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Celebrating Excellence in DeSoto Parish Schools

At last night’s board meeting, we proudly recognized our September Employees of the Month: Support Staff of the Month — Eunice Harris, NDMS Teacher of the Month — Jennifer May, SHSN ew Teacher of the Month — Katy Cash, LHS Leader of the Month — Leah Bush, MES A special thank you to our community partners ANECA Federal Credit Union, Market-Place Chevrolet Stonewall, and RBW Consulting for sponsoring and supporting this initiative. Your partnership helps us celebrate the incredible people making a difference in our schools every day.

Join us for our final weekend performance of BackAlley’s popular music celebration, “How Time Slips Away,” featuring Rocky Maddox with Terry Sparks and Friends, at BackAlley Community Theatre in Grand Cane. Show dates are Friday and Saturday, September 26 and 27 @ 7:00 pm. Make your reservation at backalleygrandcane. com. Season Ticket holders should use your code to reserve your seats. If you need assistance, call our box office at 318– 461–0202.

DeSoto Quilters quilt show will be Friday October 3 and Saturday October 4, from9 am til 4 pm, at Emmanuel Baptist church fellowship Hall, 1314 Polk St. Mansfield, La. The show features many quilts made by the members. There is no admission to the show. Members have been busy making crafts to sell. There will be bowl cozies, pot holders, make-up bags, chapstick holders, hair scrunchies, composition book covers, scissor holders, corner book marks and much more! We have all made door prizes that will be given away each hour to a lucky guest. Lunch will be served for $10.00. A choice of chicken salad croissant or pulled pork sandwich, with chips drink and dessert. You may dine in with us or take away Each guest is encouraged to vote for their favorite quilt. It is an honor to the quilt maker to win the Viewers Choice. DeSoto Quilters meets each month as a quilting community to learn new techniques and share knowledge of our craft.

Books and Biscuits Book Club met Tuesday, September 2, at Village Cuisine Catering and Cafe in Grand Cane where we enjoyed a delicious meal, discussion, and laughter with friends. The book for our September review was “The Boys in the Boat” by Daniel James Brown. Genie Wanamaker led a thorough and enjoyable review of the book, leading everyone to share in lively discussion and wonderful insights about the story.

Eligible Louisiana residents can now request to have a seizure indicator added to their driver’s license or identification card. This new designation aims to promote health awareness and provide critical information to law enforcement and other first responders.

The seizure indicator is optional and available to individuals who have been diagnosed with a seizure disorder by a qualified medical or mental health professional. The indicator can be added to any class of driver’s license or identification card except handicap and voter ID cards. Please note that a license or ID card with a seizure indicator can only be combined with the Needs Accommodation and Autism indicator and may be removed at any time upon the applicant’s request.

In a victory for Black voters and democracy in Louisiana, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed in full the district court’s ruling that the state’s legislative maps violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The court agreed that the maps dilute the voting power of Black Louisianians by unfairly dividing communities into state districts with the goal of reducing a group’s voting power, otherwise known as packing and cracking, denying them an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.

The ruling affirms the outcome of a seven-day trial in late 2023, where expert witnesses, data analysis, and firsthand accounts from Black voters across Louisiana exposed the discriminatory effect of the current maps and their impact in places like Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and Natchitoches.

You may notice a slight difference in uniform when you see the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Patrol Deputies out and about, and the new look isn’t as much about style as it is about the health and well-being of our deputies.

Sheriff Jayson Richardson and his team recognize how challenging it can be for our deputies to work long hours in the intense summer heat, and in response they took to a bit of research.

While black shirts in the summer heat could make one think we have perhaps lost our minds. the patrol deputies wearing them are already praising the change. These particular shirts have 5X more cooling and drying power, are super thin, lightweight, and extremely durable!

So if you should notice the slight change from our previously green and heavier material shirts, know that the deputies are loving the change. Patrol deputies are grateful to Sheriff Richardson and his team for the well spent time and research that went into this awesome change!

In the mid-morning hours of Wednesday, August 13th, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office alerted DeSoto Sheriff’s Deputies to a need for assistance in locating two suspects that had been involved in a vehicle theft the night before.

Prior to arriving, one male suspect who had fled on foot was located and taken into custody by Shelby County Deputies. Shortly after DPSO arrived on scene, deputies learned of a second suspect with a possible location nearby. DeSoto Sheriff’s Deputies then assisted Shelby County Deputies to the nearby residence where the second suspect was also taken into custody without incident.

At the regular meeting of the DeSoto Parish School Board, DeSoto Parish Superintendent Cade Corley and representatives had the privilege of celebrating and recognizing the Division II Non-Select North DeSoto High School Softball and Baseball State Champions. Congratulations to the coaching staff and athletes!

July 1 is the one-year anniversary of Lisa Lobrano Burson being sworn in as the new Clerk of Court for DeSoto Parish, Burson said, “ As I look back over the last year, I can say it has been an honor to represent the parish. I want to give a special thank you to our staff at the Clerk’s office, as they have truly made this last year an amazing one! Without them, our office would simply not be what it is today.”

“As to my promise to be fiscally responsible with the public’s funds and despite office revenues falling 5.12% below the original budget (likely due to interest rates remaining high and home sales remaining low), expenditures have been cut an estimated 42%, without cutting our service to the courts, attorneys, or the public. What that means, practically speaking, is that the Clerk’s office is not operating in a deficit, for the first time in several years,” continued Burson.