In this Window to Winn Podcast episode, we bring you part two of a four-part series with Winn Parish School Board Superintendent, Al Simmons.

By: Kaycie Kile
WPJ Reporter

This past Saturday, August 13th, marked our first ‘Community Cleanup Day’ under newly elected Mayor Gerald “Scooter” Hamms. Starting bright and early at 9 a.m, Winnfield residents and city employees had the opportunity to sweep the streets of our neighborhoods to serve and maintain the place we call home. 

Thanks to those who organized and participated in this event, the streets of North, Main, Maple, and MLK benefited from a bit of elbow grease and plenty of good intentions. Participants were treated to a freshly cooked and bagged lunch, their choice of hamburger or sausage roll, and plenty of cool beverages to beat the summer sun! 

List of participants: 

Dazzling Dance Divas
Cindy Glenn (The Family Church)
Jeremy Solex (TFC)
Lovince Solex  (TFC)
Jed Rhymes (TFC)
Kaycie Kile (TFC)/(WPJ)
Joe Lewis 
Akya Philips
Stevie Wilson 
Virginia Howard 
Katina Smith (City Hall)
Stacey Fields (City Hall)
Joe Bass (City Inspector)
City Street and Recreation Department 

It’s good to see members of this community out in pursuit of improvement and upkeep of our home! The City is hopeful to see another Community Clean Up find its way into our schedule this fall! For anyone who may have missed out or is ready to go again, don’t hesitate to contact your representatives and stay tuned for more updates as cooler weather comes our way!

“I started Hope4Winn after my son committed suicide in March of 2020,” Andrea Poisso told the Winnfield Rotary Club at its meeting on August 10, 2022. She and another local mother, Amanda Smith, formed the organization to help prevent suicides by teenagers and young adults in Winn Parish.

After her son’s passing, Ms. Poisso learned that her son, who had been treated for his mental health problems, had experienced symptoms of which she was unaware in the months before his death. She did a great deal of research on mental health problems and suicide awareness and prevention. She found that mental health issues are still not openly discussed by young people in our community and that we need to increase awareness of the risk of suicide by teenagers and young adults. Since that time, two other children in Winn Parish have been lost to suicide.

Andrea and Amanda Smith worked together to get a suicide survivor from Ascension Parish, Emma Benoit, to come to Winn Parish and speak to our students about mental health issues and suicide. Although Emma makes quite an impression on students during her appearances, they discovered during the school visits that very few students said they would tell someone and seek help if they were having problems.

This discovery prompted Andrea and Amanda to form Hope4Winn to help children here and reverse their tendency to try to handle their difficulties alone. As part of her mission, Andrea has given out her telephone number to youths and encouraged them to call her if they are having problems. She is also creating a support group for Winn Parish students, which will hold regular monthly meetings at Social Coffee House. Meetings will involve talk therapy, peer support and social opportunities for the youth in our community.

In the meantime, Ms. Poisso says, “Dozens of children have reached out to me, and I listen to them.” Some are reluctant, but she assures the kids that she will keep their confidence unless she believes the child is in danger. The objective of Hope4Winn is to create a safe place for kids to go with their problems. This can be one on one or in the group, but she hopes the group will provide peer support and social connections, which will help the children develop the ability to handle their problems and ask for help.

Hope4Winn has a Facebook page, and they are putting out flyers, seeking sponsors, and holding fundraisers to provide supplies for the monthly meetings. As the group develops, Hope4Winn will also provide activities for the group members to do together.

If anyone is interested in Emma Benoit’s outreach to at-risk youth, Andrea suggests you check out the documentary on her website called MyAscension.

As customary, the meeting was adjourned with Rotary’s motto, “Service above self!”

The Winn Parish Chamber of Commerce and Tourism will host a Dash and Dine event Thursday, August 18th from 11 AM – 1 PM at the Allen Building in Winnfield.

Date: 8-9-22
Name: Xavier D Wyatt
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 25
Charge: Violation of a protection order, Stalking

Date: 8-10-22
Name: Sammy D Smith
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 48
Charge: Theft of a motor vehicle, Failure to appear (x2), Resisting an officer

Date: 8-10-22
Name: Paul E Purvis
Address: Urania, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 57
Charge: Violation of protective order

Date: 8-11-22
Name: Chole D Boyett
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 25
Charge: Failure to appear

Date: 8-12-22
Name: William Carpenter
Address: Calvin, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 61
Charge: Illegal carrying of a weapon

Date: 8-12-22
Name: Randall Vines
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 44
Charge: Domestic Abuse Battery

Date: 8-13-22
Name: Joseph Allen
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 38
Charge: Burglary, Theft of a motor vehicle

Date: 8-13-22
Name: Jamie Calhoun
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 36
Charge: Accessory after the fact

Date: 8-13-22
Name: Cynthia Calhoun
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 59
Charge: Illegal possession of stolen things, Accessory after the fact

Date: 8-15-22
Name: Joseph Allen
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 38
Charge: Possession of a firearm by a felon

Date: 8-15-22
Name: Jennifer Hill Williams
Address: Dodson, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 45
Charge: Obstruction of a court order

Date: 8-15-22
Name: Todd W Smith
Address: Joyce, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 49
Charge: Obstruction of a court order

Date: 8-16-22
Name: John M Leone
Address: Golddona, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 43
Charge: Speeding, Carless operation, Resisting officer

Date: 8-16-22
Name: Annette M Roberson
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Female
Age: 52
Charge: Aggravated second-degree battery

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

By: Brad Dison

Daniel Lawrence “Dan” Whitney was born in Pawnee City, Nebraska.  He grew up in a church-going family.  His father, Tom, held many jobs.  Tom was a school administrator, entertainer – he played guitar for the Everly Brothers – a preacher, and he raised pigs, horses, and cattle.  Tom left for work early each morning and returned home late each night.  There was no break on weekends either.  Tom preached multiple services at different churches.  Every free moment Tom had was spent tending to the never-ending chores required to keep the farm running properly.    

Due to Tom’s frequent absences from an early age, Dan spent most of his time with his grandfather, who helped out at the Pawnee City sale barn adjacent to Dan’s family’s pig farm.  Dan helped his grandfather load and unload trucks of pigs and cattle.  Dan so loved the livestock sale barn that he spent every free moment there.  Working at the sale barn with his grandfather, Dan became close friends with his grandfather’s friends despite the differences in ages.  They eventually became comfortable enough with Dan that they shared their life stories with him, which he loved hearing.  Dan later credited his time at the sale barn as one of the most important experiences that shaped his life.   

When Dan was fifteen years old, his family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, where his father was offered a job at the fifth largest Christian school in the United States, The King’s Academy.  Following high school, Dan worked as a bellhop at the Hyatt Regency hotel in West Palm Beach, a job that “opened the door” for his future career.  Dan made the guests feel at ease.  They were drawn to Dan’s outgoing nature.  He shared funny stories with them and told them jokes. 

Dan realized that his best bet was to get a college education.  He enrolled in college and majored in drama and speech.  During his junior year of college, a few of Dan’s friends convinced him to try standup comedy at a local open mic night.  At first, Dan was intimidated when he saw other comedians, all dressed in suits, studying their jokes on note cards.  Dan was no quitter.  Although he thought he was a novice in a room full of professionals, Dan made it through his first performance.  The crowd’s reaction was enough for Dan.  He was hooked.  He dropped out of college determined to earn a living as a comedian.

Dan performed without pay at open mic nights until he was booked to do a fifteen-minute standup routine as the opening act for the band Chicago.  From there, he made guest appearances on radio comedy shows, where he began incorporating characters into his repertoire.  Dan said later, “I wanted to create an Archie Bunker character that was likable.”  He based the character on a combination of people he knew in Nebraska and Florida, as well as his college roommates who were from Texas and Georgia.  To complete the character, Dan jettisoned his Nebraska accent and incorporated a southern accent.  The character he created was so likable that he focused solely on it and dropped the other characters.  Eventually, Dan’s fictitious character became so popular that it eclipsed its creator.  The character that Daniel Lawrence “Dan” Whitney created is known around the world as … Larry the Cable Guy. 

Sources:

1.      Randy York, “For Pig Farmer-Turned Superstar, Life is All About Faith, Family and Football, huskers.com/news/2009/7/6/3759511.aspx

2.     CableGuyArchives, “Larry the Cable Guy Documentary (Full) 2021,” December 3, 2021, YouTube video, 53:21,  youtu.be/1ei-4qsi_uQ.

We have boots on the ground in Memphis where the PGA Tour event finished this weekend as Elvis Week was kicking off. 

“The town,” my friend Jay, a bona fide local, reports, “is full of energy.”  

Elvis Presley died August 16, 1977, at Graceland, his Memphis home, and has now been gone, at least in theory, for 45 years, which is longer than he was with us in the flesh, a brief but dynamic 42 years. 

Hurts me. 

We say he’s been gone “in theory” because people have, somewhat routinely, reported seeing him here and there. You can Google — something Elvis would be surprised people were doing to him today — and read of Elvis sightings from Kalamazoo to remote islands in seas you’ve never heard of. In the early-1990s, there was a raft of Elvis sightings on Texas Street in downtown Shreveport; seems like every other Thursday. I’d answer the phone at the paper and, “You gotta get down here to the corner of Texas and Market! Guy who looks, I swear, looks just like Ebis is…” 

Ebis. As in Presley. 

Things were like that then. 

This “Elvis Spotting” trend has waned over a nearly half-century, but there was a time when there was gossip or sensational newspapers at the grocery store, and once a month there would be Elvis on the Front Page, of course.  

He’d faked his death and was living in Aruba. He’d gotten in too thick with the Mafia and was living in a witness protection program at a location undisclosed. He’d had plastic surgery and burned all his sequined jumpsuits, and was employed as a janitor at The MGM Grand in Vegas. 

And, the one I found the most plausible of all, he’s been hiding out in plain sight since 1985 as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association, where he goes by the name of “Coach Elvis Presley” but, since it’s Sacramento… 

If you were in Memphis this week, you probably enjoyed the live band playing and “backing” Elvis on the big screen, the re-showing of a long-ago live concert. You watched the Elvis Tribute Contest Special, and all the pretend Elvises/Elvi perform. Probably paid your respects at the annual candlelight vigil. 

And you probably concluded, as I have, sad as it is, that Elvis really did die 45 years ago, at age 42. I believe it was Horace Logan, God bless him, the producer and announcer of the Louisiana Hayride all those years ago, who innocently uttered what would become an iconic phrase: “Elvis has left the building.” 

Classic. 

Do you remember what you were doing when you found out Elvis had left the planet?  

I was mowing the parsonage grass, front yard, in Homer when the new preacher at First Baptist, my own personal dad, came outside gyrating in a manner that suggested I turn off the mower. Something terrible must have happened, I thought because he never suggested I quit mowing unless I was on fire or bleeding. 

“Elvis died,” he said and offered a murky explanation; he had just found out his own self. We had a moment of silence. 

“Well,” he said, “I’m gonna keep unpacking. You keep mowing.” 

Life for us rural non-entertainers rolled on. 

Would love to go to Graceland, but the closest I ever got was the 7-Eleven across the street. Wonder if it’s still there. I had a long layover and caught a cab just to get within Elvis’ gravitational pull. I picked up a pay phone — that’s how long ago it’s been — to call a Memphis-savvy friend. It was one of those moments you have to share. 

“It’s just like you said it’d be,” I told him. “I’ve been here 20 minutes, and everybody I’ve seen on this side of town has those Elvis sideburns. Even the women.” 

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu 

A law enforcement action like this against a former president has never occurred before.  It will be construed by millions of Americans as Pres. Biden’s desperate deployment of the power of the federal government to damage his likely 2024 opponent who now leads him in national election polls.

This past Monday, the FBI, in an unannounced raid of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, broke dangerous new ground in the increasing politicization of our government institutions.  Attorney General, Merrick Garland, has stated that he personally approved the raid that reportedly included 30 agents—including SWAT teams—in 20 government vehicles swarming Mar-a-Lago in the Palm Beach darkness.  

As such, he, and Biden—who certainly had prior knowledge of the raid—will squarely bear the cost of this dangerous political gambit. 

Let’s look at the larger issue here. 

The FBI asserts the raid is related to the alleged mishandling by President Trump of classified documents and/or violations of a federal statute entitled the Presidential Records Act.  However, these types of document disputes between a former president and the feds have occurred before and are virtually always worked out amicably with the former president’s lawyers meeting with federal agency lawyers and agreeing on how to resolve the issue.  At most, a subpoena for such documents could be employed.  

But never this.

You know what really highlights the great partisan dishonesty here? The galactic double standard with respect to Hillary Clinton’s mishandling and destruction of classified information before her 2016 campaign for president: Her wiping of her server and the destruction of her blackberries with hammers. 

Yet, she was never prosecuted. 

What about the deliberate effort by the FBI to aid Joe Biden by suppressing the Hunter Biden “laptop from hell”—deeming it “foreign disinformation”—even though we later learned that the FBI had been in possession of the laptop for about a year and knew it was credible.

Since the 2020 election, polls have concluded that had the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop not been suppressed, 16 percent of voters who were unaware of the laptop scandal would not have voted for Biden.  This impact was far more than enough to steal the election for Biden in an election where the difference was 44,000 votes in three key swing states.  (This, of course, is aside from the direct election fraud proven by the 2000 Mules documentary).

The laptop makes clear that the Biden Crime Family, including ‘the Big Guy,’ benefitted to the tune of millions of dollars from the Chinese government.  The laptop contained not only details of the corrupt leveraging by Hunter Biden of his family connections with other nations in exchange for multi millions of dollars, but it also directly implicated through emails and voicemails then-presidential candidate, Joe Biden, himself.

Is the FBI really in a strong position to take an unprecedented action of this kind given its recent history—which includes the Russia Collusion Hoax and the literal attempt by the very top leadership at the FBI—Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page—to remove a duly elected president based upon total fabrications that have since been conclusively proven to be categorical lies?

What about the Steele dossier lie, the false and misleading information used to secure FISA warrants in the Carter Page matter, and the fraudulent and hugely distracting two-year, $32 million taxpayer-dollars inquisition by Robert Mueller that yielded nothing?  What about the grossly abusive treatment by the FBI of Gen. Michael Flynn when the agency fabricated a charge, hatched a plan, and created a crime to entrap him?

In short, will Americans overlook all of these examples of our own federal government grossly abusing its own regulations and core due process guarantees in an attempt to protect and favor a given president?

Scott McKay, publisher of The Hayride, has stated: “There are no documents at Mar-A-Lago worth staging an FBI raid on a former president’s home. That’s the kind of provocative move that can start a civil war.”

No one seeks that, of course, but if the national Left thinks the American people are going to continue tolerating the flagrant abuse of Donald Trump by our federal government agencies it is mistaken. 

What many Americans justifiably fear is that if someone as wealthy, powerful and influential as President Trump can be attacked so dishonestly by our own government, no American is safe from the heel of the boot of an out-of-control federal government. 

Pictured above: Royal Alexander is an attorney, writer, and former politician in his native Shreveport, Louisiana. In 2007, he was the Republican candidate for Louisiana Attorney General. In addition to his law practice, Alexander is an opinion writer, a guest lecturer at public events and education forums, and a frequent guest on various TV and radio outlets.

The views and opinions expressed in the My Opinion article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Winn Parish Journal. Any content provided by the authors is of their opinion and is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.

WINN:
Dr. James Otto Brossette
March 23, 1932 – August 14, 2022
Service: Wednesday, August 17 at 10:30 am at Calvary Baptist Church, located at 2888 U.S. Hwy. 84 near Winnfield

NATCHITOCHES:
Doris Bennett Garlington
March 26, 1933 – August 13, 2022
Service: Thursday, August 18 at 10 am at Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home

Carmen Gene Walker
April 23, 1956 – August 15, 2022
Visitation will be Saturday, August 20 from 1-2 pm at Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home. A celebration of life will follow at 2 pm at the funeral home, with Bro. Ronny Taylor officiating. Interment will follow at Beulah Cemetery in Marthaville

Marium Joseph “Dude” Vascocu
September 8, 1928 – August 13, 2022
Visitation: Thursday, August 18 from 6-9 pm and Friday, August 19 from 8-10 am at Blanchard St. Denis Funeral Home
Service: Friday, August 19 at 10 am at Blanchard St. Denis Funeral Home
Interment: Weaver Cemetery in Flora

Saydie Maye Smith Johnson
August 14, 2022
Service: Thursday, August 18 at 10:30 am at Fern Park Cemetery in Natchitoches

Marvin F. “Mickey” Gahagan
August 28, 1932 – August 10, 2022
A private memorial service will be conducted by a personal friend, Very Rev. Craig Scott. Relatives and friends are invited to attend visitation at Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home in Natchitoches on Saturday, August 20, 2022 between 10:00 and 11:30 a.m. Burial will be at a later date at Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.

SABINE:
Judith Lynne Baker
August 21, 1941 – August 13, 2022
Service: Saturday, August 20 at 1 PM at Little Flock Baptist Church

RED RIVER:
Ricky Wayne Maloch
December 27, 1955 – August 11, 2022
Service: Wednesday, August 17 at 10 am at Fairview Baptist Church

Tomorrow is the first day of the 2022-23 school year. Send your child’s first day of school photos with the WPJ to be featured in the First Day of School Story.

Send your photos to wpj@winnparishjournal.com along with the student’s name, grade, school, and grade.

In this Window to Winn Podcast episode, we bring you part one of a four-part series with Winn Parish School Board Superintendent, Al Simmons.

On Saturday, August 13th, 2022, from nine a.m. to two p.m., the youth of Winn Parish and their families had the opportunity to come together at Henderson-Holden park (located on Moss St) for food, fun jumps, music, and of course, the Backpack Giveaway!

Thanks to the considerate efforts of Mt. Grace Teen Challenge, Kenny Bratton with Reaching Forward Ministries, Lending Helping Hands for Jesus, and numerous other churches and volunteers, the families of
Winnfield were provided one more weekend of safe summer fun before the beginning of the new school year next week!

Small business owners are invited to join the Office of Rural Revitalization and Louisiana Main Street Monday, August 15th, at 2:30 PM at the Allen Building for a Winn Revitalization meeting!

Come hear about the programs available for Main Street and let the Revitalization team know what you, as business owners, need and want to see in Winn Parish!

The guest speaker will be Ray Scriber from Louisiana Main Street Program.

Date: 8-8-22
Name: Susan A Manshack
Address: Winnfield, La
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 42
Charge: Direct contempt of court

Date: 8-13-22
Name: James E Hanson lll
Address: Bernice, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 43
Charge: Criminal Trespassing, Unauthorized Entry 

THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AS PUBLIC INFORMATION. PERSONS NAMED OR SHOWN IN PHOTOGRAPHS OR VIDEO AS SUSPECTS IN A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION, OR ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH A CRIME, HAVE NOT BEEN CONVICTED OF ANY CRIMINAL OFFENSE AND ARE PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY IN A COURT OF LAW.