News

Gov. Jeff Landry took office with a conservative agenda and a Republican super- majority in the Legislature after eight years of a Democratic governor, promising sweeping changes in this year’s legislative session.

A major focus of Landry’s agenda was to reorganize the Louisiana Constitution by moving amendments into statutes. He and conservative lawmakers made a big push for the Legislature to authorize a limited constitutional convention.

But their efforts were stymied in the Senate. It also strippeddown proposals by Landry and his supporters to provide parents with state funds to send their children to private schools and to seal many state government records from public inspection.

Community Bank of Louisiana is pleased to announce that President & CEO James F. Simpson, III has been selected by Independent Banker to be part of their annual 40 under 40 community bank leader awards.

This recognition acknowledges “an insightful group of professionals who have continuously stepped up to lend a hand, offer a new perspective, or make a difference in their communities.”

While this year’s 40 under 40 list features banking professionals from 30 states across the country, Simpson represents the only honoree from a Louisiana bank. A native of Macon, Ga., Simpson has been with Community Bank of Louisiana since 2015, holding the position of President & CEO since 2021. He is married to Catherine (Dorroh) Simpson and has two daughters.

The dates for DeSoto Regional Health Fairs for 2024 have been set for May 3 in Mansfield attheFirstUnitedMethodist Church, June 21 in Zwolle at St. Joseph Catholic Church and July 12 in Logansport at the Logansport High School Gymnasium. All three will be held from 6:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.

The fees remain the same as last year with the female panel costing $30.00, which will include CBC (complete blood count), CMP (comprehensive metabolic panel), Lipid Panel (for cholesterol levels), Thyroid Profile, Vitamin D panel, and HGB A1C (Hemoglobin The male panel fee is $35.00 and will include the entire previously mentioned test, along with a PSA (prostate specific antigen).

What a week! DeSoto Parish 4-H loaded up a school bus and took thirty-six, 4th-6th graders, and four Jr. Counselors to Camp Grant Walker in Pollock, Louisiana. These campers enjoyed a full week of educational tracks and recreation time. 4-H’ers gained valuable knowledge through instructional tracks which included Outdoor Adventures, STEM, Food and Fitness, Gardening, Wetlands, Water safety, and Art. Our campers appreciated the considerable number of recreational activities provided by Camp Grant Walker, especially swimming, line dancing, canoeing, sports, archery, and art as seen by their smiles and heard by their giggles. Five confident DeSoto Parish campers participated in the talent show earning them a golden ticket to compete in the State Fair of Louisiana Talent Show. DeSoto was the proud recipient of two distinguished character awards during camp week, Ace Wheless and Cylas Hamon both won the coveted Respect Award for their outstanding character and behavior towards others.

This morning, May 28, 2024, our office was made aware of yet another SCAM making its rounds within DeSoto Parish. A resident living in a Senior Complex received a Phone Sim Card in the mail (USPS First Class) with a note encouraging them to go to a website to active their new Sim Card. This particular note made it appear that the Sim was provided by the Affordable Connectivity Program, though the victim did not request or know about the government program. The website that the note encouraged the victim to click was also non-functional in many ways. If you receive a Sim Card in the mail that you did not personally request, cut it up and throw it away. DO NOT put the Sim into your phone! By doing so you may be giving a scammer full access to your phone number and other device information. This is a commonly known Scam, but the first of it’s kind we have seen in our area in a long time.

Sheriff Richardson took a ride in the helicopter Friday morning to survey the parish for affected areas. At this time DPSO can confirm one Tornado touched down on Gravel Point Road, and after the helicopter survey we believe there may be another confirmed tornado that touched down on Blunt Mill Road. Dispatchers received over 100 calls last night as work crews from various agencies worked to cleanup most roadways by 4am. We can confirm over 30 roadways, both major highways and lesser travelled were affected by downed trees blocking all lanes. Some of these have power lines mixed in and have taken longer to clear. Those roadways left to be cleared (around 7 in total) are listed in the Roadway Alerts section of the DeSoto Sheriff App.

An appellate court has upheld a DeSoto District Court’s ruling finding Clerk of Court Jeremy Evans in violation of the state’s public records law.

Attorneys’ fees and civil penalties of more than $15,000 that were assessed by Judge Nicholas Gasper also were affirmed.

LSU student Coy Fortenberry filed suit against Evans in June after records requested three months earlier were not turned over. Fortenberry sought information such as office expenses, employee salaries, travel expenses and entertainment, outreach expenses, donations, advertising and legal fees.

Fortenberry was given dates when the records would be ready, but they were not. He finally received some of the information, but the request was not complete as employees’ names were redacted and months’ worth of financial information was missing.

The Shreveport — and Marshall-based Brig. Gen. Joseph Bailey Camp 5 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will dedicate a memorial plaque at the Mansfield State Historic Site at noon Saturday, June 1, 2024.

The state-owned site is at 15149 state Highway 175, about three miles south of the town of Mansfield in DeSoto Parish. The event is open to the public. Seating will be limited, so participants may wish to bring their own portable seats.

The plaque will honor the dozens of Union Army units that fought at the April 8, 1864 Battle of Mansfield in DeSoto Parish, site of the last major Confederate victory in the Civil War. The marker also lists units that took part in the following day’s Battle of Pleasant Hill. The two events, often referred to by historians as the Battle of Sabine Crossroads, marked the turning point of the failed Union Red River Campaign, whose object was the capture of Shreveport to cut Texas off from the Confederacy.

Memorial Day is a time to remember the men and women who have died serving our country. This special day is not the only time we should remember them but the holiday underscores the importance of having a time to revere and respect people who are sacred to our country. They are our heroes who are buried across America and thousands on foreign soil that never made it back home. They left their families and friends to go to hostile places where they laid down their lives for us.

Take a moment and visit the grave of someone who died representing us. When you go take just a few moments and give thanks for that person who will be one of many, many thousands who have made what we have in America possible.

We take America for granted. We enjoy so much freedom, opportunity and protection. We are so far from perfect but nothing in the world is perfect.

If you believe in anything, believe in these four guys and the ultimate sacrifices they made for their country. They died saving the lives of hapless servicemen aboard a sinking troop carrier attacked at sea on February 3, 1943. They are the Four Chaplains and on Wednesday, February 3, a date set aside by Congress in their honor, we can pay homage to their selfless deed privately with a simple prayer of remembrance or publicly at multi-faith memorial services held at various placed across the United States.

The United States Army Transport SS Dorchester was part of a convoy that departed New York City on January 23, 1943 carrying war materials and, more important, a hull full of troops. World War II was well underway and the thought of engaging in the fight must have been daunting for the 904 servicemen on board, not to mention that the convoy was on high alert on the lookout for Nazi submarines out hunting in wolf packs.