News

U-Haul Company of Louisiana is pleased to announce that Triple J Motors, Inc. signed on as a U-Haul® neighborhood dealer to serve the Mansfield community.

Triple J Motors, located at 810 Washington Avenue (Hwy 84), will offer essential services like U-Haul trucks, trailers, towing equipment, moving supplies and in-store pickup for boxes.

U-Haul has teamed with independent dealers to offer moving equipment since 1945. With the COVID-19 outbreak creating challenging times for small businesses, more than 20,000 dealers across the U.S. and Canada are creating supplemental income through their U-Haul partnership. When a customer rents from a U-Haul dealer, they are directly supporting an independent small business in their community.

Rep. Larry Bagley, Rep. Kenny Cox, Judge Amy Burford McCartney, and Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services Secretary Marketa Garner Walters, and the LDCF Asst. Secretary Dr. Rhenda Hodnett were honored to be present to cut the ribbon at the open house celebration of Mansfield’s new LDCF Office located at 104 Crosby Street. Sen. Barry Milligan was still in session in Baton Rouge and was unable to attend the official opening.

DCFS occupies the back portion of the building currently housing the DeSoto Parish Registrar of Voters. Some visitors may know this as the building where the DeSoto Parish Health Unit was formerly located. The DCFS office entrance is on the south side of the building.

Bagley said, “In 2010, the Mansfield office was one of twenty that were closed due to cost saving measures. I’ve been working since my first year in office as a Representative to get DeSoto Parish’s office reopened.”

If you live or have ever lived in the Logansport-Haslam-Joaquin area, you might have missed something in February. Where were the Old Spanish Trail riders that usually pass through Logansport around the second Saturday of the month? Last year, we missed them with the Houston Fat Stock Show and celebration cancelled due to COVID, but what happened in 2022?

Michael “Mike” Cammarosano came to Logansport in the 1960’s and lived here for a short span of time, but made lasting memories and impressions to last Logansport residents of that generation a lifetime. He, along with many other volunteers, help mold the Logansport Volunteer Fire Department into what is now known as DeSoto Fire District 1.

Originally from New York, Mike adapted well to small-town Louisiana and our way of living. He faithfully attended and was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Logansport and participated in civic groups that our now only a memory such as the Lions Club, Kiwanis Club, Logansport Business and Civic Organization (before their was a Chamber of Commerce), Frontier Days Association, and many others.

The DeSoto Fire District 9 Ladies Auxiliary will host a community forum for the political candidates running for the 2nd Court of Appeals, replacing retired Judge Janette Garrett. The forum is set for Saturday, March 12, with a meet and greet beginning at 5:30 p.m. and speakers taking the podium at 6:00 p.m., at the Frierson Baptist Church, located at 288 East Street, Frierson, LA.

Judge Craig Marcotte was raised in Shreveport and received his Bachelor of Science in Business, Administration from Louisiana Tech University in 1984 and He graduated from the Louisiana State University Law School in 1988.

He practiced law with the firm of Hicks, Hubley and Marcotte, and later with the firm of Hubley, Marcotte, Rhodes and Hussey handling thousands of cases.

Judge Marcotte was elected to the Bench in 2008, presiding over numerous drug, criminal and civil cases as well as a swing Judge for the criminal sections handling murder, rape and other violent crimes.

A full gamut of legislative activity, including deliberations of Joint Rule redistricting; multiple map submissions; population shifts; geographic considerations; traditional district alignments; maintenance of communities of interest; the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and the Voting Rights Act, drove decisions that developed the final redistricting plans that were considered during the three-weeklong 2022 First Extraordinary Legislation Session. Members decided the final map proposals based on the totality of those redistricting principles.

The Sabine Parish Tourist Commission in partnership with the Louisiana Office of State Parks, Fort Jesup State Historic Site, the Friends of Fort Jesup, and Cane River National Heritage Area announces the kick-off of the Bicentennial Celebration of Fort Jesup. Set for Friday, February 25th and Saturday, February 26th at Fort Jesup State Historic Site, the event will include living history demonstrations, cast-iron cooking, music, and children’s activities that celebrate the culture of Louisiana’s Final Frontier.

Fort Jesup became part of the claims of both the United States and Spain. When the Louisiana Purchase Treaty of 1803 failed to clearly define the western boundary of Louisiana, the United States and Spain claimed the area as their own. The dispute gave rise to the “Neutral Ground,” an area where the laws of neither nation were enforced. Soldiers and settlers were kept out, and rogues and outlaws ruled the region.

Logansport High School has earned $10,000 for its selection as an National Institute for Excellence in Teaching Founder’s Award finalist.

The school is among five across the country under consideration for the $50,000 grand prize, which will be announced March 10 at the NIET National Conference in Dallas, Texas.

“Logansport High School Principal Diana Curtis leads a cohesive team committed to a shared vision of high expectations for every educator and student – and it shows,” said NIET chairman and founder Lowell Milken. “Their efforts to advance the effectiveness of their faculty has enabled the whole school forward and embody ‘The DeSoto Difference.’ I applaud Principal Curtis and Superintendent Clay Corley for their dedication to transforming goals into realities every day.”

For his actions on April 12, Terry Dewayne Powell, who had shown no remorse for the murder and robbery of Lynda Palmer, and attempted robbery and murder of Matthew Yeager, was sentence by Judge Amy Burford McCartney to mandatory life in prison for the second-degree murder of Palmer, plus 99 years for Palmer’s armed robbery. She then sentenced Powell to 50 years for the attempted second-degree murder of Yeager and added on 49.5 years for his attempted robbery.

Powell continued his antics from his trial in January where he offered no defense in a trial that began on Wednesday morning, and ended on Thursday. The jury was able to see what happened to Palmer and Yeager through a video complied from surveillance cameras from inside and outside the motel that Mrs. Palmer was employed at and Yeager was a guest. It showed Palmer handing over the cash then being shot as she went to a second register.

Due to the extremely dry conditions statewide and the overwhelming emergency responses recorded by local fire officials, State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning, along with Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, have issued a statewide cease and desist order for all private burning, pursuant to authority under R.S. 40:1602.

Earlier in the week, DeSoto Parish Police Jury President Ernel Jones had also issued a burn ban. Even though we received a brief shower on Saturday in portions of the parish, the ban is still on.

Private burning shall only be allowed by permission of the local fire department or local government.