Date: 4-30-24 Name: Michael S Rison Address: Winnfield, LA Race: White Sex: Male Age: 30 Charge: Battery of a correctional center employee
Date: 5-1-24 Name: Barry D Johnson Address: Campti, LA Race: White Sex: Male Age: 54 Charge: Failure to appear (x2)
Date: 5-1-24 Name: Christopher Oncale Address: Jonesboro, LA Race: White Sex: Male Age: 35 Charge: Resisting arrest, Misrepresentation during booking, Unauthorized use of a movable object, Identity theft, Illegal possession of stolen things, Possession of firearm by convicted felon
Date: 5-1-24 Name: Jerry Lynn Harris Address: Monroe, LA Race: Black Sex: Male Age: 66 Charge: Failure to appear
Date: 5-4-24 Name: Randall N Vines Address: Winnfield, LA Race: White Sex: Male Age: 45 Charge: Driving under suspension
Date: 5-4-24 Name: Qualatie Jackson Address: Lafayette, LA Race: Black Sex: Male Age: 26 Charge: Speeding, Driving under suspension
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.
Date: 5-2-24 Name: Carly Sapalvado Address: Dodson, LA Race: White Sex: Female Age: 23 Charge: Warrant (theft)
Date: 5-2-24 Name: Carinalita Layton Address: Winnfield, LA Race: Black Sex: Female Age: 22 Charge: Theft (shoplifting, < 1,000)
Date: 5-4-24 Name: Stylon Wise Address: Winnfield, LA Race: White Sex: Male Age: 21 Charge: Theft (> 1,000)
Date: 5-4-24 Name: Paul Purvis Address: Urania, LA Race: White Sex: Male Age: 59 Charge: Theft (> 10,000)
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.
A’Myria McDonald September 17, 2003-May 1, 2024 Service: Service for Miss McDonald will begin Friday, May 17, 2024, from 12:15 PM to 12:45 PM at Southern Funeral Home. A graveside service will follow at Winnfield Cemetery at 1:00 PM.
Nina Underwood Simmons Passed-May 4, 2024. Service: Funeral services for Mrs. Simmons will be held at Southern Funeral Home on Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 1:00 PM. Interment will follow in the Gansville Cemetery near Wyatt, Louisiana. Willard Pennywell Jr. November 17, 1948 – April 24, 2024 Service: Funeral services for Mr. Pennywell will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 1pm at New Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery in Atlanta, LA.
Commissions across the parish, like Jan Collins, Sharon Mills and Cecelia Garrett at the Calvin Library polling place, assisted voters Saturday when tax issues for the School Board and Police Jury were decided.
Parish and school district officials breathed a sigh of relief when election results came in Saturday night showing that Winn voters had approved continued taxes for parish road maintenance, school district maintenance and millage for a $6 million bond issue in the Dodson/Sikes District 11.
The overall margin of approval on the three was 2-to-1. As the tax questions were the only issues on the April 27 ballot, election officials were not surprised that voter turnout was relatively low. Of some 8,420 registered voters in Winn, 1,494 cast their votes absentee, early or in-person Saturday on the Police Jury’s 10-year, half-cent sales tax for road maintenance. Saying “Yes” were 1,013 (68%) and “No” were 481 (32%).
The number was 1,490 for the School Board’s parishwide 10-year, 9.25-mill school maintenance tax. That’s a 17.7% voter turnout which saw 996 (67%) in support, 494 (33%) opposed.
Percentage turnout in Consolidated School District No. 11 was slightly higher at 19.3% but since only registered voters in the Dodson/Sikes area could participate, total turnout of 246 was considerably less. That result was 155 (63%) in support of the $6 million, 20-year bond call for capital expenditures. Board officials cited the same 15 mills currently levied to pay general obligation bonds. There were 91 votes (37%) against.
Firefighters stand by Engine 2 after pushing it back into the station according to dedication tradition.
The Winnfield Fire Department’s newest truck, pumper Engine 2, was officially inducted into the city’s firefighting fleet during a dedication ceremony held at noon April 27 at the department.
The Spartan-manufactured engine is equipped with all the necessities to help the department work this year towards the goal of lowering the city’s insurance rating from a Class 3 to a Class 2, officials say.
Engine 2 carries 1,000 gallons of water and has a wheel base slightly shorter than other models which will improve negotiating tight turns through streets. The pumper engine, arrived at a cost of $630,000 to the city once it was totally fitted out with equipment.
The celebration opened at 11 with light refreshments, a bounce house for children, demonstrations of the new engine, safety equipment and the history of both the department and of fire protection through the years.
On hand to show support were friends and family and members of Winn Parish Fire District No. 3. Mark Treadway from the State Fire Marshal’s Office, to assure that the state will provide needs as requested by the department, adding that Chief Brian Montgomery has the best interests of the community at heart through training and safety programs.
City Councilman Matt Miller commented that he is proud of the department and of the staff and volunteers who serve with it to protect the community.
Chief Montgomery made a presentation in which he described not only the department’s history but traced the age-old origins of the dedication ceremony. This including a wetting of the wheels, so children and firefighters alike enjoyed tossing cups of water on the engine’s tires. Then he told how the horse-drawn wagons had to be pushed by hand back into the station after a fire. This action was also incorporated into the dedication tradition. Firefighters performed this on Engine 2.
(Following are Chief Montgomery’s comments):
The Winnfield Fire department is rich in history, from its original organization efforts in 1908 until this present year, for 116 years this fire department has seen and experienced a multitude of changes much of which was for the greater good of the community.
It has grown from an all volunteer department to 10 full time fireman as well as part time and volunteer staff who respond to all fire alarms, haz mat related calls, 911 medical emergencies, vehicle accidents and much more.
Our present department staff has the most proactive and aggressive certification program in its history documenting hundreds and collectively thousands of training hours every year. We answer without prejudice, nearly 700 calls yearly with a steady increase from year to year.
And because every firefighter and first res ponder also deserves the right to return home to their family of loved ones, we rely upon adequate and dependable equipment I order to complete the task of our called profession.
Today it is with great joy and thankfulness that we dedicate and commission our new fire engine number 2.
It is a new Spartan Fire chassis equipped with state of the art technology and it will replace a 1976 model Mack Fire truck that has been in service for the past 48 years.
The fire service is rich with many traditions, one of which is the tradition of pushing of the truck along side with a wet down ceremony. Early hand drawn fire engines, ladder wagons, hose carts, and other apparatus of the 17th century had to be pushed back into the station by hand after every call.
The horse drawn steam engines that followed in the 18th century could be backed up, however having to control the horses made it difficult to align the engines steam connections with the stations steam connections.
For this reason the horses were typically disconnected and the engine was again pushed back into the station by hand along with washing the wheels or tires with buckets of water before storing for the next call.
When the first motorized fire engine was put into service in the early 19th century, firefighters continue to honor the push in tradition, which grew to mark each new purchase of fire apparatus along side a wet down ceremony.
After every wet down, fire engines were ceremoniously pushed back into the station in a grand display of homage and fire service unity. Today the Winnfield Fire Department wishes to carry on this age old tradition in the dedication of fire engine number 2.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, as we are gathered here today to celebrate the dedication of this new fire truck engine number 2, of the Winnfield fire department, we are extremely grateful and humbled that our city officials, members of our community, and extended fire family have gathered for this grand occasion.
And we give thanks for your blessings and the delegation of funds by our city officials who share the vision and realize the necessity of modern and dependable equipment of which our first responders rely upon to fulfill their responsibilities in the most effective and safe manner.
And we thank you for all of those dedicated men and women who answer the call both day and night. Who unselfishly give of their time, efforts and energy, many times sacrificing their own personal pursuits.
It is our prayer as we dedicate this new fire truck engine number 2, that your hand of protection be the guiding light that leads the way, watching over its driver operators and its passengers from every in route call to every back in quarters.
May every response deliver with it the skilled and trained res ponder that will render aid to the hurt or injured, to the brave firefighter who may risk it all to save one from the flames, and the attack team who will defeat the fire.
Make its lights and sirens be a beacon of hope for those who are in distraught and the inspiration of the child who aspires to be a fireman.
And finally we pray for unity of our members to depend on one another and lean upon one another as fireman, as brothers, as family.
For all of these things we pray in Jesus Name. Amen
The Winn Parish School Board, in committee session Monday, voiced opinions on surplus properties, staffing policies and Saturday’s tax election results and requested Supt. Alfred Simmons to draw up proposals in time for their regular meeting May 6.
Simmons told members that discussion had been launched with the Village of Atlanta and the City of Winnfield for potential donation of the Atlanta High and Winnfield Kindergarten schools respectively. President Joe Lynn Browning objected that they should at least try to sell the properties before giving them away. Simmons reported that the legislature sets out a three-phase adverting process for public bodies, agreeing to begin that bid paperwork.
Looking ahead to the new school year this fall, Joe Llaine Long pointed out that neighboring districts are already advertising for positions on Facebook and their websites. In discussion of hiring practices, Browning said the system should have a policy to advertise for any post higher than a 9-month employee. Simmons responded that they are currently following 2012 state legislative guidelines but said he would be happy to put something together for the current board now to adopt. Again the superintendent was asked to bring that to the board’s regular meeting next Monday.
The superintendent followed up on a memo sent to board and school employees following Saturday’s election results, saying he was “extremely pleased. I feel it’s a vote of confidence in what you’re doing. The Winn Parish School system thanks the voters of Winn for their approval of the 9.25-mill in-lieu tax and to the voters of Consolidated No. 11 School District for their approval of the bond issue for Dodson High School.
“We hope to reward this support with continued good stewardship of the fiscal resources and through the academic success of the children who are daily entrusted to our care.” He called a strong relationship between the system, the community and its organizations “vital to the prosperity and growth” of Winn.
The Winn Parish Industrial Board has agreed to terminate its contract with Retail Strategies, a revitalization firm they’d hoped might locate new business or industry for Winn. The decision came at the board’s April 23 meeting.
Representatives from the firm made a presentation to the board in March when they also revealed this was the first time they’d been to Winn since they got the $55,000 contract a year earlier. Members commented at their April session that the presentation, while professional, sounded “more like a spiel than a research effort” with data simply gleaned from the internet.
The conclusion from Retail Strategies had been that their best hope for Winn might be some fast food franchises and that would be a four or five-year process. Chairman Larry Bates observed that “fast food restaurant franchises won’t get us where we want,” adding that the board could do as well by going directly to franchises in neighboring cities to pitch Winn’s possibilities.
Bates told the members that he’d been involved with a plan undertaken by a small community outside of Tulsa that succeeded. There they purchased a 40-acre tract and designated it as an industrial park. While it took several years of promotion, once the first business came in, others followed. “I feel that Winn needs manufacturing. It doesn’t have to be large mill with 200 workers. Even small with 10 or 12 employees would be a benefit.”
He suggested that the board act to secure a large area for this purpose. A problem today is that many available lots now are “locked” in by unavailable properties. Delays could leave a situation of a series of small lots rather than a single park.
Glenn Austin pointed out if the board is looking towards industry, it would be forestry-related: lumber, treatment or equipment.
Tony McManus commented “I like that idea better than spending another $55,000 on just paperwork.” He also said parish potential could improve if the log-discussed Hwy 84 four-lane project could gain traction in Baton Rouge.
Frank McLaren added that prospects of success increase with local people working together.
Discussion around the table showed support of pursuing an industrial complex. “The upside is that a site would hold its value and it is something the parish could show to potential industry. We know Jena did well. We need a plan. If one or two good people move in, others would follow. We need a spot large enough for future growth.”
Attending the one-year anniversary of Christ Wesleyan were some who have filled the pulpit. From left are Bob Holeman, Daniel Cox, Benny Hatcher, Rev. Dick DeBusk, Kenneth Bates, Rev. Russell Jones, Dr. Mark Shelton and Mike McConathy. Others who have spoken have been J.T. Atkins, Bryan Kelley, Rev. Lamar Oliver, Rayford Riley, Rev. Bill Willis, Bill Wilson, rev. Brian Yeich and the late Tom May.
Christ Wesleyan Fellowship of Winn gathered on Saturday, April 20, to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the founding of the church. Members and guests were welcomed to the home of Larry and Donna Bates for a fish fry. Along with the fish, trimmings, and desserts, those attending were treated to live music.
Glenn Ford, who had the enviable task of catching the fish, was joined by Joseph Procell, Larry Bates, and Kiah Beville to fry the main dish. Though the hope was for a sunny day, Larry Bates said of the rain, “We were watching the weather but God gave us enough opening to get the fish fried before the rain started.” Desserts provided by the ladies of the church were a huge hit with attendees.
Although the weather prevented the sing-along planned for after the meal, the live music provided by Tammy and Stan Griffith, Danny Davis, John Evers, and Donny Spikes included many of the time-honored favorite songs.
Several of the men who have filled the pulpit during the past year were special guests, including Dick DeBusk, Mike McConathy, Kenneth Bates, Benny Hatcher, Mark Shelton, Daniel Cox, Bob Holeman, and Russell Jones. In his welcome, Kiah Beville credited Dick DeBusk with the help that he has given the church plant. Kiah Beville gave what he called a “bittersweet” reminder of the recent passing of Tom May, one of the founding members who had also filled the pulpit.
CWF began April 16, 2023, when a group of believers who had been meeting for Bible study rented the sanctuary of the Presbyterian Church to house their church plant. Over the next year, Christ Wesleyan incorporated and joined the new Global Methodist denomination. According to Kiah Beville, lay leader, the church is seeing steady growth as it seeks to preserve the Wesleyan tradition with a commitment to share Jesus with the people of Winnfield and around the world.
“The next step for Christ Wesleyan is to call a permanent pastor, which is expected to be very soon,” said Larry Bates. “We have Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. and worship services at 11 a.m. each week at 302 South Bevill, and a prayer meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. We welcome all who attend.”
The men and women of Mt. Grace share their story with song, sign and testimony.
Nearly 400 people filled the Winnfield Civic Center April 25 in a celebration of freedom: freedom from the addiction of drugs and alcohol in an event sponsored by Mt. Grace Men & Women.
The annual Spring Gala drew some 325 sponsors and guests to the center where another 50 residents and staffers from the men’s and women’s centers were there to greet, feed and offer song and testimony for them about their Christ-based victory over addiction.
The Mt. Grace Adult & Teen Challenger Louisiana program got its start 23 years ago and found roots to grow here in Winn Parish. “Its foundation is the freedom that God has given us. If we can get people through the doors, God will take care of them,” the audience heard.
Strong testimony of faith-based hope was interspersed through the evening. One riveting item on the program was entitled “Reality Skit” where, as the entire Mt. Grace cast stood on stage, three young ladies in turn began by repeating “Reality Is” and chanting a list of events that that taken them into addiction. “That Reality Was Me,” each confirmed.
Then each returned with “Truth Is” by citing Christ’s healing touch and the list of truths of His love that had brought them back to sobriety. “That Truth Is Me.”
The success rate of faith-based Teen Challenge is far better than traditional addiction rehabilitation programs. While some families can afford to contribute towards the cost of treatment for students, most cannot, the center says. Mt. Grace self-generates some income through its clothing center in Winnfield and the Dodson Café (plus plants and blueberry operations there) but strongly depends on support from individuals, churches, businesses, organizations and grants.
This Saturday, May 4, is the first Saturday in May which means it will see the return of the popular Downtown Garage Sale. The weekend weather currently looks promising and this annual event generally sees church and school groups and families take advantage of this high-traffic opportunity to sell attic items to make a little extra money.
Based on past patterns, shoppers will be able to find garage sale bargains on Abel Street in front of Pea Patch and back behind the store to their patio on Center Street, spilling over into “The Stump” area towards the Post Office. Other businesses or groups often join in the sidewalk sale in other parts of town.
For those wishing to set up a sales table, there is no fee. Vendors can arrive early Saturday morning to set up their displays, with the sale set to begin at 7 a.m. The sale generally winds down by noon. Those wishing to secure a particular location may set up their table with a name sign on it after 2 p.m. on Friday. This early setup is permitted on sidewalks and the area behind Pea Patch but not on the street.
Winnfield Senior High School had another successful season this spring. After participating in four regular season meets for the boys and five meets for the girls, the teams started preparing for the district track meet. This year, Winnfield Senior High School was selected to be the host for the District 3-2A meet. In order to qualify for the regional meet, athletes had to place within the top four in their event. The following athletes qualified for the LHSAA 2A Region-I Track Meet:
1st Place Finishes (Girls) – Samoria Bell (Shotput); Jasmine Jones (1600 M and 3200 M Runs)
1st Place Finishes (Boys) – Jake Jones (Javelin); Damascus Lewis (High Jump); Dearveon Williams (800 M Run); Detavious Williams (200 M Run); Noe Vazquez (1600 M & 3200 M Runs)
2nd Place Finishes (Girls) – Ala’Zea McMiller (Triple Jump, 100 M Hurdles & 300 M Hurdles); Allison Wren, Jasmine Jones, Gracie Moore, & Bailey Lenard (4×800 M Relay)
2nd Place Finishes (Boys) – Damascus Lewis (Long Jump); Jayvion Woods (Shotput); Jake Jones (Discus); Ryan Davis (High Jump); Brandon Bradford (800 M Run); Detavious Williams (100 M Dash); Brandon Bradford, Jordan Washington, Gabe Wren & Jaylon Jackson (4×400 M Relay); Jaylen Givens, Detavious Williams, Damascus Lewis, Richard Williams (4×100 M Relay)
3rd Place Finishes (Girls) – Lauren Simmons (Javelin); Jaiden Todd (400 M Dash); Gracie Moore (1600 M Run); Ala’Zea McMiller, D’Onna Starks, Tylasia Williams, Jaiden Todd (4×400 M Relay)
3rd Place Finishes (Boys) – Gabe Wren (400 M Dash); Rowan Turner (3200 M Run); Ryan Davis (110 M Hurdles)
4th Place Finishes (Girls) – Calijah Manning (Discus); Allison Wren (800 M Run); Santana Harris (100 M Hurdles); D’Onna Starks, Tylasia Williams, Kenndi Robinson, G’Anae Hoard (4×100 M Relay)
4th Place Finishes (Boys) – Jaylon Jackson (Triple Jump); Joseph Carrithers (Javelin); Ryan Davis (300 M Hurdles); Jaterion Hobdy (110 M Hurdles)
After the tallying of the points at the end of the night, it was announced that the girls team placed 3rd in the district with a total of 109 points. The boys’ team scored a total of 176 points and placed 2nd in the district, finishing only 3 points behind Mansfield High School. Damascus Lewis finished as a co-recipient of the “Most Outstanding Field Athlete” with a total of 18 points.
This past Wednesday, the student-athletes from above competed at the LHSAA 2A Region-I track meet. Our specific region is compiled of four districts, which meant that each competition had roughly 16 competitors, with over 20 schools represented altogether. To advance to the state track meet, an individual must place within the top three positions in their event. The following student-athletes qualified for the LHSAA 2A State Championship Meet:
Girls – Samoria Bell (2nd Place – Shotput – 31-02.50)
Boys – Ryan Davis (3rd Place – 110 M Hurdles – 15.84); Detavious Williams (2nd Place – 100 M Dash – 11.16); Jaylen Givens, Damascus Lewis, Richard Williams & Detavious Williams (2nd Place – 4×100 M Relay – 43.41)
Along with the state qualifiers, we had students place within the top six that helped our girls and boys teams receive points. The following student-athletes placed within the top six at the Regionals Meet:
Boys – Jake Jones (Javelin – 4th); Damascus Lewis (High Jump – 4th); Ryan Davis (High Jump – 5th); Detavious Williams (200 M Dash – 4th)
The LHSAA State Championship Meet will take place on Friday, May 3, 2024. We are excited to have a great group of kids going down to represent our school and community at the highest level of high school athletics! Thank you to everyone that has made this a successful season!
Dodson High School’s NASA tea, making their presentation before Rotary, are back row from left, principal Wendy Miller, Harlen Malone, Nathan Underwood, Noah Box, Garrett Jones and teacher Casey Thomas Tolar. Front from left are Charlie Buckley, Kayleigh Frederick, Madelyn Cotton, Brooklyn Malone.
A team of eight Dodson High School students currently engaged in the NASA Tech Rise challenge shared their project concept with Rotary on April 20, a proposal for a rocket powered lander that will fly for approximately two minutes at an altitude of 80 feet over a California test field designed to look at the moon’s surface.
Will any of these move on to become part of the space program as adults? There’s no guarantee but they have acquired some hands-on skills that they wouldn’t have known without their involvement in this NSAS project, explained science teacher Casey Tolar.
Asked what some of those take-away skills are, students down the line answered: soldering, understanding of wiring diagrams, how to analyze situations and fix problems, reaching out to people to teach skills, connectivity, ability to apply various electronic skills, deeper and broader understanding and realizing that the only real way to learn is to do it yourself.
Dodson’s is one of only 60 teams nationwide taking part in this challenge (and is the only one in Louisiana). They are not flying alone, as it were. They received $1500 to build the experiment, a flight box in which to build it, a spot to test their experiment on a NASA sponsored flight, and the team receives technical support through a Zoom meeting each Friday with NASA mentor Ani Williams.
The completed project will have to be delivered by May 17. The NASA test will follow in August in Mojave, CA.
Rotarians were surprised to find that the skill set displayed by the DHS students belied their young ages. All of the participants are sophomores, with the exception of one junior. They still have plenty of time of learn and grow through their secondary educational journey.
One of the students, Charlie Buckley, gave an overview of DHS’s NASA Tech Rise project for the Rotary members. Her report follows:
“Good Afternoon,
“We would like to take a short moment to tell you about the process proceeding the coding and mock-up mounting — and a little about the opportunities this challenge has presented all of us before we explain the components that go into the flight box, what they do, and how we are going to use them in our experiment going forward.
“First, we had to create a proposal submission which was more or less allowing us to visualize how we were going to build it, what we were going to accomplish using this experiment, and most importantly, why we wanted to build and code a payload for a rocket-powered lander. The main reason is knowledge: it’s an essential part of society as a whole, from Aristarchus to Yuri Gagarin, the first man to reach the stars, The Mercury 7, the International Space Station, and many other suborbital and orbital missions that NASA has used its resources to advance human creativity and curiosity.
“Some 360 humans have reached the stars since NASA was founded nearly 65 years ago. Our question is; who is going to be the next? Who will be the next person to reach beyond the stars, further and further into new horizons, and how can we guarantee the posterity of STEM? One thing we know for sure is that we are willing to have a hand in the progression of humanity’s
knowledge of the universe through these experiments that will inspire people years down the line.
“As you have heard, we all have shared some of our favorite things about this challenge, but perhaps less on the opportunities presented. This experiment has been proven to increase the likelihood of students pursuing a hobby or career involving STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) through the skills students develop over the course of 17 weeks working on choosing their own components, wiring, coding, and overall hands-on work. We are living proof of this. All students deserve to have as many choices as they can to ensure they enter a field of work or study that they enjoy and resonate with; and challenges like these are a great example of a program that works with students to enhance their academic prowess.
“Each component used in this flight box serves a purpose to achieve our goal of using imaging technology, like this Light Detection and Ranging sensor or LiDAR for short, to capture data on a lunar surface. By using topographic technology, object detection, data collection, and graphing technology. We believe that we will be able to accurately and thoroughly gather information about the testing site and, therefore, any (simulated) lunar or planetary surface.
“This flight box is essentially a web of interconnecting code, it operates based upon the input and data it obtains from other components, and to do this it has to have a ‘brain’ of sorts, not an actual brain mind you, but a mechanical one. The Payload Interface Board and the Metro M4 occupy this niche. The M4 is the brain inside of the flight box, telling the other components what to do and the frequency of their actions, then relays that to the PIB which can open a kind of channel of communication between the two.
“All other components, save the PIB and Metro M4, connect to the Metro microchip and collect data from their code runs. The GPS tracks the overall movement of the rocket as it follows a set course on the Lunar Surface Testing Field in Mojave, California. The SPI SMT SD Card is used to contain all the data from each data run to analyze the productivity of the network, topographical terrain of the lunar surface and to fix any errors in the coding or wiring. The IMU, GPS, and LiDAR all work together as a kind of semi network inside a bigger web of connection.
“The GPS detects where the rocket is going and the IMU is collecting data concerning the force and acceleration in which the rocket is exerting. The LiDAR is the main driving point behind the entire experiment as it is the main device we use to achieve our goal of topographic lunar imaging; the LiDAR detects the range, concavity, and convection of the surface, as well as the frequency in which they occur.
“All in all, we believe that this challenge will bring young minds closer to greatness as well as establish a strong foundation for people to improve their skills where they can in a field as versatile as STEM whilst helping humanity as a whole bring themselves one step closer to understanding our home in the universe.”
High school seniors from Winn participating in the Early College and Career Academy are, bottom from left: Dianna Walker (Dodson), Regena Lynn Porter (Instructor), and Natalie Lawrence (Dodson). Top from left are Naterrica Starks (Winnfield), and Kindra Gorham (Dodson).
The Early College and Career Academy Cohort I for Central Louisiana Technical Community College will have a Patient Care Technician (PCT) pinning ceremony on Thursday, May 16, at 1 p.m. These participants are all high school seniors enrolled in Winn Parish.
The event will be in the Multipurpose Room at the Huey P. Long Campus at 5960 Hwy 167 N, Winnfield.
This class will also participate in the CLTCC graduation ceremony receiving technical diplomas on Tuesday, May 21, in Alexandria at the Pentecostals of Alexandria Auditorium.
Registrar of Voters Bryan Kelley addresses Kiwanis on April 23
Registrar of Voters Bryan Kelley gave an interesting program to Kiwanis, Tuesday, April 23, beginning with a voting quiz which members all failed because they did not read and follow the instructions.
The instructions were written in smaller grayscale print at the top of the page and no one read it. This was an example of what happens sometimes with mail-in ballots, he explained. If persons don’t read or understand the instructions, their ballot could be disqualified. The parish election supervisors consist of the Registrar of Voters, Clerk of Court, a Governor appointee, and a member each from the Republican and Democratic Committee. They can qualify or disqualify the ballot.
But it can go before a judge and he can disqualify. The legislature is trying to make it where any discrepancy disqualifies. During Kelley’s talk, he was also answering questions. In Louisiana every parish is linked so if a person cannot be registered in more than one parish. When he or she registers in a different parish, their previous parish is notified and removes them from their roll. However, states do not have that capability so you could be registered in more than one state.
Dead people can possibly vote. If a person mails in a ballot and then dies, that ballot is still good. If a person early votes or even votes during the election and then dies, their vote is still good.
Some bills that are being considered in the Legislature have to do with tightened security-supplemental canvas, deep fake videos, delivery of absentee ballots, voter registration by 3rd party vendors, and witness addresses. Supplemental canvas has to do with removing people from the rolls who have not voted in 10 years and have not updated their registration or address.
The problem with some of this legislation is security versus access. Security of the voting system is important but so is a person’ access to voting. The most secure voting would be if you could only vote in person on Election Day but that restricts access for many people who are homebound, disabled, working away, and more. Another thing that is being considered is renewing their mail (absentee) ballot every year. At the present time once you request an absentee mail ballot you don’t have to renew.
Can felons vote? The answer is no. Even if they are not incarcerated but under an order, they cannot vote. Their voter registration is suspended, not cancelled. When they are no longer in prison their voting privileges can be reinstated.
Another change could be making the terms of all state offices match so the elections would all be at the same time. Louisiana has one of the best and securest voting systems in the U. S. because it is under the Secretary of State’s office.
