JOURNAL STAFF

With a flood watch in effect most of this week, area residents are encouraged to prepare for possible flooding.

Both the City of Shreveport and the City of Bossier City are providing sandbags to residents and businesses that anticipate flooding near their properties.

Residents of Bossier City can pick sandbags up from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. through Friday at the Public Works Complex located at 3223 Old Shed Road. In Shreveport, sandbags (20 per individual) can be picked up at the Streets and Drainage Facility at 1935 Claiborne Avenue each day throughout the week between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

On Monday, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch in effect from 6 a.m. today through 4 p.m. Thursday for northwest Louisiana and much of east Texas and southwest Arkansas. NWS says excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.

Additional rainfall amounts of one to three inches – with isolated higher amounts — are expected through Thursday afternoon. The additional rainfall will quickly run off and generate new rises on area waterways, and possibly result in additional flooding.

JOURNAL STAFF

Five schools in Bossier Parish are among the first in Louisiana to receive state designation as Purple Star Schools, signifying they meet a high standard when it comes to providing support and various services to military children and their families.

Purple Star School banners were recently presented at Parkway High, Benton and Cope Middle Schools, Benton Intermediate and Kingston Elementary. The schools were recognized at a recent Bossier Parish School Board meeting and will receive recognition before the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in Baton Rouge on April 19.

“This allows the parents to know when they come to the Bossier Parish School Board, these schools are ready to meet the needs of their students and ready to work with them for the transition,” said Holly George, Military Service Liaison for Bossier Schools. “It’s a large criteria to become a Purple Star School and we are excited that we have some of the first ones in the state.”

The Bossier Chamber of Commerce also designated the five schools as Military Community Champions. More than 2,600 military students attend Bossier Schools.

Roy Lee Youngblood

Age: 67
DOB: 1/24/1956
Race: Black
Sex: Male

Current booking information:

Description: Aggravated assault. Bond: $25,000

February 7, 1962 – January 25, 2023

A funeral service to celebrate the life of John L. Boyett will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 2nd at Calvary Chapel, 2115 Line Ave., Shreveport, Louisiana. Food and Fellowship after the service. Officiating the services will be Billy Spalding and James House. The visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. until the time of service. Graveside will be held Friday at 1:00 p.m. at Forest Park Cemetery East, 3700 St. Vincent Avenue, Shreveport, Louisiana.

John Leonard Boyett was born February 7th, 1962, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to George Leonard Boyett and Reba Nell Boyett. He entered heaven on January 25th, 2023, just days shy of his 61st birthday, after a lengthy battle with cancer. John Boyett was an active family man survived by his wife of 36 years, Janet Sue Boyett; children Ryan Thomas Boyett, Cory Daniel Boyett, and Amy Elizabeth Boyett; grandchildren Asher James Boyett, Lilah Sage Boyett, Elijah Anderson Boyett, and Leona Roux Boyett; his sister Twyla Rene Willoughby and her husband Thurman; nephews and nieces: Sonny Leone, Jacob Willoughby, Thomas McVicker, Jessica Boyett and Josh Boyett. He is preceded in death by his father, George Leonard Boyett; mother Reba Nell Boyett; brothers Joe Neal Shires, James Matthew Boyett and sister Reba Jo Shires.

He grew up in Shreveport and graduated from Huntington High School where he played tight end for the Huntington Raiders. He worked with his dad as a construction painter throughout his high school years. After the death of his father John went to Houston with his friend, Tom foster, to attend Printing Industries of the Gulf Coast and began his career in the printing trade. It was there that Tom’s mother, a strong Christian woman, wrote John a letter prophesying that “printing would be good for him.” This became realized when he moved back home to Shreveport and met his wife, Janet, at Ridgeways, a local downtown print shop. Eventually, the two of them went on to establish Boyett Printing & Graphics, Inc. on East Kings Hwy., beginning from their house and garage in March 1994.

Together they loved to devote time to their children: taking them camping, sports, scouts, church activities, and fun family vacations all while teaching the fundamentals of life including: how to “work hard and sacrifice,” live within your means, work on a car, cook, and how to be compassionate, well-rounded adults. We all received gifts that will carry us for the rest of our lives.

John was a faithful member of Calvary Chapel in Shreveport where he served in many capacities from hosting home fellowships, cooking for potlucks, and offering his help in construction projects; helping members needing assistance moving and anywhere else he was needed.

Thank you to all who loved him and helped make his life full; to his grandmother, Mammie, who read the bible to him as a youth and instilled deep in his heart the love of the Lord and mostly to His Lord and Savior for being Johns faithful friend. We are looking forward to the day when we shall be caught up together with him in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Honoring John as pallbearers will be Cory Boyett, Ryan Boyett, Sonny Leone, Thomas McVicker, Steve Mortimer, and Tom Foster.

 In lieu of flowers please make a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Senator Sharon Hewitt discusses her life in politics, her educational
background and work experience and why she believes she can be an effective
Governor for the State of Louisiana. Senator Hewitt emphasizes the importance
of economic development and other vital issues of importance during this
election year.

Photo: Sharon Hewitt Campaign

By Royal Alexander/Opinion

Reckless borrowing and spending are what got us into this fiscal mess and more of the same won’t get us out.

There is no sense in pointing fingers because both national parties have participated in the fiscal irresponsibility that has gotten us to this point.

However, now our nation’s leaders are going to have to stop kicking the can down the road and actually address this critical economic and national security issue.

Where are we?

Right now, our national debt is approximately $31.4 trillion. The interest payment alone to support this monumental debt is $400 billion annually out of the American economy. That’s merely to service the debt! None of the principal is being paid down. And this debt, which used to be justified with the feeble explanation that the debt “is just money we (U.S.) owe ourselves” is no longer true. If we stay on the path we are on now, by the early 2030s a majority of these interest payments will be annually transferred to foreign debt holders.

As E.J. Antoni at the Heritage Foundation notes, these “exploding annual deficits and debt are the direct result of runaway spending by a profligate Congress and president with no regard for Americans’ financial security.”

He makes another critical point as well—“just to emphasize that the burgeoning debt is a spending problem and not a revenue problem, tax receipts are at a record high by any measure—in nominal terms, in real terms and as a percentage of gross domestic product. The government has never collected more money, but is still managing to spend it all, and then some.” (Emphasis added).

That’s insane governmental malpractice, but that’s not all.

President Biden has demanded a “clean” debt ceiling increase with no conditions or requirements attached. That’s mind boggling. It’s also reckless and will increase, not lessen, as Biden claims, the economic pain of average Americans.

Every time we raise the debt ceiling, and an enormous gusher of new debt dollars pours into our national economy, we are increasing the level of inflation because way too many dollars are chasing way too few goods.

However, as Daniel Heninger of the Wall Street Journal notes, this time the debt ceiling debate is different.

“The pandemic put the federal government inside everyone’s head, and what the government did was spend, spend, spend, money, money, money. These spending rivers included a bipartisan Covid-relief bill of $2.2 trillion; the American Rescue Plan’s $1.9 trillion, and then a bipartisan infrastructure bill of $1 trillion. Mr. Biden’s 2023 budget proposal was for $5.7 trillion. In December he signed a $1.7 trillion spending bill.”

It’s simply an ocean of federal debt spending.

But why is this time different?

Because now, Henninger observes, “… Americans have one other mega-detail on their minds: an inflation spike that can’t be separated from the spending spike.”

Most Americans don’t want to see the credit rating—as well as our international prestige—of the U.S. downgraded or weakened by the conclusion that America is going to default on its bills and obligations. However, most Americans are suffering acutely at the gas pump, grocery store and in virtually every aspect of their lives with the governmentally self-inflicted hidden tax of inflation which has dramatically shrunk the purchasing power of their dollars.

So, if, and only if, the debt ceiling increase is agreed to, it must be linked to structural reforms which actually begin the process of reducing the national debt and the annual budget deficit so that the nation’s budget is placed on a trajectory such that in the not-too-distant future, tax revenues are balanced with spending outlays, as is the case with the budget of every American family.

These reforms should include programmatic funding cuts as well as the very reasonable capping of discretionary spending at fiscal year 2022 levels while simultaneously implementing pro-growth policies that serve to offset the debt ceiling increase. A great place to begin would be rescinding unspent Covid funds as well as the highly partisan trillion-dollar spending on Green New Deal “projects.”

What we are doing now—brazenly defying the fiscal laws of gravity—is utterly unsustainable. On a bipartisan basis, we must quickly and permanently put our nation back on a path of fiscal responsibility by shrinking the size of the federal government and fostering an environment of economic freedom and growth.

April 11, 1959 — January 27, 2023

Michael Ray Barton entered into eternal rest on January 27, 2023, at the age of 63.

Mike was born to Herschel and Dorothy Barton in Mansfield, Louisiana on April 11, 1959. He was a self-taught carpenter and craftsman of many trades. Anyone that knew Mike knew that he was a hard worker, working up until his last days. If you asked him for help, he not only was going to help you, he was going to show you and teach you, with great detail, how to fix the problem. He took pride in his work and he loved his family hard. Mike was the baby of the family but his presence was big, his personality was big, his laughter was big, his heart even bigger. You could hear his laugh from the other room and he was always going to crack a joke to make light of any situation even in his last moments he wanted to make everyone laugh and that’s exactly what he did. The list to describe Mike is too great but a few stand out; philosopher, crafty, stern but gentle, God fearing, teacher, kind, tender hearted, sensitive, respected, lover of all animals, giving, wise, accident prone (if you know, you know) and so much more and He left this earth way too soon.

He is preceded in death by his parents, wife Dana Barton and brother Kerry Barton.

Left behind to cherish his memory, his son Michael Barton (Adriene), daughters Mathilda Demorest, Dawn Burch (Stephen), Johnette Bourdon, Michelle Weeks, Jamie Lee McClellan (Matt), Annemarie Walker, sisters Lynda Binning Laffitte (Stuart “Boogie”), Kathy Broadway (Travis) Grandchildren Trey, Dakota, Luke, Austin, Jayda, Carissa, Samaira, Genesis, Derik, Fallyn, Isaac, Karsyn, Ace, Braelyn, Joey, Jonathon, Michael Beck, Victoria, Kayden, Alexandria, Noah, 7 great grands and fur babies George, Lil Bit, Lucy, Marty McFly, Speckles, and Duke and a host of family and friends.

Visitation will be Monday, January 30, 2023, at 1:00 pm and service will follow at 2:00 p.m. at Rose-Neath Funeral Home in Mansfield, La.

Anthony Quinn Johnson

Age: 24
DOB: 12/14/1998
Race: Black
Sex: Male

Current booking information:

Description: Illegal possession of stolen firearms. Bond: $20,000

JOURNAL STAFF

Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Commissioner Dr. KiKi Baker Barnes recalled some of her fond memories from Lee Hedges Stadium after Thursday’s press conference announcing that the GCAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship will be held in Shreveport the next three years.

“The opportunity to come here and create the same kind of impact given to me means so much,” said Baker Barnes, who competed at Lee Hedges Stadium when she ran track and field for Minden High School (she won the state triple jump title as a senior and still holds the triple jump record at the University of New Orleans). “I live in New Orleans now, but I’m from the Ark-La-Tex.”

The 2023 GCAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship – hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission — will be held at Lee Hedges Stadium April 14-15.

“We are thrilled to host the 2023 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and we look forward to bringing the event back in 2024 and 2025,” said Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission Director of Sports Sara Nelms, who estimated the economic impact of the three-year commitment will bring $1 million to the area.

“Our community is ready to welcome athletes and visitors as we continue to make Shreveport-Bossier the preferred destination for sporting events across the south.”

The GCAC, celebrating its 40th year as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), is one of only five conferences comprised of members representing Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the United States.

The GCAC membership includes Dillard University, Fisk University, Oakwood University, Philander Smith College, Rust College, Southern University at New Orleans, Tougaloo College, and Wiley College. The University of the Virgin Islands joins the conference July 1, 2023.