News

One month ago, LaSalle Parish high school seniors were scheduled to celebrate their graduation through the annual commencement ceremonies at Jena and LaSalle high schools.

The coronavirus pandemic not only ended their high school career nearly three months early, it also delayed their long-anticipated graduation ceremonies.

Next week, the wait will finally be over, as ceremonies will take place for Jena and LaSalle seniors, although different than past years.

LaSalle High School will conduct its graduation ceremonies Thursday night, June 11, at Tiger Stadium in Olla.

Jena High School will conduct its graduation ceremonies Friday night, June 12, at Guy Campbell Memorial Complex in Jena.

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LaSalle Parish Sheriff and Homeland Security Director Scott Franklin once again reminds residents that numbers being displayed daily by the state regarding the number of COVID-19 cases in LaSalle are not entirely accurate.

“I have repeatedly asked for the state to clarify the numbers for the public but so far my requests have been denied,” Sheriff Franklin said. “However, they did remove a death they had wrongly recorded for us, so at least they did that.”

Last week, the state’s coronavirus reporting site listed LaSalle Parish as having one COVID-19 death. A check by the sheriff revealed that no death occurred in LaSalle Parish and the one listed for LaSalle apparently was in another parish and for some reason, listed for LaSalle.

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A one-year old rail link has increased capacity to deliver more sustainable biomass from Drax’s LaSalle BioEnergy pellet plant in Urania to its United Kingdom (UK) power station, taking thousands of trucks off local roads.

The $15 million rail link and other initiatives have already contributed to a $5/ tonne (metric ton) reduction in Drax’s biomass production costs in 2019.

In its first year of operation, the new rail link has increased the flow of sustainable biomass from one of Drax Group’s US pellet plants to its UK power station, reducing emissions and costs whilst increasing the resilience of the energy company’s supply chain.

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As part of its ongoing commitment to provide high-quality education and work force training programs to the community, Central Louisiana Technical Community College (CLTCC) is establishing new reduced price points for tuition and taking other steps to make it easier for students to begin or continue their educational pursuits this summer.

“I believe the choices our college has made in these uncertain times reveal our true values and priorities,” explained Dr. Heather Poole, Executive Vice Chancellor of Student Services and Enrollment Management.

“By providing additional institutional aid and removing enrollment barriers, CLTCC is affirming the school’s commitment to students and providing an opportunity to emerge from this crisis as a stronger community and a stronger college,” she said.

The Town of Tullos has been offered $1,674,200.00 in grant funding through USDA as well as a low interest loan to cover the remaining balance for the filtration system, which is $620,000 at an interest rate of 1.375% with a monthly note of only $1,833.00.

Jacob Guillory, Pan American Engineer, made the announcement during the regular May meeting of the Tullos Town Council, held Monday night of last week.

“Thanks to the generous offer of this grant money, which is free money from USDA, the town of Tullos has the opportunity to obtain clean, clear, compliant and affordable water for our citizens. But the big final step is to pass the bond in our upcoming special election in August,” Tullos Mayor Karla Cockerham said.

The 2020 senior class of LaSalle Parish high schools will be conducting graduation ceremonies next week at the two parish football fields.

According to LaSalle Parish school officials, the ceremonies will be conducted differently this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to comply with the governor’s statewide orders.

“We are thrilled that we will be able to have commencement ceremonies for both LaSalle High School and Jena High School, although they will be different from previous years,” LaSalle School Superintendent Janet Tullos stated. “LHS will have their ceremony Thursday night, June 11, and JHS will have their ceremony on Friday night, June 12. Both ceremonies will begin at 7:30 p.m.”

LaSalle Parish businesses and some churches began the process of emerging from the government shutdown last week and more and more are making plans to open as the state enters its second full month of the COVID-19 Stay at Home order.

During the first few days of the shutdown back in mid-March, LaSalle Parish streets looked like a ghost town but last week as businesses began to re-open, it resembled its pre-coronavirus activity.

“It is good to see so many of our residents resuming some sense of normalcy,” LaSalle Parish Sheriff and Homeland Security Director Scott Franklin said. “Our calls at the sheriff’s office have picked up which means that many people are out of their homes and taking part in activities.”

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