News

Elected and appointed officials from eight parishes gathered on Thursday, September 20, 2018, for a meeting at the Wallace Ridge Pentecostal Church’s Family Life Center near Jonesville.

Catahoula Parish hosted the meeting for members of the Police Jury Association. In addition to Catahoula Parish, Region VIII includes Avoyelles, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Rapides, Vernon, and Winn.

LaSalle Parish was well represented at the meeting. Those attending included President Bard Lambeth and wife Kathy, Vice President Mike Crooks and wife Gaile, Jurors Larkin Jackson and wife Vicki, Jack Zeagler and wife Vickie, Brent Farley and wife Reacy, and Casey Jones and wife Oleva, Secretary-Treasurer Kay Smith, Assistant Secretary-Treasurer Abbie Whittington and husband Kenny, and Secretary Jamie Jones and husband Adam.

An infestation of bats has shut down use of the main building at Olla-Standard Elementary School in Olla by order of the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals but the unusual situation has not stopped student learning.

“It’s a very unusual situation, one that no one could have anticipated, but we are very blessed to have a staff in Olla that went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure our students there only missed two days and were back continuing their education,” LaSalle Superintendent Janet Tullos said.

Bats were initially discovered in the building over the summer and were removed. Everyone thought the issue had been resolved as no evidence of any bat could be found. That was, until last week, when the bats came back to the school.

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Jena Mayor LaDawn C. Edwards officially signed all contract documents related to the Jena Multi-Modal Connectivity Project (commonly referred to as the Third Street Plaza project) last Friday morning.

The contracts were signed following a brief special meeting of the Jena Town Council at which council members approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign all necessary documents from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD).

LaDOTD awarded Jena a $1-million Transportation Enhancement Grant in 2012 for the Third Street Plaza project after the administration of Mayor Murphy McMillin had applied for the grant.

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Members of the LaSalle Parish School Board adopted its 2018-19 fiscal year budget amounting to just over $29.2 million during their regular September meeting held Monday night of last week.

Prior to the start of the regular meeting, the Board conducted a 30-minute budget hearing, at which Business Manager Debbie Finlay went over the final budget revisions.

The new budget estimates revenue of $29,260,362 for the year with estimated expenditures of $29,187,224, leaving a balance of $73,138 at the end of the year.

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Members of the Veterans Honor Guard raised the American flag, and then lowered it to half-staff during the “In Honor and Remembrance” program on the 17th anniversary of September 11, 2001, at the LaSalle Parish Courthouse on Tuesday morning of last week.

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The much anticipated Tomorrow’s Hope ‘Go Tell’ Crusade will get underway this Sunday, September 23rd.

Multiple LaSalle area churches and community leaders are hosting the major interdenominational event, which begins Sunday and runs through Wednesday, Sept. 26.

A large task force of church and community leaders, headed up by Chairman Wayne Davis, has been working for almost a year on plans for this event, which will feature Rev. Rick Gage of Go Tell Ministries.

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Virgie Wilson of Jena checks out the produce offered by one of the vendors at the first 3rd Street Farmers Market held last Thursday afternoon at the Jena Town Square in downtown Jena. A number of vendors offered all types of items including produce, honey, preserves, jellies, homemade candy, soap and bath bombs, and much, much more.

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Congressman Ralph Abraham, M.D., R-Alto, doubled down on his support for reforming the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during a hearing of Farm Bill Conference Committee members last week on Capitol Hill.

Dr. Abraham, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, is one of the final negotiators on the 2018 Farm Bill, which sets agriculture policy for the next five years.

Conference committees resolve difference between the House and Senate versions of a bill. The House bill, which Dr. Abraham supported, includes SNAP reforms while the Senate’s does not. The issue is one of the main topics of discussion during the conference committee’s negotiations.

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The much anticipated Tomorrow’s Hope ‘Go Tell’ Crusade is less than two weeks away and final plans are being made for the parish wide event.

Multiple LaSalle area churches and community leaders are hosting the major interdenominational event, Sunday through Wednesday, Sept. 23-26.

A large task force of church and community leaders, headed up by Chairman Wayne Davis, has been working for almost a year on plans for this event, which will feature Rev. Rick Gage of Go Tell Ministries.

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Jena Mayor LaDawn Edwards told members of the Jena Town Council at their regular meeting held Tuesday night last week that the 3rd Street Farmers Market will begin next week.

The 3rd Street Farmers Market will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. each Thursday, beginning this week, September 13th, at the Jena Town Square, located next to The Jena Times’ office on Third Street.

The Mayor said a number of vendors have indicated they will participate in the event and “others are calling daily”.

“We will have a large number of vendors on hand for the first Farmers Market, and I look for the event to grow in coming weeks,” she said.

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