Advertising
Advertising
Published April 22, 2009
Your Ad Here!
Call the News Booster Office at 318-339-7242 and
Find Out How!
Your Ad Here!
Call the News Booster Office at 318-339-7242 and
Find Out How!
Jonesville Police Chief retires. Roy named interim Chief (published April 22, 2009)
Jonesville Mayor Hiram Evans announced the retirement of Police Chief Gary Carlton at the April 14 council
meeting.
Councilwoman Hollins asked Carlton when his last day would be, and he said they
would have to discuss that because he has some K-time and some vacation time
coming.
“Mayor and the Town Council, I appreciate you letting me be able work for y’all,” said Carlton. “I’ve been here for 34 years. I’ve had some bad times and I’ve had some good times, but I’ve tried to be a loyal and a great servant for the Town of Jonesville. I know
that I didn
’t make a lot of people happy during my time, but, again, I do know that I have
made some run with a smile.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with y’all, and I will be around off and on. I just appreciate y’all letting me serve you as the Chief of Police of Jonesville.”
Evans then announced the appointment of Assistant Police Chief Eldred Roy as
interim Chief of Police until a person is chosen by the council to fill the
position.
Evans introduced Robert “Rock” Davis of Ferriday, the most recently hired police officer.
The council voted to begin taking applications to fill the position of Chief of
Police with applications being taken from 9 AM April 15, 2009, until 4 PM April
24, 2009.
Jim Wilson addressed the mayor and council telling them there was a problem with
low water pressure in his home. According to Wilson,
“It’s not enough water pressure there hardly to come out of my shower.” He stated that it has been that way for several months. Evans asked Walter
Wilkerson, the town shop supervisor, if he knew of any problem with water
pressure. Wilkerson did not, but he will look into the matter.
Wilson then asked about taking the top off some of the patches that have been
put down on every street, especially behind the shopping center. Evans said he
has talked with the parish about bringing a grader in and knocking the tops off
the high places. He said it was a matter of their getting back in this area
with the grader.
Wilson’s last comment was regarding the sale of a home behind his to be used for a
facility for incapacitated people. He asked Evans if that was the case. Evans
said he had spoken with Ladelle Sandifer who indicated that he knew someone
that was interested in doing that.
Evans noted that Sandifer told him he had spoken with Wilson and knew Wilson was
opposed to the matter and he related that to the other party. So far, nothing
has been brought to the town to act on it. Wilson asked that the council
remember that is a residential area, not commercial, if it comes up.
Rev. Dave Mays addressed the council next, asking what the procedure is for getting the chief
of police elected. Evans explained it would have to be brought before the
council by the public and the council would have to place it on a ballot to
change from the current appointed chief to one that would be elected. But, that
it would take some time for that to occur. City Attorney Russell Purvis
also explained the procedure indicating that it would take two elections to make
the change, possibly taking 9-12 months to complete.
Mrs. Anita Gary, owner of Barber’s Cafe, asked Mayor Evans about the hours she could keep her kitchen open only
to serve food to go, not to dine-in or to serve liquor. Purvis said he would
look into it the next day and let the mayor know what he found.
The mayor was asked by another visitor to explain the fuel adjustment on the
past two utility bills. He did so, and passed out a written explanation to all
present, which he said might make it clearer. [See story,
“Jonesville Utility Billing Explained]
Since the March meeting, the Town has advertised for bids to rent the Marty’s Building next to Catahoula Manufacturing due to a request by Jerry Fuqua of
Grayson to rent the building to hold a martial arts school there.
Fuqua’s was the only bid received, which the mayor opened during the meeting. Fuqua,
whose business is Elite Taekwondo, proposed paying $300 a month rent for two
years. The council voted to accept the bid. Evans noted that Fuqua intended to
open in a few months if he received the bid.
.htm
Law enforcement goes digital (published April 22, 2009)
The Catahoula Parish Sheriff's Department as well as the Jonesville Police
Department recently received new communication radios from a grant through the
Office of Emergency Preparedness.
The new hand-held and patrol car units are digital and work like cell phones,
picking up signals from towers throughout the state. The improved gadgets allow
deputies and officers to patrol without the problem of "dead zones," or signal
losses.
"The clarity is amazing," said Sheriff James Kelly. "There is no static at all,
and now our deputies are able to remain in radio contact, even at great
distances."
Sheriff Kelly added that the main reason for the upgrade in equipment was not
only for better communicatio
ns within his department, but better communications with other agencies, both
state and federal.
The idea behind the OEP communication grants is to prevent problems like those experienced in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
One drawback to the new equipment, at least to some citizens, is that police
scanners and other analog radio wave scanning devices will no longer pick up
communications from agencies using the new digital radios.
"Even if you had a digital scanner and could pick up the signal," said Sheriff
Kelly, "you wouldn't be able to make sense of the chatter because our radios
are constantly rolling from one frequency to another. You would only hear
broken speech."
Sheriff Kelly said he would like to thank OEP Director Debra Renda and the
Catahoula Parish Police Jury for helping to acquire the grant for the equipment
and OEP board member Robbie Mayo, who was instrumental in making the new radios
operational.
Jonesville's Interim Chief of Police Eldred Roy noted that he would also like to thank Ms. Renda and Mayo for helping advance the Jonesville
Police Department.
Jonesville utility billing explained (published April 22, 2009)
The following information was made available at the April 14 Jonesville Town
Council Meeting:
1. The current utility bill that our customers recently received during the last
two months showed billings under a category referred to as F A (Fuel
Adjustment). Fuel adjustment is actually a direct part of the electrical
service and bill that our customers receive. It is composed of fuel adjustment
charges coming from LEPA and Concordia Electric that they actually pass on to
us.
It relates to unanticipated expenses that they might have been charged. Fuel
adjustment is also composed of transmission lines charges that come from
Southwest Electric which allows us to receive the electricity from LEPA.
In addition there are also our normal electrical operational expenses that are a
part of the fuel adjustment. The fuel adjustment charge is actually calculated
as a percentage of the electric consumption or usage that the customer has
under the electric rate.
Fuel adjustment are all actual expenses that the Town of Jonesville has been
actually eating (not passing on to the customers over the years) but are a part
of the normal operational expenses that we should have passed on to our
customers.
2. The Electric rate charge listed at the top of the card is an actual base rate
charge and it does not have anything else or services built into it.
When our cards came out in February, the electric rate was listed as the highest
part of that bill rel
ating to the electric and the Fuel adjustment was the smaller. When the current
bill went out in late March, the confusion came about when the fuel adjustment
was listed as the highest part of the bill, when in reality, it was basically
very little difference from the previous bill.
When one would add the fuel adjustment and the electric charges up on the bills
in February and then for March, most people would find that there was only a
small difference in the billing from the two months.
Being a part of LEPA will be very beneficial to the Town of Jonesville in the
future as it will provide us some great benefits and savings in a few years
to come.
Jonesville man killed in plane crash (published April 22, 2009)
A Jonesville man piloting a light plane died Monday morning when his aircraft
crashed at a private airstrip on Midway Road in Slaughter.
Walter J. Book, 56, of Jonesville, was killed in the crash of the Titan Tornado
II, Slaughter Police Chief Walter S. Smith Jr. said.
The aircraft can carry two people but Book was the only person aboard the plane,
Smith said.
Book was pronounced dead at Lane Regional Medical Center in Zachary at 11:28
a.m., shortly after his arrival, hospital spokeswoman Julie Madere said.
Federal Aviation Administration personnel from the Baton Rouge office are
investigating the crash, FAA regional spokesman Roland Herwig said. He said the
plane had just taken off from the strip and was returning when it crashed.
The National Transportation Safety Board also was notified of the crash, Herwig
said.
Smith said Book had just bought the plane from a Slaughter resident and was
preparing to fly it to Jonesville.
The fixed-wing plane, sold in kit form, is 19 feet long and has a wing span of
23 feet, according to the Titan Aircraft Co.
’s Web site.
The aircraft was built in 1998, according to FAA records.
The Web site says the plane qualifies as a “light-sports aircraft.” Specifications for such a plane include a maximum takeoff weight of 1,320
pounds or less, a maximum level-flight airspeed of 120 knots, fixed landing
gear and a single engine.
Capt. Kelly Davis, public information officer for the Slaughter Volunteer Fire
Department, said firefighters extracted the pilot from the wreckage after being
summoned by the East Feliciana Parish Sheriff
’s Office. They performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on the victim until
Acadian Ambulance Service paramedics arrived to take Book to the hospital.
The victim’s wife was at the airstrip when the crash occurred, Davis said.