December 2020

POLICE REPORT

Editor’s Note: An arrest does not indicate whether a person is guilty of the crime with which they have been charged. A person is not considered guilty until they are convicted of a crime in a court of law

One person was booked into the parish jail by the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office over the past week

Sunday, November 29

Cheers to Chicage PD

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Cheers to Chicago P.D.

for bravely walking the thin blue line. Season 8 of the NBC drama has bristled with more authenticity than ever as Officer Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins, pictured) deals with racial bias within the ranks, and his Windy City squad adjusts to the very real shift in how the police are perceived right now.

Cheers to The Pack

US hiring slows sharply to 245,000 jobs as virus intensifies

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers sharply scaled back their hiring last month as the viral pandemic accelerated across the country, adding 245,000 jobs, the fewest since April and the fifth straight monthly slowdown.

At the same time, the unemployment rate fell to a stillhigh 6.7 percent, from 6.9 percent in October as many people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed, the Labor Department said. November’s job gain was down from 610,000 in October.

Christmastime is upon us

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Christmas-time conjures thoughts of red, white and green. And many types of beautiful plant materials are available to work with this time of year to spruce up and decorate your home for the season. Here is the short list: Christmas trees, Christmas cactus, colorful poinsettias, mistletoe, red berries and evergreen materials.

Evergreen materials such as holly, pine, fir, spruce, boxwood, magnolia and arborvitae in addition to herbs are available just outside your door in the natural landscape and can all be used to create swags, wreaths and garland for the holiday season.

California fire danger remains high even as winds ease

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fire danger remained high Friday amid unpredictable wind gusts and dry conditions in Southern California, as crews made progress against blazes that burned several homes and injured two firefighters. The region’s notorious Santa Ana winds decreased slightly but red flag warnings of extreme wildfire risk were in place into the weekend because of low humidity. After the weather calms in the southern part of the state, winds are expected to increase in Northern California starting Sunday, forecasters said.

Pets are not presents

Kittens and puppies are popular Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, many of these “gifts” will end up in shelters or abandoned on chains in back yards by late January or early February, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

White Americans and the Civil Rights Movement

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People might get tired of stories about my father Ted and his summer in Mississippi. They might roll their eyes when I, once again, write about how he faced hostility and the KKK during his time in the places that have become legendary for their ferocious efforts at silencing Black voices and votes.

Trump is ignoring a 9/11 worth of deaths a day

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(In Wednesday, President Donald Trump k..ireleased a video of himself standing behind a podium in the White House’s Diplomatic Room, where he delivered what he claimed was the “most important speech” of his presidency.

The video, released on a day when the United States lost 2,798 people to the COVID-19 pandemic, did not show Trump offering heartfelt condolences or offering an in-depth explanation of how he planned to rein in a public health catastrophe that claimed the lives of a 9/11’s worth of Americans in a single day.

N.O. MAYOR THREATENS LAYOFFS IF TAX CHANGES FAIL

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The mayor of New Orleans is threatening to lay off city employees unless voters on Saturday agree to extend three property taxes.

If the measures aren’t approved, the city would have to turn temporary furloughs of city workers into layoffs, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Thursday.

The ballot measures would reconfigure some existing property taxes, The TimesPicayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

STATE TREASURER HOSPITALIZED FOR COVID-19 TREATMENT

BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana state Treasurer John Schroder was hospitalized with COVID-19 and was being treated for respiratory symptoms, his office announced Thursday.

The Republican treasurer tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus shortly before Thanksgiving, according to Schroder spokesperson Michelle Millhollon.

She said in a statement that the treasurer “experienced breathing difficulties this week that required treatment. He is responding well. He is comfortable. And he is texting up a storm.”