News

Central Sabine Fire Chief Scott Gowen has announced that the board passed a measure to allow two part-time positions in the district, which will fill a much-needed hole in fire protection.

The two positions will be ten hours per day, Monday through Friday when most volunteers are working.

“We want to make sure that all calls go answered,” Gowen said.  “We treat alarms and fires the same, so not answering an alarm is as serious as not answering a fire.

He points to historically low numbers of volunteers, which is affecting volunteer fire departments as a whole across the board.

To pay the employees, money will be moved from their equipment testing fund. 

“The two new employees will be testing hoses and equipment at the station but will be immediately available to answer any calls that come in,” Gowen said.

Those who are staffing the stations will be existing firefighters, who may work offshore or be retired.

Members of the Many Lions Club showed they truly believe in their motto : “Together, We Serve” by volunteering their time and expertise recently.

With over 1.4 million members nationwide, the Lions Club is the largest service organization in the world.

Twice each summer, members travel to the Louisiana Lions Children’s Camp in Leesville to provide supper to the campers.

On Wednesday, July 10, six members of the Many club and two tag-a-longs prepared grilled hamburgers with lettuce, tomatoes and onions and all the trimmings, with 100 pounds of potatoes for curly fries, to almost 100 campers at the camp.  This was their second time this summer to feed the campers.

President Jim Cole has been coming to the camp and serving others for a number of years.

This time, he was accompanied by Stewart Carnline, Jamey Johnson, Bart Bartels, Matthew Couvillion and Angela Robinson and Donna and Kenneth Ammons.

State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning, in conjunction with Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, are rescinding the statewide burn ban put in place during the state’s recent tropical weather emergency. The lifting of the order is effective July 16, 2019 at 12 p.m.

Local governments, however, still maintain the authority to order their own burn bans if conditions in their areas warrant it.

“We appreciate the public’s cooperation with this effort to minimize preventable fire-related incidents from overburdening our first responder community as they worked to address the multitude of emergencies brought upon communities across the state from tropical system Barry,” said Browning.

Dexter Reed, well-known in the area as a mixed martial arts fighter and purveyor of storage buildings, will remain incarcerated on multiple charges after being denied bail.

He was arrested on June 22 on charges of domestic abuse battery by strangulation, domestic abuse aggravated assault, terrorizing, and first-degree rape.

Previously, he served a partial sentence for similar crimes.

According to a source, Reed served his parole and is now serving probation time. 

For the time being, he will remain incarcerated and likely have his probation revoked. 

As we understand it, another victim has come forward.

By Daniel Jones, editor

On July 9 at a special called meeting of the Many town council, Assistant Police Chief Dewayne Brumley was relieved of duty upon recommendation of current Police Chief Roger Freeman.

The termination was tendered due to several different instances, including behavior following a contentious meeting between the police department and town council several weeks ago which saw Mayor Ken Freeman arrested on previous charges stemming from an incident months before.

The votes for his termination were provided by James Kennedy, Anita Darwin, and Gay Corley.  Abstaining were Mary Brocato and Bobbie Jackson, who have had issues with Brumley leading up to this meeting.

Before the meeting was called to order, Mayor Freeman offered the public a chance for comment, which Brumley seized.

He began by asking Councilwoman Mary Brocato why she was so angry and shook a finger in his face at the aforementioned meeting.

The Many City Council met in a special called meeting on July 3 to consider several items of business regarding the Many Police Department.

The meeting takes place one week after a hostile meeting held at Many City Hall regarding the same subject.

During the meeting, the council voted unanimously to place three propositions on the November ballot to let the voters decide how the chief of police of the Many Police Department will be appointed.

The choices will be:

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