Natchitoches residents
appear to love their sweets and
their chicken.
It seems to JT that as fast as
one chicken place closes,
another one takes its place.
Chick-fil-A will be opening up
very soon across from the NSU
campus on University
Parkway. It looked like workers
were in overdrive mode the
same day Chicken Express
called it quits. By the way, this
is the second NSU related business…
the other is Café
Demon.
On the subject of new businesses,
JT hears we are getting
a new donut shop, “Southern
Maid.”
Reportedly, it will feature a
drive thru window…something
none of the other donut
shops in town offer. It will be
located in the new Shop A Lott
on South Drive.
——-
Remember the early release
program Gov. John Bell
Edwards and the Department
of Corrections orchestrated
last year?
By most accounts, mostly
law enforcement officials-
Sheriffs, Police Chiefs and
District Attorneys, it was a
disaster. Those responsible,
however reminded us how
good it was since Louisiana
lost its number one ranking as
having more incarcerated citizens
than any other state.
Now, JT hears with an election
around the corner….there
is a numbers game being
orchestrated. He hears…for
example…that if a person on
parole is arrested, unless it is a
serious crime, they are not
having their probation
revoked like it used to be.
Before this program, if probation
was revoked, the person
went straight to jail. Now they
are not put back into jail, but
are sent home to await the disposition
of the new charges or
just calling the recent arrest a
technical violation of their
probation.
Why, you ask? Well, this new
approach keeps the number of
people in jail from growing
and allows those who concocted
this Criminal Reform program
to argue the prisoner
numbers are down as well as
the number of people who
return to prison or jail after
their release. Through the
manipulation of the numbers,
they’ll sing of the success. As
they say… we all know the
devil is in the details.
JT remembers the stories
late last year of people getting
out, who some thought shouldn’t
have been released, and
how some who were released
under the program were
arrested for other crimes just
days after gaining their freedom.
One thing JT does know is
that there sure has been a lot
of crime, not only locally,
but also across the state.
He’s going to take the advice
of singer Kenny Rogers who
sang, “Trust Your
Neighbors-But Lock Your
Doors.”
——-
What is going on in our
small towns and their mayors?
According to documents,
the newly elected mayor of
Campti doesn’t even live in
the city limits but got elected
mayor. Not sure how you can
call that anything but fraud.
JT thinks she should be
made to pay back any monies
she received from the village
while she “acted” as mayor.
There also needs to be
some recourse for the Town
of Clarence against it’s
mayor…even though he has
resigned.
By accounts, he has left
the town in a real mess.
Sounds like there are a lot of
unpaid bills, taxes, lots of
maintenance to be done, he
locked the council out of
City Hall, quit having meetings
and basically became a
dictator. It was allowed to go
on for far too long.
The state now has taken
steps to appoint someone to
oversee the business of the
city. It’s a drastic step…but
that shows you how bad it
has gotten for the residents
of Clarence.
Sounds to JT that these
two towns deserve a lot better
than they got. He hopes
their communities can get
back on track soon.
——-
Speaking of Campti…JT
sure was sad to hear about
the fire at M&M Grocery.
What a history that store
has had. It was a landmark
and a focal point for the community
and JT is glad to
hear of plans to rebuild
