News

Due to the Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that overturned child murderer Brian Horn’s death sentence, he was in court on January 11, 2024 and received the same sentence, once again. The courtroom was filled with 12-yearold murder victim Justin Bloxom’s family and friends who remained silent, but relieved, upon hearing Judge Amy Burford McCartney’s formal sentencing of Horn.

Horn, who was clad in orange and shackled at his waist and ankles, was quickly removed from the courtroom with DeSoto Parish deputies and state prison guards surrounding him. As McCartney told Horn to stand as she read the sentencing document, guards and deputies had already taken positions in the courtroom.

While Horn left the DeSoto Parish Courthouse en route back to a death row cell at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, his execution date will not be set until his appeals process is exhausted.

The DeSoto Extension Office, located at 10117 Hwy 171 in Grand Cane will host a Horse Health Clinic on Thursday, February 1, 2024, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Registration is required, so contact Joshua Salley, your DeSoto Parish Agriculture Agent at 318-872-0533 or email him at jsalley@agcenter. lsu.edu Topics to be discussed include General Equine Health with Dr. Neely Heidorn, PhD, Associate Professor; LSU AgCenter – Equine Extension Specialist; Saddle Microchipping by Livestock Brand Inspector, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry; Equine Nutrition by Jennifer Caldwell, Livestock Production Specialist of Purina Animal Nutrition and Rockin P Ranch and Leather by Austin Patton, Custom Leatherwork and Saddle Repair.

On New Year’s Day, 2024 began by seeing an incident occur around 3:00 p.m. at the C. E. “Rusty” Williams Airport in Grand Cane when a small aircraft landed at the field around 3:00 p.m.

The plane’s nose gear collapsed while landing causing the aircraft to skid and catch fire. No injuries were reported and there was no confirmation of how many were on the plane or who the owner was.

Apple iPhones now have a feature to detect if you have been in a car crash called “Crash Detection.” If you happen to drop your phone it can sometimes trigger this feature and call 911. The bottom line is, be sure to answer if dispatchers call you back. The DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office fully understands that mistakes happen. Half of our phone screens over here are cracked as well! But, they don’t want to dispatch a deputy every time someone drops their phone. If it triggers, a dispatcher will call to ensure that you are safe, and that’s all they need to know!

Keep DeSoto Beautiful has received a grant from Keep Louisiana Beautiful to bring road safety and litter awareness to those vehicles that have unsecured loads. The program affiliate grant will enable KDB to give out 150 tarps and bungee cords to DeSoto Parish citizens who want to cover loads to prevent litter and reduce waste on our roads and highways. This simple step helps keep our roadways clean and safe! When any debris or paper flies out of the back of pickup trucks and commercial hauling vehicles, an accident can happen!

Keep Louisiana Beautiful is helping Keep DeSoto Beautiful protect the natural beauty of our parish. We are proud to be the recipients of this grant.

About Keep DeSoto Beautiful Keep DeSoto Beautiful will inspire and empower people to take pride in DeSoto Parish through litter abatement and education. Keep DeSoto Beautiful is a project of the DeSoto Parish Police Jury.

With the Epiphany on January 6, or “Twelve Days of Christmas”, climaxing the Advent/Christmas Season, DeSoto Parish residents are ready to join Louisianans statewide for the Carnival season, ending with Mardi Gras, which is French for Fat Tuesday.

The Christian holiday is full of celebration in preparation for the upcoming Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Lenten is a time of fasting and religious obligations, with many indulging in richer, fatty foods before the fasting, or giving up of a favorite item, for Lenten sacrifice.

Wearing masks and costumes, plus having parades and parties, are images that all come to mind when the word “Mardi Gras” is heard. Logansport has held Krewe of Aquarius Mardi Gras parades and parties since 2002, with each year’s festivities bigger and better than the previous year.

At the January 4 regular meeting of the DeSoto Parish School Board new officers were elected for the 2024 school year. Dr. Neil Henderson of District 2 will serve as President with Dudley Glenn of District 1 serving as Vice President. Alice Thomas of District 5 was selected to serve as this year’s Finance Chairperson.

Through generous donations, DeSoto Sheriff ’s Office Staff were able to team up with donors to provide Christmas gifts to a few families who may have needed a little extra assistance this holiday season! Plenty of toys and other surprises were purchased, wrapped, and delivered to various families that our office was recently made aware of. Staff not only had a great time experiencing those smiling faces, but they had a little extra fun out shopping as well: i.e. Detective Jerek Lewis says, “THEY’RE SO FLUFFYYYYY!!!”

United States Attor ney Brandon B. Brown announced that Jerry Edwards, Jr. has resigned from the Department of Justice after having been confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as United States District Court Judge.

“There is a reason I selected Jerry Edwards as my First Assistant after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Attorney,” stated U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown. “Judge Edwards is a wellrespected litigator, the consummate professional, garners great respect among our local, state and federal judges and over the years has constantly displayed strong leadership abilities amongst his peers in this office. I could not dream of a better district judge selection. Weare quite saddened to lose him as a colleague in this office, but great things lie ahead for this district due to this historical confirmation.”

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.