Red River High School Football will participate once again in the Bayou Jamb. Games will be played at the University of Louisiana Monroe’s Malone Stadium. The Bulldogs will play at noon on Saturday, August 31 against Jonesboro Hodge. Other games begin at 10am and conclude with the last starting at 8pm. Halftime will feature special guest performances, a 100-yard dash for kids, and a fun fan experience, making it an event the whole family will love. 

Join the LSU AgCenter and Red River Parish Helping Hands on Thursday, September 12 at 1pm at the 4-H Office, 1919 Alonzo Street for a dynamic program aimed at boosting fruit and vegetable consumption and encouraging physical activity. Discover the joy of nutritious eating and the benefits of regular exercise in a welcoming environment. Don’t wait—take charge of your health journey now! For more details and to secure your spot, contact Jessica Salley at 318-461-2730. 

The Steve Carter Tutoring Program is newly updated and now provides up to $1,500 in digital vouchers for both math and literacy tutoring eligible students in grades K-12. Learn more and apply at Tutor.La.Gov.

The LHSOA is increasing its efforts to recruit new officials and retain them from year-to-year, but they need your help. To learn about becoming an official, visit lhsoa.com or https://www.lhsaa.org/lhsoa.

Seraphina Rene Shaver
September 30, 2009 – August 24, 2024
Funeral services will be held Friday, August 30, 2024 at 10am at Broadmoor Baptist Church. In honor of Seraphina’s vibrant spirit, attendees are encouraged to wear her favorite color pink.

Barbara Sue Lewter
November 16, 1949 – August 25, 2024
Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 31, 2024 at 11am at Rockett-Nettles Funeral Home Chapel in Coushatta

To enter this week’s contest, CLICK HERE!  https://tinyurl.com/RRPJPickem
(Games played on September 6, 2024)

Are you ready for some football?!?

Bigger question. Are you ready to win $100.00 in cash and prizes each week?

The Red River Parish Journal and American Bank are proud to bring you the 2024 High School Football Pick’em Contest presented by American Bank.

Anyone is eligible to participate for FREE and each week’s winner will go home with a $100.00 cash prize.  Each week the winner will be the participant with the best record out of 10 selected high school football games (ties will be broken by two separate tiebreakers consisting of guessing the total points scored in two of our weekly contests).

The American Bank & Tyler Insurance Agency High School Football Pick’em Contest will be conducted over the 10 regular season weeks of the High School season starting with Week 1 games (Sept. 6) and running through the end of November.

There is no entry fee, just like there is no cost to subscribe to the Red River Parish Journal.

All contest decisions by Red River Parish Journal (RRPJ) management are final. Weekly winners will be notified on Monday and will be requested to take a photo that will run that week in the RRPJ.

Every participant will receive a FREE subscription to the RRPJ, if you’re not already signed up for the easily-navigated, convenient 6:55 a.m. Monday-Wednesday-Friday e-mail. Enjoy it all, for FREE, and enter each week’s contest. You could collect $100.00 each week!

________________________

The Red River Parish Journal wants to thank American Bank & Tyler Insurance Agency for their title and presenting sponsorships of this year’s High School pick’em contest.

We also want to thank Better Finance and C&K BBQ for their Pick’em Partnerships within the contest.

WHEN: Saturday, August 31, 2024
TIME:  9 AM
WHERE: 100 Starkway Rd, Coushatta, Louisiana

Partial Listing: (8) Power Generation 30KW Generators, Cummings Engine ~ Approx 50 Solar Solutions Panels ~ Job Boxes ~ Bottle Racks ~ Testing Equipment ~ Valves & Fittings ~ Fuel Tanks ~ Power Units ~ Truck Beds ~ Metal Tables ~ Pipe Racks ~ Lots of Rolls of Electrical Wire ~ Approx 2000 Joints of 2 3/8 inch pipe (lots unused) ~ 500 Joints 2 inch Pipe ~ Log Mats ~ Approx 200 Joints of 3 & 4 inch pipe ~ Approx 300 Joints of 6 inch pipe ~ 50 Joints 10 inch Pipe ~ GN Flatbed Trailers ~ Haul Mark Bumper Enclosed Trailer ~ Cat D5G Dozer, cab/air ~ Ford 575 Loader Backhoe ~ (5) Ford Service Trucks ~ Several other trucks ~ (2) Diamond T GN Dump Trailers ~ Several Bumper Trailers ~ Approx 15 Big Standup Metal Vessels ~ (7) 10,000 Gallon Water Tanks on Skid ~ Irrigation 6 inch Pipe Reels ~ 40ft & 20ft Metal Storage Containers

For more information, call Rex at 318-648-8509 or 318-471-0962 or visit us online at:
www.proxibid.com/lasyone

There’s something for everyone!! We hope to see you there!!
Rex Lasyone, LA lic#:1549, TX lic#: 16267

(Liquidation of Coushatta equipment yard location only)

Directions to Auction Site ~ From Coushatta:

Hwy 71N, go 1 mile, Take Y in the road to the right on Hwy 371 North, go 4 miles, take right on Hwy 786, sale site will be 2 miles on the left. Follow the SWN Entergy signs.

Matt Vines

EAST POINT – The term “must win” may seem dramatic and is often overused in sports, but the phrase is arguably a fitting one when describing Riverdale’s trip to Union Christian on Friday.

The Rebels are 0-2 after losses to Prairie View Academy and Tallulah Academy and are facing a Union Christian bunch (1-0) that hasn’t won more than two games in a season since 2019.

Riverdale was without two starters this past week against Tallulah in a 52-12 loss (one from injury and one from illness), which included quarterback and leading tackler Ashton Almond.

Coach Nathan Edie said getting healthy is the most important task this week.

“The focus this week will definitely be on health, but also better execution,” Edie said. “I saw a few things out of our younger players that were thrown into action, and I hope to build on that.”

Quarterback Kaidyn Williams, who split snaps with Almond in the season-opener, accounted for nearly all of Riverdale’s 180 offensive yards against Tallulah this past week.

He scored on touchdown runs of 67 and 69 yards in the second half and completed three passes for 24 yards.

Williams also made the defensive play of the game when he stripped a Tallulah receiver at the goal line and recovered the fumble. Tallulah was already up 22-0 and would go on to a 38-point halftime lead, but that play briefly changed momentum.

“K-Dub gave one of the most inspirational performances in a game that I have been a part of,” Edie said. “We were able to settle into an offensive set that was working in the second half, and Kaidyn broke free on a couple of long touchdown runs.”

A win against Union Christian would buoy the confidence of a young squad in a program that’s used to winning (Riverdale played for the Class AA championship two years ago and won nine games this past season).

But Union Christian enters the matchup with its own confidence after edging Marvell Academy, 16-14, in its season opener this past week.

Aside from the emotions of the win, Union Christian experienced the emotions of watching a Marvell player being airlifted from the field following an injury. That player has since been released from the hospital and returned to his Arkansas home.

Riverdale won the last matchup against Union Christian, 38-14, this past season, and has won each meeting since 2019.

Memorial services for Jonna Claire Dupree, 61, of Clarence, LA will be held at 6 P.M. Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at Rockett-Nettles Funeral Home Chapel with Brother-in-law, Gary Dupree officiating.

Mrs. Dupree was born November 27, 1962 in Morgan City, LA and passed away August 24, 2024.

She was preceded in death by her parents, “Scrap” and Mena Claire Smith; one brother, Steve Smith; nephew, Joseph Richie; and father-in-law, Reual C. Dupree.

Mrs. Dupree is survived by her husband of 42 years, Greg Dupree; son, Colt Dupree and wife Jana; daughter, Jaci Pinnick and husband Austin; four grandchildren, Cash Dupree, Kruz Dupree, Judson Harrel, and Colbi Claire Pinnick; one brother, Charlie Smith; two sisters, Lisa Smith-Shaw and spouse Lori, and Cindy McLaren and husband, Phillip; numerous nieces and nephews; and special mother-in-law, Charline Dupree.

First-year Northwestern State softball head coach Jenny Fuller completed her coaching staff on Friday with the announcement of three new members.

Brad Fuller, husband of Jenny, joins the staff as the Demons’ associate head coach while Paxtyn Hayes, a former player for the Fullers at Pittsburg State, and Nicky Dawson, a Baylor softball alum like Jenny, will be serve as assistants.

Brad is a nine-year coaching veteran that has worked hand-in-hand with Jenny since their time at Cardinal Stritch, an NAIA school in Milwaukee, Wis.

In two seasons there, four at Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D. and the most recent three seasons at Pittsburg State, Brad has helped develop four all-Americans, seven all-region and more than 20 all-conference players.

“Northwestern State is lucky to have a coach of Brad’s caliber join the team,” Jenny said. “His accomplishments speak for themselves and he brings a wealth of knowledge he can apply to all aspects of the game.”

An astute offensive mind, Fuller has seen his teams have success at the plate from the very beginning of his career.

In his second season at Cardinal Stritch, the Wolves ranked in the top 15 in all of NAIA in batting average, hitting at a .339 clip, and in hits per game at nearly 10 per contest. Three seasons later at Northern State, those Wolves increased both their slugging and on-base percentages by more than 60 points in the NCAA rankings by the end of the 2020 season.

In his four years at Northern, Brad helped guide Kennady Thompson to both single-season and career home run records and set new team records for hits and home runs during his time.

In his first season at Pittsburg State in 2022, the Gorillas saw a 55-point increase in their team batting average and scored nearly 100 more runs from the previous year. They also saw a more than 100-point increase in slugging with 50 more home runs and 96 more extra-base hits. In Fuller’s first season, the Gorillas had more doubles (103) than it did total extra-base hits (84) the previous season.

Fuller’s work at the plate helped produce some of the best offensive numbers in the country during the record-setting 2024 season for the Gorillas.

The PSU bats finished seventh in nation with 579 total hits, with the 10th highest team batting average in the country at .348. They were also ranked 15th in the country in runs scored, crossing the plate 394 times on the year for an average of 6.4 runs per game.

They garnered a first-team all-American, three third-team all-Americans, the Central Region Player of the Year, two first-team all-region and one second-team all-region selections along with four first-team all-conference honors during the 2024 season.

The Gorillas finished the 2024 season winners of a conference title, hosting an NCAA Regional, ranked No. 14 in the country and broke 10 different team records, including wins (53), consecutive wins (22), conference wins (23), runs (394), RBI (346) and stolen bases (104).

Brad has also been instrumental in his player’s success off the field helping the maintain cumulative team GPAs of 3.5 in all of his previous three coaching jobs. More than 40 players have earned conference academic honor roll honors with multiple academic all-conference winners and academic all-American honors.

A key part of the Gorillas’ success during not only the 2024 season but the two years prior with the Fullers, was the production of new Demon assistant coach Paxtyn Hayes in the middle of the lineup.

The Greenwood, Ark., native finished a historic career at Pittsburg State in 2024 earning all-American, all-region and all-conference status. She ranks in the top 10 in Gorilla softball history in career runs scored (131) home runs (40), hits (235), doubles (58) and is the program’s all-time leading in RBI with 195. Hayes drove in the fifth most runs ever in the history of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association by the end of her playing career.

“Paxtyn is a highly decorated player who played for me at Pitt State,” Jenny Fuller said. “She will build meaningful and impactful relationships with players, and help guide them to reach their goals.”

A career .350 hitter, Hayes earned the first all-American honor of her career in 2024 with a third-team spot at designated player. After first-team all-conference honors in her sophomore season, she earned the honors again as a junior and senior to become the fifth player in PSU history to earn first-team all-conference honors three times.

The slugger was also the fifth Gorilla to hit double-digit home runs in three straight seasons, launching 36 across her final three seasons. She amassed slugging percentages of greater than .600 in each of her final three seasons and OPS (on-base plus slugging) totals north of 1.000 during those years and for her career.

Also joining the Demon staff beginning with the 2025 season is assistant coach Nicky Dawson, one of the best high school softball players in Louisiana history.

The Baton Rouge native and graduate of Parkview Baptist was a five-time all-state selection, six-time all-district and all-metro winner and was twice chosen as the Marucci Louisiana Softball Player of the Year during her prep career with the Eagles.

“Nicky played at a high level, and her experience will be a huge asset to our program,” Fuller said. “She has an ability to understand data and analytics at an elite level, which is going to help grow our program immensely.”

Following her senior season in 2016, Dawson was named MaxPreps National Player of the Year, a FloSoftball Top 30 player and a consensus first-team all-American. She batted an eye-popping .658 on the season, scoring 65 runs and swiping 58 total bases, earning her the NFCA’s Golden Show award as the nation’s top base stealer.

Dawson began her collegiate career at LSU where she batted .310 scored 16 runs and stole eight bases on the Tigers’ 2017 Women’s College World Series team before transferring to Baylor.

There she set the Bears’ program record for career triples in on her way to earning Second-Team All-Big 12 honors in 2019, First-Team Academic All-Big 12 in 2020 and was a multi-year member of the conference’s commissioner’s honor roll.

During her all-conference season of 2019, Dawson finished second on the team in batting with a .336 average out of the leadoff spot, using her speed to produce a .420 on-base percentage and steal a team-best 12 bases while also leading the team with 87 assists, a .968 fielding percentage.

Injuries during her final two seasons in Waco limited Dawson’s playing time but she still finished her collegiate career with more than 150 hits and scoring more than 100 runs while batting .349 with an on-base percentage of .442.

Martinez Land Offering

Offers Due by:  Friday, September 13, 2024 at 3:00 pm Central Time

Closing Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 3:00 pm Central (or sooner)

Land Offered: Approximately 2,837.896+/- acres. (comprised of several tracts)

Contact: henry@echotitlecompany.com

Phone: 318-236-6000

VIEW & DOWNLOAD BID PACKAGE

VIEW & DOWNLOAD THE TRACTS

Click Link for Registration Form

I learned what Rene Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” I’m still not sure what Rene was getting at, but it sounds good. If you say it in Latin, “Cogito ergo sum” you can sound very intellectual, while not wholly understanding the concept.

I’m a more pedestrian thinker. My version of it is, “I drive, therefore I am.” I should have kept up with all the miles I have put on vehicles. I live twenty-three minutes from the church. I spend nearly an hour in the car each day going to and from the office. I love my commute on I-20. I have prayer time in the morning and again in the afternoon. There are times that I’m praying for the driver in front of me, that they would quit being “doubleminded” and put their foot on the accelerator. I have also called upon the name of the Lord when the driver in the left lane suddenly cuts across my lane to exit the interstate quickly. I’ll wager they are thinking, “I signaled, didn’t I?”

For the past weeks from roughly the Bienville Parish line to the city limits of Ruston a little work has been going on. The trees on the side of the interstate are being removed. There is heavy equipment involved in the clearing of the shoulder. The contractor is cutting the trees down and then a machine comes and turns the tree into mulch. For miles, this crew is transforming the shoulder of the interstate. They are also removing the trees from the median of the interstate.

My first thought, when I saw the equipment, was I needed one of those.

My view has changed as the trees have disappeared.

The trees were allowed to grow too close to the road. I don’t know that factually, but it is an educated guess. This trimming allows for a margin of grass to separate drivers from trees that might fall in some kind of storm. It is visually appealing and calming.

Who would have thought that margin was important on the Interstate? Margin is the edge or border of something. The page you are reading has some kind of margin. If it did not, your brain would revolt at the visual effrontery. We need a margin around the page to read. I’m learning that margin around the road is important too.

How about margin in your life? How are you getting it all done? Are you taking time to reflect? To rest? To pray?

I’m going to translate what Jesus said, in your Bibles it is transliterated.

Jesus said, “Rest (The Sabbath) was created for humanity, not humanity for the rest. (Sabbath.) Sabbath, rest, downtime, relaxing, or if you will margin, is a gift from God that allows you to renew yourself and to discover God’s grace in the simple things of life.

Take time off, it will change your view of the journey.

Doug de Graffenried is Pastor of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston.

You can contact Doug at dougsponderings@gmail.com

Let’s say you have a 40-acre tract of forested property and you want your land to be more attractive to deer, turkeys and other wildlife. What can you do to make that happen?

Burn it. Say what? You’ve nurtured this tract for a long time so why would you want to set fire to it? On the surface, that doesn’t sound like it makes any sense but when done properly and under the guidance of people who know what they’re doing it’s maybe the best tool at your disposal to convert a standing tract of timber into something that attracts wildlife.

Jesse Davis is President of the Piney Hills Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) and this organization stays busy helping property owners improve their habitat by utilizing a prescribed, or controlled, burn.

“When done properly,” said Davis, “prescribed fire is the cheapest and most effective way to improve your habitat. Removing undesirable brush and ground litter exposes grasses and forbs and seeds that would otherwise never sprout. A prescribed fire removes things that wildlife never eat.”

When fire goes through a piece of property, how long does it take before wildlife can began using it?

“We’ve seen wild turkeys come to a fresh burn before the smoke even clears. They start finding things like acorns that become exposed when the brush and duff is removed,” Davis added.

When a fire goes through such areas, he noted that lots of native seeds and grasses that have laid dormant begin sprouting once sunlight begins to penetrate the forest floor. When desirable things begin to replace those that wildlife won’t eat, deer and turkeys are quickly attracted to the area.

When is a good time to run a controlled fire through a piece of property?

“Almost anytime is a good time but especially after a timber thinning or any time like after a storm causes damages that ground becomes exposed to sunlight,” Davis said.

What are some precautions that must be taken into account before planning a prescribed burn?

“The first thing that must be done is to have adequate fire breaks that will stop fire from going where you don’t want it to go. Wind direction and velocity is also important. It is also important to consider neighboring property and which direction smoke will travel. You especially don’t want to send smoke over neighbors, especially those with health problems,” Davis added.

Other than deer and turkeys, do other species of wildlife benefit from a prescribed burn?

“There are no wild creatures that won’t benefit from a prescribed burn. Birds and squirrels benefit as often, den trees are left for nesting as well as having foods they prefer begin growing,” said Davis.

Are you interested in learning more about prescribed burning on your property and if it might benefit you? There is a meeting scheduled for September 12 at 6:00 at the Lincoln Parish

Sheriff’s Office where anyone interested in this method of property management is invited to attend.

“We invite anyone who has an interest in what prescribed burning is all about,” Davis said, “and we want more people to realize just what a controlled fire can do to enhance what you already have.”

“Athletics provide one of the best preparations for the darkness a human life can throw at you.”

Southern writer Pat Conroy in “My Losing Season

I agree with Conroy: losing teaches you how to deal with pain. (Hurts me to say that.)

We’re not talking exclusively about losing on the scoreboard. That hurts, and those types of hurts, a peculiar kind of Southern hurt, begin again this weekend with football. Those are as real as real gets, and sometimes they hurt bad, and they hurt for a long time.

But we’re talking beyond that. We’re talking everyday losses.

Like … a hang nail, the finger’s silent assassin.                                                                               

Hot coffee spilled in the car on the inside of your thigh. Sweet.

Cutting your head on the corner of an open kitchen cabinet door. The dreaded kamikaze cabinet. 

Or the kingpin of them all: hitting your little toe on the steel leg of a bunk bed at church camp.

There’s always cussing at church camp because somebody always hits their toe.

But you learn, and limp on.

Tough break that we live and limp forward, but we learn backward.

There are all “kinds” of losing. Losing your keys. Losing a tooth. Losing your mind.

But you usually get another chance in those cases. Not always so in the competitive arena. Nothing hurts worse than losing The Big Game. You don’t get another chance, not at that one, not on that day.

Super Bowl Sunday’s a decent illustration. A big winner is celebrated and a big loser does what most all big losers do. They get really small and really forgotten really fast.

Ask pros who really care or competitive amateurs and they’ll tell you that the pain of losing is always greater, more motivating, than the thrill of winning. Winning teaches you how to uncork champagne and smile. Losing teaches you where to shore up your defenses, how to plan better, who you really are when things fall apart.

I’ve always found the more compelling stories are in the losing locker room, not the winning one. Losers are more real, emotion more acute.

In the academic world of leaky manifolds and underground sewerage systems and computer programming, I’m on the outside looking in. But when the subject is losing, well, that’s right in my wheelhouse. I have certificates, even official framed documents. Everything but a tattoo. 

You probably do to. You know about losing like a plow knows about dirt. Like a wing knows wind. We know about losing the way a bug knows about a windshield.

Some, like me, are slow learners. I’m coachable, just not very quick. But a bit of experience in losing will teach you that you can handle more than you thought, that the sun will come up if you can hang in there, and that whatever price you have to pay to win, it will be worth it to avoid the feeling of losing again. 

Fumbling won’t win you any trophies, but it can toughen you up. Good thing, because in everyday life, you face third-and-long a lot more often than third-and-short. Athletic disaster truly can help prepare you for losing someone close, for a pink slip, for foreclosure.

Regardless, you want to be in the arena, don’t you? Stay in the game. It’s small consolation and a wide chasm, but the next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing. 

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu

The 25th annual Cane River Zydeco Festival is August 30 & 31 in Natchitoches. Enjoy food, fun and music. 

Join the first Livestock Lunch & Learn to be held Saturday, September 7 from 11am to 1pm at 3610 Hwy 3276 in Stonewall. The goal of this event is to network with fellow livestock exhibitors & gear up for local shows. Topics of discussion are cattle, sheep, goats, swine & broilers. Participants should come prepared to ask questions in relation to livestock projects. Lunch will be provided. Exhibitors from any parish are welcome to attend.

Enjoy a day of fun with friends and family at the first annual Natchitoches Louisiana Bigfoot festival on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 9am until 6pm at the Natchitoches Event Center. Enjoy a host of different vendors as well as regional and national speakers. Fun for the whole family meet Bigfoot, see authentic footprints, videos and witness true encounter stories told by the eyewitnesses.

William Randal Martin
June 11, 1942 – August 24, 2024
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 1pm at Ashland Baptist Church

Jonna Claire Dupree
November 27, 1962 – August 24, 2024
Memorial services will be held Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 6pm at Rockett-Nettles Funeral Home Chapel in Coushatta

Barbara Sue Lewter
November 16, 1949 – August 25, 2024
Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 31, 2024 at 11am at Rockett-Nettles Funeral Home Chapel in Coushatta

Pictured are fishermen Miles Smith (dark shirt) and Levi Thibodaux (light shirt), both of Shreveport, with their largemouth bass caught on Grand Bayou Reservoir during the “dog days” of August. Smith caught his 12.8 pounder on Saturday, August 10. Thibodeaux pulled his 11.2 pounder from the lake on Wednesday, August 14. Both men plan to have replicas of their fish made under Grand Bayou Resort’s Lunker program.

The resort and Grand Bayou Reservoir District will pay for replicas of any fish caught at the lake over 10 pounds. If the fisherman wants a replica, the fish must first be officially weighed by resort personnel, then returned to the lake alive and in good condition.

Photo credits David Pickett, manager, Grand Bayou Resort.

Shared by Faerie Sledge

A teenager was killed in a UTV accident in northern Red River Parish on Saturday evening. The youth, a passenger in the UTV, was treated on the scene by medics and was transported to meet life-air. The youth died from injuries sustained in the accident.

September 16-20 is Voter Registration Week. These persons will be eligible to vote in the Fall Elections.

The Registrar of Voters Office is looking for any events we could attend to help Red River Voters register to vote or correct their current voter registration (address, name, party, etc).

Do you have a club, church, work, or other event happening August 26 to Oct. 6? Please contact the Registrar of Voters Office at 318-932-5027 or email us at RedRiverROV@sos.la.gov to request our office to attend and help register voters. The last day to register to vote or make changes in person is October 7th.

Keep looking in the Journal for a list of events to register to vote.

At approximately 2:19pm on Friday, August 23, Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Deputies, Louisiana State Police, and Natchitoches Regional Medical Center EMS responded to NATCOM 911 Center reports of a two-vehicle crash with injuries involving a commercial vehicle and a passenger car on La. Hwy 480 near International Paper-Campti Mill. Red River Parish Sheriff’s Deputies also assisted at the scene.

According to the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office, when Deputies arrived on scene they found the operator of the passenger car suffering from moderate injuries.

Deputies said the preliminary investigation revealed that a 2004 Mazda 6 passenger car operated by a 36-year-old Coushatta man was traveling eastbound on La. Hwy 480. At the same time, a 2022 Mack truck hauling chips was traveling westbound. For reasons still under investigation by LSP, the Mazda apparently crossed the center-line striking the Mack truck.

The Coushatta man was transported from the scene by EMS to Natchitoches Regional Medical Center with moderate injuries.

Troopers assigned to Louisiana State Police, Troop-E Alexandria worked the crash.

Source: Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office

Matt Vines

TALLULAH – On a Riverdale Academy that doesn’t have much depth to begin with, the loss of two starters was too much to overcome as the Rebels fell to Tallulah Academy, 52-12, on Friday.
One of those missing starters was Ashton Almond, a quarterback who was also the leading tackler in the opening week.

Tallulah (2-0) sprinted to a 38-0 lead by halftime, although Riverdale (0-2) stabilized in the second half as each team scored a pair of touchdowns.

“We lost one starter to illness and another to injury, and that had a big impact on us,” said Riverdale coach Nathan Edie. “Offensively, we just weren’t getting to where we needed to be on our blocks.
“Defensively, we missed several tackles that cost us.”

Quarterback Kaidyn Williams, who split time with Almond in Week 1, took all of the snaps Friday, scoring Riverdale’s two touchdowns on the ground in the second half.

“In the second half, we were able to settle into an offensive set that was working,” Edie said. “Kaidyn Williams was able to break free on a couple of long touchdown runs.

“K-Dub gave one of the most inspirational performances in a game last night that I have been a part of.”
For Tallulah, quarterback Luke Moberly accounted for the first two touchdowns on a 25-yard run and a 60-yard punt return.

Riverdale did force a fumble on the 1-yard line to prevent the score from widening, but Tallulah’s J.T. McDaniel added a pair of scores on touchdown runs of seven and 29 yards to put the game out of reach.
Riverdale heads back to Northeast Louisiana this coming week when they visit Union Christian Academy.
UCA (1-0) squeaked out a 16-14 win against Marvell Academy this past week.

NATCHITOCHES – For the second year in a row Northwestern State student-athletes will benefit from a six-figure boost from the NCAA as part of its Accelerating Academic Success Program.

The AASP, established in 2012, assists Division I schools working to meet the NCAA’s academic standards. Annually the NCAA awards over $1 million in grants to colleges and universities with limited resources to support the academic success of student-athletes with the goal of increasing graduation rates.

Only schools in the Football Championship Subdivision or classified as an HBCU (Historically Black College and University) are eligible to receive an AASP grant.

Northwestern will invest the $100,000 it receives into new computer equipment and laptops for the academic center lab that will allow more student-athletes to be able to use the academic center. It will allow more student-athletes the ability to attend summer school by helping offset the cost of tuition and fees and give the academic staff the resources to hire more content-specific tutors and mentors for NSU student-athletes.

The money will also allow more access to professional development tools and opportunities for the Student-Athlete Development staff with the ultimate goal of the grant’s funds to improve the student-athlete academic outcomes each year.

“We’re elated to receive the single year AASP grant for the second consecutive year,” NSU Assistant AD for Student-Athlete Development and author of the grant proposal Ventric Fletcher said. “Receiving the AASP Grant is a testament to the hard work and dedication that we put into our student-athlete experience on a daily basis. Academic achievement is one of the cornerstones of NSU Athletics, and this grant will allow us to continue to improve our student-athlete academic outcomes.”

As per the grant, Northwestern will add an additional $20,000 to the total for a combined investment of $120,000 into the academic center.

Northwestern was the recipient of the same six-figure grant amount a year ago, helping lead to a department-wide 3.06 GPA among all student-athletes, four teams finishing with a perfect 1,000 APR (Academic Progress Rate) and three others with total of 975 or higher.

Student-athletes at NSU had an 86 percent graduation rate during the 2023-24 academic year with 104 total student-athletes graduates and 161 selected to the President’s List and Dean’s List.

The 2024 grant is the third time Northwestern has benefited from an AASP grant, receiving a multi-year grant from 2014-16 that helped add another staff member to NSU’s student-athlete development staff.

Louisiana Tech University’s 240 summer graduates celebrated a significant milestone in their academic careers on Saturday, gathering at the Thomas Assembly Center for the quarter’s commencement ceremony. The summer batch of Bulldogs earning their degrees join 115,133 Louisiana Tech alumni worldwide.

Louisiana State Representative and Ruston businessman Christopher “Chris” Turner served as the keynote speaker for the ceremony. Turner, now in his sixth year representing Louisiana District 12, which includes Lincoln and Union Parishes, was born and raised in north Louisiana. He graduated from Oak Grove High School and earned his degree in business from Tech in 1999. He is the owner of two small businesses, Turner Rexall and Hillside Storage.

During his introduction, Tech President Jim Henderson pointed to Turner’s legislation that invests $1.6 billion in deferred maintenance on college campuses over the next 10 years as the most consequential piece of legislation for higher education since the 1894 bill that created Louisiana Tech.

Turner took to the podium to talk up the reputation of a Tech education and share what his experiences at the University taught him about serving.

“It’s here that I learned the value of contributing to my community,” Turner said. “Giving back, watching out for others, stepping up when no one else raises their hand, helping those who need a little grace. Whether it’s just on the street you live on, in the neighborhood where your house is, or the town or parish you live in, contribute.”

After reading through a humorous letter that a family friend had penned to then-President Dan Reneau during Turner’s time in school—a letter that gave Turner renewed motivation to finish his degree—Turner addressed the graduates with three final key pieces of advice:

“Get involved in your communities; you will always get back twice as much as you put in. Never close a door; opportunities will come knocking all the time if your door and your mind stay open. Relationships matter; we need each other to be our best.”

As he had during the 2024 spring ceremonies, President Henderson acknowledged that this event was the first commencement that nearly all the graduating students were experiencing in-person after many high school graduations in 2020 took place virtually.

The highlights of summer commencement included three 4.0 GPA graduates, the commissioning of two U.S. Air Force second lieutenants, and the presentation of seven doctoral degrees.

Louisianians can get help to pay summer cooling bills now through September 30, or until funds are depleted on a first-come, first-served basis through the Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

Eligibility for the program is being based on income. The program provides up to $800 for both the summer and winter. It also provides up to $1,000 for emergencies year-round.

Regina Lawrence, LIHEAP coordinator with Caddo Community Action, explained the benefits of LIHEAP and how Louisiana residents can apply for assistance.

“Right now, you can call one of our offices for an appointment,” she said. “If you have a disconnect notice, then they can walk into the office to do an application.”

Nationally, seven out of ten households helped by LIHEAP are home to a child under the age of six, an elderly resident, a veteran, or someone with a disability.

“LIHEAP is a great help to our customers,” said Brett Mattison, SWEPCO president. “We encourage those who might be eligible to learn more about this and our other programs to help manage seasonal bill spikes.”

SWEPCO recently introduced an easy-to-use tool to identify bill help based on your needs. Just answer a few questions at swepco.com/billhelp and every customer will be provided with options.

“Whether it’s a payment plan, a payment extension or average monthly payments, we’re here to help local families beat the heat and combat the high bills,” said Mattison.