for St. Jude Golf Tournament – Trails End Golf Course – 400 Par Road 256 in Arcadia

Registration is at 8 a.m. and tee off at 9 a.m.

June 3 (9 a.m. – 1 p.m.)

Farmer’s Market – Downtown Arcadia Depot

Notice of Death – May 25, 2023

Mary Geneva Hollenshead

May 28, 1935 – May 23, 2023

Visitation: 9 a.m. Saturday, May 27, 2023, Lebanon Church

Funeral service: 10 a.m. Saturday, immediately following visitation

Burial: Lebanon Cemetery.

John Everett Speer

Dec. 23, 1956 – May 22, 2023

Haynesville, La.

Funeral service: No information is available at this time.

Thelma Irene “Jackie” Gray

Sept. 30, 1941 – April 28, 2023

Elm Grove, La.

Memorial service: 2 p.m. Saturday, May 27, 2023, Kilpatrick’s Rose-Neath Funeral Home, Coushatta, La.

Bienville Parish Journal publishes paid complete obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $80. Contact your funeral provider or bpjnewsla@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Above death notices are free of charge.)

By Michelle Bates

A ribbon cutting and grand opening was held Friday, May 19, as many gathered together to celebrate the return of Trade Days.

Originally set to just be an RV resort with plenty for a family to do, owners Wade and Amanda Townsend said it just wouldn’t be the same if they didn’t bring back the famed Bonnie and Clyde Trade Days.

“I bought this place and we weren’t going to do Bonnie and Clyde Trade Days,” he said. “We were just going to do an RV park.”

Amanda Townsend said the vision was to turn it into a luxury RV park, and that’s what they’ve been working towards – are still working towards. However, they began getting phone calls asking if they were going to bring Trade Days back, and after much prayer, they decided to go for it.

“They kept asking, and I told myself if that wasn’t a sign from the good Lord, then I didn’t know what was,” he said.

As of May 19, there were more than 200 vendors there underneath the pavilion and lined up outside for craftsmen and women to sell their wares.

Trade Days weekends are every third Friday of the month, with June’s opportunity from Friday, June 16, through Sunday, June 18.

RV hookups, bathrooms and showers are available.

Vendors are still being sought for crafts, apparel, ironwork, animals, woodwork, homemade goods, food trucks and more. More information can be found online at bonnieandclyderv.com.

Before they purchased the property and developed a vision for it, Townsend said he read a book about seizing opportunities. He went in with a business partner to buy it.

While the partnership later dissolved, the Townsends spent a great amount of time and money, more than a year, cleaning up the property and getting it ready to open.

“There was a 136 acres of trash everywhere, metal, glass, it was bad,” he said. “We’ve only been running the business since January. And I started it back up and it began to pay the bills. We were close to running out of money.”

They actually set fire to the entire property to cleanse it and just allow the land to begin again. Now it hosts the Trade Days, an RV park, a Frisbee golf course, a pond stocked with fish, and they are working on getting playground equipment and other things together for children to do.

“We offer an outdoor peaceful experience for campers, free roam of the place, you can play Frisbee golf, you can fish,” he said, adding he attended a conference in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Bonnie and Clyde RV Resort and Trade Days is – to his
knowledge – the only place like it. “We touch everyone in one way or another when they come through here, and people really appreciate that.”

The Tipton’s Texaco Service Center located at 2630 Military Road in Ringgold has reopened under new ownership. It is now owned and operated by Edward Lee and Edwards, LLC.

Although they are open for business they will only be selling fuel and doing tire repairs at this time. The location is currently under construction undergoing much needed updates and repairs with the parking lot scheduled to be redone in the upcoming weeks. 

They are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays.

Paying cash for fuel is now done inside the store. 

Follow their Facebook page, Tipton Service Center, for updates and future announcements. 

May 17, 2008 – May 18, 2023

Elizabeth “Bay” Anne Moore of Ringgold, LA, stepped into the presence of her Savior on May 18th, 2023. Bay passed away at her family farm one day after her fifteenth birthday.

Bay is survived by her loving parents, Rob and Jessica Moore of Ringgold, LA.; her brothers and sister, Lewis, Sam, Art, Henry, Sully, and Betty, all of Ringgold, LA; her grandparents, Jon and Rhonda Haymon of Ruston, LA., and Don and Bobbie Moore of Ringgold, LA; and great-grandparents, J. L. Johnson of Pitkin, LA and Betty Moore of Ringgold, LA.

As a baby, her brother Lewis would try to say her name, but all he could say was “Bay.” From then on, Elizabeth was affectionately known as Bay.

Bay loved everything outdoors and everything animals. She loved riding horses, caring for her dog, Aster and her family’s many farm animals. Bay loved babies, and was a fantastic babysitter for several families in her church. Bay was like a second mother to her younger siblings, particularly her little sister Betty. She also loved learning to play the flute. 

Bay was active in her homeschool co-op, and was a member of Kingsway Baptist Church where she participated in the church’s youth group. Bay frequently volunteered at Southland Christian Camp where she served by working in the kitchen, waitressing, or babysitting for staff families. In addition to these acts of service, Bay recently achieved the rank of Junior Firefighter in the Bienville Fire Districts 4 & 5. 

To know Bay was to absolutely love her. She will be greatly missed until we meet again!

Visitation will be held in the gymnasium at Southland Christian Camp, 3555 Highway 371 Ringgold, LA on Wednesday, May 24th from 12:00-2:00 pm. A Celebration of Life Service will begin at 2:00 pm in the same location, with internment to follow at Springhill Cemetery, 275 Springhill Church Road, Ringgold, LA under the direction of Rockett Funeral Home, Ringgold, LA.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be given in honor of Bay to Southland Christian Camp. (Address above). 

The Bienville Parish Libraries System will be hosting their annual Summer Reading Program. This year’s theme is “All Together Now,” and will be focusing on friendship, kindness and unity.

Registration for this event will be held throughout the parish at all library locations. 

June 7:

Gibsland at 2 p.m.

June 8:

Arcadia at 10 a.m.

Ringgold at 2 pm. 

June 9:

Castor Events Center at 10 a.m.

Saline at 2 p.m.

Participants can pick up their registration packets and log books that can be used to keep track of the library books they read throughout the duration of the program. Various events will be held at all Bienville Parish Library branches in conjuntion with the 2023 Summer Reading Program. Stay tuned for a complete schedule of events. 

The Bienville Parish Registar of Voters Office is conducting their annual canvass of registered voters within the parish. 

This canvass is conducted annually to verify the addresses of voters in which the United States Postal Office cannot confirm through their National Change of Address System. 

Residents who receive an identification card or address confirmation card in the mail, please take the time to verify the information or make neccessary changes. Residents can mail the card back to the Bienville Parish Registar of Voters office or turn it into their office located at 100 Courthouse Drive Suite 1400 in Arcadia. They are asking that the cards be turned in as soon as possible.

Failure to correctly fill out and submit this information can result in a change to a resident’s voter status, delays at the polls or the inability to vote.

If you have any questions please reach out to the registar’s office at 318-263-7407 or bienvillerov@sos.la.gov

Child abuse and neglect are preventable, and all communities benefit when children and families are well supported. Extreme stress and uncertainty for families may increase the risk of child abuse and neglect raising the need to support families and prevent abuse before it occurs.

Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana (PCAL) stresses that all community members have a role in ensuring children have positive experiences and families have the resources they need when they need them, well before they are in crisis. By focusing on the importance of creating systems and programs that put children and families first, we can help prevent child abuse.

Working with PCAL, VIA LINK offers a statewide program, Louisiana Parent Line, which provides parents with free, confidential, 24/7 access to a live specialist. Translation services are available, and the Louisiana Parent Line can be reached through phone and text 24 hours a day.  

“The Parent Line provides parents and other family members with a safe space to express their frustrations, ask parenting questions and get support,” explained LaVondra Dobbs, CEO of    VIA LINK. “Parent Line specialists are well trained and experienced in offering emotional support to parents. They focus on de-escalation and crisis intervention. They listen and understand parents’ concerns. Specialists can provide information on different services and referral. Perhaps most importantly, they can help parents develop plans for coping.”  

Yet, the Parent Line is more than a one-time call. Parents can call in as often as they want or need. The goal is to provide emotional support whenever parents need it. The specialists can also offer follow-up calls and help increase the circle of support for families. Throughout Louisiana, this free service is working to prevent child abuse by getting families the support they need.

The phone number is 833-LA-CHILD (833-522-4453). Y ou can also text us at (225) 424-1533.

For more information about PCAL, VIA LINK, or the Louisiana Parent Line, please contact Sherrard Crespo, LCSW, Director of Outreach and Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana at screspo@vialink.org or visit our website www.vialink.org.

I was pretty excited about how well this turned out! And it really was easy. Oh, and this FROSTING!!! I have absolutely decided that I am the biggest fan of a frosting that has shortening in it. Just trust me.

Feel free to change up the colors to use this for other holidays and school events. This was a lot of fun to make; I hope you’ll go for it!

Cake
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 egg whites, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 cup whole milk
• Red food coloring
• Blue food coloring

Frosting
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• Sprinkles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two (or three) round cake pans with cooking spray. 
In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg whites, one at a time, followed by vanilla. Mix until well combined. Mix in salt and baking powder. Add half of the flour, mixing until just combined, followed by half of the milk. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Mix until just combined and no streaks combined.  Divide batter equally between three bowls. Using food coloring, make one bowl blue and the other red. The third bowl remains white. Add small spoonfuls of each colored batter to your cake pans. Scatter colors randomly. When all batter has been used, gently swirl colors with a butter knife. Do not over mix! Bake until cakes are done. Let cool completely.

Ashley Madden Rowton is a wife, mom and published cookbook author who lives in Minden, La.

The problem with making homemade ice cream when you were a kid is it seemed to take forever to freeze.

For-EVVV-er.

I scream, you scream, we all scream if the homemade ice cream won’t freeze.

It was like waiting for school to let out or Christmas morning to come. Though the object is the polar opposite, waiting on ice cream to freeze is the same metaphorically as waiting for the watched pot to boil.

“Is it ready yet?”

But some things are worth waiting on: A woman. Game 7. That first autumn day.

And homemade ice cream. The best things just won’t be rushed.

Seems like when we were kids that making homemade ice cream was about as common as shucking corn. On our back porch were muddy boots, a mop and broom, emergency dog food in case scraps were in short supply, a deep freeze filled with stuff in white packing paper and clear quart bags, and a gradually rotting wooden ice cream tub and briny crank handle contraption. Always in the bottom of the tub was the white rock salt residue that never quite came out.

Never did I know as a child what the rock salt was for, only that you “needed it” to “make the ice cream freeze.” That’s what the grownups said. Grownups took a lot of time not explaining stuff to us back then.

“But why?” a little person would say.

“Because I said so,” a big person would say.

It was a simpler time.

Naturally, we just assumed the salt kept the ice cream from contracting rickets.

I have since learned (off the streets) that the salt combines in some chemical way with the ice to lower the temperature a bit below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, thus assuring that the mixture inside the Magic Silver Tube, surrounded by ice, freezes.

It’s one of those science deals.

A couple of weeks ago at the beach, my high school friend J.C. Penney (the four-time Louisiana state 4-H Good Grooming Champ back in the day, which is another column for another time) ran out of salt and out of luck while attempting a homemade batch. He bought salt the next morning and added it to the ice. Less than 20 minutes of churning later, the ice cream was tight as Dick’s hat band and cold as a penguin’s nose. Sweet.

Folks don’t seem to make homemade ice cream as much today as they used to. And that’s a shame. Making homemade ice cream taught us some handy life lessons that today’s kids miss out on.

True, food folk have figured out how to make Food You Buy At The Store better. Preservatives and whatnot. Cake mixes are about as good from the box now as the ones you can make from scratch. What I’m saying here is that if you’ve eaten Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla, I can pretty much rest my case.

But in the days before electric churns, making homemade ice cream taught you patience and safety. The first thing our dads had us boys do was sit on the top of the freezer while they hand churned. This took a calendar day and you couldn’t feel your frozen butt until Tuesday.

The next growing-up step was to sit on the churn and turn it at the same time. This required dexterity and skill, because you haven’t lived until you’ve been churning and accidentally hit yourself in a delicate area. Some things you can feel, even frozen. I scream, you scream…

(From July 2012)

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu or Twitter @MamaLuvsManning

1610 – Sir Thomas Gates institutes “laws divine moral and marshal,” a harsh civil code for Jamestown.

1624 – After years of unprofitable operation Virginia’s charter was revoked and it became a royal colony.

1689 – The English Parliament passed Act of Toleration, protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics were specifically excluded from exemption.

1738 – The Methodist Church was established.

1764 – Bostonian lawyer James Otis denounced “taxation without representation” and called for the colonies to unite in demonstrating their opposition to Britain’s new tax measures.

1798 – Believing that a French invasion of Ireland was imminent, Irish nationalists rose up against the British occupation.

1816 – Emamual Leutze was born in Germany. He was most famous for his paintings “Washington Crossing the Delaware” and “Columbus Before the Queen”.

1822 – At the Battle of Pichincha, Bolivar secured independence of the Quito.

1830 – The first passenger railroad service in the U.S. began service.

1844 – Samuel F.B. Morse formally opened America’s first telegraph line. The first message was sent from Washington, DC, to Baltimore, MD. The message was “What hath God wrought?”

1859 – Charles Gounod’s “Ave Maria” was performed by Madame Caroline Miolan-Carvalho for the first time in public.

1863 – Bushwackers led by Captain William Marchbanks attacked a U.S. Federal militia party in Nevada, Missouri.

1878 – The first American bicycle race was held in Boston.

1881 – About 200 people died when the Canadian ferry Princess Victoria sank near London, Ontario.

1883 – After 14 years of construction the Brooklyn Bridge was opened to traffic.

1899 – The first public garage was opened by W.T. McCullough.

1913 – The U.S. Department of Labor entered into its first strike mediation. The dispute was between the Railroad Clerks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

1930 – Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly from England to Australia.

1931 – B&O Railroad began service with the first passenger train to have air conditioning throughout. The run was between New York City and Washington, DC.

1935 – The Cincinnati Reds played the Philadelphia Phillies in the first major league baseball game at night. The switch for the floodlights was thrown by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt.

1941 – The HMS Hood was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic. Only three people survived.

1950 – ‘Sweetwater’ (Nat) Clifton’s contract was purchased by the New York Knicks. Sweetwater played for the Harlem Globetrotters.

1954 – The first moving sidewalk in a railroad station was opened in Jersey City, NJ.

1958 – United Press International was formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.

1961 – The Freedom Riders were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi.

1962 – The officials of the National Football League ruled that halftime of regular season games would be cut to 15 minutes.

1967 – California Governor Ronald Reagan greeted Charles M. Schulz at the state capitol in observance of the legislature-proclaimed “Charles Schulz Day.”

1974 – The last “Dean Martin Show” was seen on NBC. The show had been aired for 9 years.

1976 – Britain and France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde service to Washington.

1980 – The International Court of Justice issued a final decision calling for the release of the hostages taken at the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979.

1983 – The Brooklyn Bridge’s 100th birthday was celebrated.

1983 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had the right to deny tax breaks to schools that racially discriminate.

1986 – Montreal won its 23rd National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup championship.

1990 – The Edmonton Oilers won their fifth National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup.

1993 – Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posada Ocampo and six other people were killed at the Guadalajara, Mexico, airport in a shootout that involved drug gangs.

1993 – The Ethiopian province of Eritrea declared itself an independent nation.

1994 – The four men convicted of bombing the New York’s World Trade Center were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.

1999 – 39 miners were killed in an underground gas explosion in the Ukraine.

2000 – Five people were killed and two others wounded when two gunmen entered a Wendy’s restaurant in Flushing, Queens, New York. The gunmen tied up the victims in the basement and then shot them.

2000 – The U.S. House of Representatives approved permanent normal trade relations with China. China was not happy about some of the human rights conditions that had been attached by the U.S. lawmakers.

2000 – A Democratic Party event for Al Gore in Washington brought in $26.5 million. The amount set a new record, which had just been set the previous month by Republicans for Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

2001 – Temba Tsheri, 15, became the youngest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

2011 – NASA announced the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) spacecraft. It is intended to facilitate exploration of the Moon, asteroids and Mars.

Please send all non-profit events to bpjnewsla@gmail.com

May 24 (10 a.m.)

Melisa Rudd Consulting Grand Opening – 1941 1st Street in Arcadia

May 25 (1 p.m.)

Family Bingo – Ringgold Branch Library

May 25 (5:30 p.m.)

Slabtown Meeting – Sheriff Department Annex Building Downtown Ringgold

May 26 (1:30 p.m.)

Family Bingo – Saline Branch Library 

May 26 at 5 p.m. – May 27 at 6 p.m.

The Authentic Bonnie and Clyde Festival – Downtown Gibsland

Please check out their Facebook event page for a full list of speakers, performances, and parade times.

May 27 (11 a.m.)

Veteran’s Museum Dedication Ceremony

Shady Grove Recreation District of Bienville Parish  – 10896 Hwy 501 in Saline 

June 2

4th Annual Louisiana Sheriffs for St. Jude Golf Tournament – Trails End Golf Course – 400 Par Road 256 in Arcadia

Registration is at 8 a.m. and tee off at 9 a.m.

June 3 (9 a.m. – 1 p.m.)

Farmer’s Market – Downtown Arcadia Depot

The following arrests were made by local law enforcement agencies.

05/14/23
Jacoby Tellis of Ringgold was arrested for criminal sanctions for operating a motor vehicle not covered by security and no registration.

05/15/23

Lamarcus Clark of Castor was arrested for battery of a dating partner and simple criminal damage to property.

Carol Cooper of Ringgold was arrested for aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon and failure to appear.

Martita Matthews of Coushatta was arrested for simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling.

05/16/23

Brian Taylor of Castor was arrested for aggravated obstruction of a highway of commerce and two counts of false imprisonment: offender armed with a dangerous weapon. 

Hannah Taylor of Castor was arrested for two counts of false imprisonment: offender armed with dangerous weapon, two counts of simple battery of the infirm and simple criminal damage to property. 

05/17/23

David Rochelle of Ruston was arrested for improper turning, operating a vehicle with a suspended license, unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling and failure to appear- execution of sentence. 

Troy Gibson of Trinity, Tx., was arrested as a fugitve for operating a vehicle with a suspended license and first offence D.W.I.

05/18/23

Whitney Baker of Junction City was arrested as a fugitive. 

James Bates of Castor was arrested for aggravated obstruction of a highway of commerce, two counts of false imprisonment and two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.

Thomas Howell of Castor was arrested for unauthorized use of food stamp coupons, cards and/or devices. 

05/19/23

Adam Smith of Castor was arrested for failure to register and notify as a sex offender. 

Kennrick Carr of Arcadia was arrested for failure to appear and two counts of child support obligation.

Trevor Abney of Arcadia was arrested for failure to appear- execution of sentence.

05/20/23

Joseph Watts of Ruston was arrested for failure to appear.

Robert Hill of Minden was arrested for contempt of court.

Chad Jones of Ruston was arrested for operating a vehicle with a suspended license/no license issued. 

Tiarra Deshonta Randle of Arcadia was arrested by Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office for a license plate light violation and as a fugitive from Tarrant County, Texas with full extradition. 

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.