Haynesville Town Council Hires
Consultant
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
The Haynesville Town Council voted to
hire Larry Kinlaw & Associates at their regular
meeting July 15 for a period of one year for an annual fee of $5,000. Kinlaw will assist the town in locating funding for certain
projects or goals, but with no guarantee on the number of funding opportunities
that could possibly be secured. The Town will pay $1,250 up front and the
balance on a monthly basis.
Larry Kinlaw,
who served as special assistant to Governor Mike Foster, conducted a number of
meetings around the state in 2001 to bring information to local communities
about the tax incentives available through the Renewal Community initiative
authorized by Congress in 2000.
Kinlaw said in his letter he was committed to
working with smaller communities that lack the staff or the technology to
pursue grants and other funding opportunities on their own. His services will
include searching for grants and other funding opportunities, assisting in
grant preparation and other applications, keeping the Town advised of funding
opportunities, reviewing grant applications, being available for discussing
issues on planning and strategy, and submitting regular reports. He said the
first step would be for the Town to set some realistic goals.
Mayor Mickey Mayfield presented the
Council with a list of "most probable construction cost" estimates
for thirty town streets as prepared by Balar
Engineers of Shreveport. The total estimated cost to do all the streets was
$812,826. Mayfield expressed his
disappointment that it would take most of the $300,000 the Council had
previously allocated to do the first eight streets listed. Lee Underwood's
letter stated that Balar had completed topographic
surveys and were proceeding with the design process. They would have a more
definitive construction cost per street once the field surveys are completed.
Disturbance Call Leads To Drug Arrest
The Claiborne Parish Sheriff's Office
received an emergency call on July 16 for assistance at 322 Bream Island Road
in Homer. The caller stated a subject at the residence had gone crazy and was
trying to burn the trailer down. Lt. David Crump responded to the call and,
upon arrival at the residence, was advised that Larry Adkins Jr. and another
subject had been fighting. These subjects further stated they did not know
where Adkins had gone and the other subject got into a truck and left.
As a safety precaution, Sheriff's Office
personnel checked the residence for Adkins and located him hiding in a rear
bedroom. He was arrested for an outstanding warrant for probation violation.
During this arrest, deputies observed what they believed to be methamphetamine in plain view. This substance was seized as
evidence and a search warrant was then obtained for the residence. The
execution of this search warrant by Metro Narcotics personnel and La. State
Police Narcotics personnel, resulted in the seizure of items used in the
manufacture of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled dangerous substance.
According to Sheriff Ken Bailey, the
Metro Narcotics Task Force and Louisiana State Police Narcotics are continuing
their investigation into this matter and other arrests are expected.
Perry Sentenced To Ten Years
Sheriff Ken Bailey announced that on July 16, 2004, William
Eugene Perry of Haynesville appeared before the Second Judicial District Court
for sentencing. Perry was found guilty of attempted possession with intent to
distribute marijuana on May 21, 2004 after a week-long jury trial. During
Perry's most recent appearance before District Court Judge Jenifer
Clason, Perry was sentenced to ten (10) years hard
labor with the Louisiana Department of Corrections.
After Perry's sentencing, Attorney David Newell advised the
Court that he was withdrawing as Perry's counsel. The Court then appointed
indigent defender Paul Garner as Perry's legal counsel.
Prior to the completion of this sentencing hearing, Assistant
District Attorney Jim Hatch informed the court that the DA's office would be
filing a bill of information for habitual offender status on Perry. Perry
previously pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute a Schedule II
controlled dangerous substance as a result of his arrest on September 17, 1997
in Claiborne Parish.
If found to be a habitual offender,
Perry could face a substantial increase in his original 10 year sentence. Sheriff Bailey stated he was proud to
see law enforcement and prosecution working together to remove repeat offenders
from the street. He added that anyone with information about any criminal
activity can contact the Claiborne Parish Sheriff's Office Criminal
Investigations Division at 318-927-9800 or the Sheriff's Office at
318-927-2011.
Jury Restates Support For
Lake Development
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
The Claiborne Parish Police Jury, at a
special called meeting held Tuesday, July 20, addressed the confusion over the
multi-parish lake development project. After a lengthy discussion, jurors once
again voiced their support for Dr. James Robert Michael and his committee and
instructed them to continue working with the Webster Parish Police Jury to
develop Flat Lick and other lake projects.
Secretary-Treasurer Cynthia Steele was
asked to read the motion passed by the Jury at their February 4, 2004 meeting.
The motion was to approve "a joint effort with the Webster Parish Police
Jury to establish a program to set up a joint committee of these two parishes
and any other parishes that may wish to join the effort in the future, for the
purpose of economic development of the respective parishes through the pursuit
of new lakes to be located throughout the parishes and the residential and
recreational development of these lake areas. Further to support and authorize
the Claiborne Parish portion of this committee comprised of Dr. Alice Stewart,
Mr. Robin Bridges, and Dr. James Robert Michael, and grant them the
responsibility for researching and determining the best locations of lake and
dam sites as well as other measures necessary to bring this project to
fruition. The committee will also have the authority to discuss this discuss
this project with outside parties and negotiate tentative agreements regarding
work that they might do with the understanding that final approval must come
from the respective police juries."
Dr. Michael stated that was exactly what
he thought the Jury had approved. Jurors questioned Michael on what progress
had been made on the project and asked him if he could provide a written update. He told them the LSU AgCenter
was in the process of laying out the lakes. They had selected several sites.
They were also compiling a list of the property owners in the Flat Lick Lake
area. Their plan would include the creation of a development corporation
consisting of landowners whose property would be flooded as well as landowners
around the shoreline. He has made several calculations on the potential
financial benefit of those
landowners compared to the financial benefit using the land for
timber development. Landowners would provide a servitude
but would retain their mineral rights. Their interest in the corporation would
be based on a per acre basis.
Scott Davidson said, "If I were a
landowner and Dr. Michael came to me with this and could show me in black and
white, I would trust him enough that I would be willing to participate, but I
think it is going to be a hard sell."
Davidson asked Michael if he thought the
lake project would succeed without I-69. Michael said no, he did not believe
the lake development project could succeed with the I-69 alignments being
proposed. He explained how he had
prepared a study for John D. Caruthers showing the economic justification for
I-69. He told Caruthers an occasional filling station and hotel would not
justify the cost to build an interstate.
Michael said the reason he was so
confident was because he had devoted thousands of hours over the past 25 years
to research the issue, talking to experts who have been successful, to find out
what works and what doesn't. He said he did not claim to understand marketing,
but experts can predict which service stations at an interstate exchange would
be successful and which ones would fail, simply based on their location.
David Raines Clinic To
Open August 9 In Haynesville
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Several elected officials, members of
the community, and members of the Board of Directors for the David Raines
Community Health Center met Monday night at the clinic located at 1953 East
Main Street in Haynesville to discuss plans to host an open house on Saturday,
July 31 from 11 AM to 3 PM. The Haynesville clinic will be one of four David
Raines Centers. The other three are located in Shreveport, Gilliam and Minden. DRCHC will be serving all of Claiborne Parish
and surrounding communities and will begin accepting appointments on August
2. For more information or to make an
appointment at the Haynesville, call (318) 624-1995 or visit the DRCHC website
at www.davidraineschc.org.
Betsy Moreland Installed As DAR
Vice President General
Betsy Ann Crothers
Moreland of Homer was elected as Vice President General of the Daughters of the
American Revolution (DAR) and was personally installed by President General
Watkins on Sunday, July 11 on the Constitution Hall stage during the DAR's 113th annual Continental Congress held in Washington,
D.C. Moreland has served DAR for many years, most recently as State Regent of
the Louisiana State Society and as the National Chairman of the Conservation
Committee. She has also served as the Regent of the Dorcheat
Bistineau Chapter of the DAR.
Department of Revenue Warns Taxpayers Of
Telephone Scam
Department of Revenue Secretary Cynthia
Bridges warns state taxpayers to beware of telephone calls that are purportedly
from the Louisiana Department of Revenue, whereby the caller seeks to obtain
the recipient's bank account number by promising to deposit a "grant"
as a reward for paying their taxes on time.
"The Department of Revenue issues
no such grants and taxpayers should consider these telephone calls as a scam
designed to rob their bank accounts," Bridges says. She adds the
Department has reports that taxpayers have received fraudulent calls from a
person who identifies himself as an employee of the Department of Revenue. The
caller then tells the taxpayer that because of their excellent record of paying
taxes on time, they are entitled to receive a grant given by the Department.
"The caller assures the taxpayer
that the Department issues hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in these
grants," Bridges says. "The taxpayer is also told that there is only
a $249 `processing fee' to receive an $8,000 grant, but their 16-digit bank
account number is needed in order to deposit the funds and to pay the processing
fee." Bridges stresses that taxpayers should never give out their bank
account number, Social Security number, or any other personal information to a
telephone caller or in answer to a mail solicitation. "We strongly advise
taxpayers to be on guard against this scheme and to tell their friends and
family of its existence." Bridges says.
To report possible fraudulent calls,
taxpayers should contact the Louisiana Attorney General's Office at
225-326-6400, or the Department of Revenue's Special Investigations Division at
225-219-2280.
