News

(The Center Square) – As COVID-19 cases rise in Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards and the state Department of Health announced numbers of confirmed cases and hospitalizations on Tuesday that haven’t been seen since the beginning of the pandemic last year.

The news comes amid updated state public safety guidance and delegated authorities to local government leaders and school districts regarding mask mandates.

Edwards said 6,797 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday, which represents the highest single-day case count since Jan. 6. And 1,390 residents were hospitalized, he said. Only three other single-day hospitalization totals were larger and all of them occurred in March 2020.

“To see this current rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations is becoming increasingly scary,” Edwards said.

Jeremie Ryan has been named principal of Many Junior High School.

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Neighborhood watch signs have now been installed in neighborhoods throughout the Town of Many.

The signs are a joint effort between the Many Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department to keep the people and homes in Many safer.

The signs are notifications that people are watching their neighborhoods and will immediately report any suspicious activities to the police.

Acts of vandalism, theft, car break-ins, and other illegal activities have prompted the police to ask citizens to be pro-active in their neighborhoods by notifying police if they see anything suspicious.

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The Twelfth District, Number Three, Association, Inc. has completed a Feasibility Study for the Revitalization of the historic Sabine High School and will host a public program on August 14 in Many, Louisiana to discuss the report’s findings and future development efforts of the project.

Sabine High School, built in 1957, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its black heritage and significance of the education of African-Americans in Sabine Parish. The site is listed on the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2020 Most Endangered List.

Aladdin is the awesome free movie that Movies in Many presents on Saturday, July 24, at the Many Community Center.

Rated PG, it’s a family movie the entire family can enjoy together. Admission is always free, and concessions are only $1 each for theater popcorn and soft drinks. The movie will start promptly at 7 p.m. Theatre doors will open at 6:30.

Aladdin is a 2019 American film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The plot follows Aladdin, a street urchin, as he falls in love with Princess Jasmine, befrends a wish-granting Genie, and battles the wicked Jafar.

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The LSU AgCenter Sabine Parish Extension Office is excited to announce Beca Breckenridge as their new 4-H Youth Development Agent.

She is a graduate of The University of Tennessee at Martin with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Communications and a graduate of The University of Missouri with a Master of Science in Agriculture Education, Communications and Leadership.

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The Town of Many Police Department (MPD) routinely conducted compliance checks prior to the Covid-19 restrictions which are now beginning to lift. A compliance check is a tool used by law enforcement agencies to identify tobacco and/or alcohol establishments that sell to underage youth and to increase retailer compliance with Louisiana laws prohibiting sales to minors.

On July 2, the MPD team conducted 15 compliance checks at retailers in town and found that ten of the fifteen establishments sold to a minor who was working with the Department. After gathering the evidence, officers returned to the ten establishments and issued citations to the offending vendors.

Police Chief Cheryl Wooley stated, “This is not a ‘gotcha’ thing because we want to assist our establishments to work together to keep our youth safe, sober and successful.”

On Wednesday, July 14, a federal jury returned a guilty verdict against Dillon James Merritt, 54, of Many on charges of kidnapping, interstate domestic violence, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. 

Over the course of the trial, evidence was introduced to reveal that on December 12, 2017, Merritt kidnapped a female in Natchitoches and took her across state lines to Texas where he held her against her will until December 16, 2017.

Testimony shows that Merritt and the victim briefly dated in the fall of 2017, but after Merritt punched the victim in the stomach following an argument, the victim ended the relationship.  Following the breakup, he continually called and harassed the victim.

The Town of Many Police Department (MPD) routinely conducted compliance checks prior to the Covid-19 restrictions which are now beginning to lift.  A compliance check is a tool used by law enforcement agencies to identify tobacco and/or alcohol establishments that sell to underage youth and to increase retailer compliance with Louisiana laws prohibiting sales to minors.

On July 2, the MPD team conducted 15 compliance checks at retailers in town and found that ten of the fifteen establishments sold to a minor who was working with the Department. After gathering the evidence, officers returned to the ten establishments and issued citations to the offending vendors.

Police Chief Cheryl Wooley stated, “This is not a ‘gotcha’ thing because we want to assist our establishments to work together to keep our youth safe, sober and successful.”

Many Police Department officers Matt Cook and Evan Eddington were in the right place and the right time in the early morning hours of July 9, after a female approached them in the rear parking lot of a local convenience store.

The female spoke to the officers and noted that she and her partner were traveling from Alexandria to Lufkin, Texas, when her boyfriend allegedly became physically abusive, took her cell phone, said he was going to wire her mouth shut, and torture the victim before setting her on fire. The victim convinced him to pull into the convenience store, where she saw the officers in the parking lot.

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