News

Early voting on the special tax election slated for Saturday, April 29, will begin this coming Saturday and continue for the next seven days (except Sunday), according to Registrar of Voters Angie Sandifer.

Voters can cast early ballots from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. on any of the seven days during that period of time. Ballots can only be cast at the Registrar’s office in Jena.

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A day after a tornado heavily damaged Fellowship Elementary School in the Belah Community, the LaSalle Parish School Board declared a state of emergency so funds could be freed to make repairs to the school building.

The action came as the board approved a motion to suspend the rules and add an item to the agenda at the board’s regular April meeting held Monday night of last week.

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Residents join together to clean up after storms

LaSalle Parish residents showed their unity and resolve last week as clean up operations began from four tornadoes that swept through parts of the parish on Sunday, April 2.

Work actually began during the tornado event as emergency personnel from law enforcement, police jury and many other volunteers were busy clearing roads and checking on residents while major supercell thunderstorms pounded the parish producing the four different tornadoes.

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The idle pellet plant in Urania will soon be in operation thanks to its recent purchase by Atlanta-based Drax Biomass, a leading manufacturer of sustainably sourced compressed wood pellets.

The company was awarded the winning bid for the acquisition out of bankruptcy of Louisiana Pellets (German Pellets of Louisiana) during an auction held on March 30. The German Pellet plant in Urania filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2016 and has been idle ever since.

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Catahoula-LaSalle Parish USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director, J Kevin Routon reminds farmers and landowners that FSA is hosting an informational meeting regarding changes, questions and enrollment dates for the 2017 ARC/PLC Program.

FSA staff will also review acreage reporting dates, requirements and regulations. The meeting will be on Thursday, April 6, 2017, at 9:30 a.m. at the Catahoula-LaSalle Bank Meeting Room on the second floor located at 301 Mound St. in Jonesville.

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Retail sales for the first quarter of 2017 shows a slight gain parish wide, but a slight drop in the two towns, according to figures just released by the Concordia Parish Sales Tax Collection agency.

Sales tax collected by the LaSalle Parish School Board and La- Salle Law Enforcement Agency both showed a 2-percent gain over the same period in 2016, but sales tax collections in the town of Jena was down 2-percent, and down 10-percent in the town of Olla.

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Members of the 2017 LaSalle Riding Club Rodeo Team will host the 25th annual Louisiana High School Rodeo Association’s Jena Rodeo this Friday and Saturday, April 7 and 8 at the Jena Rodeo Arena. Showtime will be at 7 p.m. each evening with gates opening at 6 p.m. Slack will be held beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. Rodeo Team members shown: (left to right) Logan Stapleton, Taylor Lurry, Lacy Stapleton, Siarrah Thomas and Hunter Estis.

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Widespread damage

A spring weather system moved through LaSalle Parish on Sunday causing widespread damage to businesses, churches and homes, according to Sheriff Scott Franklin, who is also Director of Homeland Security for the parish.

The system began moving into the parish around noon on Sunday and continued non-stop for the next 12 to 14 hours. Tornados, thunderstorms, strong wind, hail and heavy rainfall was associated with the system.

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A large group of LaSalle Parish officials, business people and stakeholders, were given an update from the LaSalle Economic Development District (LEDD) in the third annual “A Greater La- Salle: Regionalism Starts at Home” luncheon last Wednesday at the Family Life Center of First Baptist Church in Jena.

Walter E. Dorroh, Jr., President of LEDD, gave the welcome and served as master of ceremonies for the programs. The Honorable Chris Peters, District Judge, gave the invocation.

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Officials from LaSalle Parish met with Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) personnel last Wednesday making their case to improve a dangerous intersection in Tullos.

The meeting was the orchestration of District 22 State Representative Terry Brown who since he first campaigned for the district over four years ago has heard from parish officials and residents about improving the intersection of US 165 and US 84 in Tullos.

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