Rain, Speed, Worn Tires—Factors In Fatal Accident

A heavy rain, worn tires and speed were contributing factors in a fatal accident about 7-8 miles west of Homer on Hwy. 79 just after 3 PM on Monday, August 23. Tarodogany Webb, 17, of Homer was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the vehicle, LaKeisha Jenkins, 18, of Homer, was transported by Claiborne Ambulance to Homer Memorial Hospital, then airlifted by LifeAir to the LSU Medical Center in Shreveport with serious injuries. The driver of a second vehicle, Jerry Phillips, 41, of Homer was transported by Advance Ambulance of Minden to Minden Medical Center, then to the LSU Medical Center in Shreveport. According to Louisiana State Police reports, Jenkins and Webb were southbound on U.S. Hwy. 79 in a 1992 Toyota Camry in a heavy rain, traveling too fast for the road conditions. The report said worn tires on the Camry also contributed to the accident, causing the vehicle to hydroplane and cross the double yellow center line into the path of a northbound vehicle. The `94 Honda Civic driven by Phillips hit the Camry on the driver's side. Webb, who was a passenger in the Jenkins' vehicle, was killed upon impact. Jenkins was thrown from the vehicle, landing off the roadway. Neither Webb or Jenkins was wearing a seatbelt. Phillips, who was wearing a seatbelt, received moderate injuries. Members of the Homer Fire Department used the jaws of life to remove Webb and Phillips from their vehicles. The LSP report said the primary cause of the accident was due to vehicle conditions and driver violation. Charges are pending.

Two Arrested For Burglary On Springlake Road

Claiborne Parish Sheriff Ken Bailey announced that two arrests had been made for residential burglaries that occurred on Springlake Road, south of Homer, on Tuesday, August 17. The Sheriff's Office  received the first call from the homeowner at 1515 Springlake Road who came home to find two males exiting her residence and running into a nearby wooded area. Deputies were dispatched to the scene and from the information they were given, were able to make arrests a short time later. Arrested were Jermaine John Winzer, 17, who lives on Mulnix Switch Road in Athens, and a juvenile accomplice. After the arrests were made, the Sheriff's Office received another call for a burglary in the same area, at 1264 Springlake Road. With the information gathered in the first burglary, the same two persons were charged in the second burglary. Winzer was booked into the Claiborne Parish Detention Center on two counts of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling with bond set at $20,000. The juvenile was booked into the Ware Juvenile Detention Center in Coushatta pending juvenile proceedings. Both burglaries were committed during daytime hours.

.Homer School Project Oversight Committee

Sets Meeting

The Homer School Project Oversight Committee Will Meet Monday, August 30 At 5:30 PM In The Homer Town Council Chambers. The Public Is Encouraged To Attend.

BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal

A second meeting was held Monday, August 23 to discuss plans for Phase II of the Homer School Project. Attending the meeting were ten of the sixteen members of the Homer School Project Oversight Committee. Bill Owens summarized what was discussed at the first meeting for those who had not attended. "Our concern is that we, as citizens of the Homer school district, want to be involved in any decision the School Board makes to continue on with this project," said Owens. "I still want someone [on the Board] to tell me why we cannot do this. I don't understand why the project can't be completed and I can't imagine why one of the possibilities would be not to do it."

The bond issue approved by  the voters in 2002 was to consolidate the Homer schools on one campus, construct new wings on the elementary and high schools, move the fifth grade to the elementary school, construct a track, expand the cafeteria, and renovate the existing high school and elementary school. The project has been started. Construction at the elementary school is complete, but when bids on Phase II came in higher than expected, it raised concerns whether there would be enough money to complete the project. Now members of the School Board are getting ready to make a decision.

Jim Featherston said, "I was a school board member and I would not change the plan that had been approved with the bond issue without going back to the public for a vote, unless I had a very good reason." When the bid came in almost $1 million short, he attended the meeting in June and presented preliminary figures to show where the money could be found in the budget to complete the project. After that meeting, with the help of Blake Hemphill and Ginger Woodall, he identified $1.2 million that could be used. Ann Louviere commended Featherston on his efforts to find the money to complete the project.

Besides the money, John Tinsley said he had heard concerns about why the junior high should not be moved to the high school campus, such as not enough room for parking. According to Owens, all of those issues were discussed in great detail for hours_more than once in open forum, before the bond issue was presented to the public for a vote, and it passed. He said, "That is a mute point. The decision to [move the school] has already been made."

School Board Has Till September 15 To

Respond To Justice Department

BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal

Claiborne Parish School Superintendent James Scriber said the school board staff and principals are compiling the answers to the most recent inquiry from the U.S. Justice Department. The Board has until September 15 to submit their response to the letter received July 29 stating some of the answers from the May 5 letter were incomplete. They also had added some additional questions. This letter also referred to a complaint that had been received by the Justice Department on May 18, 2004.

Scriber said it was his understanding the School Board had received their first inquiry from the U. S. Justice Department in 2000. At that time, the Board was asked to provide information on where students were going to school, their home addresses, bus routes, etc. This year the Board received another letter May 5 and submitted their response the end of June.

Scriber said he had no idea how the Shreveport Times got the information on the content of the most recent request from the Justice Department since he had not provided the information to them. He could not give the specifics due to pending litigation.

The Claiborne Parish School System has been under a desgregation order since June 1970, as most schools in Louisiana and much of the South. The order directed the Board to "take all steps, reasonable and necessary to terminate the operation of a dual system of schools based on race and to operate, now and hereafter, a single, non-racial unitary system of public schools". Those steps included the desegregation of faculty and other staff in accordance with the ratio of white to black teachers in the entire school system. Staff members who work directly with children and professional staff who work on the administrative level would be treated without regard to race, color or national origin.

In the 1970 court order, the Judge used the school district lines that had been established in the 1920s and had basically remained unchanged with the exception of Harris and Athens' school districts which were consolidated in the 1950s. These are the same district lines used by the Board today.

The 1970 Order stated the School Board and the Biracial Committee should make a joint report to the court once a year, listing the number of students and teachers by race in each school district.

At that time in 1970, the number of students enrolled in each school by district was as follows:

Athens High:  white - 3; black - 143

Athens Elementary: white 8, black - 142

Haynesville: white - 499, black - 484

Homer: white - 501, black - 910

Pineview: white - 0; black - 284

Summerfield: white - 146; black - 141

In November 1977, after receiving a complaint, the Court issued a second court order instructing the Claiborne Parish School Board to readjust some classes at Homer Elementary, to justify standardized tests used to group students, and ordered Homer, Haynesville, and Summerfield to rearrange some of their bus routes. The Court found no violation of the Equal Protection Clause or the June 22, 1970 Court Order with respect to school facilities. At the time, Bill Bailey was superintendent and Grady Saulters was transportation supervisor.

The 1977 court ruling concluded "the separation of students by race deprives minority students of equal educational opportunities in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution." Every school board was obligated to establish a unitary system, so that there are no longer "black schools" and "white schools", but only "schools".

The 1977 Order went on to say that "once the dual system has been dismantled, the court must find, to take further action, that the school authorities have intended to and have discriminated against minority students. Racially disproportionate impact is not enough; the plaintiff must prove a discriminatory intent to show a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

The U.S. Constitution does not require that every school in a jurisdiction reflect the racial composition of the school system as a whole. A finding that a school population is unevenly distributed, standing by itself, does not establish a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The finding must be accompanied by a showing that the uneven distribution results from intentionally segregative actions by the school board."

"In the absence of a showing that either the school authorities or some other agency of the State has deliberately attempted to fix or alter demographic patterns to affect the racial composition of the schools, further intervention by a district court should not be necessary."

Scriber said since 1977, the School Board has had no suits filed against them and there have been no complaints by any citizen that the Board is not meeting their segregation obligations. All the recent complaints have been filed directly to the U.S. Justice Department, not to the Board.

The most recent figures show the number of students enrolled in each school by district is as follows:

Athens High: white - 39, black - 191

Haynesville Elementary: white - 129, black - 170

Haynesville Jr./Sr.: white - 161, black - 261

Homer Elementary: white 115, black - 413

Homer High: white - 102, black - 202

Homer Junior High: white - 80, black - 283

Pineview: white - 0, black - 182

Summerfield: white - 218, black - 101

"This is difficult for a school system to go through. When we are really putting an emphasis on improved test scores, when we are having to meet the No Child Left Behind obligations, not only for students but for teachers, when we have to meet high stakes testing standards...we are doing our very best to educate children and this makes it very difficult," said Scriber. "This is difficult for me but it is equally difficult for principals who have had to  take the time to answer the bulk of these questions."

The School Board has until September 15 to submit a response to the Justice Department and Scriber expects to receive a reply  by the first of November. He said they could offer some suggestions to the Board, they could require more information, or they may even decide to make a trip to visit the parish..

Gov. Blanco Honors Schools Receiving Growth Awards

Six Claiborne Parish Schools Receive Checks Totaling $51,734.53

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, along with State Superintendent of Education Cecil J. Picard and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, honored 333 schools that met or exceeded their accountability goals during a reception at the Governor's Mansion Thursday afternoon. At the reception, district superintendents and school board presidents were presented flags to be given to their local schools that achieved Exemplary Academic Growth or Recognized Academic Growth during the 2001-2003 accountability cycle.

"The schools honored here today should fly their growth reward flag high," Blanco said "If Louisiana is going to continue the positive progress it has made through our accountability system, then we must press forward. It's in the best interest of our communities and our children. As our schools improve, our children are the big winners."

Schools of Recognized Academic Growth met or exceeded their growth targets by five points or less while Schools of Exemplary Academic Growth exceeded their growth targets by more than five points. In addition to flags, schools were given financial rewards totaling nearly $4.4 million based on their academic growth. For the 2001-2003 accountability cycle 24 percent of schools statewide, representing 64 of 66 school districts, met or exceeded their growth targets and were eligible for growth flags as well as monetary rewards. In addition, 120 schools achieved Exemplary Academic Growth, while 213 schools achieved Recognized Academic Growth. Also, 159 schools received rewards for a second time.

Claiborne Parish schools who received rewards totaling $51,734.53 for growth in 2003 are as follows:

Looking Back And Pressing Forward

First Methodist Church Celebrates 150th Anniversary This Month

"A bright flame of faith burned in the hearts of a small group of individuals meeting one evening in 1849 in a log house that blazed a path for what is now the First United Methodist Church of Homer." This was the beginning of the story of the Homer church whose members met for the first time on the land now occupied by the building used by the Boy Scouts of America on East Main just south of Homer City Hall.

Methodists were the first Protestant denomination to send missionaries to the Louisiana Territory.  By 1823, the territory had 89 Caucasian and 10 African-American members. Although John Burnham and William Ashbrooks began classes in the Hood settlement and at Old Athens in 1827, it would be 1849 before the first body affiliated with the Methodist Church would be established in Claiborne Parish and  it would be August of 1854 before the Methodist Church would be incorporated in Homer.

This Sunday, August 29, members will host a Celebration Sunday. Wanda Guice who serves as chairman of the anniversary committee, has worked for the past year organizing the event and trying to make sure all members have a part in the celebration. She said, "[This anniversary event] has really made me realize that the history of the church is really important. I have thought so much about those that have gone before us, that have given us such a rich history."

Pastor David Dietzel and Associate Pastor Dr. Pat Bates will welcome Homer native Fred Wideman, pastor of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, as the guest minister during Sunday's worship service which begins at 10:30 AM. Wideman, who grew up in the Homer Methodist Church, is the son of Carter and Alice Wideman. He is one of three pastors to come from the Homer church. The other two, Ed Parks and Byrl Moreland, are both deceased.

Following a catered lunch at Homer City Hall for those who have made reservations, church members will return to the church at 1:30 PM for a reception and the opening of the time capsule that was buried in August of 1954 when Luman E. Douglas was pastor. Douglas' daughter, Carolyn Douglas Fulmer, wife of Wayne Fulmer, will be on hand to open the old cylinder type capsule. Members who wish will then be allowed to place items in the new baby vault time capsule which will be buried until the church's 200th anniversary in August 2054.

James McClung Named To Regional Consortium

James McClung, administrator of Homer Memorial Hospital, was recently named to the Region 7 Health Care Consortium in Northwest Louisiana. Last week, Senator Lydia Jackson announced the names of 55 individuals selected from more than 100 applicants to serve on the Consortium. Another Claiborne Parish native named to the Consortium was Susan Moreland who serves as director for the North Louisiana Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Local physician, Dr. Sam Abshire, is serving as president of AHEC this year.

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