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At 5:30pm on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, a concerned resident living on Hwy 346 in Pelican made contact with 911 Dispatcher, Amanda Gates, to report a missing person. An 81 year old male had earlier entered the wooded area near the residence to hunt, and had not returned. At that time, dispatcher Tanya Walker alerted administrative personnel and dispatched multiple DeSoto deputies, Fire, and EMS to the scene to gather more information from the caller. Upon further investigation, Deputy Jacob Daigle was able to determine that the missing person had previously made contact with the caller via cell phone, and was indeed lost in the wooded area. Dy. Daigle called the missing 81yo male in an attempt to gain more information about his surroundings, and was able to determine that he was not injured or in any distress at the time. Dy. Daigle sent a location request to the man’s cell phone, however he was not able to reply.

Mardi Gras season begins on January 6, of each year and ends on Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent. This year, Mardi Gras will fall on February 25. One of the wonderful traditions of Mardi Gras, and probably the most delicious, is the King Cake.

It’s the end of a long, stressful, contentious year for many of us. We’ve absorbed more than our share of anxiety over the election, over world events, and over the rising prices of… well, everything. And now, here come the holidays barreling toward us like a tinsel-decked locomotive. Ugh. How are we supposed to get in the holiday spirit when all we can muster right now is a half-hearted “bah humbug”?

Actually, the stretch between now and New Year’s is a great time to get your sparkle back and end 2024 on a high note.

I’m not talking about shopping till you drop and running the gauntlet of holiday obligations. Those things will only make the stress and exhaustion worse. I’m talking about waking up to the raw, miraculous, mind-blowing miracle that it is to be alive.

I’m talking about a mindset shift. Much like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, we all have the capacity to learn to see the same old world with fresh eyes.

It has been a tradition for The Enterprise to team up and help Santa with his letters from DeSoto Parish, Joaquin, and Pleasant Hill children for several decades. This year with postal issues continuing to plague the country, Santa needed our help more than ever. Believe me, we did our part with special Santa letter typist elf Taylor Curry, along with staff members Kaycee Deas and Julie Morris. Together we typed over 32 newspaper pages of letters comprising 2 sections that expressed the children’s heartfelt wishes and want lists. The popular yearly feature has become so popular that Santa couldn’t help but chuckle “Ho! Ho! Ho!” when he saw the letters that The Enterprise printed in 2023. They assist him on determining who was naughty and who was nice, with some even falling onto both lists, descriptions.

This holiday season, Louisiana 4-H has been active around the state. Between events and opportunities like overnight camps and community projects, 4-H’ers have been busy working together and improving their communities.

In Ouachita Parish on Nov. 20, 4-H students unveiled a food pantry outside of the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana, which has a family garden. The idea was to give unsheltered people around downtown Monroe a place to have access to free, healthful foods that are difficult to find in the area.

“It’s in a high poverty part of Monroe. There’s a lot of homeless people around, a lot of people that just need a little extra help, and the garden was producing a little bit more than what they were using for their purposes,” said Cathy Agan, AgCenter agent and Ouachita Parish chair. “The Children’s Coalition wanted to find out a way to share that with the community so that extra produce from the garden can go in there.”

Sheriff Jayson Richardson announces more arrests related to the illegal distribution of dangerous narcotics in DeSoto Parish. This is part of an ongoing effort between DeSoto Sheriff Narcotics Agents, DeSoto SWAT, Street Level Interdiction Unit (SLIU) and DeSoto K-9 unit. The following arrests include individuals suspected of Possession or Distribution of dangerous narcotics, among other related charges. All have been booked into the DeSoto Detention Center. All suspects are to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

On 12/09/24, James Hewitt Clements (44yo White Male of Frierson, LA) was taken into custody by DeSoto Narcotics Agents and Patrol Division on 4 Counts of Distribution of Schedule IV (Xanax), DeSoto Narcotics Warrant, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of Marijuana, and Speeding 71/55 mph zone.

In the past two days we have received multiple calls, some avoiding obvious scams and some getting scammed out of a large sum of money. Each phone scam is different, therefore it is pointless to share the details of each scam as they are constantly changing. Instead, here are some RED FLAGS to help you identify a SCAM: The call is very random or unexpected.

The caller doesn’t want you to hang up.

The caller acts unprofessional when you do not comply.

The caller demands a payment immediately.

The caller threatens you with warrants, arrest, etc.

They request that you pay with gift cards, bitcoin, etc.

If they claim to be or have a relative in custody.

If you don’t have the DeSoto Sheriff App, you should! We send out public notifications for Arrests, Severe Weather, Road Closures, Missing People, and other important info you may want to be aware of! There is even a new section for Events around DeSoto Parish! You can download our App, for FREE, from your Google Play and Apple App stores by searching for “DeSoto Parish Sheriff”. Get yours installed today, and stay informed!

*Be sure to enable push notifications after install to receive alerts!

The year 2020 was probably one of worst years in both American and worldwide history due to the dreaded words of COVID-19. Everyone seemed ready for this year to pass on by as quietly as possible, but the celebration of greeting a new year will still be brought in with hope for much better health, wealth and happiness. True the celebration as we greeted 2021 was not be as lavish and populated nor held in venues that parties are usually held in, but we moved forward making new customs for the year with hope that we could return to as normal of a life style as possible.

Louisiana education ranks near the top of another national study. A new report places Louisiana education fourth overall nationally when revisiting the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card. The 2022 test was the first time this national assessment was taken by students since 2019.

States’ Demographically Adjusted Performance on the 2022 Nation’s Report Card seeks to capture how well students in each state score on NAEP compared with demographically similar students around the country. This particular study ranks states with their scores adjusted for student demographics such as income, ethnicity, exceptionalities, and language barriers. Published since 2015 by the Urban Institute, it adjusts for differences across states.