Relay for Life slated for April 16
The
annual Claiborne Parish Relay for Life will be held from noon until midnight on
Saturday, April 16, at the Ronnie G. Beard Memorial Stadium at Homer High
School.
In
case of bad weather, the event will be held at the Homer High School gymnasium.
For
more information, please contact Nancy Mason at 318-927-2517 or Elbie Dickens
at 318-927-2360.
Black History Parade
When: Saturday, February 26
Time: 3 p.m.
Where: Parade will begin at Homer High School through Downtown
Homer. Lineup begins at 2 p.m.
Note: We are looking for cars, vans, trucks, floats,
groups, walkers, horses, motorcycles, individuals or businesses to be a part of
this year’s Black History Parade. If you wish to participate in the parade,
please contact 318-255-3931 or 318-927-9214.
Homer Police divert close call
The Guardian-Journal
Homer
Police stopped a situation last Sunday that could have turned to tragedy.
Terrance
Rabb, 20, of Homer, was arrested Sunday, February 20, on charges of illegal
carrying of weapons and flight from an officer. Bond on both charges are to be
set.
According
to police, Officer Willie Fred Knowles responded to a call on South 3rd Street
about 8:30 p.m. that day in reference to a man going to shoot someone. When
Knowles made contact with him outside the patrol unit, he observed Rabb with a
gun. According to Homer Police Chief Russell Mills, Knowles observed Rabb with
a gun and asked the suspect to turn around. At that time, Rabb allegedly
grabbed the gun and attempted to flee the scene. Knowles then deployed his
taser, and at that time, Rabb dropped the gun which came to rest approximately
10 feet from Knowles’ patrol unit.
As Rabb
went down, he hit the ground face first, busting his chin. Once he was placed
into custody, he was taken to Homer Memorial Hospital for treatment of his
injury. The subject was subdued and taken into custody before any harm was
done.
“It
could have been terrible,” Mills said. “I don’t know what this young man was
thinking. It could have been really bad, but fortunately, Officer Knowles was
able to deploy his taser instead of his weapon. It could have had a tragic
outcome.”
The gun
was then placed into evidence, where police are now trying to trace it back to
its legal owner.
“Upon
interviewing Rabb, he advised that he found the weapon,” Malray said.
“Additional charges could be filed depending on what we find on the gun. It
could come back stolen, and that’s a problem we have. A lot of people have a
gun stolen and don’t report it. It’s very important that they come by here and
fill out a voluntary statement and know where they purchased the gun.”
Many
times, these stolen guns aren’t put into the system. And then people do come in
to report a gun stolen but don’t know the serial number or what kind of gun it
is. It’s very important that police have the serial number to trace the weapon.
If they don’t have the serial number, it puts them at an empasse because they
don’t have anything to go on. Also, it’s important to write down the make and
model of the weapon as well.
Mills
said it was also important to photograph the weapon and put it somewhere safe.
“When
you purchase a gun, please put the serial number of that weapon somewhere you
can find it,” Malray said. “Put it somewhere just like you would a child’s
birth certificate or social security number -- put it somewhere you can find
it.”
According
to records, Rabb has been involved in other cases involving weapons.
Three plead guilty in Athens cross burning
WASHINGTON
– The Justice Department announced that U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter
accepted the guilty plea of Jeremy Matthew Moro, 33, for conspiring to burn a
cross near the home of an interracial couple in Athens, in October 2008.
Earlier this week, Judge Walter accepted the guilty plea of Joshua James Moro,
25, on the same charge.
Another
defendant, Sonya Marie Hart, 31, pleaded guilty on January 31, to misprision of
a felony because she withheld information from the FBI regarding the defendants’
attempt to cover up the cross burning. The Moros’ cousin, Daniel Danforth, was
previously convicted by a federal jury for organizing, carrying out and
attempting to cover up the same cross burning.
During
their pleas, entered before Magistrate Judge Mark L. Hornsby on January 21, and
January 26, Joshua and Jeremy Moro admitted that in October 2008, they agreed
with their cousin, Daniel Danforth, to build, erect and burn a cross near the
home of another cousin, her African-American boyfriend (now husband), her
11-year-old son and their grandmother who was believed to approve of the
cousin’s interracial relationship. Joshua Moro admitted that he offered
Danforth diesel fuel to use to burn the cross, and later that evening he sent a
text message to see if Danforth and Jeremy Moro still needed the diesel to burn
the cross. Jeremy Moro admitted he helped Danforth find an accelerant,
transport the cross to an area near the victims’ homes, and watched Danforth
light the cross on fire because Danforth was upset about the presence of the
African-American man living with their cousin. During her plea, on January 31,
Hart admitted that she affirmatively withheld information from the FBI in
connection with the investigation into the cross burning and attempted cover-up.
Evidence
during Danforth’s trial in January 2010, showed that in the days following the
cross burning, Danforth, Jeremy Moro and Hart agreed to remove the burned cross
when they learned that the FBI was going to investigate the matter. With Jeremy
Moro’s and Hart’s assistance, Danforth removed the cross, disassembled it and
hid it in the woods. The evidence also showed that Joshua Moro, Jeremy Moro
and Hart lied to the FBI and a federal grand jury during the investigation into
the cross burning.
“Driven
by bigotry and hate, the defendants threatened a member of their own family
with violence simply because she associated with persons of another race,” said
Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.
“Incidents of this kind have no place in this country, and they are a reminder
of the civil rights challenges we still face.”
“Cross
burning, unfortunately, remains a terrible symbol of hatred and intolerance.
Every citizen has a right to feel safe and secure in their homes and
neighborhoods. Intimidation of citizens in this district will not be
tolerated. This office will continue to prosecute individuals who participate
or facilitate crimes which violate the civil rights laws,” said U.S. Attorney
for the Western District of Louisiana Stephanie Finley.
“All
families in America have the right to live where they chose, undisturbed by
racial intolerance, racist threats and intimidation. These guilty pleas send a
clear message of the FBI’s commitment to aggressively investigate this type of
criminal conduct,” said David W. Welker, Special Agent in Charge of the New
Orleans Division of the FBI.
Sentencing
for Joshua Moro, Jeremy Moro and Hart has been set for April 28. Joshua and
Jeremy Moro each face a maximum punishment of 10 years for conspiring to
interfere with another person’s civil rights. Hart faces a maximum punishment
of three years for affirmatively withholding information from the FBI regarding
the defendants’ attempt to cover up the cross burning. Danforth was sentenced
in May 2010 to 48 months in prison for his role in the cross burning and
attempted cover-up.
This
case was investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant
U.S. Attorney Mary J. Mudrick for the Western District of Louisiana and Trial
Attorney Erin Aslan from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Man faces rape charge after two years
The Guardian-Journal
The
Homer Police Department now has the evidence to serve a warrant on a crime that
happened nearly two years ago.
On
Tuesday, February 22, a warrant for Bobby Joe Henderson, 52, was served on the
charge of aggravated rape, with bond set at $200,000. That warrant was served
to Henderson at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center in Webster Parish, where he
is incarcerated on unrelated drug charges.
According
to police records, Henderson allegedly raped an 11-year-old juvenile on Sims
Street in April 2009. DNA evidence was collected at the scene and sent to the
North Louisiana Crime Lab to be examined for physical evidence. According to
those results, there was enough evidence to obtain the warrant.
“The
guy went to court in 2009 and was only charged with unauthorized entry of an
inhabited dwelling,” said Captain Donald Malray. “We just got the results back
on the case this month. However, they let him out of jail back then because we
didn’t have the results from the physical evidence.”
Malray
said it’s important for the public to know that the crime labs are seriously
backed logged, because they handle 26 other parishes’ cases as well -- and each
case is just as important as another.
“We’ve
got DNA evidence that’s been over there for almost three years,” he said.
Sometimes,
it could be a year before the crime lab assigns the potential evidence a case
number.
Because
the juvenile was under the age of 12 years at the time of the alleged incident,
prosecutors can seek the death penalty if he’s convicted.
DWCC, SPD Mounted Units train for Mardi
Gras
The Guardian-Journal photo/Michelle Bates
These officers practice the straight line
formation on Friday, February 18, during their training for security at the
Mardi Gras Parade to be held in Shreveport this Saturday. Mounted units from
DWCC and the Shreveport Police Department participated in the training. Also,
one park ranger from Cypress Park in Benton participated.
MICHELLE BATES, Editor
Revelers
at the upcoming Mardi Gras Parade in Shreveport can feel a little safer knowing
law enforcement will be out in force.
Not
only will they have patrol units, but they will have bicycle and foot patrol as
well as mounted units -- and that’s where David Wade Correctional Center’s
(DWCC) Mounted Tactical Unit and the Shreveport Police Department’s (SPD)
mounted unit will come into play. The two mounted units spent the day, Friday,
February 18, at DWCC’s firing range training for crowd control and how to
handle the unexpected with their equine partners.
DWCC’s
Col. Brad Rogers went over critical training techniques to keep the officers,
their horses and the crowds safe while revelers spend the day cooking out and
catching beads.
One of
the techniques they worked on was training their horses to respond in crowds
where their environment could be considered critical. This means getting the
horses accustomed to loud noises. It is critical that a horse not get spooked
in a crowd of people, Rogers said.
“It’s
like training a kid, it’s repetition,” Rogers said. “These horses have to be
super, super gentle. They have to be trained to handle anything and come back
to a gentle state -- in case a kid wants to pet him or one runs under his (the
horse’s) belly.”
By
nature, a horse’s instinct is to run away but training teaches them to not be
afraid of what’s in front of them.
Rogers
presented a “flash bang”, which makes a loud noise and bright light, to teach
the horses not to be afraid of the sound. When the boom was discharged, out of
13 horses and their riders, all but five horses moved. Then Rogers presented a
shotgun and fired a “thunder bore” round in the air. All the horses jumped, but
only three stayed in straightline formation. The idea is to train them to come
from a combative state back to a gentle state immediately.
Riders
are trained to work with their equine partner’s natural instincts. For example,
horses have a herd instinct, which means they are more comfortable in larger
numbers together than alone. Trainers work with their instincts to teach them
how respond to their human partner’s commands in their comfort zone.
It’s
also important to note that a horse also responds to it’s handler’s emotions.
Rogers said they pick up on what their human partners are feeling, so it’s
important that an officer maintain his cool.
However,
much of the training that took place Friday was formation. Rogers touched on
several different formations including the single line (also known as the
straightline) formation, the two-man formation, wedge and diamond formations.
Each formation is used for a different purpose.
For
example, if mounted officers arrest a troublemaker, they will go into the
diamond formation to protect the suspect as well as deescalate a situation.
This formation is also used for transporting an arrested suspect to mobile
headquarters to process paperwork.
The
wedge formation is used in dealing with several different situations. For
instance, at the head of a parade, the wedge formation could be used to move
revelers out of the middle of the road to allow the parade to continue on its
route.
The
straightline formation is commonly used to “hold the line.” This means the
mounted units will form a straight line as a perimeter in front of what they
are trying to protect or a situation they are attempting to prevent.
The
DWCC Mounted Tactical Unit includes Col. Rogers, MSGT Pam Stephenson, SGT
Monford Royer, SGT Kenneth Gilbert, SGT Frank Garcia and SGT Mike McDaniel.
Many of these officers are also on the DWCC Chase Team, which is Wade’s K-9
unit.
The
mounted unit is also used for search and rescue, and a few were a part of the
search and rescue teams in Texas when NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia
disintegrated upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. The entire crew was lost
that day.
Established
16 years ago, DWCC’s mounted unit trains at least six times per year.
Executive
SGT Mark Wheeler, supervisor of the SPD’s mounted and bicycle units, said their
mounted unit was established in 1978. These equine/human partners patrol the
streets of Shreveport every day. There are three on the day shift and at least
eight on the night shift that mainly ride through the entertainment district in
the city.
“Riders
go on calls just like patrol units,” Wheeler said.
Also,
Dan Wolff, a park ranger from Cypress Park in Bossier Parish, attended the
training.
“Since
I’m new to this, I can’t tell you how beneficial it was for me and my horse,”
Wolff said, whose horse’s name is Chase. “David Wade and SPD are a good group
of professionals and I was glad to be a part of it.”
He
spends a lot of time on horseback during the summer, and he can observe a whole
lot more on horseback than he can a four-wheeler, he said.
“Last
summer, we had a camper that couldn’t find her son, and we found him because my
observation area was a whole lot larger on horseback than on a four-wheeler,”
he said.
As the
sole mounted officer at the park, patrolling on horseback gives him an
advantage over patrolling in a vehicle or four-wheeler in that he can cover
more of the 3,000 acre park. With that much area to cover, riding horseback
gives him the ability to cover more ground, and with this training, it not only
helps him in patrol duties, but it also helps him connect better with his
equine partner. This is why training is vital to any law enforcement agency on
horseback because of the number of situations he and his partner may face.
Walsworth: Protecting education,
healthcare
John Kennedy outlines plan to save
taxpayer dollars
The Guardian-Journal
District
33 Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, has sponsored one of three bills that
will allow budget flexibility legislation to help protect higher education and
healthcare.
“For
too long, our areas of higher education and healthcare have taken the brunt of
cuts every time our state saw a decrease in revenue,” Walsworth said. “To
sacrifice the education and health of our children is unacceptable, and that’s
why legislators need more flexibility in reviewing the budget and making more
strategic reductions so we can continue delivering the sort of services our
citizens can rely on.”
His
bill would require the sunset of all dedicated funds with a few exceptions.
Last
year, Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law Act 492, which requires that an annual
report be submitted for all entities and activities supported by appropriations
from each fund. Additionally, 25 percent of funds must be reviewed every two
years by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.
While
the enactment of this law ensures that the Legislature exercises greater
scrutiny over dedicated funds, there is no mechanism in this statute for
removing special protections for funds that are no longer necessary or that no
longer serve their intended purpose.
“This
legislation will routinely remove special protections for dedicated funds,
except as provided by the Constitution of Louisiana and those that are exempted
in present law,” he said. “Unless the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget
recommends the continuation of a fund, and the Legislature enacts a law to
continue or modify a fund, that fund should sunset for regular review.”
These
three bills were announced by Gov. Jindal on Monday afternoon.
“As we
confront the budget challenges in the next fiscal year, we must transform state
government to become more efficient and sustainable while protecting critical
services for our people like education and healthcare,” Jindal said in a press
release on Monday. “These budget flexibility bills are an important way to free
up funds that are currently locked away, while the areas of higher education
and healthcare are left vulnerable to reductions in tough budget years.”
According
to the press release, a total of $4.75 billion is locked away in dedicated
funds in the current fiscal year. These three bills would put more options on
the table to allow the Legislature to access this funding to help “critical
services.”
“As we
have said before when we fought for similar legislation, we must be able to put
all state spending on the table, especially as we work to make reductions and
improve efficiencies across state government,” Jindal said.
The
governor stressed that the ability to access all budget items is essential to a
sound budget process that makes the best use of taxpayer money.
The
other two initiatives include (1) Increase the annual five percent cap of
cutting dedicated funds to 10 percent during a deficit. This initiative will
help mitigate budget reductions that may be made to healthcare and higher
education as a result of a deficit. (2) Access interest (non-principal funds)
generated by statutory dedications during a deficit and mitigate any budget
reductions that may be made to healthcare and higher education as a result of a
deficit (both bills sponsored by Sen. Gerald Long).
Louisiana
Treasurer John Kennedy says there are other ways to save money this fiscal year
without raising taxes or cutting healthcare and education. He visited with The
Guardian-Journal Friday afternoon, saying that the state’s budget is in
trouble, but with some of his ideas, wasteful spending or unnecessary cuts
could be taken off the table.
“We
have enough money to do everything we need to do,” he said. And even though he
doesn’t know what to expect in this year’s budget, his ideas would save $2
billion to $3 billion.
Some
areas of wasteful spending, he said, come from consulting contracts that he
feels aren’t needed. In fact, he presented this newspaper with a very thick
bound book with a list of consulting contracts just for education alone. In
that book was a list of 19,000 consulting contracts -- that’s 138 pages of
listings just in education. According to his numbers, the state spends
approximately $7.5 to $10 billion on these contacts.
“If we
could cut some of these contracts, we could save 10 percent,” Kennedy said.
In
fact, the vast number of contracts don’t effect the classroom at all.
“That’s
where we need to concentrate -- in the classroom,” he said. “It all boils down
to the teachers and their administrators. That’s two impacts -- home life and
the quality of teaching. It’s not about how much we’re spending, but it’s what
we’re spending it on.”
In
healthcare, it could be an even bigger savings.
“We
could save $50-$100 billion a year if we could cut 900,000 unnecessary
emergency room visits,” he said.
On his
website, www.latreasury.com, he lists an outline that would save the state
billions in unnecessary healthcare costs, all without raising taxes. One of
those ways is to implement Louisiana law (LRS 22:1065, LaHIPP) “that allows the
state to purchase private insurance for low-income citizens when it is cheaper
than Medicaid. The annual savings for this would be about $100 million, he
said.
Others
include:
•
Review all Medicaid hospitalizations for medical necessity. In 2009, 80 percent
of the 218,784 Medicaid hospitalizations, costing $900 million, were not
reviewed. (Legislative Auditor) This would be an annual savings of $180
million.
•
Establish physician training agreements between our charity hospitals and
Louisiana hospitals with a high Medicare mix to capture Medicare medical
education funding -- annual savings $160 million.
•
Reform the state Medicaid Preferred Pharmaceutical Drug List to include the
most effective drugs at the lowest price for each illness -- annual savings
$100 million.
For
more on these legislative bills go to www.legis.state.la.us. For more on
Treasurer Kennedy’s plan to shave costs from the state budget, go to his
website at www.latreasury.com.
Schools to get graded just like students
MICHELLE BATES, Editor
Louisiana’s
elementary and secondary schools will soon be scored by a letter grade, just
like students -- and it may not be all it’s cracked up to be.
The
idea of assigning a letter grade to school performance scores is supposed to
give parents and others a “clearer measure of a school is performing,”
according to the Louisiana Department of Education’s website.
“One of
the ways we can improve outcomes for our children is to clearly communicate
what those outcomes are,” State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek said
in published reports. “Families and communities can clearly relate to letter
grades.
The
state’s department of education is going to the letter grading system because
of Act. No. 718, which was passed in the 2010 Legislative Session and signed
into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal. The legislation was authored by House
Representative Austin Badon, and is intended to be in addition to the current
scoring system.
“In
addition to any other performance-related labels or designations assigned to
public schools and school districts pursuant to the school and district
accountability system, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education,
in consultation with parents, teachers, school administrators, and other
education stakeholders, shall develop a letter grade system reflective of
school and district performance that shall include but not necessarily be
limited to the following...” Act No. 718 states.
It goes
on to list those criteria, which includes the SPS system of scoring.
However,
based on the current “star” method, the intended readers of these reports --
parents and others -- did not understand the language or the scoring method,
published reports say. The letter grade is also all-encompassing, which means
that when a parent or a reader sees a letter grade, the intent of the report
could be construed as vague.
Currently,
Louisiana’s schools are graded on what’s called a star system, where schools
are graded according to School Performance Scores (SPS). According to the
Louisiana Department of Education, the SPS is based on these calculations: K-5
schools are assessed by their attendance index (10 percent) and their
assessment index (90 percent). K-8, 7-8 schools are based on their attendance
index (5 percent), dropout index (5 percent) and their assessment index (90
percent). Schools for grades 9-12 are assessed by their graduation index (30
percent) and their assessment index (70 percent).
Schools,
based on their SPS, are labeled as academically unacceptable, academic watch,
one star, two stars, three stars, four stars or five stars. Performance of a
school is based on their scores, with 120 being a top score.
In
addition, school report cards are issued for each school for the principals,
parents and the subgroup component report. The school report card also contains
scores at the school level, including growth and performance data,
accountability results, testing results, attendance, dropout and graduation rates
as well as definitions.
The new
rating system, by giving schools a letter grade, will still use the same SPS
scoring system, but they won’t get the above designations. Instead, they will
get a letter grade, A-F.
For
instance, if a school gets a percentage of 120 or higher, then that school
would get an “A.” If a school got an SPS score of 95, then that school would
receive a “C.”
Claiborne
Parish Superintendent of Schools Dr. Janice Williams said that according to
state statistics, at this time, all of Claiborne schools are either a “C” or
“D.” The only schools that are a “D” are Homer schools, she said.
Those
scores break down as follows: Athens High School, 80.7 (D), Haynesville
Elementary, 96.2 (C), Haynesville Jr./Sr. High School, 80.7 (D), Homer Elementary,
76.3 (D), Homer High School, 76.3 (D), Homer Junior High School, 74.1 (D) and
Summerfield, 91.4 (C).
She
does not agree with the grading system, saying that parents could construe a
“D” school as an inaccurate reflection on their child’s learning achievements.
This is not necessarily the case, because a school’s score is based on the
above mentioned criteria, where one criteria may show more growth than another.
“If
data were converted to letter grades today based on 2010 test results,
Claiborne Parish Schools would receice grades of C and D,” Williams said. “This
by no means indicate administrators, educators, parents and students are not
working to their fullest potential. It simply means that the bar has been
raised yet again, and we've got to work harder each day to ensure student
success and mastery on the standardized test.
“Currently
Claiborne Parish Schools offer student remediation, both during and after
school, Louisiana Virtual School, and credit recovery to identify a few efforts
to assist students and to close the achievement gap,” she continued. “Claiborne
Parish Schools continue to enlist the support of parents in the areas os
academics and attendance to close the achievement gap. Although letter grades
will replace numerical scores, our schools are making and will continue to make
necessary changes to ensure student success.”
For
more information on this issue, go to the BESE board’s website at
www.doe.louisiana.gov. Or for more information on local SPS scores, please
contact the Claiborne Parish School Board at 318-927-3502.
