News

Mayor Jason Chisolm has announced that he will resign as mayor of Olla effective March 1, 2014. Chisolm said on Monday of this week that in his active role with the United States Air Force Reserve, he was assigned to a post in New Orleans for what he believed to be a 6 or 8 week tour of duty.

This huge oak tree was the victim of the ice storm, which hit LaSalle Parish late in the day last Tuesday, and lasted throughout the night. Dr. Mark and Debbie Bowen of Jena said the tree fell in his yard in Jena shortly after daybreak on Wednesday. Many other trees and limbs fell during the storm, but the ice stopped forming on trees before wide scale damage was caused in the area. With temperatures hovering around the freezing mark throughout the day on Wednesday, the ice did not really start melting at a fast pace until the following day.

The Centennial Cultural Center, Inc. exists to stimulate, encourage, nurture, promote and produce good culture and fine arts in LaSalle Parish, and when possible the social and economic environment of the area – this is the center’s mission statement, but they need us to uphold it. After serving the parish for over a decade, the CCC in Olla is in need of funding to remain open. “The center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) funded by state grants, donations and fundraisers,” Former CCC President Fern McKeithen said. “The grant money is just not there anymore. And the grants we have received have been cut in half. Our corporate support has diminished as well. Without  dditional funding, we won’t be able to keep going.”

Unemployment figures for the month of December 2013 have been released showing that LaSalle Parish has the fifth lowest jobless rate in the state and added another 20 jobs during the month. The jobless rate for LaSalle stood at 3.5 percent, down from 4.3 percent in November 2013. Parishes with lower unemployment rates – all in extreme south Louisiana – included: Lafourche, 3.0 percent; Terrebonne, Lafayette and Cameron, all with 3.2 percent rates.

The two major snowfall events that hit LaSalle Parish in less than a week – which is very unusual – was probably the first for this fox as he is shown in a rural area looking for food. Animals in this part of the country are not use to this type of winter weather – including the temperatures in the teens – but their instincts kick in and they can survive.

The 2015 LaSalle Parish “Teachers of the Year” were introduced to members of the LaSalle Parish School Board during their regular February meeting held Monday night of this week. The honorees include, from left: Cathy Pittman, teacher at Good Pine Middle School, Elementary Teacher of the Year; Alisha Trisler, teacher at Jena High School, High School Teacher of the Year; and Kylie Andrews, teacher at Jena Junior High School, Middle/Junior High Teacher of the Year. The three educators will now enter regional competition for teachers of the year, with winners in that division going on to state competition.

LaSalle Parish “Students of the Year” for the 2013-14 school session were introduced during the regular February meeting of the LaSalle Parish School Board held Monday night of this week. Honorees include, from left: Jacob Chandler, an 8th grader from Jena Junior High School, Middle/Junior High Student of the Year; Katie Mae Williams, 5th grader from Olla Elementary School, Elementary Student of the Year; and Kimberly Doughty, senior at LaSalle High School, High School Student of the Year.