Ruston Board of Aldermen Monday

The City of Ruston’s Board of Aldermen will meet Monday, November 7, 5:30 PM, Ruston City Hall, 401 North Trenton.

Here is the agenda.

“Smash & Grab” @ Jefferson Corner

Jefferson Corner – Friday, November 4, 2016

A 2:45 AM Friday morning “smash and grab” robbery at a North Ruston convenience store resulted in the theft of several cash register drawers, damage to the front of the store, and the attempted theft of an ATM machine.

Jefferson Corner manager Rebecca Hofford told LPNO that four perpetrators smashed the front window with a truck and tried to make off with the ATM, but were unable to load it. Instead, they took three cash drawers in the store.

The robbery was caught on the store’s surveillance camera. It was also reported that two of the alleged robbers have been apprehended.

There were early rumors that instead of robbery, the incident may have been an attempt by irate local politicians to put the resident Liars Club coffee drinkers out of business. That rumor proved to be unfounded.

Update:  From KNOE-TV8

Ruston Police issued the following release, giving more information on the incident:

“At approximately 2:50 AM on November 4, 2016, the Ruston Police Department received a call from a citizen reporting that a vehicle had just backed into the front plate glass window at Jefferson Corner, a local convenience store. The caller reported that several persons entered the store through the broken glass and burglarized the business. Officers from the Uniform Patrol Division of the Ruston Police Department immediately responded to the area and were able to locate the suspect vehicle as it was fleeing the scene. Officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but the suspect vehicle failed to stop and sped away. A vehicle pursuit then ensued eastbound on Interstate 20. Speeds reached approximately 100 miles per hour at times as the suspect vehicle continued eastbound on Interstate 20. Spikes strips were deployed in an attempt to end the pursuit. This caused damage to the suspect vehicle’s tires, but did not end the pursuit. The vehicle continued into West Monroe. Due to damage sustained to the suspect vehicle during the course of the pursuit, the vehicle exited Interstate 20 at the Fifth Street exit in West Monroe, and crashed at approximately the intersection of Filhiol Avenue. All occupants in the suspect vehicle fled. Officers from a number of surrounding agencies were able to take two occupants into custody relatively quickly. They have been identified as Jamie Howard B/F 31 YOA and Jboski Morrison B/M 29YOA; both from Monroe. Howard and Morrison have been booked at the Ouachita Correctional Center on the charge of Simple Burglary by the West Monroe Police Department. The Monroe Police Department and the Ruston Police Department also have pending charges on both subjects. The crime that occurred in Ruston matches other committed on Monroe and West Monroe over the course of last evening and early this morning.

The investigation into this incident is ongoing and more arrests are expected.

If anyone has information regarding this or any other crime, they are requested to contact the Ruston Police Department’s Criminal Investigative Division at 318-255-4141 or Crimestoppers of Lincoln Parish. Crimestopper information can be given in several ways; either by calling 318-255-1111, text a tip to “TIP515 plus your message” to CRIMES (274637), or submit a tip online at http://www.rustonlincolncrimestoppers.com, but please keep in mind that crimes in progress should always be reported immediately to the appropriate law enforcement agency or by calling 911.”

 

“Unitary Status” for Lincoln Schools in Sight

Lincoln Parish Schools should be free of Federal oversight within the next few months, Superintendent Mike Milstead told the Lincoln Parish School Board (LPSB) at last night’s meeting.

Later this month a U. S. Department of Justice representative will do a “walk through,” after which the final documentation will be submitted.

Said Mistead, “We want to this time next year have it as a non-issue, and then we can make some decisions for Lincoln Parish Schools.”

The district has been under court supervision for decades as to student racial makeup. The original desegregation suite, Copeland v Lincoln Parish Schools, was filed in 1966.

In other business, the board approved a resolution calling a public hearing at the December 6 board meeting to hear comments regarding a proposed April 29, 2017 tax election. Three parish-wide property taxes totaling nearly 20 mils are expiring, and the board will propose that they be re-imposed.

Business Manager George Murphy reported that October sales tax collections declined compared to the same period last year.

A. E. Phillips, Feds Reach Settlement

Federal court orders desegregation of Lincoln Parish public school

KTBS – TV3 Shreveport

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the desegregation of public school in Lincoln Parish through a settlement agreement with Louisiana Tech University.

The agreement reduces enrollment barriers and further desegregates A.E. Phillips Laboratory School, a K-8 public school operated by Louisiana Tech on its campus in Lincoln Parish, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

A.E. Phillips, which opened in approximately 1910 as a segregated school serving only white students, was first ordered to desegregate in 1984. Following an investigation the Justice Department concluded, and Louisiana Tech agreed, that more work is needed to open up A.E. Phillips’ educational program to all students of Lincoln Parish.

As a laboratory school, A.E. Phillips is known for its strong academic programs and teaching, and serves as a resource for Louisiana Tech’s College of Education to train future teachers and apply innovative education techniques.

The University of Louisiana System, the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Louisiana State Superintendent of Education are also parties to the settlement agreement. Under the consent order, Louisiana Tech and A.E. Phillips will do the following:

increase the percentage of black student enrollment so that the percentage of black students enrolled at A.E. Phillips reflects the percentage of black students in grades K-8 enrolled in Lincoln Parish School Board’s schools by the 2020 through 2021 school year;
take steps to expand A.E. Phillips’ existing facilities to two classrooms per grade level to accommodate additional black student enrollment;
develop a comprehensive plan to recruit black students for incoming kindergarten classes and for available vacancies in other grade levels;
offer full and partial tuition scholarships to admitted black students who are eligible for free and reduced price student meals under the federal guidelines;
offer free and reduced price meals to admitted black students who meet the federal requirements for assistance; and
take affirmative measures to recruit black candidates for administrator, teacher, certified staff and other staff vacancies at the school.

“We commend the Louisiana Tech community for its firm commitment to make the promise of equal access to education a reality for all children, regardless of the color of their skin,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Our consent order establishes long overdue protections critical to increasing the enrollment of – and support for – black students at A.E. Phillips.”

“All students should have a quality education and should not be barred from any school that provides them that education,” said U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley of the Western District of Louisiana. “This consent order will have an important and lasting impact for all the students in the Lincoln Parish community. The children of Louisiana should always be the focus. We look forward to continuing to work with Louisiana Tech, A.E. Phillips and the state education agencies to ensure that the order is successfully implemented.”

The order dismisses the court’s supervision of the desegregation of A.E. Phillips in the areas of transportation and extracurricular activities. Upon full implementation of the consent order, Louisiana Tech and the state education agencies may seek the court’s approval to dismiss the desegregation case against A.E. Phillips.