SERVING THE PARISHES OF EAST FELICIANA AND WEST FELICIANA
DEMOCRAT THE ST. FRANCISVILLE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, J u ly 30, 2025
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Havard releases video of ‘poke’ that got him convicted Leila Pitchford AROUND THE FELICIANAS
Flag football coming
West Feliciana Parish Parks and Recreation has opened registration for flag football. Register online at wfprec.com by Aug. 2. Coaches and referees are also needed. If interested, contact mpatten@wfparish.com or (225) 784-8447.
BY AIDAN MCCAHILL Staff writer
Three days after Kenny Havard was convicted of simple battery for poking political opponent Chuck Spillman, the West Feliciana Parish President has released a video of the encounter to the public. Footage of the face-off, which took place shortly before a December Parish Council meeting, shows Havard dressed in a dark vest approaching Spillman with his left pointer finger raised before poking him near the mouth. Havard then recoils and backs away as Spillman erupts in anger. “I’m right handed, if I was going to hit somebody, I would definitely hit him with my right hand,” Havard said in an interview. Can’t see the video embedded above? Click here.
The quarrel arose when Spillman, a known critic of Havard’s, began raising questions in front of a TV reporter about a land deal Havard helped orchestrate. “The lady was putting her camera up,” said Havard. “I told her, get your camera, because if he calls me a thief I’m going to kick his ass and I want everybody to watch it.” Spillman, however, did not call Havard a thief. The video shows that after the poke, the two men walked inside the government office building, continuing to spar with words but not fists. Spillman later filed the police report. On July 21, Havard was fined $125 by the St. Francisville Mayor’s Court for simple battery, plus $30 in court fees, which he paid the same day. In 2023, Spillman ran for parish
president but lost in a landslide during Havard’s reelection bid. Since then, the two have not got along. “It’s not about me losing to him. Nobody ran against him so I said ‘yea, I’ll do it,’ ” Spillman told The Advocate. “What happened is that all this corruption started. We want answers for the land deal, the data center.” In December of 2024, Havard filed a protective order against Spillman, after which Spillman responded by filing his own against Havard, according to court records. After the two were brought to court the next month, both dropped their orders. “He says that I stalk him, he’s just blowing stuff off,” said Spillman. “I told the judge I raise my hand for the truth, I said evidently he don’t.”
A screenshot from released footage shows the West Feliciana Parish president’s interaction with a former political opponent. Havard was later convicted of simple battery.
Use golf carts safely The St. Francisville’s Mayor’s Office sent a reminder about golf cart use on the streets in town. “As part of our commitment to ensuring a safe and enjoyable community for everyone, we want to remind all residents about the responsible use of golf carts in town,” the email said. The actions listed include: Follow traffic laws: Obey all posted signs, speed limits and designated pathways. Drive carefully: Always keep your speed reasonable, especially in areas with pedestrians or children. No overloading: Do not exceed the maximum capacity of your golf cart. Use seat belts and restraints: Children should be secured in proper restraints at all times. If your golf cart is equipped with seat belts, use them. No underage drivers: Only licensed
ä See AROUND, page 2G
PROVIDED PHOTO
Grace Elizabeth Weathersby graduated in May as valedictorian of Slaughter Community Charter School Class of 2025.
Kevin Hood shows the audience of children and adults a large snakeskin here at a program on Louisiana Snake Education and Identification at the Jackson branch of the Audubon Regional Library. He sometimes gets calls and goes out to catch snakes from people’s homes and then relocates them to a better place.
Company invests $119M to expand St. Francisville paper mill
Grace Weathersby already studied at Yale
BY MELINDA RAWLS HOWELL Contributing writer
BY TIMOTHY BOONE
Staff writer
Hood Container said it will spend $118.9 million to expand its St. Francisville paper mill, a move that will boost production capacity at the facility. The expansion, set to begin in summer 2026, will retain the 295 jobs at the mill, Louisiana Economic Development announced Tuesday. The work will create 650 construction jobs. The work will involve upgrading the primary paper machine at the mill, boosting production capacity by 80,000 tons per year. This will boost the amount of wood chips and recycled boxes the plant buys each year. Hood Container acquired the 61-year-old former Crown Zellerbach and Tembec mill in 2015, after it emerged from federal bankruptcy protection filed by an interim owner. Since then, the company has invested more than $160 million to upgrade the plant, which is located on the Mississippi River. The mill produces kraft paper, a sturdy brown material used for packaging, wrapping and crafts, and kraft linerboard, a corrugated product used in packaging and displays.
ä See MILL, page 2G
Wilson teen headed to Harvard
PHOTOS BY MELINDA RAWLS HOWELL
Some of the approximately 40 parents and children at the Jackson branch of the Audubon Regional Library who turned out for the three Louisiana Snake Education and Identification programs.
SNAKES IN THE LIBRARY
BY MELINDA RAWLS HOWELL Contributing writer
Getting people to change their attitudes about snakes is a difficult task. Knowing more about Louisiana’s snakes can help change some minds. The Hood family members educated, reassured and influenced adults and children with their entertaining presentations on July 11 at the three Audubon Regional Library branches. The Louisiana Snake Education and Identification program brought live snakes, facts and a bit of humor to the library branches, sharing safety tips while encouraging giving the snakes safe passage. The mom, Rachel, explained that she once really, really disliked snakes. Many people’s first feelings toward them are fear and hate, she said. She changed, she said, from a parent allowing
one snake as an interesting pet, a corn snake named Chris, to a parent with about 35 snakes in the family. Learning about them and teaching others eventually became a full-time family business. They now visit schools, libraries and other events to spread their message. One of the important first things for children to know, she said, is that if you see a snake, “don’t approach it or try to touch or grab it.” Instead, go tell an adult, she said. If the adult doesn’t know what kind of snake it is and can safely take a picture of the live snake, she continued, they can “send it to us and we can identify it.” Sending a picture of a dead snake is not really what they want to see, she said. Snakes are a part of nature and have a good role, explained the group, which can relocate the snake some-
times. The dad, Kevin, said there are 48 known species of snakes in Louisiana, and only seven are venomous. Small snakes eat things like garden pests. The larger ones eat frogs, fish and other pests or rodents like rats, which have been known to chew electrical wires and cause house fires. Native Louisiana snakes are part of the ecological system and are needed here, he said. He said snake bites are actually rare, but if it happens go to the hospital immediately. You do not need to get the snake or know specifically what kind it is, he said. Snakes bite when they are disturbed or frightened, he explained. He humorously asked the children if snakes have any arms or legs to hit you with to protect
ä See SNAKES, page 2G
In late August a promising teen from the village of Wilson in East Feliciana Parish will leave her rural background and travel to a new environment — Harvard University and metropolitan Cambridge, Massachusetts, just across the Charles River from Boston. There she will begin her freshman year at Harvard to study at the Ivy League school. She is 17-year-old Grace Elizabeth Weathersby. Weathersby grew up in Wilson. Much of her family is from East Feliciana. Her mother, Vickie Jones, graduated from Jackson High School in 1990. Her maternal grandparents are Arthur and Jere Dean (Williams) Booker of Wilson and the late Emmett Thomas of Clinton. Paternal grandparents are the late Leo and Alsee (Wilson) Weathersby of Gloster, Mississippi.
Educational background Weathersby attended Slaughter Elementary School in East Feliciana, where she was identified as a gifted student in the second grade. She also attended Slaughter Community Charter School, where she graduated as the school’s valedictorian May 16 with a 4.407 grade-point average. Her high school guidance counselor, April Peterson, described Weathersby as “humble, graceful, unfailingly polite, kind and driven.” She received numerous honors and earned many awards during
ä See TEEN, page 3G