Storms Hit Parish With
Rain, Wind, Lightning
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Claiborne Parish was declared a disaster
by Police Jury President Weldon Kilpatrick after the fourth storm hit the
parish last Wednesday, June 2. On Friday, Governor Kathleen Blanco signed an
executive order declaring an emergency in ten North Louisiana parishes. Of those, five parishes, including Claiborne,
had significant property damage. Winds traveling between 50 to 80 mph crossed northern
Louisiana, knocking down trees and causing widespread damage and leaving
thousands of North Louisiana residents without electricity. According to
General Manager Jerry Williams, Claiborne Electric has estimated the cost of
the storm damage to be about $1.035 million in their service area. The company
serves six parishes in North Louisiana Claiborne, Webster, Bienville, Lincoln,
Union and Ouachita. He said although the power is back on, it will take another
couple of weeks to restore everything to the condition it was prior to when the
storms hit last week.
Claiborne Electric spokesman Joey White
said they storm that moved through the area on Tuesday night brought some sever
lightning causing a lot of problems and blowing transformers. They began work
immediately to restore about 3,000 customers without power and were about to
get the last of them turned on when the windstorm hit Wednesday night causing
widespread damage.
Most of the damage in Claiborne Parish
was between Hwy. 146 and La. 2 and near Moon's Store on La. 9. Trees that would
normally create no problem outside the right-of-way were falling across power
lines. White said it was the combination of the large amount of rain, the soft
ground, and the high wind that caused the trees to topple.
At the height of the outage early
Thursday morning, there were nearly 10,000 homes without power in the six
parish area. The next day the number was reduced to about 3,500 and by 7:30 PM
Friday evening, power had been restored to everyone.
Williams said the total public damage
must reach about $5 million in the state to qualify for federal emergency
relief, with some exceptions. Public damage includes overtime pay but not
regular pay as well as any additional expenses incurred by police juries,
municipalities, and law enforcement agencies who removed debris, cleared roads,
and worked accidents as a result of the storm. Although Entergy residences were
also affected, they are not considered a public entity so their costs are not
included.
During the ice storm several years ago,
Claiborne Parish would not have qualified for federal funds if it had not been
for the costs of damage to Claiborne Electric customers. Emergency Preparedness
Director Dennis Butcher said it would be several days before they could get a
total cost to the parish on the storm damage, but he expects the same will hold
true today. Without the costs to Claiborne Electric, the police jury, sheriff
and police agencies, and municipalities would not be eligible to apply for FEMA
funds to help offset the cost.
Homer Woman Arrested For Arson
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Firefighters from the Homer Fire
Department responded to a call at 8:29 PM on Wednesday, May 26 that left a
local home heavily damaged and a local woman in the Claiborne Parish Detention
Center, booked on one count of criminal arson.
Firefighters were called to 308 East
Main in Homer to find a house belonging to Huey Dean and occupied by Elester and Debra M. Kemp engulfed in flames. After
firefighters gained control and extinguished the fire, Homer Fire Department
Arson Investigator Dennis Butcher and State Deputy Fire Marshal Jim Alexander,
in joint efforts with Chief Rodney Hollenshead and
Donald Malray of the Homer Police Department, began
their arson investigation.
Based on suspicious fire patterns and
items found inside and around the home, investigators had reason to believe
that Debra Kemp was involved in setting the fire in the home she shared with
her husband, Elester Kemp.
After being confronted with damaging
evidence of her involvement in the crime, investigators say Kemp, age 31,
admitted to setting the fire and gave a written confession to the crime. She
was arrested and charged with one count of arson and booked into the Claiborne
Detention Center.
Butcher said this was the second time a
fire had claimed the home of the Kemps. On March 6, 2003, they were living in a
rent house on West 4th Street in Homer when a "fire of suspicious
origin" destroyed their house.
Butcher estimates about ten percent of fires
responded to in the past year or so are suspected of arson.
Town Approves Street Overlay, Hires Two
Officers
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
The Homer Town Council met Monday, June
7 and voted to approve the low bid of $109,285 from Lincoln Asphalt in Ruston
to overlay the following streets: Edgewood Drive, Forest Drive, East College,
North 3rd, North 5th, East 3rd, and South 2nd. Mayor Huey Dean said there
should be plenty of money in the street fund to do the streets, but if needed,
they could sell some surplus equipment and vehicles. The only other bid
received was for $155,846 from Mitchell Dirt and Asphalt of Minden. Councilman
J. C. Moore said he would like to add two small streets to the list, but Dean
said he would rather wait to see if those streets would qualify for a grant.
There are several other streets in bad shape and most would qualify for a
grant. He will contact Jim Hagan with Balar Associate
At the recommendation of Police Chief Rodney Hollenshead,
the Council approved hiring Kenneth Wood as a full-time police officer and
Anthony Combs as a part-time officer. Hollenshead
said his department was short two full-time officers since one was terminated
last November and another resigned in May to take a job with the Shreveport
Police Dept..
"Healthy Families - Healthy
Futures"
Sunday, June 13, 2 PM, CMA Cable Channel
19
By the time they've reached 12th grade,
73.8% of Claiborne Parish students have used alcohol, 34% have used marijuana.
Those are just a couple of the sobering statistics from the latest survey about
youth behavior in Claiborne Parish. They're from a study conducted by the
Louisiana Office for Addictive Disorders which covers students from elementary
to high school in Claiborne Parish.
Many parents are aware that their
children are faced with tough issues every day, but many are left wondering
what they can do to help their children. There is help out there and it is
free!
Mothers Against
Drugs of Louisiana wants to let you know about an exciting program that will
air Sunday, June 13 at 2 PM on KPXJ-TV, UPN-21. It's called Healthy Families - Healthy
Futures. During the program they will cover some of the alarming trends facing
the children of Northwest Louisiana and Claiborne Parish, but more importantly,
they will give both parents and their kids some hands on tools they can use to
help them make healthy choices for their families.
DOTD Recommends Turn Lanes On US 79 In Homer
After extensive study, B.Keith Tindell, District Traffic
and Operations Engineer with the La. DOTD (Dept. of Transportation and
Development) has recommended to the DOTD Safety Committee to install left turn
lanes on US Hwy. 79 at the intersection of La. 2 and center bi-directional turn
lanes on Hwy. 79 (West Main) between North 8th and La. 520 (area of
Brookshire's and Wal-Mart). The DOTD recommends these improvements be placed
into the DOTD Safety Program for construction funding,
however, projects such as these are submitted to the Safety Committee from all
over the state and are funded on a competitive basis.
Homer Heritage Golf Tournament Salutes
Gladney Family
The Gladney family of Homer were honored on Tuesday, May 18 during the
annual Homer Heritage Golf Tournament held at the Southern Trace Golf Course in
Shreveport. Bob Haley presented a plaque to Dr. John Gladney.
He said, "Today we honor a family whose history in Claiborne Parish dates
back to the pre-Civil War era when four Gladney
brothers moved from South Carolina to the Homer area. They firmly and
successfully planted their roots and for 150 years, generations of the Gladney family have been leaders in all aspects of the
Homer community."
Haley said, "Religious, political,
medical, and educational advancements bear their fingerprints." They have
served diligently and quietly, and are recognized as a family of bedrock
values. Though humble people, their many acts of goodness reverberate deeply
across the fabric of the area.
Successful communities need special
families that maintain a long history of commitment to their fellow citizens.
The Gladney family is an exemplary example of what
makes our country great and Claiborne Parish so special..
Gospel Concert Ministry Set Friday
At Homer City Hall
It's free! It's a Gospel Concert set for
Friday, June 11 beginning at 7 PM in the Homer City Hall. The event is being
sponsored by Thomas McDonald and Thomas Auto Care. Groups performing include
The Jordans, The Blake Brothers, Glory Bound Quartet,
New Creation and The Lewis Family of Kilgore, Texas.
Jimmy Jordan of The Jordans
of Shreveport said they don't do this for the money, but there will be a love
offering collected and divided among the groups. He said, "Their goal is
to reach souls." The groups also encourage all area ministers to come a
little early Friday.
The Jordans
live in Shreveport and include Jimmy Jordan, his wife Laura, his son Trey
Jordan and Ann Grace. Some of the Southern Gospel songs include, "Where
Could I Go", "Thank God I Am Free", "Miracle In The Making", "The Old Rugged Cross Made The
Difference", and "Victory In Jesus."
Three members of the Glory Bound Quartet
come from Rose park Baptist Church in Shreveport.
Baritone O.C. Clinton, who is music director at Memorial Baptist Church in Elm
Grove, owns a recording studio and has written some of their songs. Verna Dyess was one of the original Toledo Boys Quartet in the
70s and 80s and wrote many of the group's songs, including "God Bless
America Again" and "Salvation in That Pew". They want to tell
everyone about Jesus by bringing Southern Gospel music back to its roots.
Gail Scruggs and Melanie Petitt make up the New Creation. The duet began singing
together in 1997. Their desire is to honor the Lord by singing His praises.
The Blake Brothers are a bluegrass and
gospel group of music loving men from Northwest Louisiana.
Come out and enjoy a night filled with
Southern Gospel music
July 4th Fireworks Seek Help For Parking
Claiborne Fireworks, Inc., the
non-profit, tax-free corporation responsible for the Annual Fourth of July
Fireworks and Boat Parade in Claiborne Parish is asking for public support and
assistance in acquiring public parking for these events.
The Claiborne Parish Watershed
Commission is responsible for Lake Claiborne. Fred Lewis, president of
Claiborne Fireworks, Inc. has made several appearances before the Watershed
Commission asking that with the mandate given them for maintenance and
development of Lake Claiborne, they contract the work necessary to provide
public parking for the Fireworks show. There have been no results.
Claiborne Fireworks, Inc. has now
addressed letters to the Watershed Commission and to the Claiborne Parish
Police Jury formally asking that using available public land, they take
necessary steps to provide additional public parking.
If residents of the community would
impress upon members of the Watershed Commission and members of the Police Jury
the importance of action in providing parking for the patriotic Fourth of July
event, our whole community will benefit, not only those watching and
participating in the boat parade and fireworks display.
For more information, call Fred Lewis at
927-9180 or Dick Dorrell at 927-0039.
Possible Terrorist Warning
The Government has issued a warning
regarding the purchase of UPS uniforms. There has been a huge purchase of
United Parcel Service (UPS) uniforms ($32,000 worth) on eBay over the last 30
days. This could represent a serious threat as bogus drivers (terrorists) could
drop off anything to anyone with deadly consequences. If you have any questions
when a UPS driver appears at your door, they should be able to furnish valid
I.D. Additional, if someone in a UPS uniform comes to make a drop off or pick
up, make absolutely sure they are driving a UPS truck. UPS doesn't make
deliveries or pickups in anything, except a company vehicle. If you have a
problem, immediately call your local law enforcement agency right away!
