Archive - Mar 7, 2012

Two legendary Ruston High School coaches will have their names written into the history books, or at least on the athletic facilities where future generations of Bearcats will have their chance to shine.
At a special meeting of the Building and Grounds committee before the regularly scheduled school board meeting, several Ruston residents showed up to express their discontent with the proposed plan to name the athletic facilities at RHS James Stadium and Bearcat Fieldhouse.

Jack and Ann Thigpen are determined that the 28 basketball teams coming to Ruston this week for the Louisiana High School Athletic Association boys’ and girls’ state basketball finals will have a memorable time, no matter the outcome of the games.
The Thigpens are co-chairs of the team host committee. They’ve recruited volunteers to serve as a host family for each team. Host families welcome their team to Ruston and help meet any needs the team may have during its stay.

The deadline has passed, but Lincoln Parish’s juvenile offenders are remaining housed at the Louisiana Methodist Children’s home until a new housing location can be found.
The LMCH, located off of DeVille Lane, previously served as a housing unit for the LPSO’s juvenile offenders who committed minor crimes, but thanks to new state guidelines, which took effect March 1, the parish is having to look elsewhere to house the teens.

While winter has been mild in northern Louisiana, the rains have probably kept many pet owners from being able to get outside with dogs as much as the owners or pets would like. Dogs get cabin fever the same as their owners during this time of year and the Ruston Parks and Recreation Department has the perfect solution.
Get outside while enjoying one of Ruston’s park facilities by participating in the Sixth Annual Furry Fun Walk.

Despite Louisiana’s long history of agriculture, many children don’t know that eggs come from chickens, potatoes come from the ground and hamburgers come from cows. Teaching another generation of children the long-time traditions of the state is just one of the services provided by the LSU AgCenter Extension Office in Lincoln Parish.
The agency also teaches children how to make healthy food choices, shows teenagers how to be successful babysitters and teaches young girls how to sew — another nearly lost tradition.

The other evening, I was driving with some friends to Walmart when I saw on the Celebrity Theatres digital marquee: “The Artist.”
At first, I could not believe my eyes, but then it got better.
These words were followed by: “The Descendants,” “The Iron Lady,” “My Week with Marilyn” and “Albert Nobbs.”
I could barely contain my excitement when I saw that Ruston would be greeting these films in our area, and wondered what the occasion was that got them here in the first place.

Louisiana hasn’t had too much luck with her presidential candidates. There was Huey Long, who was poised to run against Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 but was assassinated in 1935; former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke, who gave the White House two tries in the late 1980s and early ’90s, and this year, former Gov. Buddy Roemer.
Over the years, there may well have been other lesser-known Bayou State presidential wannabes, but obviously they didn’t make the big time, either.

A Simsboro man was arrested Tuesday by the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office after allegedly battering his estranged wife and then wrecking a car and leaving the scene.
Justin Flowers, 32, 5196 Louisiana Highway 563, was charged with domestic abuse battery, simple criminal damage to property, unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, failure to report an accident, careless operation and driving under suspension.

After a two-game stumble on the road, Louisiana Tech University’s Lady Techsters are gladly welcoming a fresh start to their 2011-12 season.
The defending Western Athletic Conference champs fell to Fresno State (66-62) and Nevada (76-72) in their regular season finales last week.
But that’s over and done with and now it’s all about starting today with a high noon first-round game in the annual league postseason tournament to be held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

Shock. Gasp. Awe. Those were about the only reactions that I had when I was watching a certain report on ESPN. The New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton and General Manager Mickey Loomis are being investigated for enacting a bounty system during the football season. Sad to say that this isn’t the first time that the pair have been accused of this. The first time that this situation was brought up was in 2010.
For those who are staring at the page wondering what exactly the bounty system is, it is simply placing a “price” on the head of opposing players. All that statement means is that players are offered financial incentives to take out other players during games, i.e. vicious late hits or hitting an opponents injured limb, etc.