News

The 2018 Mrs. Louisiana International will be the special guest speaker at the Many Rotary Club meeting and luncheon on Thursday, September 27, at the VFW Hall.

Crystal Barrow, a special combination of beauty and brains, the reigning Mrs. Louisiana and an accomplished journalist, volunteer, and the wife of a broadcasting IT engineer.

As an education reporter and anchor at KTAL TV, Channel 6, the NBC Shreveport station, Crystal enjoys enriching lives and telling the stories of those in the Northwest Louisiana community.  Thousands wake up to Crystal five days a week as she covers and anchors the morning news.  Crystal has been a full-time journalist since 2008.

Her academic accomplishments include a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches.

By Daniel Jones, editor

Sabine is a land of tradition.  Things tend to stay the same here despite the outside world.  However, Zwolle High School is trying something new by allowing their first male cheerleader, Shamar Carhee, to hit the courts and cheer for the Hawks this school year.

The move comes at the exact same time that several NFL teams are also placing male cheerleaders on the roster, as is the case with Jesse Hernandez, who made his first cheer appearance for the New Orleans Saints mere weeks ago.  Men as cheerleaders has been commonplace at universities for quite some time.

Carhee gives simple reasons as to why he wanted his spot on the squad.

 “I attend almost every Hawk game,” Carhee says.  “I loved getting the crowd involved and doing chants and cheers during the games, keeping everyone’s spirit up. 

His exciting and cheerful demeanor only helps build his case.

By Daniel Jones, editor

The Liddy turnpike was the main item discussed by the Sabine Parish Police Jury, as they met in regular session on September 5.

Although on the agenda, Gretchen Ferguson with the Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development (DOTD) could not make the meeting due to the threat of tropical storms in the gulf.  However, the jury discussed the ongoing situation with the railroad crossing.

According to Police Jury President Ronny Bison, there had been a scheduled meeting due to DOTD wanting to shut the turnpike down, and wanted some roads made private in order for them to do so.  Bison continued that DOTD wants to shut as many crossings as possible down due to accidents and not having proper funding for proper safety precautions at every crossing.

By Daniel Jones, editor

Country music superstar Jerrod Neimann recently provided an almost unbelievable wedding proposal for local residents Jared Terrell and Kelsey Funderburk.

“I thought I was just going to a concert,” Funderburk explains.  “I had no idea I was going to leave knowing that I’ll be marrying the love of my life.”

A video posted to YouTube shows the couple on stage, when the singer lets out a surprising statement.

“Well, he (Jared) thought he’d bring you up here and ask a special question,” Neimann says.

The crowd erupts in cheers, and Terrell takes a knee before proposing.  Funderburk then provides a very enthusiastic “Yes!” before leaping into his arms, much to the delight of those in attendance.

The country music singer then goes a step further, offering them their first dance to his hit “God Made a Woman” while the eager crowd cheered them on.

By Daniel Jones, editor

In an unprecedented move, Weyerhaeuser investing both in its business and Sabine Parish as a whole by entering into a partnership with Ja’Darius Williams, a 2018 Zwolle graduate.

Williams begins classes this fall at Oklahoma State University, where he will acquire a bachelor’s degree of technology in instrumentation engineering.

The agreement will provide funding for school and a paid internship at the mill, where he will work during summer break.  Upon graduation, Williams has a guaranteed job at the Zwolle Weyerhaeuser site, where he will operate their newest, state of the art equipment and implement numerous upgrades to the facility.