we saw that...

louisiana cops give late ball asst police chief carl bordelon huge sendoff

no one will ever accuse wst... of being a pro-cop blog but to witness the fantastic turn out to the funeral for late ball, louisiana, assistant police chief, carl bordelon was an amazing, if not heartwarming sight to behold.

perhaps, we felt that way today because we remember all too well the spring 2006 incident he was a party to and the barrage of international criticism that he had to endure.

clip one - removing the casket from the hearse and bringing to the porch 00:37
clip two - pall bearers bring the casket into the church 01:21
clip three - after services bringing the casket from the church to the hearse 05:22
clip four - the funeral procession departing the church 07:09 
clip five - tiny fraction of the funeral procession approaching the cemetery on hwy 165 01:41
playlist direct link

Ball, La. Asst. Police Chief Carl Bordelon of Richard Lee McNair Dash Cam Fame Passes Away

we were saddened yesterday when the following tweet from kalb tv5 appeared in our timeline:

The Ball Police Department has announced that its assistant chief of police, Carl Bordelon, has passed away. pic.twitter.com/DhJrfqHWRT
— KALB News Channel 5 (@KALBtv5) January 10, 2015

carl bordelon is of course the ball, louisiana, policeman who in early april 2006 gained some level of international fame due to the dash cam video of his roadside interview of federal inmate escapee richard lee mcnair.


in 2010, canadian crime reporter, byron christopher, interviewed bordelon - the only interview mr. bordelon ever granted - for his book,"the man who mailed himself out of jail" about richard lee mcnair and his escape from u.s.penitentiary pollock, louisiana.  mr. bordelon was one of several law enforcement officers to whom mr. christopher dedicated his book.

this morning, we spoke by phone to byron christopher at his home in edmonton, alberta, canada. mr. christopher wanted to talk about the time he spent here with mr. bordelon and the influence that bordelon made on his life. they had remained on friendly terms throughout the intervening years and spoke occasionally.

mr. christopher had this to say to any of mr. bordelon's family who might happen across this post: "if any members of  his family are listening to this, i want you to know that mr. bordelon had made quite an impact with me and i'am going to miss him and that i was proud of him. i want you to tell them that."     

mr. christopher played a short clip of mr. bordelon explaining in his own words how the media focus had affected his life.  listen to the entire interview below:


link to internet archive download/listen page


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBEVJZyB_m4

central louisiana board of realtors files john doe suit in pursuit of emailer

this john doe suit was filed on 11 september 2013. interestingly is that it is only the second such suit filed in the 9th jdc and about a week after the first one, daniel slayter vs john doe docket no. 248272 -- which should be available online before long.

the petition, which is unverified, is filed by mark f. vilar, esq., of alexandria's vilar and elliot law firm on behalf of the central louisiana board of realtors claims that someone using the aol email address of board.office@aol.com and on 02 august 2013, "john doe sent an email message to the members of the board of realtors that contained disparaging and embarrassing information about a member of its board of directors." note: the board of directors email addresses are publicly available.

what's interesting is that nowhere in the petition is a claim stated for defamation or that the 'embarrassing information' about a board member isnt true -- just that the email address was created for the purpose of appearing to be an official email address and that "the board of directors does not know the identity of the person(s) who accessed its database and the membership mailing list and who sent the email message..."

that argument seems pretty flimsy. we bet that whoever sent the email message is a member of the board of realtors and already had everyone's email address.

sure, it appears that the board.office@aol.com is an anonymous type email address, though not likely spam.

also, no copy of the email in question was entered into the record as an exhibit. the absence of the email tends to lead us to believe that its contents might be somewhat credible or believable and not the work of a hacker. plus no subpoenas as of the date and time of this post seeking information have been filed to aol either.

it's too late to catch rod noles today but someone should call his ksyl real estate talk show next wednesday and ask him what its all about.

the case is allotted to ninth judicial district court judge harry f. randow. 

audio interview: canadian crime reporter byron christopher releases book about pollock, grant parish, la., federal penitentiary escapee richard lee mcnair

on 19 june 2013 canadian crime reporter, byron christopher, electronically released the inaugural version of his much anticipated true crime story into the fantastic escape and incredible eighteen months on the lam by federal inmate richard lee mcnair. 

wst... caught up with mr. christopher the night of friday, 02 august 2013 and in this nearly 39 minute interview, mr. christopher from his home in edmonton, alberta, canada, discusses his book, mcnair, and several central louisianians he met in person and interviewed, including ball, la., policeman, carl bordelon.

click here to go to the audio download page at the internet archive


"the man who mailed himself out of jail the incredible story of escape artist richard lee mcnair," is available on amazon.com and amazon.ca:

click here to go to amazon.com.

and

click here to go to amazon.ca the canadian version.

easter bunny recycled

EXTERNAL LINK

**FLASH** hummingbirds return to rapides parish la 2013

broad tailed hummingbird photo courtesy ajschroetlin's photos

today at 12:53 pm louisiana time we just happened to look out the kitchen window to notice that our fave hummingbird was buzzing around the spot where we always hang our feeder.

now this is interesting because the hummingbirds in years past usually return around 17 march - we noticed they didnt return last year until 01 april because like this year we had some late cold snaps.

there is no way you can tell us that they dont return to the same place every year - how else would they know to come to the exact spot where the feeder was hanging last year?

anyway heres how to make hummingbird nectar - mix 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water stir until dissolved. there is no need to boil the water but you can if you want to.

DO NOT! add food coloring to the nectar as that is unhealthy to the hummers and might kill them. the red color of the feeder is what attracts them, not the color of the nectar.

now soon you too will be able to enjoy the massive air wars around your place.

rapides regional medical center sued for snake infestation

the petition for damages of staci saucier and her husband joseph, states that on 02 april 2012 they were at rapides regional medical center with their daughter who was scheduled for surgery.

their daughter was brought into the surgery prep area and while waiting there with her, a nurse entered the room and moved a cart that was near the side of the room.

when the cart was moved it revealed a snake (what kind of snake the petition doesnt say but does it really matter?) coiled up and in the striking position.

not unexpectedly, the sight of a snake in there freaked ms. saucier out.  according to the petition she has a phobia of snakes.

ms. saucier fled from the room and struck a wall or the door which caused an injury to her person. also, according to the petition, the sight of a snake in the hospital aggravated a pre-existing condition and caused her great mental distress.

the petition for damages is filed by alexandria, la., attorney w. jay luneau of the luneau law office and is allotted to ninth judicial district court judge harry f. randow.

EXTERNAL LINK

lt gov jay dardenne issues press release to tout management of department of culture recreation and tourism during budget crisis

a few minutes ago, wst... received the following press release from lieutenant governor, jay dardenne:

March 18, 2013

Cami Geisman
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
225.342.1013

LT.GOV. DARDENNE TOUTS MANAGEMENT OF DCRT DURING BUDGET CRISIS

Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne has not given merit raises to the classified or unclassified employees of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism or Office of the Lt. Governor during the past two fiscal years.

"We have a very hardworking staff, both classified and unclassified, many of whom are deserving of pay increases," Lt. Governor Dardenne said. "But we try very hard to use the money we are budgeted to return even more revenue back to the state. We create jobs and earn money for Louisiana."

Since Dardenne’s election in 2010 only two pay raises have been given; one was less than five percent to Obiekezie Agbasi, a State Parks employee who was given additional duties and the other was to Kristin Sanders, an Office of Cultural Development employee who earned an advanced degree and was assigned additional responsibilities.

In addition to serving as lt. governor, Jay Dardenne acts as secretary of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism saving the state $130,000 annually.

--www.LouisianaTravel.com--

alexandria la.'s haynes best western inn & suites & convention center sued in slip n fall

ahh slip-n-falls. whatever in the world would the courthouse crowd do without slip-n-falls (as well as divorces, protective orders and paternity cases) to give the appearance of actually doing something,  you know, to justify their tax parasite existence. luckily for them, louisiana lawyers are more than happy to provide them endlessly with.

according to the petition of mary l. doucett, of calcasieu parish, louisiana, on 20 january 2012, she had just checked in at the front desk of the haynes best western inn and suites and conference center at 2720 north macarthur drive in alexandria, la. and was in the process of looking for her room:

"when she fell as a result of a variation in elevation of the floor, causing her severe pain and discomfort, and fracturing her femoral shaft which required her to have surgery to repair the fracture with a intramedullary implant and which will require a surgery in the future."

ms. doucett "alleges that the damages sustained in this matter exceed the sum of $50,000, the threshold for a jury trial in state court."

the petition for damages was filed on 17 january 2013, by lake charles, louisiana, attorney, terry j. johnson, of the johnson and vercher law firm, is docketed at number: 246,448 and is allotted to ninth judicial district court judge john c. davidson.

george washington's vision and prophecy for the united states of america

SON OF THE REPUBLIC, LOOK AND LEARN!


George Washington's vision has been published from time to time and is recorded in the Library of Congress.
[...]
The place was Valley Forge, in the cold and bitter winter of 1777.

Washington's army suffered several reverses and the situation was desperate. Food was scarce. The Continental Congress was not sending supplies or money.

Some of the troops did not even have shoes to wear in the snow. Many soldiers were sick and dying from disease and exposure.

Morale was at an all-time low and there was great agitation in the Colonies against continued effort to secure our freedom from England. Nevertheless, General Washington was determined to see the struggle through.

"This afternoon, as I was sitting at this table engaged in preparing a dispatch, something seemed to disturb me. Looking up, I beheld standing opposite me a singularly beautiful female. So astonished was I, for I had given strict orders not to be disturbed, that it was some moments before I found language to inquire the cause of her presence. A second, a third and even a fourth time did I repeat my question, but received no answer from my mysterious visitor except a slight raising of her eyes.

"By this time I felt strange sensations spreading through me. I would have risen but the riveted gaze of the being before me rendered volition impossible. I assayed once more to address her, but my tongue had become useless, as though it had become paralyzed.

"A new influence, mysterious, potent, irresistible, took possession of me. All I could do was to gaze steadily, vacantly at my unknown visitor. Gradually the surrounding atmosphere seemed as if it had become filled with sensations, and luminous. Everything about me seemed to rarefy, the mysterious visitor herself becoming more airy and yet more distinct to my sight than before. I now began to feel as one dying, or rather to experience the sensations which I have sometimes imagined accompany dissolution. I did not think, I did not reason, I did not move; all were alike impossible. I was only conscious of gazing fixedly, vacantly at my companion.

"Presently I heard a voice saying, `Son of the Republic, look and learn,'

click here to see george washington's vision.
LC Control Number: 17006485

Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.)

Personal Name: [Alexander, Charles Wesley], 1837-1927. [from old catalog]

Main Title: The history of a remarkable vision which appeared to
General George Washington, at Valley Forge, on the
birth, progress and destiny of the United States, as
related by him to a confidential officer.

Published/Created: New York, C. M. Clark, 1889.

Related Titles: Washington's vision at Valley Forge.

Description: 8 p. 15 x 12 cm.

Subjects: Washington, George, 1732-1799.

LC Classification: E312.17 .A37

EXTERNAL LINK

george washington's farewell address to the people of the united states

"it is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world": george washington's farewell address to us.

George Washington’s Farewell Address

EXTERNAL LINK

anti-fluoridation knowledge going mainstream

recently americans for limited government, chairman, howard rich, penned a piece to their netright daily.com blog project entitled: "fighting fluoridation: fringe no more."

it's encouraging to see articles about the hazard and folly of water fluoridation in more mainstream outlets because so many people simply will not believe anything is true until the main stream media tells them so.

with this article you can now consider yourself as having permission to discuss water fluoridation without risk of being tagged a conspiracy theorist.

as far as louisiana -- louisiana has a mandatory water fluoridation law in effect since 2008. yes 2008 not 1958. this is due to the machinations of corrupt, criminal, lake charles democratic state senator, willy landry mount and her state house partner in crime, corrupt, criminal, monroe rino, kay "bucket of bolts" katz. 

mount's SB312 was signed into law by that subversive rino weasel piyush "bobby" jindal.

EXTERNAL LINK

rednecks gone wild! louisiana mudfest sued

like nobody could see anything like this coming.

in their petition for damages, plaintiffs, kent devillier and ivy tran, residents of krotz springs in st. landry parish, louisiana, claim that on 21 may 2012 they and their kids and some local friends were swimming in the river at mudfest.

eventually, mr. devillier and ms. tran left the swim party (their kids wanted to stay) to return to their campsite to start supper.

about twenty minutes later here comes their kids with a group of four wheelers behind them seemingly like herding their kids back to their camp.

upon arrival at their camp the group of four wheelers began accusing mr. devillier and ms. tran of abandoning and starving their kids.

so they started shouting and arguing back and forth when finally mr. devillier who was sitting in a lawn chair asked them to leave ... "when suddenly a bald man with a beard ... attacked mr. devillier."

then, according to their petition, "as mr. devillier was getting attacked, three other men proceeded to jump in and hit mr. deviller at the same time."

ms. tran went to mr. devillier's aid and was attempting to pull one of the men off him when some girls from the four wheeler group attacked her.

finally someone phoned 911 and the rest is civil court history.

kent devillier and ivy tran's petition for damages is filed on 11 february 2013 by opelousas, louisiana attorney alfred v. pavy boudreaux of the pavy & boudreaux law firm; docketed at number 246,684 and allotted to ninth judicial district court judge harry f. randow.

wst... note: while we've never personally visited mudfest, over the past year, or so, members of our family have repeatedly attended events there and have never mentioned having anything other than a pleasant time.

"the abduction of psyche"

The painting The Abduction of Psyche (which is also known by the French title Le ravissement de Psych ) is one of artist William Bouguereau's most recognizable and famous works.

The Abduction of Psyche was inspired by an episode from Classical mythology, and Bouguereau was certainly not the first to be fascinated by the legend.

Indeed, the tale of Psyche and Cupid (or Eros, if you prefer the Greek name for Cupid) has appealed to many painters and poets over the centuries. But the way in which the artist has depicted his version of the myth is what makes this particular image so memorable.

In this painting, the beautiful woman Psyche is being carried by her immortal lover Cupid.

Bouguereau biographer Fronia E. Wissman writes poetically of this piece: "...she [Psyche] is literally being transported by love." And this, in essence, is what the image represents.

Psyche seems lost in a blissful reverie. She is being embraced by the handsome god of love, who, with his elegant wings and idealized features, seems custom made to drive young women into a frenzy of admiration and desire.

The two figures almost seem as one in this work, and together their bodies form a lyrical arrangement.

Floating draperies - delicate lilac for Psyche and muted blue-grey for Cupid - complete the composition and give the painting a subtle but sophisticated diagonal emphasis.

It is also worth noting that the composition of The Abduction of Psyche is similar to one of Bouguereau's much earlier works, his beautifully decorative painting The Dance (which is in the collection of the Muse d'Orsay).~ source

... cos your kisses lift me higher ... like the sweet song of a choir ...

EXTERNAL LINK

city of alexandria la seeks declaratory judgment determining the validity of ordinance 236-2012

the petition for declaratory judgment of the city of alexandria, la., seeks the court to determine the validity of ordinance 236-2012 {.pdf from page 8), which:

"appropriates additional funds, within the budget of the city of alexandria for the purpose of providing to regular, properly-tenured [employees] for the purposes of the payments hereunder, full-time city employees ['qualified employees'] a 'one-time salary supplement payment.'"

apparently, there is a question as to whether supplemental payments to salaries to city employees violate article 7 sec.14(A) of the louisiana constitution of 1974 which pertains to "donation, loan, or pledge of public credit."

the petition for declaratory judgment, to be served on louisiana attorney general james d. "buddy" caldwell, is filed on 05 february 2013 by alexandria, la., city attorney charles e. johnson, jr., with an assist from, cough, cough, misty antoon, docketed at number 246,619 and allotted to ninth judicial district court judge harry f. randow.

pineville la police department sued in taser/police brutality cause

UPDATE: 17 february 2013 front page scan and a .pdf of the 16 february 2013 gannett/alexandria daily town talk pages a-1 and a-5 added. click here to download the two page .pdf [976 kb].

UPDATE: 16 february 2013 gannett/ alexandria daily town talk: Lawsuit filed against Pineville and officers over stun gun incident

UPDATE: 15 february 2013: louisianarecord.com Police brutality alleged by Pineville residents in lawsuit




some people like to talk about what a great place pineville, la., is but yet their police department gets sued for taser and police brutality all the time. much more than the city of alexandria which has the bad reputation.

according to their petition, on 11 may 2012, fred wilson called the pineville police department from the chevron station located on the monroe highway in pineville (possibly chevron ball 6101 monroe highway, ball, la.}, because he thought (or had, it's not clear), a large amount of money stolen from out his vehicle.

pineville police officers samantha welch belgard and john hebert responded. they kept questioning mr. wilson as to how and why he had such a large sum of money and finally mr. wilson said "what difference does it make?" then according to the petition officer john hebert pulled out his taser and tased him. and then tased mr. wilson a second time while he was on the ground.

janice brittain and donald brittain were customers at the chevron and were so shocked at what they witnessed, attempted to exchange information with the wilsons'.

the police said they couldnt exchange information and arrested janice brittain and fred wilson charged with resisting arrest and battery on a police officer. rapides district attorney jam downs eventually dismissed those charges.

so now they're suing and good luck to them. we'd add that there needs to be an investigation into what's going on in pineville.

the petition for damages is filed on 06 february 2013, by alexandria, la., attorney, paul j. tellarico of the tellarico law firm, docketed at number 246,629 and allotted to ninth judicial district court judge george c. metoyer.

====

click here to download thirteen page .pdf [352 kb]

====

3rd circuit: ninth jdc judge thomas yeager's violation of criminal procedure Article 814 A(45) results in vacated conviction/sentence in 2010 alexandria mall skirmish/shoot em up

of coz no mention is made of how much taxpayer money was squandered on the first trial as well as the next one.

ref: la code of criminal procedure article 814 responsive verdicts; in particular

hawk

one might wonder how hawks ever catch anything to eat cos they so loudly (or proudly) announce their presence. it just occurred to us that besides signaling each other their location and conditions, their screeching mostly serves to frighten the birds and small animals below (squirrel, rabbit etc) so that they scatter, making it easier for the hawks (as you can see at the end when it folds its wings up into a dive) to see something to pick out for lunch or in this case brunch. 

speaking of birds ...

EXTERNAL LINK

winter

UPDATE for 2012 cenla christmas day tornadoes

EXTERNAL LINK

rpso: sufficient probable cause established arrest in rigolette bridge & serial arsonist case

For Release to the Media
FM: Lt. T. Carnline RPSO
DTD: Fri, 28 Dec 2012 09:59
SUBJ:Arson Arrest in Rigolette Bridge Fire of Last Year

During the early morning hours of March 26th 2011, the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office received a complaint that the bridge spanning Rigolette Bayou located on Rigolette Road in Tioga was on fire.

Local fire personnel were able to put out the fire, but due to extensive damage it created, the bridge was closed for public safety.

R.P.S.O. Detectives in conjunction with investigators of the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office immediately began an investigation into the incident as it was believed the fire was the result of an arsonist.

Various leads were followed up, but none led to an arrest up until now.

In November of this year, R.P.S.O. Detectives received information relating to multiple structure fires in the Tioga area, which included the Rigolette Bridge and two uninhabited residences located on Hollowdale Drive.

Detectives re-opened the original investigations and were able to establish sufficient probable cause that twenty-three year old Trenton Lloyd Malone was the main suspect in each of the fires.

As a result, warrants were granted for Malone’s arrest for Three Counts of Simple Arson Over $500.

On December 27th 2012, Deputies located Malone at a residence in the Alexandria area.

He was advised of the warrants and taken into custody without incident.

Trenton Lloyd Malone of 144 Hollowdale Drive, Tioga, LA, was booked into the Rapides Parish Jail, where he is currently being held in lieu of a $300,000.00 bond.

Detectives say their investigation is still ongoing and additional arrests may be forth coming.

If you or someone you know has any information relating to these fires please contact Detective Jonathan Treadway at the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office Tioga Sub Station (318) 640-6000, R.P.S.O. Main Office (318) 473-6700, or Crime Stoppers (318) 443-7867.

"Whenever a case goes cold, you always keep it in the back of your mind and then one day, one piece of evidence or information comes up and our detectives got right back on this case and solved it with an arrest" said Sheriff William Earl Hilton.
in light of the recent christmas day 2012 tornadoes which wrought much devastation to parts of central louisiana such as the garden district in alexandria and parts of tioga, ball & rigolette that after reading the press release a couple of questions came to mind.

is this bridge reopened?

what role if any did this bridge arson mischief play in hampering the responders getting to this neighborhood?

so we emailed lieutenant carnline to ask if the bridge was reopened (we figured he would know if the sheriff's office was able to patrol this area) and was he aware of any reports linking this 2011 mischief with hampering this storm's first responders and clean up crews?

he replied:

I checked with the Police Jury and the bridge was re-opened in the spring of this [2012] year. The only thing that hampered response to the devastation by the tornado’s were the trees in the roadway.