Lily
Cardigan Welsh Corgi

Last Seen: Wednesday, March 23, 2024, Collins Road Natchitoches, LA
Color: Red Merle and White
Eyes: Different Color Eyes

And Has a Tail

PLEASE CALL WITH ANY INFORMATION

(318) 357-0377

By Paige Gurgainers

The Louisiana Department of Transportation District Administrator David North was in attendance for the Claiborne Parish Police Jury (CPPJ) March meeting to address issues that occured with the roadways during the ice storm that affected most of the northwest parishes earlier this year.

“During the ice mess we had in January, it was seen on Facebook that DOTD gave permission for the parish to put graders on the road. That is incorrect. DOTD did not give permission for that and we ask in the future to not put graders on the roads,” said North. “The advantage of doing that is to the detriment of our roadways.”

Claiborne Parish received the most amount of ice out of all the other affected parishes during this storm and made a call to use motor graders to clear the roadways for safety reasons. During this process Mark Furlow, juror for District 2, received a call from North.

“You spoke to me on the phone. You were a little upset about it. We have the sheriff and the chief deputy here and actually when we made that call it was because we were having wrecks- a lot of wrecks in Claiborne Parish,” said Furlow. “Chief Deputy Driskill made a call on the radio that on the bypass, we had 18 wheelers backed up. It was a safety issue for us. At that moment I made the phone call to one of your supervisors because we wanted to get our highways open.”

Four motor graders were used to clear that ice to allow emergency personnel to and from work. Claiborne Parish Sheriff Sam Dowies spent money out of his budget providing transportation to essential workers and dailysis patients.

North continued to ask that the parish not put motor graders on the roadways due to the damage that can be caused by doing so. The jury was in agreement and made it known to North that they will continue to make decisions for the betterment of the parish and its residents.

CPPJ President Scott Davidson said, “We are not going to change what we do to keep the people of Claiborne Parish safe. We are going to continue to do that and make it where they can get to and from the hospital, where the ambulance can get to them if needed, where our correction officers and deputies can get to work. If it causes a problem, I apoligize in advance.”

The jury will reach out for legal advice on how to handle these situations in the future.

Claiborne Parish School Board is seeking a qualified applicant for the following positions:

School Counselor (12-Month Position) – Haynesville Jr. Sr. High High School

Applications may be obtained from the Claiborne Parish School Board website: www.claibornepsb.org

Please attach copies of all credentials and mail the completed application packet to: Claiborne Parish School Board, ATTN: Human Resources, 415 East Main Street, Homer, LA 71040.

If you have any questions, please contact Human Resource Department at (318) 927-3502

Offering Equal Opportunity in Employment and Education Programs.

Application for Employment: https://www.claibornepsb.org/…/application-for-employment

Elementary Teachers – Parish-wide

Applications may be obtained from the Claiborne Parish School Board website: www.claibornepsb.org

Please attach copies of all credentials and mail the completed application packet to: Claiborne Parish School Board, ATTN: Human Resources, 415 East Main Street, Homer, LA 71040.

If you have any questions, please contact Human Resource Department at (318) 927-3502

Offering Equal Opportunity in Employment and Education Programs.

Application for Employment: https://www.claibornepsb.org/…/application-for-employment

Truck Driver Mike Ellis was recognized at this month’s Claiborne Parish Police Jury (CPPJ) meeting. Ellis retired for the CPPJ Highway Department on January 19 of this year.

He worked for the department on two separate occasions from 2006 to 2008 and 2015 through 2024, accumulating over a decade of service to the Claiborne Parish Community.

Over the next two weeks, Speaker Johnson’s district staff will be hosting satellite office hours to assist constituents throughout Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District who need help navigating federal agencies.

The district staff members will be available to assist Louisianians with federal agency programs such as Social Security, Medicare, military and veterans’ issues. Staff are also available to help constituents obtain the status of pending cases and provide passport information.

Additional dates and times will be announced later this week. For additional information or questions, please call Speaker Johnson’s Bossier City Office at 318-840-0309.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27

Caddo Parish
9AM – 10 AM
Blanchard Town Hall
110 Main Street, Blanchard, LA 71009

9AM – 10AM
Mooringsport Town Hall
122 W Croom St, Mooringsport, LA 71060

1PM – 2PM
Stonewall Government Plaza
1746 US-171, Stonewall, LA 71078

THURSDAY, MARCH 28

Claiborne Parish
9AM – 10AM
Village of Athens Town Hall
15329 Highway 9, Athens, LA 71003

Allen Parish
1PM – 2PM
Allen Parish Library: Oakdale Branch
405 E. 6th Ave. Oakdale, LA 71463

Webster Parish
2PM – 3PM
Sarepta Town Hall
24448 US Highway 371, Sarepta, LA 71071

Beauregard Parish
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Beauregard Public Library: Merryville Branch
1007 LA 110, Merryville, LA 70653

The 2024 turkey hunting season begins Friday (March 29) for youth (17 or younger) and physically challenged hunters then opens for all April 6 in all three areas, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) announced.

The youth/physically challenged opening runs from March 29-31. Physically challenged hunters are those wheelchair confined.

Turkey hunting in Area A runs from April 6-May 5, Area B from April 6-28 and Area C from April 6-21.

The Louisiana turkey harvest in 2023 was higher than average and, in fact, the second best since 2009. Turkey hunters took 2,833 birds in 2023, only down 13 from 2022 (2,846), based on tag validation data.

Turkey hunters are required to have a basic hunting license and wild turkey license, or an equivalent combination. A youth hunting license and turkey tags are required for those 17 or younger hunting turkey. To purchase a hunting license, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/hunting-licenses-permits-tags.

Prior to hunting turkey, all turkey hunters, regardless of age or license status, must obtain turkey tags. They must have the tags in their possession while hunting turkey, and immediately after harvesting a turkey, tag the turkey before moving it from where it was killed. Hunters must record required information for tagged turkeys and validate tags within 72 hours of harvesting a turkey. To obtain turkey tags and to validate tags online, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/turkey-tags.

Many LDWF Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) offer turkey hunting during the season, including, but not limited to, Fort Johnson-Vernon, Fort Johnson North, Clear Creek, Bodcau, Big Lake and Tunica Hills WMAs. However, turkey season is closed on some WMAs, including Richard K. Yancey and Sherburne WMAs.

For a complete list of WMAs open to turkey hunting and more information on WMA turkey hunting, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/assets/Resources/Publications/Regulations/2023-2024-LDWF-Hunting-Regs-LR.pdf.

All visitors to LDWF WMAs must have either a WMA Access Permit, Senior Hunting/Fishing License, Louisiana Sportsman’s Paradise License or Lifetime Hunting/Fishing License. Go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/wmarefugeconservation-area-licenses-and-permits for more information.

For more information on turkey hunting in Louisiana, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/subhome/turkey or contact LDWF Small Game/Wild Turkey Program Manager Cody Cedotal at ccedotal@wlf.la.gov.

On June 1, 1943, in the midst of World War II, Leslie, a film producer, along with his business manager Alfred Chenhalls, boarded a civilian British Overseas Airlines Douglas DC-3 airplane for a flight from Lisbon, Portugal to Bristol, England.  Leslie had been lecturing in Spain and Portugal on how films were made and promoting an upcoming film.  Leslie was favored by the British government for his anti-Nazi propaganda and films which supported the war effort. 

Leslie was not supposed to be on flight 777.  It was sold out.  On the day before the flight, two passengers, Derek Partridge, a young son of a British diplomat, and his nanny Dora Rove were “bumped” to make room for Leslie and Alfred, whose priority status allowed them to take precedence over other passengers.  He was returning to England to complete work on “The Lamp Still Burns”, a film he was producing.     

In the previous year and a half, the same plane had been operating on scheduled flights from Lisbon to Whitchurch on a route that did not pass over what was considered a war zone.   However, in November 1942, and again in April 1943, the plane had been attacked by Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters, but each time the pilots were able to escape by using evasive maneuvers. 

At 7:35 on the morning of June 1, 1943, flight 777 took off from Lisbon with 17 passengers and 4 crew onboard.  For two hours, the flight was uneventful.  Unbeknownst to the flight crew, a swarm of eight Luftwaffe Ju 88 airplanes had taken off from Bordeaux.  Their mission was to find and escort two U-boats to an undisclosed location.  At about 10:50 a.m., as the German pilots were searching for the U-boats, they spotted a grey silhouette of a plane in the sky.  Although they could make out no markings, they knew it was an enemy plane.  They were unaware of any scheduled civilian flights in the area. 

 At 10:54 a.m., the pilot radioed their coordinates and said that they were being followed and fired upon.  The pilot radioed: “I am being followed by strange aircraft.  Putting on best speed… we are being attacked.  Cannon shells and tracers are going through the fuselage.  Wave-hopping and doing my best.”  The Germans continued firing on the plane.  The left engine and wing caught fire.  First Oberleutnant Herbert Hintze, who led the squadron of eight German planes, called off the attack when he realized it was a civilian aircraft, but the damage was done.  The plane was severely damaged and on fire.  Three people jumped from the burning plane, but their parachutes were on fire and failed to open.  The plane crashed, floated briefly, then sank.  The German pilots photographed the wreckage of the plane floating in the Bay of Biscay.  There were no survivors.           

On the following morning, newspapers printed the following message: “The British Overseas Airways Corporation regrets to announce that a civil aircraft on passage between Lisbon and the United Kingdom is overdue and must be presumed lost.  The last message received from the aircraft stated that it was being attacked by an enemy aircraft.  The aircraft carried 13 passengers and a crew of four.  Next of kin have been informed.”

When the plane failed to reach its destination, a British Short Sunderland flying boat flew to the coordinates provided by the pilot.  As the flying boat reached the coordinates, a squadron of eight Luftwaffe Ju 88s, maybe the same Ju 88s, attacked.  A furious battle ensued in which the flying boat shot down three of the German planes.  Three more planes were listed as “possibles,” meaning they were damaged and probably crashed.  But the flying boat had sustained a lot of damage itself.  The flying boat crash landed on Praa Sands beach on the southwestern tip of England. 

After the war, First Oberleutnant Herbert Hintze said his pilots were angry that Luftwaffe leaders failed to warn them about the scheduled flight.  The difference, according to Herbert Hintze, is that they would have escorted the captured plane to Bordeaux, where the Luftwaffe was based. 

Following World War II, many people theorized that the crash of the plane carrying Leslie was no accident.  The most popular theory is that the plane was shot down because the Germans mistakenly believed Winston Churchill was on the flight.  In this theory, German spies mistakenly identified Leslie’s business manager Alfred Chenhall as Winston Churchill.  Leslie, according to this theory, was mistakenly identified as Detective Inspector Walter H. Thompson, Churchill’s bodyguard who favored Leslie.  Churchill himself believed this theory.  In his memoirs he wrote, “The brutality of the Germans was only matched by the stupidity of their agents. It is difficult to understand how anyone could imagine that with all the resources of Great Britain at my disposal I should have booked a passage in an unarmed and unescorted plane from Lisbon and flown home in broad daylight.”

Some theories claim Leslie was a spy.  Others claim he was killed because of his anti-Nazi propaganda in films.  Regardless of the reason, the families of 21 individuals lost loved ones, and, not that his life was any more important than anyone else on the flight, the world lost a film producer who was also one of the finest actors of the era, Leslie Howard.  His most remembered role was that of Ashley Wilkes in one of the greatest films of all time, “Gone with the Wind.”

Sources:

1.      The Rock Island Argus, June 2, 1943, p.1.

2.     Blackwell Journal-Tribune, June 2, 1943, p.1.

3.     The Sacramento Bee, June 2, 1943, p.1.

4.     The Atlanta Journal, June 2, 1943, p.1.

5.     Richard M. Langworth, “How Many Assassination Attempts on Churchill? Ask Walter Thompson,” The Churchill Project – Hillsdale College , September 18, 2019, https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/thompson-assassination-attempts/.

These M&M Marshmallow Creme Sugar Cookie Bars are the sweetest and most colorful Easter treat!  I love a sugar cookie bar, and Easter M&M’s make these and many other desserts so pretty.  You can even sub the homemade dough with storebought dough if you like!

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cups flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• Easter M&M’s
• Sprinkles
• 1 jar marshmallow crème

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9×13 baking dish with crumpled parchment paper.  Lightly grease the paper.  Whisk the first 3 dry ingredients.  Set aside.

Beat the butter and sugars.  Once combined mix in the eggs and vanilla.  Add the flour and stir until no white streaks remain.  Set aside 1 heaping cup of the dough and press the rest (I had to flour my hands to do this because the dough was sticky) into the pan.  Sprinkle with some of the M&M’s and press them lightly into the dough.  Drop large spoonfuls of the marshmallow crème over but do not spread.  Then drop chunks of the leftover dough around.

Bake 25-30 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes and then scatter more M&M’s around the top and lightly press into the crust.  Shake sprinkles over.  Let bars cool completely before removing the parchment and cutting into small squares.

(Ashley Madden Rowton is a wife, mom and published cookbook author who lives in Minden, La.)

For today, a step away from sports and a step into Easter for a look at a trio who witnessed that first Easter weekend …

Simon of Cyrene could not have known when he woke up that first Good Friday that his life would, in mid-morning, change forever. After all, he was just passing through. By divine circumstance, his path crossed the path of the beaten and bleeding Savior.
 
A scared and timid step forward, a shove, and Simon was in an unwanted spotlight, “compelled” by a soldier’s whip and order into a moment that would capture his life in God’s Word for eternity. 
 
But it would also capture his heart.
 
He was told to help carry the condemned man’s cross.

Few people run toward the cross. Most of us have to be compelled by the soldier of misfortune, suffering, disease, and any of a thousand pains and problems. Even then, we pick it up kicking and screaming.
 
But what if we could be like Simon. Surely . . . after looking into Jesus’ eyes that day, after seeing up close his shredded back, His crown of thorns, surely . . . Simon knew that, in comparison, the yoke was easy. Jesus always does the hard part.
 
How could Simon look at that and not be changed forever?
 
That Friday evening, while Simon and so many others tried to process the events of the day, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in strips of linen “in accordance with Jewish burial customs,” John writes in his gospel record. They did it secretly for fear of the Jewish leaders. But, with Pilate’s permission, they did it.

These two Jews — well, Pilate too — knew there was something about Jesus. Something…

As tombs go, the new one where they placed the body of Jesus after the crucifixion wasn’t used for very long.

On the third day, a day we celebrate as Easter, Jesus rose, by the power of God.

That’s the kind of power that’s available to us. Wonder-working power, is how the old hymn puts it. 

Our actions say so much about the human condition when we consider how we fret over things that God wishes we wouldn’t. We have his power available to us, and we so often ignore it. 

The tomb, the scriptures say, was close to Golgotha, a Latin word meaning “the skull.” But in the shadow of death there on that hill was eternal life. On Easter, God raised his son.

An empty tomb represents what God accomplished in the fullness of time. The empty tomb represents what God offers through his son: grace and life, protection, provision, and peace.

In the emptiness is a fullness only God can offer, grant, and sustain. Forever.

Joseph and Nicodemus must have been among the first to have heard the news of the empty tomb. More than curiosity must have pulled them to the place where they’d placed the dead man. But they’d found only linens. No body. “We knew,” they must have thought, “that something was different.” They just didn’t know how different. 

A whole new way of dying. And a whole new way of living. 

Then in the days and weeks after, as news of the Resurrection spread and reached Simon, I imagine his horror of that day turned into an overwhelming feeling of honor. I imagine him on his knees and, through tears, gazing toward Heaven, arms extended, awed, overcome. I imagine his arms around his sons, his grateful whisper in their ears: “I walked with that Man . . ..”
 

Please send all non-profit calendar events to cpjnewsla@gmail.com

March 30 (10 a.m.)

Town of Athens Easter Egg Hunt

April 6 (2-4:30 p.m.)

Main Street Homer “Art on Main Street Paint Party”

Adults/Teens

Reserve your spot by March 23 by contacting Denice Owens at knitlit4@hotmail.com

April 7 (3 – 5:30 p.m.)

Music on Main – Main Street Homer AK Park (Across from Homer Fire Station)

Music, homemade lemonade, arts and crafts, face painting and more.

April 15 (6 p.m.)

Harvest Time Homer Vendor’s Meeting at Gracious Pleny, 628 N Main St., Homer.

April 18 (5:30-8 p.m.)

Jar Art

Adults/Teens

Reserve your spot by April 11 by contacting Denice Owens at knitlit4@hotmail.com

April 18 (6 – 8 p.m.)

Irrigation in Yards and Landscapes presented by Dr. Stacia Conger & Mark Wilson

Claiborne Parish Library, Homer, La. 

April 20 (9 – 12 p.m.)

Town of Haynesville Clean-Up Day at the Main Street Corner 

May 4 (8 a.m.)

Rocky Spring Baptist Church – Children’s Ministry 2-Man Scramble at Homer Golf Course

October 7 – 11 

Claiborne Parish Livestock Show 

The following arrests were made by local law enforcement agencies. 

March 20

Jessica LaCour of Arcadia was arrested by the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office for possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of Schedule II and as a fugitive from another district. 

March 21

Jeroderick Allen of Homer was arrested by the La. State Fire Marshall’s Office for simple arson. 

Thomas Morgan of Homer was arrested by the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office on an Execution of Sentence warrant. 

March 23

Colton Waller of Shongaloo was arrested by the Haynesville Police Department for simple burglary. 

March 24

DeMarcus Walker of Homer was arrested by the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office for three counts of child support obligation, driving under suspension, no insurance, expired tag and exceeding the maximum posted speed limit. 

March 25

Samuel Laprarie of Athens was arrested by La. Wildlife and Fisheries for possession of a firearm by a person convicted of domestic abuse and take over limit of turkey. 

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Notice of Death – March 26, 2024

Evelyn Hunter

July 19, 1948 – March 20, 2024

Homer, La. 

Visitation: 1 – 6 p.m. Friday, March 29, 2024, Memorial Funeral Home, Homer, La. 

Funeral service: 11 a.m. Saturday, March 30, 2024, Memorial Funeral Home, Homer, La. 

Interment will follow service at Antioch Cemetery, Homer, LA. 

Velma Ammons

Sept. 29, 1927 – March 24, 2024

Ringgold, La. 

Visitation: 5 – 6 p.m. Friday, March 29, 2024, Memorial Funeral Home, Ringgold, La. 

Wake: 6 – 8 p.m. Friday, March 29, 2024, Memorial Funeral Home, Ringgold, La. 

Interment: 11 a.m. Saturday, March 30, 2024, Evergreen Baptist Church, Ringgold, La. 

Claiborne Parish Journal publishes paid complete obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $80. Contact your funeral provider or cpjnewsla@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Above death notices are no charge.)

On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, Sheriff Sam Dowies, and Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office (CPSO) detectives executed a search warrant at the residence located at 1691 Highway 161 in Claiborne Parish. The search of that residence was a result of a CPSO investigation into the narcotic trafficking associated with and occurring there.

CPSO personnel found Methamphetamine, Marijuana, Drug paraphernalia, and an illegally possessed firearm during the execution of the search warrant.

Tony Ray Barker, William Ray Shuford and Amanda Jayne Walton, all occupants of the 1691 Highway 161 residence, were arrested during the March 19, 2024 operation.

Barker was charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Illegal Carrying of a Firearm in the Presence of a Controlled Dangerous Substance, Resisting an Officer, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and for an outstanding Claiborne Parish Arrest Warrant.

Shuford was charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Illegal Carrying of a Firearm in the Presence of a Controlled Dangerous Substance, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Walton was charged with Possession of Methamphetamine, Illegal Carrying of a Firearm in the Presence of a Controlled Dangerous Substance, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Barker, Shuford, and Walton were each booked and incarcerated at the Claiborne Parish Detention Center. Walton was later transferred to a women’s jail.

Sheriff Dowies values and thanks all the members of the public who provided information about the illegal activities associated with 1691 Highway 161. Sheriff Dowies and the CPSO is committed to making Claiborne Parish safer by aggressively enforcing drug laws and by holding narcotic traffickers accountable.

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The 2023 Louisiana Annual Tournament Report and Information Project (LATRIP) information is now available. Founded in 2021, LATRIP compiles voluntarily submitted bass tournament data, which helps the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries track trends in angling success rates over time while also promoting the quality fisheries of the Sportsman’s Paradise. LATRIP has expanded across Louisiana to include 44 tournament organizations across 42 waterbodies and 271 tournaments. To view the 2021 through 2023 LATRIP reports in their entirety, visit the LATRIP webpage at Louisiana Annual Tournament Report Information Project (LATRIP) | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Highlights from the 2023 report can be found in the charts above.

If your organization would like to be a part of the 2024 Louisiana Annual Tournament Report Information Project (LATRIP), Please submit your tournament results to our LATRIP Tournament Result Portal.

If your bass fishing organization would like more information concerning LATRIP, please contact Jeff Sibley via email at jsibley@wlf.la.gov or at 318-371-5294.

The Claiborne Parish School Board recently approved a resolution to ask voters to consider a proposal for a special tax of 9 mills on all property subject to taxation within the district. The election is scheduled for April 27, 2024, with early voting beginning on April 13 through the April 20. 

Claiborne Parish School Board Millage Election Overview:

• The 9 mills will replace the current millage amounts that residents are currently paying in their respective districts.
• The proposed millage will generate approximately $1, 017,000 per year for ten years beginning in 2024 and ending in 2033. 
• The funds generated by the millage proposal will be used to maintain and improve school facilities and other school properties at all three campuses in the parish. The funds cannot and will not be used for other purposes such as staffing costs.
• The purpose of proposing the parish-wide millage is to have all property owners contribute equitably to the maintenance of school facilities. 
• Approval of the millage proposal will help to address current facility issues as well as having the funds available to address future needs. 
• If the millage proposal is not approved, funds will not be available to maintain facilities and each district will likely need to increase its millage in the coming years. These increases will likely cost taxpayers more than the proposed parish-wide millage. 

More information regarding the millage will be shared to the public in the coming weeks. 

Daniel W. Newell, District Attorney for the Second Judicial District in and for the Parish of Bienville, makes the following announcement relative to disposition of cases in Bienville Parish on the dates indicated:

01/10/24

Cobb, Douglas Lane of Athens, LA—Pled guilty to Possession of Schedule II CDS-Methamphetamine. He was sentenced to 2 years at hard labor.

02/06/24

Lewis, Caterrious Deonta of Homer, LA—Pled guilty to Second Degree Battery. He was sentenced to 7 years at hard labor.

Louisiana Tech University has announced the names of students on its Winter Quarter 2024 President’s and Dean’s honor lists.

Students whose names are followed by an asterisk earned recognition as members of the president’s honor list. That distinction signifies achievement of at least a 3.8 academic grade point average on a minimum of nine semester hours completed (100-level or higher), with no grade lower than a B.

To be eligible for the dean’s honor lists, a student is required to earn at least a 3.5 academic grade point average with no grade lower than a C on a minimum of nine semester hours completed (100-level or higher).

Courses yielding satisfactory/failure grades and courses audited do not count toward eligibility for either recognition. Only undergraduates with no incomplete grades are eligible to make either list.

Honor students are listed below by their hometowns, with all Louisiana students listed first by parish.

Claiborne

• Haynesville: Serenity Ann Frick, Maci Jo Moss
• Homer: Peyton Alexander Benefield*, Carterious T. Burns*, Autumn Rayne Ely*, Anna Grace Goede, Connor Flynn Humphreys, Alee Marie Spigener, Landrey Elizabeth Synco*

Next week is called Holy Week or some refer to it as Passion week. Whatever you wish to call it, this particular time in history was when Jesus went to Jerusalem to die by crucifixion. The gospel accounts of this says that Jesus, “set His face toward Jerusalem”. This means Jesus was determined or He set His heart on going to Jerusalem even though He knew what to expect when He got there. As we consider the ramifications of His decision, several questions probably come to mind. One such question may very well be, “What Brought Jesus to the Cross?”

I propose 5 answers:

One answer to what brought Christ to the cross is a RANSOM had to be paid. We are held hostage to sin. Sin is what the devil uses to cause problems in this world. To free us from the burden of sin, God made payment, a ransom. The ransom was not to the devil, the payment for sin is what God paid to Himself by sending His only begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins.

Another answer is because a SACRIFICE had to be given. Sin is costly. It cost us our freedom. So God made a provision for our sins. That provision is a sacrifice. The sacrifice God gave was giving His Son, Jesus, to this world. God would not accept any other sacrifice other than His Son, Jesus, dying on the cross for you and me.

A third answer is because a VICTORY had to be won. God wants to possess our soul and to do that He had to go into a battle. What a wonderful reality, that Jesus was willing to fight for the eternity of our soul. The cross became the battlefield for our salvation. Perhaps that is where they got the title of the song, “Victory in Jesus.”

Another reason that brought Jesus to the cross was that the GLORY of God could be revealed. God’s glory is His self-revelation to all that He is. When we look at Jesus dying on the cross we see the full glory of God on display. By looking at the cross one can see God’s forgiveness, grace, mercy, love, goodness, and even His power. Though Jesus humbled Himself by dying on the cross, He gave full display of the GLORY of God.

But the greatest reason Jesus went to the cross is because He did it for you and me. He died for us so we can one day spend eternity with Him in a wonderful place called Heaven.

(Chuck Johnston has been the Pastor at Pleasant Point Baptist Church for ten years and pastored 42 years in total. He graduated from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry.)

Upon the face of this world, it might seem as if niceness and kindness are kin. Both worn as badges of decency, as if to say, “Here is a person who does right by others.” Yet niceness — well, it’s nothing but a veneer for what might cover the hollow tooth underneath.

A man may tip his hat, may offer up a smile, may keep his tongue sheathed in the company of others. That’s well and good to a measure. But niceness, it asks no more than the least of us. The man’s handshake may be warm, but his tongue could be the whipcrack of a scorpion’s tail. A woman’s words may be honeyed to your face but poisonous as she spits upon the trail of your departure. Trust walks blind in a world saturated by malice’s blackened well. Niceness may be nothing but a farce. Be wary and let not others play you like a flute.

But the heart of kindness beats to a different rhythm. It is a creature of sinew and soul, bearing the weight of another’s pain, seeking to ease it. Kindness is the hand extended in the dark, the water shared in the desert, the coat given to a shivering stranger. It’s not the road of least resistance; it asks for the sweat of your brow, the strength of your back.

Consider the man who wears the mask of niceness, yet his eyes pass over the beggar in the street as if he were looking through glass. Or the woman whose laughter rings hollow at the jest that cuts another to the quick. The faces of these folk beam when fronting you, but their words reek of foulness to your back. They are but actors on a stage, and their script is a shallow one.

But then there’s the one whose kindness might, in the eyes of some, be mistaken for rudeness. He is the man who’ll plant his feet firm and speak a truth that burns like a brand, because to lie would be the greater sin. She is the woman who’ll tear the fabric of propriety to bind up the wounds of injustice. For them, nice is a word to be tossed aside when goodness calls.

In a world that tells us to dance to the tune of easy lies and false faces, we’re in sore need of those with the grit to live kindness. To be agreeable is a poor ambition. To “play the game” is an insult to the God who breathed life into your lungs. It’s a sin greater than any we can commit. Betray the soul God gave you? Nay, not and risk Heaven’s Damnation.

It is the kindness that is born of a brave empathy, that asks us to look upon our brother and our sister and see more than flesh—it asks us to see their very humanity, and to act with a heart that knows the cost.

Niceness keeps the peace in moments as fleeting as breath on a mirror. But kindness—it’s the force that carves canyons and raises mountains. It is the call to lift our eyes from our own reflection and to expect more from each other, to demand more from ourselves. Let us then cast off the easy cloak of niceness and gird ourselves in the armor of kindness. For it is this, and this alone, that has the power to mend the fabric of our collective soul, to change lives and to elevate the spirit of mankind.

Herein lies our charge, and let it not be said that we shrank from it. Niceness may smooth the day’s passage, but it is kindness that shapes the world.

(Josh Beavers is a teacher and writer. He was named as a semifinalist for Louisiana Teacher of the Year in 2020. He has been recognized five times for excellence in opinion writing by the Louisiana Press Association.)

While I’m all for the sport of bass fishing growing, at what cost? Professional anglers are taking the new forward-facing sonar technology to levels that may not be good for the sport. Our lakes and waterways are under assault as we speak. Lakes are being invaded with sonar technology that has all species of fish on high alert. Today we’ll look at the impact this may have on the industry in general.

To understand where we are with today’s technology, we must first look at where we came from. The first fish finder device was developed in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1948. Then in 1957 Lowrance released the Fish-Lo-K-Tor that was designed for recreational fishermen. These first fish finding units were hard to operate and were difficult to read unless you had a good understanding on what you were actually looking at, but they were prone to misinterpretation.

But today’s electronics can be read without any misinterpretation as anglers watch on a 12-to-14-inch screen on what can only be described as a high-tech video game. This technology has played right into the hands of the young anglers on the rise looking to compete with the best anglers on the planet.

Their learning curve has been fast forwarded to warp speed like the Star Trek’s Enterprise. No longer do they have to spend years developing a feel on how and where to find bass based on weather conditions. No longer do they have to spend years understanding how to read water. They no longer need the instincts that the older generation of anglers used to compete with on the highest level.

This being said, how will this new technology affect the industry overall? It appears to me and many others that we are developing a group of young anglers without the fishing instincts so many of today’s top professionals possess. These seasoned anglers took years of time on the water to develop instincts and skills necessary to compete with the best anglers in America and across the globe.

One facet of bass fishing that will be truly affected is the bait and tackle industry. With the popularity of forward-facing sonar has come a new series of minnow style baits. These baits are all the craze right now and are winning tournaments consistently. So, what about all the crankbaits, spinnerbaits and jigs that have made up a huge part of bass fishing sales over the years? What will become of all these baits that have been the bread and butter of all major bass fishing companies? Will they just sit on the shelf and collect dust, or will it all come back to life after this forward-facing sonar obsession is over or possibly banned?

For tackle store owners, there’s got to be a sense of nervousness as dealers all over the country do inventory on baits that are just hanging on pegs waiting for anglers to pull one off. It’s almost like land of the misfit toys in the Christmas movie “Rudolf.” They are just waiting for the day when they will be wanted again.

Like anything new, we wonder if this new unbelievable technology is here to stay. Is this just a fad like bellbottom jeans and silk shirts with white dress shoes? Or is this like the Pet Rock and Ty Beanie Babies that some thought were the best ideas ever! The one unknown factor at this point is IF tournament organizations will ban these new fish-finding units. If this does happen, maybe things will get back to what we used to think of as normal.

Till next time, good luck, good fishing and make sure to check out Tackle Talk Live podcast, as well as the Hook’N Up & Track’N Down Show on You Tube. 

Steve Graf                                                                                                                          

Angler’s Perspective