News

A concerned group of DeSoto and Mansfield citizens have banded together for a food drive. Their gathered goods will be contributed to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, who help many individuals and families, not just through the holidays, but all year long.

If you would like to donate any non-perishable items, such as canned goods, staples like rice, sugar, flour, etc. The dropping off spot is at DeSoto Fire District 8 off of Hwy 175 in Mansfield. The hours are 8:00 a.m. through 4:30 a.m. at the front office. Anytime after that, please come to the back door of the facility.

The deadline for Christmas donations is December 21, but late donations are still wel and accepted to be used throughout the year.

Together we can help solve hunger! The Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana and local volunteers thank you for your help and support.

On December 11, voters that live within the city limits of Logansport will make the decision whether to pass the legalization of selling and purchasing liquor, while voters in DeSoto’s School District 3 (Stanley School area) will decide on passing a proposition with an estimated 16 mills to be levied for school improvements.

Proposition 1 in the Town of Logansport states, “Shall the sale of beverages of alcoholic content containing not more than six percent alcohol by volume be permitted by package only and not for consumption on the premises in the Town of Logansport? This would be to purchase wine or beer at package stores only.

The DeSoto Parish Police Jury will host a blood drive on Friday, December 17, from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Mansfield Sheriff ’s Office, located at 205 Franklin. The theme for this drive is ” ‘Tis the Season for Giving Blood Drive”. To sign up or for more information call Phillip Maxwell of LifeShare at 318-935-9838.

Also, if you are a member of the military (whether active duty, Guard, or Reserve), Firefighter, Law Enforcement Officer, or EMS, you can earn your Challenge Coin by donating four units of blood in a calendar year in the Blood Donor Award Program by registering at LifeShare.org/coin.

Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin is reminding voters that early voting for the Dec. 11 election began Saturday, November 27, and continues through Saturday, Dec. 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, excluding Sunday, Nov. 28. Citizens who want to vote early may do so in person at their parish Registrar of Voters Office, located at 104 Crosby Street in Mansfield or at the satellite office located at 1746 Hwy 171 in Stonewall.

DeSoto voters in Logansport and Stanley will only be the only ones voting, with Logansport voters to express their approval or denial of propositions regarding the sale of alcohol in various locations and volume. Stanley area voters that live in the District 3 School Zone will decide if they want to pass a bond proposal to incur debt of $8,500,000 not to exceed running more than 20 years, with an estimated 16 mills to be levied in the first year of issue.

If you have any questions call the DeSoto Registrar of Voters office at 318-872-1149.

In the corporate world, holding regular meetings with a company’s officials is a necessary component for performing that company’s daily business operations. These meetings are basically an exchange of financial data and business directives among company officers and colleagues to help keep an organization focused on its goals and missions. However, they are often mundane and monotonous assemblies. But the regular meeting of the Mansfield Board of Aldermen held on November 8th, was anything but mundane. After action had been taken on the business items listed on the agenda, the last item to be heard was a presentation to Mansfield’s Mayor, John Mayweather, Sr., by the Mansfield Middle School’s Gentlemen’s Club. Out of a 35-member group, a total of 24 club members were present to bestow a few of gifts upon the Mayor.

Mansfield Police Department Assistant Chief Billy Locke has reported that at approximately 11:24 a.m. on Friday, November 26, 2021, Mansfield Police responded to a report of suspicious activity in the 400 block of Forest Avenue.

Upon arrival officers discovered a burglary in progress with one adult and three juveniles found to be inside the residence.

Kentavious Marcell Okee was booked into the DeSoto Parish Detention Center for Burglary of an Inhabited Dwelling and Contributing to the Delinquency of a Juvenile.

The three juveniles were charged with Burglary of an Inhabited Dwelling and released to their parents.

An investigation discovered that the subjects had committed at least five other burglaries on the same date. The investigation is on going at this time.

The Caddo Parish Grand Jury returned seven true bills in its latest session, Thursday, November 18, 2021.

Four of the indictments were for seconddegree murder, one for manslaughter, one for illegal possession of stolen things and one for theft of a motor vehicle. One of the true bills for second-degree murder also included two counts of attempted seconddegree murder.

The multiple-billed indictment was against Jaylen Dion Burns, 19; Libert Mancil Burns, 27; Tre’Veon Jackson, 19; and Tarus Tre’Von Walton, 18. All from Shreveport, they are charged with seconddegree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in connection with the August 12, 2021 slaying of Javoris Ketron Debouse and the attempted slayings of Rontreveus Norman and Terrod Johnson. Debouse, 23, was shot several times while sitting on the front porch of a residence on West 64th Street.

On November 16, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that Louisiana has been awarded a $1.5 million grant by the United States Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime that will be used to improve outcomes for child and youth victims of human trafficking. The grant is a multi-year award that will be administered by the newly established Louisiana Governor’s Office of Human Trafficking Prevention and will help fund the Louisiana Child and Youth Trafficking Collaborative Accessibility Initiative. This is the second time Louisiana has been selected for the award.

Local businessman and chef Daphne Hall recently was excited and happy to celebrate her Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting to her new restaurant that features delicious home-style meals and her award winning tamales. She is proud to be able to present not only mild, but medium and spicy styles, with the meats of pork, chicken and beef.

Being the people pleaser that she is, she also offered a service that she probably will have to drop due to miscommunication. Daphne has been able to make venison tamales, when her clients furnish her the processed deer brought to her at her kitchen. There is no processing of any type of meat whether it is beef, pork, chicken, deer, rabbit, squirrel or whatever. It seems people with evil intentions to slander Daphne have misquoted and/or misinterpreted her specialty items into something that they are not.

A series of eight public hearings in five days on the state’s plan for highway construction plan next year will begin December 1.

The Joint Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee will conduct the meetings. The purpose of the hearings across the state is to review highway construction priorities for the fiscal year 2022-2023. A copy of the Preliminary program for the state’s next fiscal year are available for review at LADOTD Headquarters, 1201 Capitol Access Road, Room 200U, in Baton Rouge. You may also review the plan at www.dotd.la.gv/inside

_LaDOTD/Divisions/ Multimodal/Transpor tation_Planning/High way_Priority/Pages/d efaullt.aspx.

There will two hearings per day on Dec. 1, 2, 7 and 8. The meeting on December 9 will be held in Baton Rogue.