News RECENT ARRESTS IN WEBSTER PARISH | PAGE 2
Minden
Press-Herald
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019
POLICE JURY
Pilgrim Rest Road and Fiber Internet were up for discussion WILL PHILLIPS Minden Press-Herald
Citizens have long been bringing up the necessary maintenance that Pilgrim’s Rest Road has been needing for some time now. “I went down and saw it from end to end and it was a hot mess. I see why those people were really complaining,” said Juror Jerri Lee. Recently, the Police Jury has been moving forward to get the road back to drivable conditions. “We’ve gone in there and we’ve recy- BONSALL cled the bad spots on the road, there’s a crew doing that. We’ve gone in and put oil and water on the road to get it set up. The next step will be to hot mix those places. The cost is going to be over the bid law, so we’re gonna have to put it out for bids. Something has got to be done, in my opinion,” said Police Jury President Jim Bonsall. The motion to move forward with the bids passed with no opposition. The Police Jury also appointed both John Montogomery and Cortney Lunsford to the Doyline Waterworks District #1. Another topic that was discussed at Police Jury was that of Claiborne Electric Co-Op approaching parishes offering a Fiber Internet service. This would be a Co-Op endeavor, and in order for Claiborne Electric to move forward with their business startup activities, the police juries of their respective parish must put a new property tax which is to be voted upon by the residents located within each parish. In a report given to the Police Jury, it states that the estimated capital required for Webster Parish is $63,019,022. The report also states that “Typically 50%-60% of all property taxes levied are paid by entities residing outside the parish. Many See, JURY, Page 2
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Minden High School sees new safety procedures STAFF REPORT Minden Press-Herald
Minden High School would like their students and parents to know about the new procedures concerning buses and transportation for this coming school year. “Over the past year, Minden High School has taken strides in order to increase safety measures for our students. With the guidance from the Webster Parish School Board in conjunction with safety audits directed by outside consultants and the Louisiana State Police, we have made decisions with the goal of providing a safe and secure school for your child. This year, we will continue in our goal of increasing school safety. Our next step is implementing a one-door entrance for the school. Over the summer, a bus awning was constructed on College Street as well as a security gate installed in the courtyard. All students will enter through the gym lobby door on College Street that is under the new bus awning,” said Rebecca Wilson, principal of Minden High School. With this change, there will be new traffic norms for dropping off and picking up students at MHS. The bus awning on College Street will be the new bus drop-
WILL PHILLIPS/MINDEN PRESS-HERALD
Minden High School has constructed a new bus awning to coincide with their new safety upgrades.
off and pick-up location. There are two available parking lots for student and teacher parking. One is on College Street and one is on Richardson Street. Cars/trucks entering College Street from McDonald Street (Academy Park area) must turn left onto Union Street between 7:00am-8:00 am and
3:00pm-4:00 pm. Cars/trucks entering College Street from Union Street must turn right onto College Street between 7:00am-8:00am and 3:00pm4:00pm. In the afternoons, all car riders must be picked up on Richardson Street (one-way). Cars/trucks must yield to buses. Cars/trucks must stay in an orderly line. Cars/trucks are
not allowed to pass other cars/ trucks or buses. “We know this will be a time of adjustment for all of us; however, our students’ safety is more important than any inconvenience we may experience,” said Wilson. If you have questions, contact Minden High School office at 318-377-2766.
Sibley Mayor Williams elected president of Louisiana Municipal Association WILL PHILLIPS Minden Press-Herald
The Louisiana Municipal Association (LMA) has recently elected Jimmy Williams, mayor of Sibley, to be their new president. The Louisiana Municipal Association is a group that represents 333 municipalities and 2 public governments in various matters of legislation. “We represent the municipalities and a lot of small municipalities that really can’t represent themselves. It’s just the money. We have a staff of lobbyists and every year during the session we follow every bill that is pertaining to the municipalities. We have a legislative committee that meets and discusses
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the bills to see if they’re good or bad for our towns and cities. This includes New Orleans all the way to Mound, Louisiana,” said Williams. When asked about how he felt being elected to his new position, Williams said “I kind of consider myself a figurehead. We have a staff of LMA experts, and those people are the guts of the organization. We rely on them so much. I’m called the president but they do all the work.” After he shared his thoughts about being elected, Williams went on to describe how he would use his new position as President. “I’m not going to do anything different. Why would I go in there and change something that’s not broken? If there’s something that’s not
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Jimmy Williams gives his acceptance speech at the LMA banquet.
working well, we’ll look at it, but right now all of our pro-
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grams are hitting on all eight cylinders,” said he said.
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