News

In 1994, The Winn Parish Chamber of Commerce was tasked to come up with 12 events, one for each month in 1995, to celebrate the 100^th birthday of Earl K. Long.

Two years prior, the parish did a similar event for his brother, Huey, and those events came and went.

While the chamber was able to come up with a handful, the last few months were proving problematic, the chamber was out of ideas.

In the corner Claude L O’Bryan sat chewing on his King cigar, and recalled some experiences he had with Earl throughout his life.

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Come on, play football with us this year. We’ll have fun! Can’t you just hear teens urging a friend to pick up the pigskin and join the team so they can hang out and have fun? Thankfully one St. Mary’s senior listened to his friend and played football for the Tigers his senior year. And what a senior year it was! His time on that 100 yards of turf led to his recruitment and ultimate signing to play college ball. Dane Files signed his letter of intent to play at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark.

And yes, he only played one year of his high school career but in that year, one where he had over 600 yards receiving, he got nods for All-District and nominations for All-State by both the sports writers association and the coaches association. Coach Aaron York said Files got his body in shape, but most importantly, had is academics in shape which always helps in the recruiting process.

Winnfield hosted its second annual Juneteenth celebration this Saturday, and enjoyed fun and games, and gave remembrance to the day that news reached the deepest parts of the confederacy that the slaves had been freed.

Juneteenth is a day celebrating June 19, 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger led Union soldiers into Galveston, Texas bringing the news that the Civil War had ended and the Emancipation Proclamation declared all those enslaved that they had been freed nearly two and a half years earlier.

“We want to empower those after us,” Temico Myers, who was in charge of putting together the event, said. “We want to leave the same legacy as those did before us.”

Event goers were able to enjoy a parade and activities like a cake walk, volley ball, barbecue and a spades and dominoes tournament and more this year, and is looking to get bigger next year, and turnout this year was bigger than expected.

Dodson Police Chief Daniel Hagan was one of the recipients of the 2021 Heart of Law Enforcement Wards in Baton Rouge on June 15.

Seven other law enforcement officers from Louisiana, from Ascension, Calcasieu, Greenwood, Jefferson, Ouachita, Slidell and Zachary Parish, joined Hagan in the award ceremony.

In 2019, Hagan found a teenage boy who was homeless at two in the morning, and brought him home and fed him. He let the boy stay with him until he contacted his aunt, and Hagan said the aunt was more than happy to bring him in.

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The Winn Parish School board elected Al Simmons as the new superintendent of the parish, who takes over the role after Steve Bartlett’s retirement after 21 years of service.

The meeting lasted nearly 5 hours as the school board interviewed two candidates for the vacted role, the other candidate being Jonathan Garrett of Rapides.

Attoreny Jon Guice was in attendance to make sure the interviewing process was held at legal standards for the state and gave his reccomendation on how the interviewing process should go.

Governor John Bel Edwards killed a handful of projects, including a bill that’d bring $1 million for roads in Winn Parish.

Edwards has the extraordinary power of the line-item veto, allowing him to pick-and-choose what to ditch without rejecting an entire bill. The Legislature could decide to override his vetoes in their final day in session, but that would require a two-thirds majority of both chambers.

The Democratic governor nixed nearly $1.8 million in local projects. That included a $400,000 appropriation for a utility substation in Erath, home of Rep. Blake Miguez, the House Republican majority leader. Edwards earlier this week vetoed legislation from Miguez that would have forbidden private contributions from defraying election costs.

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St. Maurice looks to be prepared going into summer with the community resource center hosting a fan drive to help the elderly or those without central air conditioning units stay cool in the heat.

“It’s gonna be a hot summer,” Pastor Brian Small said, who volunteers at the local community center. “We want to make sure with this hot summer coming up that those that don’t have a way can keep cool.”

The community center has looked for ways to help its community, and last summer was essential by passing out food and water after St. Maurice was devastated by Hurricane Laura and without electricity for weeks.

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Five students at Winnfield Senior High School that have enlisted into the Louisiana National Guard were barred from wearing military stoles

Maj. John Carmouché Jr., Louisiana National Guard Company Commander said, “the stoles signify their commitment to the National Guard after they’ve raised their right hand so that others in the community can see that and share in their achievement.”

Griffin said she “made a rapid decision” not to allow it just moments prior to graduation on May 21 ^st , in a statement to KNOE. Griffin said the decision is “in no way indicative of a lack of respect” for the students’ future military service.

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Members from the Winnfield and Dodson FFA chapter attended the 92nd State FFA Convention in Alexandria, LA June 7th-10th. This assembly offers students the opportunity to participate in Career Development Events (CDE) that allows students to test their knowledge and skills in a competitive manner.

The Winnfield High School FFA Chapter brought home 5 CDE/LDE Top 4 finishes, 4 Proficiency Top 4s, 3 State Titles, Scholarship Recipients, 8 State Degrees, 5 Margaret Mayeux Blue Jacket Award Winners, and the chapter being recognized with the Area II CDE/LDE Sweepstakes Award and the 4th best overall chapter in the state according to the National Chapter Award.

In addition to these accomplishments, Parker Carlino and Peyton Little were officially installed as the Louisiana State FFA Sentinel and President respectively.

Greggory Davies of Winnfield was reappointed to the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice after serving on the commission for eight years under Governor Kathleen Blanco and four years under Governor Bel Edwards.

“It’s an honor to serve the state and to know you have the confidence of the governor,” Davies said.

The Mission of the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement is to improve the operations of the criminal justice and juvenile justice system and promote public safety by providing progressive leadership and coordination within the criminal justice community.