News

Keachi Mayor Travis Whitfield has been presented with the Winnie Byrd Preservationist Extraordinaire Award, which recognizes an individual or individuals who have made a lasting impact to the historic resources of Louisiana through a body of work.

Serving as the Mayor of Keachi, Whitfield has dedicated his life to historic preservation. He also is on the board of the Keachi Heritage Foundation where he has served for many years.

A native of Linden, Texas, Whitfield fell in love with the little village of Keachi as he passed through it regularly on trips from Houston to Shreveport. He is a talented artist that first started drawing from nature. He attended the University of Houston and was later an artist in residence in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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On May 30, “The Little Funeral Home with a Big Heart” grew a little larger when they held a grand Open House Celebration at their modern, state of the art facility, located at 601 Franklin Street in Mansfield. The founder, the late Robert J. Jenkins, served the public from 1932 to 1972 with the late Catherine Whitaker Leshay taking over as owner in 1972, and continuing for 47 years of dependable service until her death in 2019. Currently, Junear Leshay-Canna and JaVorius R. Canna are providing the same courteous, loyal, dependable and economical service for which Mr. Jenkins and Ms. Leshay had been known for.

One of the annual events that is most anticipated in our area is the Annual Rickey Warren Memorial Fireworks Display on the banks of the Sabine River in Logansport. It was cancelled last year due to Covid-19 mandates so although this marks the 6th year, we will refer to it as the 5th year due to its cancellation. On Sunday, July 4, this

In an effort to crack down on violent crime and illegal weapons on the streets in DeSoto Parish, Sheriff Richardson would like to provide the public with an update on what has been achieved in recent weeks. Over the past two months, Deputies and Narcotics Agents with the DeSoto Parish Sheriff ’s Office have recovered over 21 firearms from suspects involved in a crime or were in illegal possession of a firearm. Often times, seizures occur during traffic stops in the presence of drugs, or by a convicted felon that may not possess a firearm.

Members of the Battle of Pleasant Hill Re-enactment and Festival were recognized at the Capitol by the House of Representatives on May 27, 2021. They were invited by Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn of District 24 that represents a portion of Sabine, Natchitoches and Vernon Parishes. Representative Larry Bagley of District 7, who represents a portion of Sabine, DeSoto and Caddo Parishes, was also there to greet them.

The Battle of Pleasant Hill Re-enactment and Festival commemorates the April 9, 1864 Civil War battle that occurred in Pleasant Hill as part of the Red River Campaign. This is one of the longest running and largest living history events in Louisiana. The organization celebrated their 42nd event in April 2021 and are already planning for future events.

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Fourteen vaccinated Louisianans will win scholarships and cash prizes – including one adult who will win $1 million – throughout July as part of the Shot At A Million campaign the state is launching to reward residents who have taken or who choose to get their COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Edwards announced Thursday.

Registration for Louisiana’s Shot At A Million lottery begins Monday, June 21, 2021 at noon CDT. Louisianans who have gotten the vaccine can register online at ShotAtAMillion.com. Residents who do not have access to the internet or who have questions can call the toll-free hotline at 877-356-1511 to register, starting Monday.

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This year’s Juneteenth celebration is being billed on Facebook as “The hottest 3-day summer event in Mansfield, Louisiana” with hiphop, zydeco, and blues on the Court House Square in downtown historic Mansfield with a parade on Sunday. The three day event begins on Friday, June 25, continues on Saturday, June 26, and comes to a close on Sunday, June 27.

The admission for Friday’s events is $15.00. Vendors will begin setting up at 5:00 p.m., with the gates opening at 6:00 p.m. The entertainment will kick off at 6:30 p.m. with the Triple Boss Boys with Opening Ceremonies following at 7:00 p.m. Jeter Jones takes the stage at 7:30 p.m., followed by The Triple Boss Boys at 8:00 p.m. BCS Young Decky begins at 10:00 p.m. and will close out the evening.

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Buoyed by billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief aid, Louisiana legislators took on several big issues this spring and made progress in simplifying the tax code, supporting education and expanding criminal-justice reform.

Some public-interest groups praised the tax changes as important steps toward strengthening Louisiana’s economy, while others expressed concern that some of the changes could lead to a budget crunch down the road.

The Council for a Better Louisiana viewed the main changes…lowering state income tax rates for individuals and corporations and eliminating deductions for what they pay in federal income taxes, as “a positive step forward,” while noting that it was only the beginning of righting a complicated, messy system.

On June 10, Representative Larry Bagley held several town hall meetings across DeSoto Parish to introduce the new Louisiana Office of Broadband and Connectivity Executive Director, Veneeth Iyengar. He was joined by Sen. Gerald Long as the two explained what the Louisiana Broadband service was about, with the infrastructure, access and affordability for residents of the state.

Iyengar explained that the lack of rural Internet connection in Louisiana has been an ongoing issue in the state, and the problem became more noticeable when schools were shut down during the pandemic and more families were forced to resort to online learning. In all, there are 403,000 Louisiana households (about 25 percent of the state’s total number of households) with no kind of Internet connection according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. Forty-two percent of households have no broadband connection.

In June 2019, Frierson area residents attended a police jury meeting to discuss the rowdy and dangerous actions of a large number of people attending a trail ride that was hosted by Thaddeus Lee. The main concern seemed to be handling the mass crowds and parking issues. A workshop was held to see that this behavior, lack of respect for personal property, and the traffic violations would be handled in a more controlled fashion. This past weekend, the same problems arose, but this time it was centered around the Grand Cane with the Big W Trailride. The increase in attendance went from 800 in 2019 to 7,000 to 8,000 in 2021.