Judge hears from both sides in Danielle Cox suicide case

Judge Joe Bleich heard from both the prosecution and the defense in the Jason Thomas case today.
Thomas is facing charges of Criminal Assistance to Suicide.
Thomas had sent more than 100 messages to 15 year old Danielle Cox encouraging her to kill herself.
You can read the details of the case from these two earlier blog posts, if you are not familiar with it.
Remembering Danielle
Bullying has Consequences
Judge Bleich granted a motion to allow the defense to examine Danielle’s medical records. He did place some very strict limitations on it, however, requiring that anyone who has access to the records (staff, etc) have to sign in and out, with their full name and address.
“I will not see this young girl’s medical records bandied about” were his exact words.
He also said that if anyone violates this strict confidentiality, they would ‘wish they had never heard of me’.
Danielle suffered from Diabetes and from Depression. It seems that the defense strategy will be to show that Danielle was troubled and that she was suicidal.
It seems to me that this is two-edged sword, however, and doesn’t exonerate the defendant from his actions.
Defense attorney Elton Richey also requested a bill of particulars as to exactly what facts led the prosecution to charge Criminal Assistance to Suicide. ADA Andrew Jacobs has 20 days to answer.
The trial itself will begin in May. I will keep you posted of any new developments.
Jessica’s parents have a Facebook page, Smiles for Danielle.

• Smiles For Danielle is a group created in her memory. Our hope is through education and awareness, those who suffer from mental illness will no longer see suicide as a viable solution. Welcome to this group, we look forward to doing great things and thank you for your support.

If you are on Facebook, join the group and keep up with their efforts to help other kids and families.

Bossier School Board decides on two new facilities

The facts and figures that I have came from The Times article on the Board’s plans.
Putting together a growth plan for revenues from the $210,000,000 bond issue that they are proposing for this spring, the Bossier Parish School Board has determined so far that two new buildings will need to be constructed.
First, a new Haughton Middle School, which will cost $36,000,000 and house 1,500 students.
Earlier talk had been about moving it from the present location. I don’t know if that is still the plan or not. $2,500,000 will have to be spent to fix the drainage system at the current middle school. I don’t know what plans the board has for that building.
The Board had been looking at moving Rusheon Middle School to Bossier High School and combining the two, and using the Rusheon facility for a new Vo-Tech school.
Board president Tammy Smith said that it doesn’t make sense to renovate Rusheon for that purpose, and that it makes more sense to build a new building. She didn’t say why.
The board is going to come back and look at consolidating Rusheon Middle and Bossier High School. That isn’t off the table as is the plan to use Rusheon to house vo-tech. The question then becomes what would the Rusheon facility be used for?
I’m not arguing the facts, because I don’t have them. It may be more costly to renovate Rusheon than to build a new building.
Now that the Board has someone to handle public relations (which is a good thing, because they have done a terrible job of it in the past), perhaps we can get some facts and figures to explain this decision.
Again, I’m not disagreeing with it, but people want to know what led to the decision.
I think a vo-tech facility is a great idea.
Here’s another idea. Use the $7,000,000 that the board is planning to use to rent space at CIC toward the new building, and house the STEM program there. That would not mean that the facilities at CIC couldn’t be used at all, but perhaps something could be worked out that would cost less than $700,000 per year.
The cost for the new vo-tech building and for renovations at Bossier High School carries a price tag of $25,000,000. Will additional costs be involved if the board does decide to move Rusheon to that campus?
Of course, this is just a part of the first phase of the plan. The Board still has plenty of decisions to make.
To recap, the questions I have are:

• Does the $36,000,000 for a new Haughton Middle School include acquiring a new location for the school?  What will the current building be used for?
• Has the board done a study to back up their decision that it would be more cost-effective to spend $25,000,000 for a new vo-tech facility rather than to renovate Rusheon and to locate the facility there?
• What alternative plans have they considered to leasing space at CIC for the STEM program at a cost of $700,000 per year.

Hopefully, the board will have the answers.
Marty Carlson had a column in the Press-Tribune entitled Counting the Costs, that deals with the financial aspects of the bond proposal, and some renewals that will be coming in the next couple of years. Take the time to read it.

Justice Joe Bleich to replace Judge Bolin

Joe Bleich of Ruston, a retired Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, and a retired State District Judge, Division “B”, Third Judicial District, Lincoln and Union Parishes, has been appointed to serve in the place of Judge Bolin.
Judge Bolin retired effective January 31st.
Judge Bleich will serve until the election this fall, when a replacement will be chosen.
So far, Whit Graves & Mike Nerren have made it known that they will run.

City to cough up more for MPERS

Another increase is in the works for the Louisiana Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System.

In 2010 the contribution rate for municipalities jumped from 11% to 25%, now it is going to 31% in the fiscal year beginning July 1^st.  Let that sink in – 11% to 31% in two years.

If you will remember, the last increase came when Bossier City was facing a budget crunch and contributed to cuts in Public Safety.

Individual contributions also have increased.

I have blogged about the MPERS mess on a couple of occasions, particularly about investments locally in Olde Oaks and Stonebridge that have been big money losers.  Another bad decision was to help finance Hal Sutton’s Hill Country development, and then the decision to subordinate a first mortgage on that property in order for him to acquire more from a bank.  The system lost about $30,000,000 in that alone.

Add to that $1,000,000 plus that was embezzled by the system’s attorney, although that has been, or is being reimbursed. 

“It was like a gigantic playhouse,” says Nick Congemi, 68, chief of the Greater New Orleans Expressway Police in Metairie, who for years criticized the system’s leadership and investments. You can read that account here.

Bossier City officials were aware that another increase was coming and are prepared for it.

Doubtless this is one of the reasons that the council nixed a proposal to give a 2% raise to all city employees and to hire 8 new police officers.

Councilman David Jones was the only vote in favor of the raises and hiring new officers.

Young Marines To Graduate Largest Class

(Press release from Bossier Sheriff's Office)
By Lt. Bill Davis
The Bossier Sheriff Young Marines will graduate its largest class of recruits Tuesday, January 31, at 6:30 p.m. at the Bossier Sheriff's Substation, 2510 Viking Drive in Bossier City.
Class 23 will graduate 62 recruits after completing 13 weekends of training, which included physical training, team motivation, confidence building skills and more. Classes in the Bossier Sheriff Young Marines have steadily grown over its 10-year existence, with Class 23 starting out with 81 recruits.
The guest speaker will be Michael Nerren, Assistant District Attorney, Juvenile Division, of the 26th Judicial District Court.
The Young Marines program is a national program founded in 1958 and is the official youth program of the United States Marine Corps. The Bossier Sheriff's Department was the first law enforcement agency in North Louisiana to implement the program, which began its first class of recruits on Dec. 7, 2002. Since then, the lives of more than 900 young men and women have been impacted by the Bossier Sheriff Young Marines program.
During the ceremony, the Young Marines will show off some of the ceremonial skills they have learned, as well as receive awards and promotions.
"I am very proud to honor these young men and women as they officially become Bossier Sheriff Young Marines," said Bossier Sheriff Larry C. Deen. "They have worked extremely hard over the past 13 weekends, and they can hold their heads up high as they reap the success of their accomplishments in training."
Lt. Norman Craig, a former Marine and current commanding officer of the Bossier Sheriff Young Marines for the past five years, has seen hundreds of kids "grow up" in the program.
"This is a program that teaches young people self-discipline which helps foster the growth for self-confidence, teamwork and leadership," Craig said. "When they arrive here on day one, many are scared, and they don't know what to expect," said Craig. "But you can see the growth - the lack of assurance becomes self-confidence and rebellious attitudes give way to self-discipline - and they learn to hold themselves to a higher standard and not be drug down by peer pressure."
Another key character change is making wise choices. "We teach young men and women that they need to make good choices in life and that there are consequences for every choice they make," Craig noted. "Every young person can benefit from that."
Along with parents, family members and friends at the ceremony will be members of the Bossier and Caddo Parish School Boards, Bossier Parish Police Jury, Office of Juvenile Justice, Office of the District Attorney, and area judges. Also attending will be principals, teachers, school resource officers and members of the local chapter of the Marine Corps League.
The Young Marines program is open to all Bossier Parish school-aged youth, ages 8-18, and is sponsored and administered by Bossier Sheriff Larry Deen and the Bossier Sheriff's Department. Volunteer instructors from the United States Marine Corps assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines here in Bossier City are also an integral part in the training. Applications are now being accepted for the next class which begins Feb. 18. For more information on how to enroll your youth, contact Lt. Craig at 318-965-3500.

NAACP calls for review of Shreveport Police shooting

On December 15^th, Shreveport Police Cpl. Bryan Lauzon was working private security at the Fair Park Terrace Apartments. When he spotted 44 year old Michael Gilyard riding his bicycle on the sidewalk coming from an area of the apartments where there had been complaints of drug activity, Lauzon stopped him and questioned him.
You can watch the dashcam video of the stop here.
After some initial conversation, Gilyard consented to being patted down. When Cpl. Lauzon found a pistol concealed on Gilyard, he was attacked and Gilyard attempted to get possession of Lauzon’s service weapon. Lauzon warned Gilyard that he would shoot him, but Gilyard persisted. Lauzon shot him. Gilyard was pronounced dead at the hospital.
After an extensive investigation, DA Charles Scott announced this week that Lauzon was within his rights to use deadly force.
In the Times article, Scott is quoted as saying "All the evidence clearly shows no wrongdoing in the actions of Officer Lauzon, either during the initial stop of Michael Gilyard or the subsequent altercation which resulted in the shooting."
"Investigators found 16.8 grams of marijuana, 3.8 grams of crack cocaine packaged for individual sale, over $5,000 in cash and a .45-caliber handgun in Gilyard's clothing. A criminal conviction for the possession of the firearm alone would have resulted in a minimum of 10 years in prison for Gilyard."
Enter the NAACP. They are asking for a review of the case by the Louisiana Attorney General and the U. S. Justice Department. While DA Scott says he welcomes the review, I don’t understand their reasoning; I suppose they believe that Lauzon should have submitted and allowed Gilyard to shoot him.
It is a terrible thing when something like this happens, but in the words of DA Scott "When you attack a fully armed officer, it probably won't end well".
A Facebook page has been set up to show support for Cpl. Lauzon. If you are on Facebook, be sure to go the the page and click the ‘like’ button.
Support Shreveport Police Cpl. Bryan Lauzon

Video Voyeurism in an unexpected place

Some things are just difficult to understand.
Take the case of Paul E. Holmes of Haughton, who was arrested and charged with Video Voyeurism and Child Porn.
If you are not familiar with the story, The Times has it online.
Assuming you have read it or seen it on the news, I will proceed with a few thoughts.
This is a case of a 55 year old man, active in his church, placing video cameras in a bathroom during a church connected sleepover for teenage girls at his home.
He apparently has no record of such behavior, and no criminal record. The church can’t be blamed. The parents of the girls showed due diligence in allowing their daughters to attend, it was in the home of one of their own church members, and they had absolutely no reason to even remotely suspect that something like this would, or could, happen.
I feel for the victims; a great mental and emotional stress attaches itself to something like this.
I feel for his family. I can only imagine what his wife and children are suffering.
I have heard of cases where someone with a brain tumor displayed a similar type of behavior, and I wondered if there is something like that going on with this man. I’m not looking for an excuse for him, but with no record of any similar behavior for 55 years, it makes you wonder.
If my daughter or one of my granddaughters was victimized in this way, I know that I would not look at it in such a subjective manner, I would only react to the event itself. And that reaction would not be good.
As my friend Rex pointed out in a Facebook exchange, thank goodness that one of the girls was aware of her surroundings and called her mother and let her know what was going on. That mother is the one who notified the police.
If there is a lesson here, it is to teach your children at an early age to be aware, and never to hesitate to talk to you, or to report to someone in authority if something out of the ordinary arouses their suspicions.

Bossier Schools Planning & Development Committee working on plan

The School Board Planning & Development Committee is having a series of meetings to assimilate a plan of action to present to the public with the proposed $210,000,000 bond proposal. The SGB-Yates plan is comprehensive, and the board has to narrow it down to priorities.
The proposed Phase I would deal with:

• Benton – $21 million for a new elementary school, which would help relieve Legacy and Apollo.
• Haughton - $45 million for a new middle school, to convert the current middle school to elementary and for a 24 room wing for Haughton High School.
• Bossier High School – would consolidate Rusheon Middle School into BHS and would renovate Rusheon Middle School to house all of the non-STEM technical programs (at a cost of $17 million). It would also call for a plan to lease 47,000 square feet at CIC with an estimated ten year lease of $7 million. It would move Bossier Learning to an empty wing at Butler, and finally would relocate Charlotte Mitchell to the old BPCC South Campus.
• Parkway – $1 million to remove T-buildings from Sun City, add two classrooms and realign the attendance zone.
• Airline High School - $29.7 million for renovation, addition of 24 room wing & expansion of cafeteria. This would also build five classrooms and a rear driveway at Legacy and would add 12 room wings at Greenacres & Cope, and three four-room wings at Cope.

Phase I would also set aside $2.5 million to purchase land for two new elementary schools and for one new high school, and around $8 million for road improvements for new schools and for miscellaneous paving projects.
The main thing I question in this phase of the plan would be spending $7 million to lease space from CIC for the STEM students. School districts all over the country have STEM programs, which is a good thing. By integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics into one discipline, schools hope to boost what has been a dwindling college enrollment in these subjects.
I don’t understand the advantage in spending $7 million at CIC. What does CIC offer that the school board could not provide in a facility of its own?  Does CIC offer facilities that the board could not duplicate on its own?
Of course, the committee hasn't decided to do that, it is just a proposal.
it's a sincere question, I don't know the answer. It seems to me that $7 million should provide amply for classrooms and facilities to train these students without leasing space from CIC which would have to be re-negotiated or abandoned in ten years.
Perhaps someone can shed some light on this.

Sweet Thang

One more and then I’ll stop. Really.
Our blog friend ‘Alex’ mentioned Nat Stuckey in a comment on the last blog post.
Nat Stuckey was born over in Cass County, Texas in 1933. He earned a degree in radio and television from Arlington State College.
His first job was with KALT in Atlanta, Texas, in his home county of Cass.
He then moved to KWKH, and also became a member of the Louisiana Hayride. He wrote several hit songs, including co-writing ‘Waitin’ in your Welfare Line’ with Buck Owens. He then wrote and recorded ‘Sweet Thang’ on Paula Records, a local label. Jim Ed Brown recorded his song ‘Pop A Top’. He went on to record jingles, both nationally and regionally. He also operated a talent booking agency in Nashville.
Shortly before his death in 1988, Randy Travis released "Diggin’ Up Bones" which Stuckey co-wrote.

You're the Reason our Kids are Ugly - more country music

This country music thing just won't stop.
Country music as we know it began in the 1920’s in the South, and took its roots from folk and western music. At the time, it was referred to as hillbilly music. In the 1940’s the term country music came to being.
The Louisiana Hayride got its start in Shreveport in 1948, and was second only to The Grand Ole Opry in presenting country singers to the world.
There have been so many country singers and songs over the years, but I will give you a taste of the first two ‘hillbilly’ stars: Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family.
Jimmie Rodgers, The Singing Brakeman, recorded his first songs, "The Soldier's Sweetheart" and "Sleep, Baby, Sleep" for Victor. He received $100 for his efforts. Rodgers died in 1933 from TB at the age of 35.

The original Carter Family consisted of A. P. Carter (1891–1960), his wife Sara (1898–1979), and his sister-in-law Maybelle Carter (1909–1978). Maybelle was the mother of June Carter Cash. They made their first recordings in 1927, receiving $50 for each song.

The original group disbanded after A. P. and Sara divorced in 1944, but Maybelle kept performing with her daughters, June, Anita and Helen.

And to wrap it up, a song that I think represents the genre perfectly, from Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty.