Bienville Parish 4H had an amazing turn out of members and non-members that participated in their 2nd Annual Black History Month essay contest. Participants turned in submissions answering the question, “Who is a person of color you greatly admire? How has this person’s example benefited you?”
Members of Dorcheat-Bistineau Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution collaborated to donate $670 to Minden St. Jude in memory of Jarrod Tauzin, the grandson of one of the chapter members.
Minden St. Jude is a yearly event that raises money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Minden raises more money per capita for St. Jude than any other city in the U.S.
Minden St. Jude raised over $2 million in 2022 and 2023.
Mary Beth Edwards, the chapter’s American History Chairman, volunteered to work the phones for 3 hours at the Minden St. Jude Auction.
Chapter Regent Cindy Madden and her husband Jerry donated a week in a 2 bedroom resort in Orlando for a $10 pledge in memory of their son Josh Madden.
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It’s February in the Pine Belt of South Mississippi. It’s 82 degrees outside, the azaleas are blooming, and the crawfish are in season. I’m not stupid enough to think that spring is already here, but it sure feels like it today.
This is what I call Mississippi fake spring. It happens every year. The weather gets nice and mild. Trees start to green up, flowers start to bloom, but there’s another cold spell, or two, maybe even a freeze in store overt the course of the next eight weeks.
The same thing happens in September. We experience Mississippi fake fall. It gets us every time. After a brutal summer with scorching heat and intense humidity, Mother Nature coughs up a cool snap in the middle of the month and everyone pulls out their sweaters and jackets. A week later we’re back in the low 90s, and it’s eventually 72 degrees and raining on Christmas day.
We wish for seasons down here and I’m ok with that. It just shows that we Mississippians are full of hope. Nevertheless, I’ll enjoy this fake spring day and try to wade my way through the clouds of pollen that are flying across the roads and lawns.
March in Mississippi is a beautiful thing. For a week or so we get to experience the cool evenings San Diegans live with year-round. But that, too, is what makes Mississippians special. It’s easy to live in San Diego where the average temperatures are in the mid 70s during the day and mid 50s in the evenings. We endure down here, and it’s my belief that people who endure are stronger and sturdier. We’ve been enduring for generations.
We South Mississippians are troopers. We have chosen to live on the last patch of American soil that was settled east of the Mississippi River. My forefathers came to this pine-clotted area— hatchet in hand— and fought panthers, rabid racoons, malaria, encephalitis, Lyme disease, and a few other insect-borne illnesses. Unlike the wise and resourceful Native Americans who set up camp near rivers and creeks, or the French and Spanish settlers who pitched tents on the Gulf beaches and along the Natchez trace, my geographically challenged ancestors staked their claim among the tall stands of sap-oozing, pollen-spreading virgin pines.
Fake spring, or not, I am going to enjoy this weather while I can. I don’t have access to any exact research on memories and our senses, but I know certain songs take me back to a specific place and time in my childhood. I also know that certain smells remind me of things from my past as well. I was walking across the parking lot from my office to one of the restaurants yesterday. The prep cooks in the kitchen were making a roux. The exhaust fan was wafting the aroma of toasted flour all through the parking lot. It took me back to my childhood, instantly.
My paternal grandmother was an excellent hostess and a great cook. We ate lunch at her house almost every Sunday after church. She had a set rotation of roast beef one Sunday, turkey and dressing the next Sunday, and the leg of lamb on the 3rd Sunday. On the 4th Sunday we would typically eat out.
Leg of lamb day was my favorite. Especially my grandmother’s leg of lamb. It was probably the most exotic food item I ate as a child. That’s about as out of the ordinary as foods got for me in the South Mississippi of the 1960s.
My grandmother set a very formal table with crystal, silver sterling silver, china, and linen. The full menu was almost always the same. Some type of congealed salad, which I never ate. Tomato aspic is a cruel trick to play on a child. It looked like Jell-O. It shook like Jell-O, but it tasted like V8 juice.
I can’t remember most of the vegetables during those formal launches. It seems like asparagus always made an appearance. I love asparagus today but as an eight-year-old, I was not a fan. At her more casual lunches she served mashed potatoes with English peas. I always made a nest of peas in my mashed potatoes. It was one of my favorite dishes as a child. It’s still one of my favorite dishes today. There was always rice and gravy. But the star of the show was leg of lamb with gravy
It’s the gravy that took me back as I was walking across the parking lot the other day. The aroma of toasted flour while a roux is being made always takes me back to her house on 4th Avenue. Sometimes I sat on a stool in the kitchen and watched her cook the entire lunch. Other times, usually in the spring, I was outside, wandering among the giant azaleas in her yard catching bees in old mayonnaise jars. Whenever the aroma of toasted flour came wafting from the kitchen’s window unit air conditioner and into the backyard, I knew the gravy was being made, and gravy was always the last item in the preparation process.
It was time to eat.
Occasionally in interviews I get the question, “what would you choose as your last meal?” It’s an easy one for me. I’ve been blessed to have eaten in a lot of fine restaurants over the years, but if I were able to choose a last meal it would be— without a doubt— my grandmother’s leg of lamb with the pan gravy she made from the pan drippings, rice and gravy, and her biscuits. She made amazing biscuits. I’ve never been able to replicate them.
I hope I’m never in a situation where I will have to choose a last meal. But if I am, the choice will be a no-brainer. Childhood food memories always motivate me. But they also make me question myself. Am I creating the same food memories for my children that my family did for me? I sure hope so.
Keep enduring.
Onward.
Leg of Lamb with Raspberry Mint Chutney
Preheat oven to 375
1 Leg of Lamb, bone in, about 6-7 pounds
12 cloves fresh garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbl fresh chopped rosemary
1 Tbl fresh chopped thyme
3 Tbl kosher salt
1 Tbl fresh ground black pepper
Using a paring knife, cut 12 small pockets, spread out in the lamb leg.
Insert one clove of garlic into each pocket.
Rub the leg with the olive oil, the rub the herbs, salt and pepper over the leg.
Place the lamb in a large roasting pan, and place it in the preheated oven.
Roast for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 and continue to bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to achieve a medium rare temperature. If using a thermometer, it should register 145 degrees.
Remove from the oven and allow the lamb to rest for 10 minutes. Slice thinly around the bone and serve.
Raspberry Mint Chutney
1 Tbl olive oil
1 /2 cup shallots, minced
1 Tbl garlic, minced
1 Tbl fresh ginger, minced fine
2 tsp curry powder
1 /4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 /2 cup sherry
3 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
1 cinnamon stick
2 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 cup mint jelly
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp water
1 /2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbl fresh mint, chopped
In a small sauce pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and cook shallots 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic, ginger and seasonings, and cook 3-4 more minutes, stirring often. Do not let garlic brown. Deglaze with sherry and reduce by half.
Stir in 2 cups of the raspberries, chicken broth and bay leaf and simmer 15-20 minutes, until reduced by half. Stir in mint jelly and cook three minutes more, stirring constantly. Dissolve the cornstarch with the 2 teaspoons of water and stir it into the simmering sauce. Allow the sauce to thicken then remove from the heat and strain. Stir in the vinegar, fresh mint and remaining cup of raspberries.
Serve at room temperature.
(Robert St. John is a chef, restaurateur and published cookbook author who lives in Hattiesburg, Miss.)
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This thing we call life can be a funny dance partner.
A story to illustrate. It’s your story and mine and it’s everyone’s story. Because the day began like any other but …
Life. You never know.
One evening not long ago at all, we were sitting on benches and chairs off the lobby of a big hotel, a very unrehearsed scenario, eating take-out supper off paper plates, at the end of a three-hour bus ride on the way to play baseball games.
Maybe just for moral support, I said that if I acted weird at any point during this trip it was because I’d eaten lunch with my mom and she was having surgery Thursday and all was well but … it was my mom, in her mid-80s, and …
It was my mom.
And that after that I’d visited one of my bosses in the emergency room because at four in the morning, she thought she was having a stroke she was only 50 and the doctors in West Monroe were sending her to Alexandria to a specific neurosurgeon and so I walked in and she started crying and then I started crying and I told her I was crying only because the hospital gown she had on was SO not her color and …
She was scared. Because she didn’t know what was wrong. Nobody knew what was wrong. Legit excuse for tears … I guess mine were just because we didn’t always get along at first, which is fine because it was professional and not personal, but I was scared because she was scared and I have grown fond of her and we all want her to be well.
And then I got a text that one of my hero sports writing brothers was having a surgery that was invasive like Germany invading Poland in 1939 was invasive and …
So, it’s not a good day and no one should be in this pickle it’s just a cross you have to bear because as usual, you are thinking of only yourself…
But … you never know. Because …
Then one of the guys who’d been on the bus — again, we’d been talking for three hours already, just jokes, but now for just a few minutes it was different — said his mom had cancer surgery that week and his niece had just called to say that while all was well so far, the doctors were confused why something wasn’t acting the way it should so …
And then another friend said, well, his dad, one of the great humans in history, had been checked into a nursing home that very morning and was not enamored with it at all but that no one in the family could physically handle this once vibrant and wonderful personality because his mind was going and …
You come to the same conclusion you’ve come to lots of times before. Doesn’t make it easier to accept. But you know it’s a dead solid fact. And that’s this …
Life is difficult. It’s a bear. It’s wonderful — colors and sounds and senses, and who can capture it all? how spectacular it is when it’s all going your way — but you never know what someone is going through. A person can be coaching a baseball game or preparing a sermon or teaching second grade or … you just don’t know. Their mom might be in surgery. Their aging dad might be in a situation he doesn’t understand. Their toddler might have just lost her mom to some tragedy or their salt-of-the-earth grandfather might have just passed away.
So …
Try to make someone smile today. Use your heart parts. Sincere goodwill is our ace in the hole, no matter the storm.
It’s a little thing, but it could be a big thing. For them, but for you too. Make the world a place that’s happier. You can do that.
No matter the cost, it will be worth it. It will come back, bread upon the water.
We need you.
Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu or Twitter at @MamaLuvsManning
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1498 – Vasco de Gama landed at what is now Mozambique on his way to India.
1562 – In Vassy, France, Catholics massacred over 1,000 Huguenots. The event started the First War of Religion.
1692 – In Salem Village, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Salem witch trials began. Four women were the first to be charged.
1781 – In America, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.
1784 – In Great Britain, E. Kidner opened the first cooking school.
1790 – The U.S. Congress authorized the first U.S. census.
1803 – Ohio became the 17th U.S. state.
1810 – Sweden became the first country to appoint an Ombudsman, Lars August Mannerheim.
1811 – Egyptian ruler Mohammed Ali massacred the leaders of the Mameluke dynasty.
1815 – Napoleon returned to France from the island of Elba. He had been forced to abdicate in April of 1814.
1845 – U.S. President Tyler signed the congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas.
1862 – Prussia formally recognized the Kingdom of Italy.
1864 – Louis Ducos de Hauron patented a machine for taking and projecting motion pictures. The machine was never built.
1867 – Nebraska became the 37th U.S. state.
1869 – Postage stamps with scenes were issued for the first time.
1872 – The U.S. Congress authorized the creation of Yellowstone National Park. It was the world’s first national park.
1873 – E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, NY, began the manufacturing the first practical typewriter.
1879 – The library of Hawaii was established.
1890 – “Literary Digest” was available for the first time.
1896 – The Battle of Adowa began in Ethiopia between the forces of Emperor Menelik II and Italian troops. The Italians were defeated.
1900 – In South Africa, Ladysmith was relieved by British troops after being under siege by the Boers for more than four months.
1907 – In Odessa, Russia, there were only about 15,000 Jews left due to evacuations.
1907 – In Spain, a royal decree abolished civil marriages.
1907 – In New York, the Salvation Army opened an anti-suicide bureau.
1911 – Industrialist Henry Frick acquired Velasquez’s “Portrait of King Philip IV.”
1911 – Jose Ordonez was elected President of Uraguay.
1912 – Captain Albert Berry made the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.
1924 – Disney released the first Alice Comedy entitled “Alice’s Day at Sea.”
1927 – The Bank of Italy became a National Bank.
1932 – The 22-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was kidnapped. The child was found dead in May.
1937 – U.S. Steel raised workers’ wages to $5 a day.
1937 – In Connecticut, the first permanent automobile license plates were issued.
1941 – FM Radio began in Nashville, TN, when station W47NV began operations.
1941 – Bulgaria joined the Axis powers by signing the Tripartite Pact.
1941 – “Duffy’s Tavern” debuted on CBS Radio.
1947 – The International Monetary Fund began operations.
1947 – Chinese Premier T.V. Soong resigned.
1949 – Joe Louis announced that he was retiring from boxing as world heavyweight boxing champion.
1950 – Klaus Fuchs was convicted of giving U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.
1954 – The United States announced that it had conducted a hydrogen bomb test on the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. It was the first U.S. test of a dry fuel hydrogen bomb under Operation Castle.
1954 – Five U.S. congressmen were wounded when four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives.
1959 – Archbishop Makarios returned to Cyprus from exile.
1961 – The Peace Corps was established by U.S. President Kennedy.
1962 – Pakistan announced that it had a new constitution that set up a presidential system of government.
1966 – The Soviet probe, Venera 3 crashed on the planet Venus. It was the first unmanned spacecraft to land on the surface of another planet.
1966 – Ghana ordered all Soviet, East German and Chinese technicians to leave the country.
1969 – Mickey Mantle announced his retirement from major league baseball.
1971 – A bomb exploded in a restroom in the Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol. There were no injuries. A U.S. group protesting the Vietnam War claimed responsibility.
1974 – Seven people were indicted in connection with the Watergate break-in. The charge was conspiring to obstruct justice.
1983 – The New Jersey Transit strike began. It ended on April 2.
1984 – The U.S.S.R. performed a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan, Semipalatinsk, U.S.S.R.
1987 – The Boston Celtics defeated Detroit 112-102 to post their 2,235th NBA win.
1987 – S&H Green Stamps became S&H Green Seals. The stamps were introduced 90 years earlier.
1988 – Soviet troops were sent into Azerbaijan after ethnic riots between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
1989 – In Washington, DC, Mayor Barry and the City council imposed a curfew on minors.
1990 – In Cairo, 16 people were killed in a fire at the Sheraton Hotel.
1992 – Bosnian Serb snipers fired upon civilians after a majority of the Moslem and Croatian communities voted in favor of Bosnia’s independence.
1992 – King Fahd of Saudi Arabia announced major political reforms that ceded some powers after 10 years of disciplined rule.
1992 – Bosnian Muslims and Croats voted to secede from Yugoslavia.
1993 – The U.S. government announced that the number of food stamp recipients had reached a record number of 26.6 million.
1994 – Israel released about 500 Arab prisoners in an effort to placate Palestinians over the Hebron massacre.
1995 – The European Parliament rejected legislation that would have allowed biotechnology companies to patent new life forms.
1996 – In Kuala, Lumpur, construction was completed for the Petronas Towers.
1999 – The Angolan Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia, exploded. Four other bombs went off in the capital.
1999 – In Uganda, eight tourists were brutally murdered by Hutu rebels.
1999 – Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones began their attempt to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon non-stop. They succeeded on March 20, 1999.
2002 – Operation Anaconda began in eastern Afghanistan. Allied forces were fighting against Taliban and Al Quaida fighters.
2003 – In New York, a $250,000 Salvador Dali sketch was stolen from a display case in the lobby at Rikers Island jail. On June 17, 2003, it was announced that four corrections officers had surrendered and pled innocent in connection to the theft. The mixed-media composition was a sketch of the crucifixion.
2003 – In the U.S., approximately 180,000 personnel from 22 different organizations around the government became part of the Department of Homeland Security. This completed the largest government reorganization since the beginning of the Cold War.
2003 – Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured by CIA and Pakistani agents near Islamabad. He was the suspected mastermind behind the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
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The following arrests were made by local law enforcement agencies.
02/19/23
Jeffery McCoy of Jamestown, La was arrested for illegal possession of stolen things and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.
02/21/23
Thomas Beloney from Marshall, Tx was arrested for violation of probation/parole.
02/24/23
Aylissa Loud of Ringgold, La was arrested for automobile insurance policies.
Jeremy Goodgion from Graham, Tx was arrested for telephone communications with improper language/harassment, cyberstalking and interference with the custody of a child.
Eddie Myles, Jr. of Arcadia, La was arrested for illegal carrying of a weapon in the presence of controlled dangerous substances, possession or distribution of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Brandon Brooks from Arlington, Tx was arrested for no driver’s license.
02/25/23
William Bridges of Arcadia, La was arrested for domestic abuse battery.
Amanda Sullivan of Castor, La was arrested for distribution of methamphetamine.
Michael Loud, Jr. of Gibsland, La was arrested for domestic abuse battery, unauthorized use of a movable and entering/remaining after being forbidden in immovable structure.
Victavius Pettigrew of Arcadia, La was arrested for operating a vehicle with a suspended license.
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Burial: Providence Cemetery, Ringgold, under the direction of Rockett Funeral Home.
Christopher Andrew Barnhill
August 3, 1975 – Feb. 25, 2023
Marthaville, La.
Visitation: 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday, March 4, 2023, Christ United Methodist Church, Shreveport, La.
Funeral: 1 p.m. immediately following visitation.
Burial: Beulah Methodist Church Cemetery, Marthaville, 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.)
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Final score of the quarterfinal game against Homer.
By Paige Nash
The Arcadia Lady Hornets are going to the LHSAA’s Marsh Madness semi-finals after winning their game against the Homer Pelicans last night, 56-42. The semi-finals will kick off on February 27 at the University Center in Hammond, La. The Lady Hornets will be going head to head with the Oakdale Mustangs who won their quarterfinal game yesterday evening against White Castle, 54-31.
Also, advancing to the Division IV (Non-select) semi-finals are the Oak Grove Tigers who beat LaSalle in their quarterfinal game, 35-26. They will be playing the winner of the East Beauregard vs. Lakeview game.
It was a fight to the finish battling for the Division V (Non-select) title, the Gibsland-Coleman Lady Bulldogs fell short by one point of advancing to the semi-finals. They lost their game last night against Florien, 53-52.
All five Bienville Parish boys’ teams will be playing their bi-district match ups tonight.
Saline will be playing their bi-district match for the LHSAA Boy’s Basketball Play-off Division V (Non-Select) against Quitman High School. The game will begin at 6 p.m. at Jonesboro-Hodge High School.
Also playing for the Division V title, the Castor Tigers will be going up against Hornbeck High School at Hornbeck at 6:30 p.m.
The Gibsland-Coleman Bulldogs earned a bye week and will be playing the winner of Holden vs. Bell City at Regionals to be held on February 28th.
Competing for the Division IV (Non-select) title, the Arcadia Hornets will play Kentwood High School at Home tonight at 6:30 p.m.
The Ringgold Redskins will be taking on the Block Bears at Home at 6 p.m. Faculty and staff are asking for students to show support for their fellow classmates by paying $1 to wear red and camouflage the day of the game.
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In mid 2021 the Hunt Forest Products and Tolko Industries Ltd. (Tolko) announced that they would be building a $240 million, state-of-the art Sawmill in Bienville Parish, near Taylor, La. Construction began in early 2022. They are expecting to begin operations this year.
The sawmill will employ approximately 60 people at first and then approximately 130 when it begins operating at full capacity.
They are currently in the process of starting the hiring process for the new plant. They will be hosting a job fair on March 7 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College- Minden Campus.
Hiring representatives will be present to conduct onsite interviews for job seekers. They are asking that you please bring a resume to the fair.
Careers being hired for include administrative, maintenance and mill positions at all levels. They are looking to fill positions for electricians, millwrights, operators, technicians, mechanics, supervisors and more.
The sawmill will consume:
1.3 Million Metric tons of logs annually
40,000 loads of logs annually
800 loads of logs per week
80-90 loads of residuals per week
The forest resource surrounding Taylor, LA is primarily comprised of southern yellow pine, with a smaller component of oak/hickory and oak/gum/cypress types. Southern yellow pine forest types cover 53% of the total timberland area while hardwood and mixed hardwood-conifer forest types cover the remaining 47%.
Facts about the new sawmill:
Location: 1643 Highway 80, Gibsland, LA; site of the former Weyerhaeuser Taylor Sawmill
Acreage: 255 acres, including the existing Taylor sawmill site and adjacent timber land
Construction Start: First Quarter of 2022
Estimated Completion and Operation: Second Quarter of 2023
Cost: Approximately $240 million
Employees: 60 at initial operation; 130 at full operation
Indirect Jobs: 300+during construction
Average wage: Close to $20 per hour
Production Capacity: 320 million board feet annually
Timber Requirements: 1.3 million tons annually
Log Dimensions: Maximum butt diameter: 20 inches, Minimum tip diameter: 6 inches. Maximum log length: 65 feet, Minimum log length: 20 feet.
Workforce Training: Louisiana Department of Economic Development FastStart workforce development program, in coordination with Bossier Parish Community College
Ownership: 50/50 joint ownership between Hunt Forest Products of Ruston, LA, and Tolko Industries Ltd. of Vernon, British Columbia. Hunt will manage and operate the mill day-to-day.
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The Louisiana Sheriff’s Scholarship Program for Academic Year 2022-2023 is now underway.
Bienville Parish Sheriff John Ballance will award one $1,000 scholarship to a deserving Bienville Parish student who has displayed excellence in education. Applicants must be permanent residents of the parish to be eligible.
The scholarship must be utilized at an institution for higher learning within the state of Louisiana. Applicants must plan to enroll as a full time, undergraduate student.
Applications are available at any high school counselor’s office and at the Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office. Applications must be submitted to the Sheriff’s Office by April 1, 2023 to be eligible for consideration. The winner will be announced on May 1, 2023.
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Castor High School just wrapped up their annual St. Jude Math-a-Thon. This year students from grades Kindergarten to eighth grade raised a total of $2,037.00 for the children at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“We have had several students and children from our community that have been diagnosed with cancer and were treated at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” said CHS teacher and St. Jude Math-a-Thon Coordinator Charlene Hammett. “We at Castor High School work hard each year to raise as much money as we can to help support this hospital.”
The students participate by working on math problems in a ‘Funbook’ and get sponsors and donations for the problems that they solve. This year the students were able to gather donations from February 6- 23.
“The students that worked as a team to raise the most money were Jane Austin and Caroline Hand. These sisters worked extra hard to help raise money for the children and St. Jude,” said Hammett.
Together the pair were able to raise $555.00.
Mrs. Hammett would like to thank everyone from the Castor community and beyond who helped support these 12 participating students and this worthy cause.
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Crawford Elementary School will be hosting their annual Black History Celebration today at 9:30 a.m. in the Crawford Gymnasium.
Arcadia Movers and Shakers- Mayor O’landis Millican, Bienville Parish Superintendent William Wysinger and Chief of Police Cierra Murphy will be hosting the event. Students will be making presentations.
“The students will make presentations on the local history makers and other African American who have contributed to our black history,” said Crawford Elementary School Principal Edwin Mason.
Parents are encouraged to attend the event, but if you are not able to attend in person you can tune in to the live stream on the Crawford Elementary Facebook page.
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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) wants to remind the public to leave suspected injured and orphaned birds alone and undisturbed.
It is best to refrain from intervening in the normal fledgling process and become familiar with common behaviors of fledgling birds, young birds who have grown too large for the nest and need room to stretch/flap their wings and practice flight.
Each year LDWF receives calls from concerned citizens who have found what they believe to be abandoned birds. It is against the law to capture, transport or possess birds listed on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Treaty Act list and other wildlife. Generally, birds and other wildlife are better off left where they are found.
It is not uncommon to find young birds away from their nests during the spring and summer as they learn to fly. Young birds can be found hopping on the ground or in shrubs, fluttering their wings and may appear to be in distress. In reality, the young bird is continuing to be fed by its parents and is simply practicing for flight. If left undisturbed, adult birds will call and wait for a response from their young and provide the necessary care for the fledging during this process.
There are cases where intervention may be beneficial. Individuals who encounter displaced nestlings, birds which are mostly featherless, may immediately return the bird to its nest if at all possible and then leave the area.
Birds do not recognize human scent and will not abandon a nestling because of it. If you are unable to locate the nearby nest, you can create and return the nestling to a false nest attached to the nearest tree or shrub where the bird was found. Instructions for false nests can be found on LDWF’s wildlife rehabilitation webpage at https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/injured-orphaned-wildlife. Remember-IF YOU CARE, LEAVE IT THERE!
To our more seasoned readers. Tell me if the following statement hits the nail on the head.
“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”
If that’s how you feel about young folk, you’re not alone. You’re not even original. The quote above came from Socrates, and he said it 2,400 years ago.
Older generations have always had negative views of those who come after.
I read an article in a Life magazine from the 1930s. The writer called the youth of the day “lazy” and “shiftless” and opined they would spell the doom of the Great American Experiment. Those lazy and shiftless kids went on to be dubbed as the Greatest Generation.
Another great fella once said: “I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!”
So why does the same refrain echo throughout eternity? For one, our brains change as we age. With more years, our ability to distinguish chords of music diminishes. It’s why all new music sounds “like noise” to older people.
Lack of exposure also plays a part. I don’t know when I went from the person who fixed the tech issues at home and work, but now I’m nothing more than a “turn it on, turn it off” guy and then send an email if that doesn’t work. I let my skill diminish. I failed to continue learning. It’s now difficult and irritates me. I’ve become the one who needs the help.
The world changes. That’s as true as you shouldn’t lend money to friends and you shouldn’t ask a man why he’s digging a hole. Don’t build a structure with a flat roof either. Just asking for trouble.
Young people don’t necessarily know more than older people. They just know more about a modern world that is run by computers where fame and fortunes are made over an Ethernet connection or Wi-Fi signal. There was similar sentiment at the invention of the railroad, the car, the washing machine, the dishwasher, the airplane, emails, text messages. The inventors of those were hard workers. They were entrepreneurs. They were young. You see young people work just as hard as older people. They just do it differently. Kids learn differently now. Their brains are wired in a way that is foreign to those of us who knew a world before the internet. It’s why I can’t teach the way I was taught. Attention spans are toast nowadays. I had to change as well.
Values change. Political beliefs change. Society changes. It happened from my grandfather’s world to my fathers. It happened from my fathers to mine. And it’ll happen from mine to my daughters.
Facebook memes tell us “these kids today” are the problem with the world, but the same story persists throughout time.
In reality, probably one of the biggest problems America has is that when you get old, a lot of us simply forget what it’s like to be young.
Maybe it’s because I’m around them all day everyday, but I feel protective of and and defensive for younger generations. They help keep me young. They remind me of what it’s like to be a kid. I’ve seen good ones who will go on to do great things. And I’ve seen ones who I know will amount to very little when the real world comes calling. In other words, they are just like all the rest of us. Like every generation to ever exist all the way back to Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel.
So, I’m not one of those who believes we’d never survive a war with millennials calling the shots and Gen Zers filling the ranks. Because the wars that will come to America in the future likely won’t be waged with bullets. They’ll be waged with keyboards and Wi-Fi connections.
(Josh Beavers is a teacher and a writer. He has been recognized five times for excellence in opinion writing by the Louisiana Press Association.)
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Wednesday was my very first Ash Wednesday service. Being exceedingly new to the Episcopalian religion, there is no question I have a lot to learn when it comes to the church seasons and traditions. Keep this in mind.
First, let us touch on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, also known as Fat Tuesday, also known as Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day.
No matter what you call the day, it serves as the last day before the first day of Lent where you can use up those eggs and fats before beginning the Lenten Fast. What better way to use up those ingredients than making a ton of buttery, flaky pancakes?
At this feast the ones in attendance will perform the “burning of the palms.” When I first heard of this ritual, I was wholly confused to say the least. I was utterly flabbergasted to be honest, thinking to myself that there was no way I was going to burn my palms and what in the world I had gotten myself involved in.
Thankfully my priest was able to clarify that there would be no burning of my hands, but that they would be burning the palms (a plant) that are usually distributed during the previous year’s Palm Sunday liturgies to make the ashes that will be used during the services held on the very next day, which brings me to Ash Wednesday.
As I entered the church that day with a friend, I saw her dip her fingers in a bowl. Having flashbacks of the weeklong inner ponderings regarding my palms being burnt, nonetheless I followed suit, dipping my fingers, as well. She proceeded to inform me that it was holy water. Ok, I need all the holy water I can get.
I looked around, not knowing anyone, since I was just visiting this church with my friend. I noticed an elderly lady dressed completely in black with a veil covering her head, which made sense considering this first day of Lent is supposed to mark a 40-day period of remembering the events leading up to and including the death of Jesus Christ.
The service was very solemn, silent and beautiful. During the priest’s homily, he reminded the congregation that if this day and the rest of the 40 days of this season were all we had to remember, what a somber day it would be indeed, but we have better days ahead to look forward to after this season of repentance and reflection.
We have Maudy Thursday, a day to commemorate the day before Jesus died, which leads us to Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus’ death and sacrifice for our sins. Next comes the joyful celebration of His resurrection from the tomb, rising from the dead, allowing us an opportunity of eternal life – Easter Sunday. All of these days are meant to prepare our hearts and minds for this glorious day.
I’m not going to lie, it is a lot to try to learn and keep up with, but understanding the days and acts of the Lenten season deepens my experience and it is supposed to be a very personal experience. A time which begins with a public declaration that you are indeed a sinner and a work in progress, but the inner work should be just that … inner and honest. A time where we can remove the façade and attempt to justify our sins and through that tough work, we can dispose of the mask we have been living behind and see things through a new clarity.
Although, this is a personal experience you can rely on your community of believers for support if you need it and to answer any questions you may have during this season because if you are like me, you will have plenty.
Oh, and I almost forgot that I am supposed to be giving something up for 40 days. Was that supposed to begin the morning of Ash Wednesday or after I have been ashed? I may already be failing in that department.
(Paige Nash is a wife, mom, digital journalist for Webster Parish Journal and publisher of Bienville Parish Journal.)
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I have struggled over the notion of directly addressing my chosen profession through these articles.It’s no secret that policing in America is a polarizing issue in today’s society.That alone makes discussing cops and how they operate a source of contention, no matter how you broach the topic.Anyone, especially a cop, writing about cop related things is going to pour sand in the craw of at least 50% of the population.Therefore, instead of trying to write something that pleases cop lovers or cop haters, I’ll offer something that is likely to inflame folks on both ends of the spectrum.I mean, it’s only fair, right?
Are cops good or bad?I’ll spare you the overused soundbite about bad people being present in every profession.In short, the overwhelming majority of cops are good.Even bad cops usually have the noblest of intentions.However, cops can start off good and turn like milk, becoming sour and jaded.Bad cops, in all stages of their careers, do exist – but VERY few are bad right out of the gate.Most bad cops (which are the great minorityof the cop population) didn’t start their careers as a dumpster fire of a human being – they ended up like that over time – some more quickly than others, and for a multitude of possible reasons.
The elephant in the room is use of force.That seems to be the only standard by which people determine if they’re pro-cop or anti-cop.If you don’t assess police actions on a case-by-case basis and simply lump all cops into one giant pool of corruption, then you’re ate slap up with the dumb-ass.If you think all cops are bullies, they’re not.If you think cops use too much force too often, they don’t.If you think qualified immunity is an archaic mechanism that should be abolished, you either need to quit using LSD or start using it – whichever makes you more enlightened.The idea of eliminating qualified immunity for law enforcement is absolutely the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.That’s “more stupider” than “defund the police.”I felt my IQ drop just by typing “eliminating qualified immunity.”Damn it, I did it again.Moving on…On the other hand, if you believe cops are always professional, always above reproach, never use too much force, and should be given absolute reign to purge society of all perceived scum bags – or if you think that building more prisons for the purpose of generating revenue is a prudent financial plan – to paraphrase a popular redneck comedian, “You might be a communist.”
Society fails law enforcement by buying into all the negativity surrounding cops in the media.Bad stories make attractive headlines.Good stories don’t sell papers or ad space.People seem to have lost the ability for critical thinking where cops are concerned, because they’ve been force-fed negativity for so long that they’ve developed an indirect form of Stockholm Syndrome and have begun to sympathize with their captors – the cop hating media.
Non-cop readers, I want you to hear this too, but know the rest of this article is directed to my blue compatriots.
Cops, are you actively working to change the narrative surrounding our beloved profession?I get it, we’re vastly outnumbered – but since when does that stop us?Wouldn’t you rush headlong into a fight with three guys twice your size to try and rescue a child from captivity?Wouldn’t you sprint into the absolute terror of an active shooter situation to smite evil in its tracks and save innocent people?Since when is fighting an uphill battle not exactly what we signed up for?If the narrative needs to change, and it certainly does, why aren’t more of us working to change it?
Do you have all the training you need to do your job well – to be as safe as possible, to communicate professionally and effectively with a wide range of people – to write, to fight, to shoot, to drive, to understand the laws you enforce?What would the general public think if they knew just how abysmal the annual training / continued education standard truly is – or that you can get 12 of the mandatory minimum 20 hours of annual “training” by watching videos online?If a stranger asked you what training requirements are mandatory for cops in your state or agency, would you have to use your “verbal judo” or embellish your response to keep from being utterly embarrassed?Could you say honestly that you and / or your agency go above and beyond what’s required, for training?
To improve the way cops are perceived by the public, make yourself a better cop – rather than depending on your agency to do it for you.Don’t be the lowest common denominator when it comes to training.It sucks to spend your own money, time, vacation, fuel, and energy to get good training.Believe me, I know.I’m not suggesting you spend your career being a “certificate chaser” – the world doesn’t need more of those.I also understand that much of the training available to us through law enforcement is really good!But is the mandatory minimum sufficient?Not even close – regardless how long you’ve been on the job.Take it upon yourself to get training that’s recent, relevant, and realistic, whether or not your agency will foot the bill.The world needs more well-trained cops, but the world will never have them if we depend on bureaucrats and people with political agendas to set the standard of “sufficient training,” because it’s far cheaper to bury you and / or pay liability insurance premiums than it is to adequately train you for the duration of your career.
I’ve been fortunate throughout my career, especially in my current position, working for and having worked for supervisors and department heads, who value(d) training and know the importance of elevating officers’ confidence and competence – but we, the rank and file hired hands, have to take some initiative too.Once, in 15 years on the job, have I been denied training that I requested.Most cops aren’t as fortunate as I have been.Therefore, a lot of cops sit and wait for someone with more rank to give them training directives that never come, rather than seeking out education for themselves – and that behavior needs to change.
We’ll never be able to curb the stupidity pandemic among the staunchest of cop haters but we must do our part to reduce the effectiveness of their overgrown mouths – without the use of a PR-24 – as tempting as that notion sometimes is.The only actions you can control are your own.Hold yourselves to the high standard that’s required of us, and rather than keeping up with the times, let’s get ahead of the current state of affairs, by being proactive, not reactive, where our training is concerned – because you are the only person that can make you a better cop.
Avoid what you can.Defeat what you can’t.
-Ryan
(Ryan Barnette is not a licensed attorney or a medical provider, 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 or medical advice.)
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In 1877, Thomas Edison’s engineers worked on a machine that would transcribe messages sent over telegraph lines. Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone just one year prior, but it would be years before it became commonplace. As Edison and his engineers pondered over the different uses for this invention, Edison speculated that an audio message could be recorded in a similar fashion. This is one of the earliest known mentions of an answering machine or, in the cell phone era, a voicemail recorder. Edison proposed a sketch of this invention to mechanic John Kruesi, who built a working model within 30 hours. Edison tested the machine by reciting “Mary had a little lamb.” The machine recorded the recitation on a hollow cylinder made of tin foil. He was astonished to hear his own words played back to him. On Christmas Eve, 1877, Edison filed the patent for the phonograph. On January 24, 1878, Edison created the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company. Due to the sound being recorded on fragile tin foil, the phonograph was viewed only as a novelty because the tin foil only allowed the recording to be played back a few times. Edison’s work on the incandescent light bulb drew his and his engineer’s time away from further developments on the phonograph.
Alexander Graham Bell and his team of engineers made improvements on Edison’s phonograph, most notably of which was the replacement of the tin foil with a wax cylinder. Bell and his team patented what they called the graphophone, and approached Edison to discuss a collaborative effort to make further improvements. Edison refused and made improvements on his phonograph which included Bell’s wax cylinder. Edison called it his New Phonograph. In October 1887, Edison formed a new company to market the machine. One advertisement pictured Edison standing alongside his newest model with the quote, “I want a phonograph in every home.”
In 1906, Hodson Burton, a wealthy, elderly resident of Buchanan, Michigan, revised his last will and testament. Burton’s will specified the distribution of some but not all of his property. Among other information, his will included the statement that he had buried a large sum of gold in a secret location. He recorded the location of the gold on a phonograph cylinder which was to be kept in his attorney’s safe until he had been dead five years.
In the spring of 1906, shortly after completing his will and phonograph recording, Hodson Burton died. For five long years, Burton’s heirs puzzled over the location of the hidden gold. Despite their requests, the attorney was resolute in honoring Burton’s will. Finally, on Saturday, April 1, 1911, all of the heirs gathered in the front parlor of the home of Burton’s son, Luke Burton, to finally play the phonograph cylinder and learn the location of the hidden gold. While they anxiously awaited the arrival of the attorney, they imagined what they could purchase with the gold such as “automobiles, mansions, and aeroplanes.”
The attorney had taken every precaution to ensure the fragile wax cylinder and phonograph machine remained safe. The attorney arrived through the rear of the house and went to the kitchen. On the kitchen table, he carefully unwrapped the phonograph and the wax cylinder. After five long years, the attorney was ready to rid himself of the responsibility of keeping it safe. He placed the cylinder on the phonograph and carefully lifted it off the table. With a deep breath, he slowly carried the phonograph from the kitchen, over the threshold to the parlor where a table had been cleared for the device. The attorney glanced back and forth between the phonograph and the table as he walked. As the attorney entered the parlor, he tripped over a footstool and the wax cylinder shattered into countless tiny pieces as it struck the floor, forever concealing the location of Burton’s hidden gold.
ICYMI, around Division I college basketball in the piney woods and bayous, as March Madness approaches, here is my version of Cliff’s Notes. Let’s call this Duggie Nuggets. On second thought, let’s don’t. How about Bayou Basketball Bites?
Just like most of our state’s basketball teams, we can do better.
Now that college baseball and softball is underway, with spring football right behind, it’s fair to say the generally tepid interest level in college hoops is fading fast in all but a few locales. But the Big Dance and its brackets are inevitably captivating, and you may find yourself with a rooting (or at least betting) interest.
At LSU, the extremes are mind-blowing. Nobody saw Kim Mulkey’s (Lady) Tigers with only one loss this season, but it’s likely they’ll sail into the SEC Tournament with just that. Nobody saw Matt McMahon’s men with a 14-game losing streak in conference competition, although anyone who expected close to a .500 SEC record was also holding out hope for a Saints playoff run.
Going anything less than unbeaten against a cupcake non-conference schedule would have been disappointing for Mulkey’s squad. They did not disappoint. They haven’t since, either. They’re not quite Final Four caliber, but that will change when Parkway’s Mikayla Williams and her signing class saddle up in Baton Rouge.
As for the LSU men, they’re a recruiting class away, in the new age of the transfer portal, from merely treading water in the SEC. McMahon is a good human and a solid coach, but can he recruit on a Power 5 level? That was the question when he was brought in to clean up the Will Wade cesspool. He’s done that much. Now, to upgrade the talent level and begin notching some Dale Brown-style upsets to make his program relevant.
From off the 318 radar, Tulane requires attention. It’s not just a football school (insert chortle). Be advised, the following may shock you. The men are 17-7, second behind Houston in the American Athletic Conference, and NCAA Tournament-bound. On the women’s side, Greenies coach Lisa Stockton just surpassed legendary Leon Barmore, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Lady Techsters’ coach, as the state’s winningest women’s college coach.
In her 29th Tulane campaign, Stockton has averaged 20 wins and at 16-11 this winter, is near that pace. She notched her 577th victory last Saturday, is trending toward her 21st postseason appearance and hoping for a 12th NCAA Tournament trip. None of that or her commendable career winning percentage scratches the surface of Barmore’s resume’, but it’s pretty salty in its own right. I’m not tuned into Tulane, but while the court-naming talk is still buzzing ….
Speaking of under the radar, UL-Lafayette’s men are 21-7, tied for third in the Sun Belt, headed to unscheduled action in March.
Wish it was a Bayou Blast Tournament. That would be fun and moderately interesting. Tulane, ULL, Grambling (18-8) and Northwestern State (19-9) all have postseason legs, but lack statewide appeal. Any of them could win their conference tournaments. All may have consolation opportunities if they don’t.
There’s the NIT, fit for regular-season champs that don’t cash in at conference tourneys (Grambling and NSU still might fit that description). Then trickle down to the pay-to-play alternatives, the College Basketball Invitational and (maybe) The Basketball Classic (it’s hard to tell online if it survived to 2023).
On the women’s side, there’s a slim chance of extra play for anyone other than LSU and Tulane. Best longshot: Louisiana Tech (16-10), which has battled injuries and inconsistencies, but Brooke Stoehr has an excellent conference tournament track record. Give her the squad that started the season and the Lady Techsters could threaten in the Conference USA Tournament.
That’s Bayou Bracketology, hopefully more useful than beads on Ash Wednesday.
One thing I’ve learned over my many years of fishing bass tournaments…never to trust another angler! Now, why would someone say such a thing? Because it’s a fact! Today we’ll look at a situation where you’ll understand why this is a true statement.
No group of people on planet Earth is less trustworthy than bass fishermen. They will lie in a heartbeat to keep other anglers at bay when it comes to where and how they are catching bass. They will sell their firstborn for crucial information if it will help them win a tournament. That’s why it’s so important to bond with a couple of guys who are your true friends so that you can discuss what you’re doing and how you’re catching bass without the threat of one of them revealing your secrets. Trust is a word very few anglers use because the pool of people you can trust is small and almost non-existent.
A good friend of mine, who is a legendary angler from East Texas, told me one time that he was through fishing Pro/Am events. Pro/Am events are tournaments where you have a boater/Pro who runs the boat and the trolling motor while he’s paired up with an Amateur/Co-angler for the day. The biggest problem in these types of events is that the Pro/boater spends all his hard-earned money and time finding fish for an event while the Am/Co-angler benefits from all that hard work without ever wetting a hook in practice or burning any gas. When you take a Co-angler to your best spots, you hope and pray that he won’t go tell all his buddies where these spots are and how you’re catching them.
So many times, I’ve asked co-anglers nicely to please not tell anyone where and how we caught our fish for that day. But no matter how much they promise they will keep everything a secret, they’re lying! This happened to me last year on Sam Rayburn in which I had a good crankbait bite early off one spot. We both had our limits in the first thirty minutes of the tournament. I had over 16 pounds in the live well and my co-angler had his three fish limits of almost 10 pounds. I specifically asked the young man to please not share this spot with anyone else as I had another tournament coming up the next weekend. He reassured me that he does not share other anglers’ spots or information with anyone.
So, feeling good about the rapport and connection we had made, I felt this guy was trustworthy. Well, guess what? Once again, my faith in humanity and trusting another angler was lost when I returned the following Thursday to scout for my next event on Rayburn. Just after daylight, I ran to my starting spot from the week before where I had caught 16 pounds in thirty minutes. As I approached the spot, I noticed a boat was fishing almost directly in the same location. So, I pulled up and lowered my trolling motor trolling in his direction. Once within in speaking range, I asked the angler if he had caught anything off this spot. He said “yes” with enthusiasm as he set the hook on a 4 pounder! While smoke and blood began to ooze from my ears, he commented that the area was loaded with some really good quality fish that his son had caught with a guy last weekend. I told him, “Yeah, I’m that guy!” I could see the look on his face when he said, “Uh oh!” He knew immediately that his son was not supposed to have told him about the spot. Once again, I politely asked the dad if he would lay off these fish until after my tournament on Saturday. He obliged and apologetically pulled up his trolling motor and left.
While I understand that I really don’t have the right to claim this or any spot as off-limits to anyone, it’s just the ethical part among other tournament fishermen to honor another angler’s spot or area. Now if another angler had found those same fish as I did, then it’s a matter of who gets there first. This is all a part of the unwritten rules of tournament fishing that so many anglers today refuse to observe. Ethics have been thrown out the window in today’s bass tournament world. It has now become every man for himself with little to no regard for anyone else.
If the ethical part of tournament fishing does not return, there will be some bad consequences for anglers down the road, especially the up-and-coming high school and college anglers who are not being taught these unwritten rules. Till next time, good luck, good fishing, and don’t forget to wear sunscreen. Melanoma is real and can be deadly if not caught early. Early detection is critical to overcoming this form of cancer.
Steve Graf
Angler’s Perspective
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1803 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled itself to be the final interpreter of all constitutional issues.
1835 – “Siwinowe Kesibwi” (The Shawnee Sun) was issued as the first Indian language monthly publication in the U.S.
1839 – Mr. William S. Otis received a patent for the steam shovel.
1857 – The Los Angeles Vinyard Society was organized.
1857 – The first shipment of perforated postage stamps was received by the U.S. Government.
1863 – Arizona was organized as a territory.
1866 – In Washington, DC, an American flag made entirely of American bunting was displayed for the first time.
1868 – The U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson due to his attempt to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The U.S. Senate later acquitted Johnson.
1886 – Thomas Edison and Mina Miller were married.
1900 – New York City Mayor Van Wyck signed the contract to begin work on New York’s first rapid transit tunnel. The tunnel would link Manhattan and Brooklyn. The ground breaking ceremony was on March 24, 1900.
1903 – In Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an area was leased to the U.S. for a naval base.
1925 – A thermit was used for the first time. It was used to break up a 250,000-ton ice jam that had clogged the St. Lawrence River near Waddington, NY.
1938 – The first nylon bristle toothbrush was made. It was the first time that nylon yarn had been used commercially.
1942 – The U.S. Government stopped shipments of all 12-gauge shotguns for sporting use for the wartime effort.
1942 – The Voice of America (VOA) aired for the first time.
1945 – During World War II, the Philippine capital of Manilla, was liberated by U.S. soldiers.
1946 – Juan Peron was elected president of Argentina.
1956 – The city of Cleveland invoked a 1931 law that barred people under the age of 18 from dancing in public without an adult guardian.
1980 – NBC premiered the TV movie “Harper Valley P.T.A.”
1981 – Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Britain’s Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer.
1983 – The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 1100 mark for the first time.
1983 – A U.S.congressional commission released a report that condemned the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
1987 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, of the Los Angeles Lakers, got his first three-point shot in the NBA.
1987 – An exploding supernova was discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy.
1988 – The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a $200,000 award to Rev. Jerry Falwell that had been won against “Hustler” magazine. The ruling expanded legal protections for parody and satire.
1989 – Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini sentenced Salman Rushdie to death for his novel “The Satanic Verses”. A bounty of one to three-million-dollars was also put on Rushidie’s head.
1989 – A United Airlines 747 jet rips open in flight killing 9 people. The flight was from Honolulu to New Zealand.
1992 – “Wayne’s World” opened in U.S. theaters.
1992 – Tracy Gold began working on the set of “Growing Pains” again. She had left the show due to anorexia.
1994 – In Los Angeles, Garrett Morris was shot during a robbery attempt. He eventually recovered from his injury.
1997 – The U.S. The Food and Drug Administration named six brands of birth control as safe and effective “morning-after” pills for preventing pregnancy.
1997 – Dick Enberg received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1999 – In southeast China, a domestic airliner crashed killing all 64 passengers.
2007 – The Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution expressing “profound regret” for the state’s role in slavery.
2008 – Cuba’s parliament named Raul Castro president. His brother Fidel had ruled for nearly 50 years.
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Funeral service: 11 a.m., immediately following visitation.
Burial: Liberty Cemetery.
Betty Weeks Elliott
Sept. 14, 1943 – Feb. 17, 2023
Black Lake, La.
Memorial service: 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023
Burial: later date at Bethlehem Cemetery in Winn Parish.
Walter L. Asseff, M.D.
Sept. 15, 1935 – Feb. 21, 2023
Mansfield, La.
Visitation: 9:30 a.m. until time of service Friday, Feb. 24, 2023
Funeral service: 11 a.m. at Kilpatrick’s Rose-Neath Chapel, Mansfield, La.
Burial: Highland Cemetery, Mansfield.
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.)
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Final score of Arcadia vs. South Plaquemines game.
By Paige Nash
The Arcadia Lady Hornets dominated the court Monday evening where they went up against South Plaquemines High School in their second round play-off game. The Lady Hornets won the game 55-20, advancing them to the Division IV (Non-Select) Quarterfinals. They will be going up against Homer tomorrow, February 23rd. The game will begin at 6 p.m. in the Arcadia High School Gymnasium.
Battling for the Division V (Non-select) title, the Gibsland-Coleman Lady Bulldogs are staying alive. After a bye week, the Lady Bulldogs pulled a close win against Holden High School with a final score of 44-40. They advanced to the quarterfinals and will be playing Florien at Home at 6 p.m. tomorrow, February 23rd. Faculty and staff are asking to “white out” the gym and that supporters wear white and show up early. The gates will open at 5:15 p.m.
Both the Saline Lady Bobcats and the Castor Lady Tigers came up short in their bi-division playoff games. The Lady Bobcats lost to the Hicks Lady Pirates. 66-27. The Castor Lady Tigers fell just short, losing 46-43 to Phoenix High.
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The Saline Bobcats after their win against Atlanta.
By Paige Nash
The Saline High School Bobcats won a nail-biting tiebreaker against Atlanta on Saturday, February 18, with a final score of 44-43. Both Saline and Atlanta held a district record of 8-2.
Scoring for the Bobcats included Dailey with 11 points, Staggs with 6, Dison with 9, Ridley with 2 and Jones with 2, as well.
Saline will be playing their bi-district match for the LHSAA Boy’s Basketball Play-off Division V (Non-Select) against Quitman High School. The game will be this Friday, February 24th at 6 p.m. at Jonesboro-Hodge High School.
Also playing for the Division V title, the Castor Tigers will be going up against Hornbeck High School at Hornbeck at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
The Gibsland-Coleman Bulldogs earned a bye week and will be playing the winner of Holden vs. Bell City at Regionals to be held on February 28th.
Competing for the Division IV (Non-select) title, the Arcadia Hornets will play Kentwood High School at Home on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Ringgold Redskins will be taking on the Block Bears at Home on Friday at 6 p.m. Faculty and staff are asking for students to show support for their fellow classmates by paying $1 to wear red and camouflage the day of the game.
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