SERVING THE PARISHES OF EAST FELICIANA AND WEST FELICIANA
The
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T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
AROUND THE FELICIANAS
Feliciana Wildflower Festival will feature speakers, more
ä See AROUND, page 2G
W e d n e s d ay, J u n e 3, 2026
$1.00N
In concert
Leila Pitchford
The Feliciana Wildflower Project is hosting its third annual Feliciana Wildflower Festival from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 6 in downtown Clinton near the historic courthouse. The festival will include educational presentations. These include: 9 a.m.: Paul Davidson — founder Of Feliciana Wildflower Project 10 a.m.: Morgan Christman, assistant professor of pollinator ecology at LSU, speaking about pollinators 11 a.m.: Betty Miley, Maypop Hill Nursery, on Wild About Wildflowers 1 p.m.: To be confirmed; Zachary Mendheim, Quail Forever Farm Bill Wildlife Biologist II. Talks will be at Humble Beginnings Outreach Ministry, 12322 St. Helena St., Clinton. Activities include vendor booths with garden related and other items, food vendors, activities for children, plant nurseries, cut flower bars by local flower farmers, art exhibits by local artists, and nearby business will be open. Visit www.facebook.com/ FelicianaWildflowerProject to volunteer, donate or sponsor the project and or festival, or to get more information.
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Kell Wicker, 17, performs and was interviewed about his recent joint recital with his brother.
PHOTO BY MELINDA RAWLS HOWELL
Worth Wicker, 15, performs during an interview about the recent joint recital with his brother.
Teen brother pianists perform at Jackson church recital BY MELINDA RAWLS HOWELL Contributing writer
Teen brothers Kell and Worth Wicker recently carried on more than one family tradition with their piano recital. The May 8 musical program was at the First Baptist Church of Jackson. It’s the church where their grandfather, the Rev. Joe Nesom, has been the pastor for more than 40 years. Nesom family members have regularly offered their musical talents as they participated in the many kinds of services held over the years at at the church.
The Rev. Nesom, a tenor, also had years. All of the Nesom granda part singing in the recital held children from their two daughters for the two young men. “play the piano and help with the music at our church,” Julie said. As brothers/sons/grandsons She shared that her mother “would The older of the brothers, Kell, be very proud of them.” The Rev. Nesom, an encouraging is 17 and the younger, Worth, is 15. They are the sons of Will and Julie grandfather, was a voice major in Newson Wicker, of Jackson. They his early university days and also have an older sister, Maggie, also a earned a Bachelor of Arts in Engpianist, who is a sophomore at LSU lish. His interesting experiences as studying piano pedagogy under a young tenor included performing Pamela Pike. with the New Orleans PhilharmonTheir paternal grandparents are ic and participation in a week-long Ted and Jan Wicker, of Zachary. music festival in Mexico. Maternal grandparents are Nesom and the late Janice Nesom who was Pieces performed the church’s organist for many The music pieces performed at
the recital by Worth Wicker were “Two Part Invention No. 4” by J.S. Bach; “Sonata, Opus 49, No. 2” by Beethoven; and “Waltz, Opus 69, No. 1” by Chopin. These were followed by the performance by the Rev. Nesom, who sang two pieces in German and was accompanied by Kell Wicker on “An Die Musik” (To Music) by Schubert; and “Das Wandern” (Roaming), Opus 25 by Schubert. Kell Wicker performed “Gigue” from French Suite No. 4 by J.S. Bach; “Sonata, Opus 10, No. 2” by Beethoven:
ä See PIANISTS, page 2G
Two Angola guards Federal court agrees Angola’s Farm Line dangerous, cleared of excessive force but it can’t ‘micromanage’ prison administrators Inmate was pepper-sprayed while handcuffed
BY QUINN COFFMAN
Staff writer
Two Angola guards who handcuffed an inmate through his cell bars and then pepper-sprayed him did not break the law in the course of their duties, a federal appeals court ruled. Inmate Alvin Williams sued two correctional officials, Capt. David Voorhies and Lt. Omar Walker, in November 2021 on grounds of excessive force over the pepper-spraying. Williams claimed that on the morning of April 28, 2021, he asked Voorhies and Walker to be given mental health assistance because he was “high” in his cell and “feared for his life.” Voorhies ordered Williams to put his hands through the bars so he could be handcuffed, and Williams complied. Then, Walker attempted to pepper-spray Williams, succeeding on the second attempt. Williams further claimed that while he was handcuffed and blinded by the spray, Voorhies walked him into a wall after taking him out of the cell and moving into a stairwell. He also claims Voorhies purposefully pressed him against the wall, giving his hand a stress fracture from where it was pressed. A doctor found Williams’ right hand was swollen days later, court records say, but no evaluation revealed a fracture or break in Williams’ hand. When Williams’ suit was first before a lower court, a judge denied Voorhies’ and Walker’s motions for summary judgment, which they sought on the grounds of qualified immunity as officers acting in the line of duty. The judge’s denial was due to believing Williams had a claim of excessive force against Voorhies for the stairwell incident and a claim of failure-to-intervene against Walker.
ä See GUARDS, page 3G
BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer
In a ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Brian Jackson of the Louisiana Middle District reaffirmed that Angola’s socalled Farm Line program regularly puts inmates in danger of heat-related injuries. However, Jackson said a higher court’s ruling prevents his court from issuing any permanent changes to how the Louisiana State Penitentiary operates the work assignment in which inmates toil in the prison’s agricultural fields. Jackson’s ruling does highlight, however, that many changes to the Farm Line that inmate advocates sought had been carried out by the Angola administration as the case was litigated, including the construction of multiple “shade pavilions.” The inmates’ attorneys originally sought an end to the Farm Line on Eighth Amendment grounds that the field work assignment is a cruel and unusual punishment. During the length of the case, inmates’ attorneys narrowed what they were asking for, ultimately requesting an end to inmates being assigned to the Farm Line as punishment, no Farm Line work on any day where the temperature reaches 103 degrees, that Angola no longer charge inmates with medical co-pays for heat-related illnesses suffered while on the Farm Line, and other items. Jackson’s ruling said that these requests were well-founded, but “the Court is constrained by the Circuit’s opinion in Parker, however, indicating that it would be inappropriate for the Court to ‘micromanage the prison’s facilities, personnel, procedures, and standards of care.’ ” On March 30, the Fifth Circuit Court
Inmates working Angola’s Farm Line, image taken from Louisiana Middle District Court, Judge Brian Johnson’s ruling on May 2. of Appeals preempted the lower court by ruling in Parker v. Hooper that “ongoing improvements and innovations” at Angola likely keep it from violating the Eighth Amendment. To violate the Eighth Amendment, a prison administrator must be found to be “deliberately indifferent” when inmates are faced with potential danger. The Fifth Circuit ruled that even when prison improvements are insufficient to fully protect inmates, the fact that improvements are being made at all shows “concern and sincerity” on the part of prison officials, and thus protects them from the “deliberate indifference” standard needed for cruel and unusual punishment. “This litigation, however, has not been all for naught,” Jackson’s Monday ruling read. “The Court emphasizes that in several meaningful respects, due to the committed efforts of Plaintiffs’ Counsel and the class representatives, this litigation has obtained the relief Plaintiffs seek — more significant protections for
incarcerated person laboring on the Farm Line.” Darrel Vannoy, warden at Angola, confirmed that many changes sought by inmates’ attorneys had been delivered during the case, including: n Construction of shade pavilions, outfitted with oscillating fans, ice water coolers, spigots, benches and a roof to provide shade, n A 15-minute break for every 45 minutes working on the line, n Access to water at any time during Farm Line work, n An expansion to the list of medications that keep an inmate from being assigned Farm Line work, n An end to the “heat season,” meaning heat precautions continue yearround, and n Access to sunscreen, work gloves, drinking cups and hats. “The safety of incarcerated individuals remains a top priority in all
ä See ANGOLA, page 3G