Cooktown Rd/I-20 Development Proposed

An unnamed entity is proposing a retail development at the northwest corner of Cooktown Road and Interstate 20, and wants the City of Ruston to participate in public infrastructure improvements in connection with the project, it was revealed at last night’s meeting of the city’s Board of Aldermen. The council voted unanimously to permit Mayor Ronny Walker to negotiate with the developer on those improvements, and report back to the council prior to any agreement.

The developer was not named.

Said Alderman Bruce Siegmund (Ward 5), “Mayor, you know people are going to want to know is this the long-rumored Target that’s coming to town, so I have to ask the question.”

Walker deferred to Economic Development Director Kristi Lumpkin, who had no comment on what was in store for the 20 acre parcel.

The council also approved an agreement with Resource Development Associates, Inc. for consulting services related to the recreational complex. The consultant will develop plans and procedures on operation of the complex, and would likely take up to a year and a half to complete.

An agreement with Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. was approved to begin conceptual layout design and presentation materials for an interchange at Rough Edge Road and Interstate 20. The existing overpass is located about 2 miles east of the Farmerville Road (LA Hwy 33) exit.

Tarbutton Interchange Contract Let to Company with Local Roots

June 7, 2017

JB James Construction wins Interstate 20 Interchange Project – Jeff James to complete project originally built by father

BATON ROUGE, La. — JB James Construction, LLC, was recently awarded the Interstate 20 Interchange and Frontage Road project by the City of Ruston and Louisiana Department of Transportation. Located at Tarbutton Road on I-20, the two-year $25.5 million project consists of new on and off ramps, and replacement of the existing Tarbutton Road overpass bridge. The new exit will give access to the Ruston Junior High School, Louisiana Tech, as well as several large churches, restaurants and retail, which are located just off of I-20.

In addition providing work for JB James construction, this project also has a personal connection to Jeff James, the president and owner of JB James.

The section of I-20 between Ruston and Grambling and the existing Tarbutton overpass was built in 1959 by TL James and Company, the company started by James’ great grandfather. The project manager at that time was James’ father, Billy James. The president of the company was Bill James, James’ grandfather.

Nearly 35 years later, Jeff James was the project manager when the interstate was replaced by Denton Construction.

“This project means a lot to me,” Jeff James, President of JB James, said. “My father told stories to me about the original construction of the Interstate. It is special that the legacy of the TL James family continues today as we leave our mark by constructing such important projects for the community.”

With this project, James also plans to uphold the family tradition of building quality projects. The old bridge lasted 58 years, much longer than expected.

“The interstate pavement replaced in the early 1990s is some of the smoothest pavements in service at its age,” James said.

Approximately 30 JB James employees will work on the bridge and paving for the “Diamond” designed interchange. Other components of the project will be subcontracted to several other Louisiana companies. The company will also be hiring roughly 30 locals from the Ruston area.

In addition to this win, JB James is also celebrating its 15th anniversary in business. Over the past 15 years, JB James has grown from one employee to more than 200 employees across the state. To find out more about JB James, visit jbjamesllc.com.

Ruston City Council Monday

Ruston’s City Council will meet Monday, June 5, 5:30 PM, Ruston City Hall, 401 North Trenton.

Here is the agenda.

Another Shooting in Ruston Today

Meanwhile, the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Ruston Police Department continue their intensive speed trap enforcement for all the dangerous lawbreakers traveling along Interstate 20. After all, revenue generation is a much higher priority than crime fighting.

RUSTON, La. (Press Release) – On Wednesday, at approximately 1:50 PM, the Ruston Police Department received an E911 call regarding a shooting in the 1500 block of Martin Luther King Avenue in Ruston.

Upon arrival in the area, officers from the Uniform Patrol Division located a male victim that was suffering from a gunshot wound. The Ruston Fire Department responded to the scene to render aid to the victim, who was later transferred to a Shreveport-area hospital for treatment. His condition is unknown at this time. Detectives began their follow-up investigation by conducting interviews and collecting evidence. The suspect is described as a light-skinned black male wearing a red shirt. He was armed with a handgun. This incident remains under active investigation by the Criminal Investigative Division of the Ruston Police Department.

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.

More Logan Paul in Ruston

With scenes from Sunday’s parade.

I JUST BOUGHT A PUPPY!
Logan Paul Vlog

Who is Logan Paul and Why’s he in Ruston?

TV crew to film parade in Ruston

by Nancy Bergeron – Ruston Daily Leader

Area residents have the opportunity to be part of what’s being billed as the “greatest parade Ruston has even seen” next Sunday when a television film crew comes to town.

The Los Angeles-based crew wants people to line Park Avenue from the Historic Fire Station to Railroad Park at 2 p.m.

The film crew told city officials not to disclose the name of the cable television show, Kourtney Keim, Ruston’s communications director, said Friday.

Well, here’s his video blog from today:

LOL I GOT ARRESTED
Logan Paul Vlogs
Published on May 7, 2017

Lots of footage in Ruston, and also some of Dolph Williams’ cars at his warehouse on South Farmerville.

From yesterday:

My Mother’s Addiction
Logan Paul Vlogs
Published on May 6, 2017

More Property Bought for Ruston Sports Complex

Ruston’s Board of Aldermen approved unanimously at last night’s meeting a resolution authorizing the purchase of four parcels of land for the city’s planned recreation complex on South Farmerville Street.

The parcels are nearby other recently purchased land between South Farmerville and South Vienna (US 167). The sale amount cannot exceed the appraised value.

They include:

3.52 acres from Walter Don Davis, Jr., appraised for $124,200.

1.92 acres from Patrick T. Spivey, et al, appraised for $10,000.

1.44 acres from Kenneth Sanderlin, et ux, appraised for $4,500.

6.36 acres from Milt D. Andrews, et ux, appraised for $56,100.

See here the resolution.

In other business the board approved a cooperative endeavor agreement between the city and the Lincoln Parish Police Jury (LPPJ) to pave Rough Edge Road between Hwy 80 and Burgessville Road. Part of the road is within Ruston’s city limits and part within parish jurisdiction. The city is to reimburse the jury for that part (about 3100 ft) inside the city.

There was an interesting conversation between Ward Four Alderman Jim Pearce and Mayor Ronny Walker before the vote took place. Pearce asked if the jury donated street repair work to other municipalities in Lincoln Parish.

Asked Pearce, “Does the police jury never overlay any streets within a municipality?”

Replied Walker, “Yes, they have overlayed some in the past few years for some of the smaller municipalities within our parish.”

Walker is a former juror.

Ruston City Council Monday

The Ruston City Council will meet Monday, May 1, 5:30 PM, Ruston City Hall, 401 North Trenton.

Here is the agenda.

Speed Trap: Slaughter, LA

From The Hayride

Needless To Say, Slaughter’s Mayor Robert Jackson Ought To Resign Yesterday If Not Sooner

By Scott McKay

Something both conservatives and liberals ought to be able to agree upon is that the traffic and criminal laws shouldn’t be a vehicle for local government revenue.

Which is to say, it is an abuse of power to see the writing of tickets as a means of taxing the populace rather than to promote public safety. That’s why Louisiana law, in RS: 40:2401.1, declares…

“municipalities and their police departments are prohibited from establishing or maintaining on a formal or informal basis policies which require or suggest predetermined or specified number of any type or combination of arrests or traffic citations.”

Unfortunately, the town of Slaughter, which is in East Feliciana Parish northeast of Baton Rouge, has a mayor who doesn’t give a fig about his constituents and certainly has no regard for state law. Bobby Jackson was caught on tape commanding the town’s police chief and his chief deputy to have his officers write 40 tickets apiece each month, which is about double what they currently write. Regardless of what it’ll take to write those tickets.

Thankfully, the chief deputy recorded the conversation and gave it to WBRZ-TV…

It’s fair to say the mayor acquitted himself poorly in that interview. It’s also fair to say he’s not exactly a leader you’d expect great results from.

But Bobby Jackson, who ought to clear out of his office and go back to whatever private sector job he has on the side before lunch today, isn’t alone. This business of using law enforcement to prey upon the populace in order to raise money for the ruling class, is a lot more widespread than it ought to be. It’s a practice which goes all the way back to medieval times; there is an unquestionable feudal odor to the idea of manipulating the law so as to squeeze the serfs out of their spare change.

And in larger towns than Slaughter – Baton Rouge is a great example – using the cops as a cash generator by hammering away at tickets for inspection stickers and driving five miles an hour over the speed limit rather than having them concentrate on fulfilling the vow to protect and serve is common practice. One of the expected results from the Alton Sterling investigation the Justice Department is going to release soon, while the police officer who shot Sterling is likely to be exonerated, is that the BRPD and city-parish government will come under fire for burying its citizens, and particularly poor and black citizens, under a financial burden with excessive and expensive traffic and other tickets. That was one of DOJ’s key findings when it investigated the Mike Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri – that town was using the issuance of tickets as a means of alternative taxation, and forcing lots of poor citizens into outlaw status because they simply couldn’t afford $500 for a speeding ticket, and so forth.

This should be greatly discouraged. It’s one thing to enforce traffic laws, though those can be enforced by a police officer stopping a motorist and delivering a friendly lecture on road safety just as much as sticking a driver with hundreds of dollars in fines. It’s another to use the police as something akin to mob enforcers. It’s correct that this should be illegal, and if Jackson won’t resign here’s hoping Attorney General Jeff Landry writes the mayor a big ticket of his own.

Ruston Audit Shows Books in Order

Ruston CPA Douglas Brewer told last night’s meeting of the Ruston City Council that the 10/1/15-9/30/16 fiscal year audit was “unmodified” and there were no findings.

“The city received an unmodified opinion, and there were no compliance or internal control findings to be reported this year,” said Brewer. “We want to thank (City Clerk) Emmett Gibbs and Treasurer’s Department for a fine job this year,” he added.

The complete report should be available on the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s website within the next week or two.

In other business, the council approved an ordinance to issue $34 million in bonds for infrastructure improvements in the I-20 Improvement District. The bonds will be placed locally with Regions Bank.

On the matter of the 11 acres at the old city airport, City Attorney Bill Carter told Lincoln Parish News Online that the property appraised for about $90 thousand, and will be sold to Correct Commissary for half that price.

In exchange, Correct guarantees that it will create 20 permanent and 10 temporary new jobs over the next 3 years. Should Correct not follow through, the agreement will have a “clawback provision” to repay the city.

Correct will build a warehouse that will be used to house items used in LaSalle Correction’s prisons.

Finally, an ordinance was approved to annex about 83 acres into the city located between Beacon Light Road and the KCS Railway tracks, just east of Beacon Light’s intersection with McDonald Avenue. The property will be zoned for industrial use.

See here the proposed ordinance and property plat.