News

There are a number of different types of fish that people can catch from the banks of Cypress Bend Park. The Toledo Bend Lake Association (TBLA) and the Sabine Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) challenge youth anglers to test their fishing pole skills while trying to land a bass, bream, catfish, white perch (crappie), turtle, and any other freshwater fish at Fish Fest. On Saturday, June 3, it was easy to spot anglers on the pier, edge of the banks, and even the beach at the eighth annual TBLA/Sabine SWCD Fish Fest.

While bank fishing the 110 youth anglers certainly face challenges, but the smiles on their faces and the thought of winning a new rod-n-reel combo outweighed the obstacles.

“Music is a piece of art that goes in the ears and straight to the heart,” so says the old phrase. Sabine has always had lots of heart and a good appreciation for great music. Now there are more options than ever to enjoy our local culture through lyric and melody.

The late Rod Hopkins worked tirelessly to bring quality music to Sabine Parish with his monthly ArkLaTex Music Show and through special performances during the parish fair and at the holidays.

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The Choctaw- Apache Rising Sun Youth Group has started the summer off by attending the Tunica- Biloxi Pow- Wow in Avoyelles Parish. The youth group travels across the state attending pow wows and representing the tribe.

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By Daniel Jones

Brittany “Triple B” Bennett will make her mixed martial arts debut against Stephanie Foskey at Blood and Sand XXII on June 10.

Although women in mixed martial arts competition was common in Japan since the mid- 1990s, their involvement in the sport here in the United States has only come to the forefront in recent years after an explosion in popularity thanks to the UFC, its show “The Ultimate Fighter,” and pioneers in the sport who exploded in popularity such as Gina Carano, Miesha Tate, and Ronda Rousey.

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By Daniel Jones, editor

During the evening hours of May 28, intense storms and a possible tornado decimated Sabine Parish, causing numerous instances of property damage and leaving large swaths of the parish without power.

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By Daniel Jones

The investigation continues in last weekend’s police-involved shooting of Ricco Holden, 24, who was pronounced dead at 1:50 a.m. on May 21.

Converse PD was called to a location on that night and got into an altercation with Holden, who got into Police Chief Chief Manshack’s vehicle where he was shot. It has been noted that Holden had been tased multiple times before gaining entrance to the car in an unreleased way, necessitating the shooting due to the weapons police cruisers often contain.

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The Sabine Parish LSU Ag-Center, along with the USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Many Field Office and the Sabine Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) hosted a Feral Hog Management Workshop on May 18 in Many at the LSU AgCenter Office.

Chris Pearce, LSU County Agent welcomed the group to the evening meeting and introduced the panel of speakers.

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By Ramona Moore 

The Toledo Bend Lake Association awarded 72 lunker bass replicas to anglers at the Toledo Bend Sealy Outdoors Big Bass Splash at Cypress Bend Park on Sunday, May 21. This was the third highest number of lunkers caught, and replicas awarded in a single year.

Dinah Medine, coordinator of the TBLA Lunker Bass Program, presented the replicas to the anglers. Among the 72 fish caught, two fish qualified to move into the Top 100 largest reported largemouth bass caught on Toledo Bend. One of these big fish was caught by Mike Thaxton of Zwolle, weighing 12.37 pounds, the largest lunker caught this year. Joe Cooley of Florien caught the other fish weighing 12.20 pounds. Ten of the lunkers caught this year were previously caught and tagged fish. Norman Land of Cleveland, Texas, received two replicas, having caught both of his fish on the same day, an achievement not previously recorded. Jason Courville of Orange, Texas, also received two replicas this year.

By Daniel Jones 

On May 17 the Sabine Parish Police Jury met in regular session with all members present. Before the meeting, time was set aside for its newest member, “Charlie” Brown to be sworn in by Clerk of Court Tammy Foster.

Brown was elected to his new position during the April 29 election, winning over Randy Skidmore.

While in session, the jurors went over numerous items pertinent to Sabine Parish.

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The Louisiana Office of Tourism recently included Toledo Bend on a familiarization tour for writers from Japan. Four writers plus an interpreter spent two days touring the area and fishing Toledo Bend. They were hosted locally by the Sabine Parish Tourist Commission and Cypress Bend Resort and fished with Matthew Loetscher with Living the Dream Guide Service.

Foreign travel continues to increase to the state and to Sabine Parish. In 2016, the state had over 850,000 international visitors according to the latest estimates from the University of New Orleans. Canada is the most represented, Germany is second, the United Kingdom of Great Britain is third, France is fourth, Australia is fifth, and China is sixth. Although China came in sixth, Kyle Edmiston, Assistant Secretary of the Louisiana Office of Tourism, says that by 2020 they are projected to move into second place.