News

Each year on October 31st, people from all over celebrate Halloween. A favorite of children and those who like to tap into their “inner child”, Halloween is a day to dress up in costume, hand out candy (usually to children), and try to frighten each other and ourselves with spooky stories.

Like many holidays that are celebrated today, Halloween did not start off being celebrated in this manner — its origins have a history that started many centuries ago. The actual word Halloween is correctly known as Hallowe’en or All Hallows’ Eve, the day before All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2. “All Saints Day” is when we recognize the Saints that were canonized by the Catholic Church, or traditional saints, and “All Souls Day” is when we remember our ancestors, friends and loved ones that have passed.

Northwestern State University’s Office of Electronic and Continuing Education will offer a Notary Public Exam Prep Course starting Tuesday, Oct. 29. The early bird fee is $430 until Oct. 23 and $450 after that date.

In partnership with Louisiana State University-Shreveport, this 52-hour course is an introduction to notary public fundamentals. The instructor, attorney and notary Jennifer Brown distributes significant course study guides and materials to assist in preparation for the exam. This course will be delivered via online video conferencing. The instructor will provide participants with a conferencing link to join the class once enrolled.

As previously stated on September 27th, further arrests have been made in relation to ongoing investigations by DeSoto Narcotics Agents, SWAT, SLIU, and ProActive Patrol teams. Together these task forces have managed to secure nine (9) additional arrests since our last update, seizing various amounts of illegally possessed Pills, Meth, and Marijuana, along with (3) stolen or illegally possessed firearms.

The list below are the results over the past 7 days, and any further arrests made from these investigations will be shared at an appropriate time. The following suspects have been taken into custody and booked into the DeSoto Parish Detention Center. All suspects are to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

DeSoto Crime Stoppers is willing to pay up to $1,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of the below suspect: Malcolm Jamal Flowers (B/M DOB: 01/15/1989) of Mansfield is currently a wanted suspect with the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office on charges of Obstruction of Justice, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Domestic Abuse Battery. Any information you may have can be submitted, even anonymously, to DeSoto Crime Stoppers by: — Visiting www. P3Tips.com — Call 1-800-505-7867 — Submit a Tip in the DeSoto Sheriff App.

Over the next few days we will be introducing our Agents at the DeSoto Parish Extension Office and explain a little bit about what they do for our office and Parish. Let’s begin with introducing our 4-H Agent, Mrs. Ami Altom.

Mrs. Ami is the newest member of the DeSoto Parish Extension Office with about 6 months under her belt. She hit the ground running with 4-H Summer Camp within the first month and a half of her start date and then 4-H University! Mrs. Ami is responsible for all 4-H programming in DeSoto Parish. She recruits and manages all of our wonderful 4-H volunteers that make our program the success that it is. A fun fact about Mrs. Ami is that she is a Reserve World Champion — Non Pro Maturity in ranch sorting at the Ranch Sorting National Championship (RSNC) World Finals!

A former Louisiana sheriff’s office deputy was sentenced last week to 37 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for assaulting a pretrial detainee.

Javarrea Pouncy, 31, a former sergeant with the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office (DPSO), previously pleaded guilty to one count of using excessive force against the detainee. During his plea, Pouncy admitted that in September 2019, he and another DPSO deputy conducted a strip search of a detainee in the DeSoto Parish jail, as part of the detainee’s booking. Pouncy admitted further that during the search, the deputies repeatedly punched the detainee in his head, face and body, even though the detainee did not pose a threat to either officer. As a result of the assault, the detainee was hospitalized and sustained a broken eye socket and broken nose, among other injuries.

According to DeSoto Parish Police Jury President Rodriguez Ross, a parish-wide burn ban has been issued as of Tuesday, October 15, 2024. The ban will continue until notices are posted or announced by area media.

According to the order, anyone violating the burn ban will be subject to the maximum fines and penalties allowed by law. The ban will be in effect until the area receives a substantial amount of rainfall. Smokers are also asked to not throw lit smoking materials out the window of their vehicles. Not only is it illegal to litter with subsequent fines, it is currently a dangerous and potential fire hazard.

The Episcopal Church Women (EWC) of Christ Memorial Episcopal Church are busy finalizing details for the 70th Annual Bazaar and Spaghetti Supper and Bazaar to be held on Thursday, November 7. In addition to the to the delicious spaghetti dinner, there will be an array of homemade cakes, pies, cookies, jellies, spaghetti sauce, soups, and many other baked goods too numerous to list. Entrees ready to serve or freeze will also be available. Take-out lunch servings will begin at 10:45 AM, with dine-in plates starting at 11:00 AM. The Bazaar will be held from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM.

The White Elephant Sale, which is always a popular portion of the bazaar, will return offering lightly used clothing, dishes, books, home décor and many other items at great prices. This year’s quilt raffle will be for a vintage 1940’s Double Wedding Ring quilt, with tickets selling at $2.00 per chance, or three for $5.00. It usually is set up at the rear of the Parish Hall and begins at 9:00 a.m.

On October 18th @ 11 am, a Fish Fry Fundraiser will be held at the DeSoto Parish Police Jury parking lot for Jeff Zeigler. Jeff is the husband of Parish Secretary Jodi Zeigler. Jeff recently underwent a liver transplant and all proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards his medical expenses. Plates are $15 each and will include fish, fries, hushpuppies, dessert, and drink. You can reserve a plate by calling Kerri @ 318-8720738 or 318-270-3421. Delivery will be available and walk-ups welcome!

October 11, 2024 — Upon taking office on July 1, 2024, I was immediately facing a significant budget deficit and managing three separate offices. I quickly discovered that spending in the previous administration was excessive. Despite unaudited revenues of $2,211,714.12 for the Fiscal Year 23-24, there were significant expenses for personnel services of $2,059,513.89, operating expenses of $709,062.82; and capital outlay expenses of $20,094.88. That left the Clerk’s Office with an unaudited actual deficit of $576,957.47. If the trend continued, the office would be bankrupt in approximately 4 years. Therefore, immediate correction was necessary to protect your Clerk of Court’s Office.