News

Sabine Parish Registrar of Voters Zachery Faircloth wants to remind the public that early voting for the April 30 election is set to begin on April 16 and end April 23.

Voting will be conducted in his office each day during the given time period.

For more information please do not hesitate to call his office at 318-256-3697.

The long-awaited 2020 Sabine Hall of Fame has been re-scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, according to Chairman Pete Abington.

The annual event, which was canceled due to the pandemic, will be held at St. Joseph’s Hall in Zwolle. As in years past, a sit down will be served, prior to the event.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with the program beginning at 7 p.m.

Tickets will be available at the following locations: Pete Abington’s Office, 1030 San Antonio Ave.; Nichols, 252 Elizabeth Street; and Robert Gentry’s Office, 605 San Antonio Ave., all in Many. Tickets are $50 each.

Sponsoring this year’s banquet are Curtis Family Pharmacy, Interstate Building Materials, Nichols, Walsh Timber Co., and Sabine Retirement and Rehabilitation. Louisiana State Senator Louie Bernard of Natchitoches has also made a donation for the purchase of a Sabine Hall of Fame banner.

BOM is providing funds for Toledo Bend Lake Association (TBLA) to acquire the LSU #1 Custom Wood Carving that will highlight the recognition of LSU’s 2019 championship season at the upcoming TBLA Bass Unlimited Banquet. TBLA will also be auctioning a Rodrigue “#1 LSU Blue Dog” print accompanied by an LSU football signed by Coach Ed Orgeron.

BOM is a Louisiana owned and managed bank dedicated to the community. All proceeds raised at the Bass Unlimited Auction are directly invested into projects benefitting the Toledo Bend Lake Area - projects like the Sabine Parish 5th Grade Fishing Clinic, purchasing school supplies for Sabine Parish and Sabine County children, and boat ramp signs around the lake.

The TBLA Bass Unlimited Banquet and Auction will be held on Friday, April 22 at Cypress Bend Park Pavilion. Tickets for the event are available for purchase now by contacting Gaynell Goodeaux at 337- 842-7814.

(The Center Square) – Officials with the Louisiana departments of Children & Family Services and Health provided insight on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee.

Marketa Garner Walters, secretary of the Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS), explained how the coronavirus drove up dependency on federal food programs and other services for families, resulting in the highest number of participants in the state’s history.

“We issued more than $3.2 billion … in food assistance (last year). That’s $1 billion more than the year before, the first year of the pandemic,” Walters said Wednesday during a committee meeting. “Three-quarters of a million children in this state received pandemic food on the pandemic EBT card.

The registration deadline is fast approaching for the 2022 Louisiana Small Business Summit, the annual Louisiana Economic Development event that connects small business leaders with an array of resources available to them from the state.

Open to all small business owners and entrepreneurs in Louisiana, the summit will feature informational sessions, presentations about LED’s small business programs and engagement opportunities designed to facilitate contracting relationships with state agencies and other partners.

The summit will take place Tuesday, April 5 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Executive Center in Baton Rouge. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. Registration is open through March 29. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here.

Central Louisiana Technical Community College (CLTCC) Chancellor Dr. Jimmy Sawtelle has announced two new interim campus deans for the Natchitoches Campus as well as the Sabine Valley Campus in Many, Louisiana.

Gwen Fontenot has been named Interim Campus Dean for the Natchitoches Campus while Allison Hext is the Interim Campus Dean for the Sabine Valley Campus. The promotions follow former Natchitoches Campus Dean Laurie Morrow accepting a position with Northwestern State University.

“Dean Fontenot and Dean Hext have proven to be outstanding and experienced leaders, and we are confident they will do an outstanding job in these new roles.” Sawtelle said.

“”As a Natchitoches native, I look forward to returning home and serving my community,”” said Fontenot, who has held various positions within CLTCC serving as a College and Career Transitions Coordinator, Student Success Coordinator, and most recently Campus Dean at CLTCC Sabine Valley.

The Town of Many lends a helping hand with The Toledo Bend Lake Association’s (TBLA) upcoming Bass Unlimited Back-A-Great-Fighter Poster Unveiling that will be held Thursday, April 7. The 2022 original painting and #1 poster by Artist Eddie Pastureau will be auctioned that evening along with the 2020 #1 poster by Artist Don Edwards, recognizing 50 years of Toledo Bend Lake Association’s service in the Lake Area Communities.

The Poster Unveiling is free and everyone is invited. The doors open at 6:00 with a cash bar and appetizers served, and the auction begins at 7:00 pm in the Ball Room at Cypress Bend Resort.

Dr. Hiram “Pete” Gregory and Dr. Rebecca Riall, professors in Northwestern State University’s School of Social Sciences and Applied Programs, were honored with faculty awards presented by the University of Louisiana System during the ULS’s fifth annual For Our Future conference.

Gregory was named a Champion of Diversity and Inclusion for decades of work in supporting indigenous people of Louisiana and surrounding states, through education, interpretation and preservation.

Riall was named the Rising Star in Diversity and Inclusion for her work in creating the American and Indigenous studies, Black studies and Creole Studies programs at NSU.

“Dr. Gregory talked about cultural competency before the term was invented,” said ULS President Dr. Jim Henderson.

United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that John Matthew Tatum, 45, of Converse, Louisiana, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Donald E. Walter to 63 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for his involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy in Sabine Parish between August 2020 and May 2021.

Tatum pleaded guilty on November 18, 2021 to a Bill of Information charging him with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, following an investigation by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office.

On May 6, 2021, investigators executed a search warrant upon Tatum’s residence and located a safe containing approximately 413 net grams of pure methamphetamine. Also found in Tatum’s possession were 22 firearms, including a stolen handgun inside his vehicle, and cash proceeds from drug sales.

The 2022 Regular Legislative Session opened on March 14 at 12 p.m.

There are 805 prefiled bills in the House and 390 in the Senate, for a total of 1,195 pieces of legislation.

In legislative sessions that take place in even-numbered years, legislation shall not be concerned with fiscal issues. According to Article 3 Section 3b of the Louisiana Constitution, “No measure levying or authorizing a new tax by the state or by any statewide political subdivision whose boundaries are coterminous with the state; increasing an existing tax by the state or by any statewide political subdivision whose boundaries are coterminous with the state; or legislating with regard to tax exemptions, exclusions, deductions or credits shall be introduced or enacted during a regular session held in an even-numbered year.”