No Struggle, No Progress
No Struggle, No Progress
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Former vice-president Mike Pence recently announced that he has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. The announcement by the former vice president appears to have caught some veteran campaign watchers by surprise, as the former candidate was preparing for the third Republican presidential debate. Pence like all of his fellow contenders was light-years behind current front-runner Donald Trump, perhaps saw the handwriting on the wall and “gracefully” bowed out of the race. While Pence never gained any traction trailing behind Nikki Hal...
Mayor Friday Ellis, along with Monroe Police Chief Victor Zordan, released a statement concerning a shooting that occurred around 10:00 PM, Saturday, October 21, 2023, on Renwick St. in Monroe, hours after the homecoming football game at Carroll High School. A 14-year-old boy lost his life after someone fired into a crowd at the corner of Renwick St. and Hwy 165. It was another shooting incident that has taken the life of one of our young, one that touches all of us. It was unfortunate that the...
There were probably some concerned citizens whose children attend Monroe City School wondering when the day would come when the Monroe City School Board would take some form of action against Superintendent Brent Vidrine. The embattled superintendent is currently under investigation for alleged “misconduct” issues of a financial nature that have not been made public. Attempts were made at past meetings to suspend Vidrine with pay that failed for lack of a unanimous vote by board members. That all changed Tuesday, October 24, 2023 when boa...
The wait is over. After three weeks of chaos, name-calling, and backstabbing, the House of Representatives elected Louisiana congressman Mike Johnson to be the next House speaker. Now comes the hard work of governing. It will not be easy. The big question that will be asked is how much of a difference will there be between former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Johnson when it comes time to negotiate to handle the many problems that this nation faces. Make no mistake, speaker Johnson is about as conservative as they come. He is a Trump loyalist havi...
A local family is celebrating and giving God thanks for a favorable court ruling for a family member. A young woman who stayed at Richwood Cottages Apartments in the town of Richwood reached out to the Monroe Dispatch over what she said were "deplorable" living conditions tenants were allegedly living in; When the Monroe Dispatch visited the tenant, it was during the summer when the area was under an intense heat wave, as health officials warned everyone to exercise caution when in the heat....
It took him eight years to get where many will say that he’s always wanted, and on Saturday, October 14, 2023, Jeff Landry made it to the mountaintop of Louisiana politics when he won the governorship outright with 52% of the vote. The outcome of the race was not a surprise, as Landry was expected to win in a conservative-red Louisiana. Still, many anticipated a run-off between Landry and Democrat contender Shawn Wilson. John Bel Edwards may have just been the last Democrat to sit in the governor’s mansion, as the state has gone further to the...
As the nation and the world “watch’ democracy in action, there must be some leaders elsewhere around the world wondering what is wrong in America. Besides knowing that America has a multitude of problems/issues that her political leaders can’t seem (or don’t want) to fix, the next thing that the world must be wondering is…who elected these guys? When Barack Obama was elected as the nation’s first Black president, a Black family finally took up residence in the White House, many in the world probably said that they “finally got something rig...
Law enforcement officials responded to a shooting that left a man dead inside the town limits of Jonesboro, LA, according to an incident report released by the Jackson Parish Sheriff's Department. According to the Sheriff's Department, a report of homicide was made on Friday, October 6, 2023, by another motorist is extremely alarming, especially if traveling at night or early morning. A couple were victims of a shooting that occurred over the weekend. The October 7, 2023 shooting claimed the...
Shooting plagues continue to claim the lives of people of color and others. An alleged shooting happened recently when people riding on highways heard shots fired near a Circle K gas station in Jonesboro, La. When deputies arrived, they found Bre'unte Hicks, 26, had been shot. He was transported to a hospital by the parish ambulance service, where he died from his injuries. Acting upon information received, the Sheriff's Department issued a warrant for the arrest of a suspect identified as 19-ye...
It has been an uneventful year for the Carroll High School Bulldog Football Team in Monroe LA. Last year at this time, the Bulldogs were having a "dream year", winning football games and headed to a playoff run. But that all changed with one football game. A football game against the Franklin Parish Patriots, which Carroll won, turned ugly when several Carroll coaches were involved in a skirmish with police officers and fans, leading to a head coach and assistant coaches being dismissed from...
The investigation of a school board employee for possible misconduct took a dramatic turn when sources told the Monroe Dispatch that the Monroe City School Board has hired an independent investigator. The board met for the second time last week on Friday, October 6, 2023 in an effort to quell what appears to be some unrest among some in the public including former school board members. The board had met numerous times since making an announcement that a “school district employee” was under investigation for possible misconduct allegedly of a f...
It happened again. The nation of Israel came under attack allegedly from the terrorist group Hamas by a barrage of rockets and other artillery that shocked the world on how the attack was carried out. The attack caught the nation’s leaders completely off guard, though one would find it difficult for senior leaders to admit that. However military experts believe that there was a failure by the Israeli intelligence community to “see” the signs that an imminent attack was going to occur soon. Experts say that the amount of military hardware used...
Things are still tight-lipped at the Monroe City Schools Board concerning what, if anything, will come from the revelation that Superintendent. Brent Vidrine is the “person of interest" in an ongoing misconduct investigation. The board met on Tuesday, October 3, 2023 and one of the items on the agenda was for board members to convene in an executive session to receive information concerning the aforementioned investigation. That particular agenda item also would allow board members to have “follow-up discussions” regarding possible employee mis...
Deadria "Dee" Talton is a survivor. She is a survivor of domestic abuse and is doing all she can to keep other women from becoming victims where so much is taken from someone. Talton had been in a domestic abuse relationship for years, but with the help, support, and prayers of loved ones, she has made it a life's mission to help others. On Saturday, October 14, 2023, Talton and women like her are having their 3rd annual event called "Celebrating the Queen In You" in the Caldwell Franklin Room...
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. A mom attempting to raise her sons because of her disciplining them due to the fact not allowing others raises flags. According to whatever the action, the punishment by the mom in an effort to help her children to become respectful law abiding citizens has deepening implications. Sometimes punishment can and should be excessive while no one ever died from being disciplined. Order under any parent's home is a must for children...
Remember the story of the “Three Little Pigs”? Of course, you do. The Big Bad Wolf threatened to blow down their houses so he could devour them in the end, which sort of reminds one how the recent looming government shutdown played out. There were “three houses” within the House of Representatives that could be labeled as Democrat, moderate Republican, and Right Over the Edge. What is more, there had to be the wolf, let’s say played by Florida’s Matt Gaetz. Why him? Because he wants to destroy whatever House Speaker is trying to build when...
Suspect Sought Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Officers of the Monroe Police Department are conducting a manhunt for suspect LaQuanta Lynch in connection to a deadly shooting. Lynch has been identified as a suspect in a shooting that happened at the Parkview Apartments on September 22, 2023. Lynch is being sought in reference to a shooting that claimed the life of 60-year-old Rebecca Jones. As of press time, no other details have been released as the manhunt...
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed until proven guilty. A Morehouse Parish woman had the kind of day that none of us would want to happen to anyone. According to local and parish officials, an incident that happened on September 25, 2023, left the unidentified female fearing for her safety. Bastrop Police said that they received a panicked phone call from the female where, during the call, dispatchers could hear yelling and gunshots in the background. When officers arrived at the address given, the alleged suspect had already gone. When they...
People who frequently drive on the southside of Monroe no doubt will utilize the Texas Ave. artery, especially when traveling east-to-west. I-20 is easily accessible when traveling on Texas Ave., as it also leads to many neighborhoods on the southside. Several major streets intersect with Texas Ave., such as South 2nd St., Jackson Ave., and North 18th St. Another street on the southside that is widely used and intersects with Texas Ave. is South 8th St., which has been the scene of numerous acci...
Is it possible for the state of Louisiana to elect a second Democrat to sit in the Governor’s Mansion following the departure of John Bel Edwards? Theoretically, maybe. Realistically? Don’t bet the house on it. But as the old expression goes, politics make strange bedfellows. Many pundits will say that is indeed what it would take for Democrat Shawn Wilson to capture the seat over prospective Republican candidate Jeff Landry in the upcoming gubernatorial election. Unlike the last election where Edwards won a second term that had national att...
When conservative political leaders in some state legislatures started passing laws that severely limited what teachers/instructors could say in classes about the history of Black Americans, it ignited a fire that was not about to be put out. We all remember what Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis did when he literally changed the way students in classrooms would gain their knowledge of the struggles of Black people during the time of slavery. Not only during the period of slavery but the decades that followed all the way up to the Civil Rights M...
School has been in session for over a month, and the biggest news to report has been the firing of several high school football coaches and the almost suspension of a school superintendent. Football season practically dominates school activities, with various schools having their homecoming events to instill school pride among their students. But not lost in the process is the purpose of school, which is to educate all students who walk through its doors day-in-day-out. A dark cloud continues to hang over the Monroe City Schools District as...
Disclaimer: All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty. Family is important to all of us. We have each other's back because we are all blood. We defend each other and support one another through the trials of life. Sometimes, it's how we show that support that can get us in trouble. According to a recent police report, Monroe Police responded to an altercation involving a male victim and the brothers of an unknown female. Police say that the victim was involved in an altercation...
One of Carroll’s High School’s biggest events may not be happening at the school. Carroll’s annual football homecoming, initially slated to be played Friday night on October 20, will be played on Saturday, October 21. Most alumni and fans allegedly did not meet the news of the change in event plans with open arms. According to what is being said in the community, the football game itself will not be played on the school’s campus. That is because representatives of Carroll’s opponents have strenuously objected to the game being played on campus...
The Monroe City Council, during the Tuesday, September 12, 2023 meeting, approved the final adoption of an ordinance, a "proposed reorganization and amending" the Monroe City Charter to provide for the reorganization of the Engineering and the Planning and Urban Development Departments. While many see nothing wrong with the Ellis administration reorganizing its departments, it appeared that the method in doing so raised some questions. Community activist Verbon Muhammad stated as such, except...
There are still many Trump supporters who really believe that Donald Trump will win the 2024 presidential election. And there are Trump supporters who want to believe that he will win but know deep down inside that the tide is against him realistically winning the election. But that has not stopped his supporters from beating the drums that somehow a miracle will happen. Even some conservative religious leaders who were openly prophesizing that Trump would win are strangely silent at this juncture of the campaign season even though Trump has a...
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. People, for the most part, tend to get along with one another. Friendships and relationships are born, leading to a lifetime of memories. In just about all of them is the good, the bad, and the ugly. And the old saying that if one can't get along, moving alone can save a lot of heartache and headaches later on in life. Sometimes, that headache could be one that will land someone in jail. A local man is in jail because of an...
It was on a Tuesday, September 9, 2023, Monroe City School Board meeting when board president Bill Willson made an announcement concerning a school employee that he said was under investigation. Willson, in a statement to fellow board members without mentioning any specifics, said, “Based on guidance received from our auditors and legal counsel, the Monroe City School District is notifying the public that notice has been submitted on the district’s behalf to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor and the Ouachita Parish District Attorney’s office of...
Disclaimer: All persons are innocent until proven guilty. A local teenager who allegedly stole a school bus in Ouachita Parish recently and was arrested in Texas was released to his father after he was apprehended by law enforcement officials in Texas. According to police reports, that was the teen’s second time in as many weeks of allegedly committing the same act involving a school bus. The teen traveled on I-20 toward Texas, and when he entered Smith County near Lindale, Texas, he was spotted driving the school bus in an erratic manner t...
Have any of you ever wanted a job so bad but after a while, you regret taking it? Some, if not most of you would say “yes”, while the rest would find another job or “deal” with the one that you have. With that sentiment is probably how Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is feeling right now. Congress has just returned from its August recess only to stare at a looming government shutdown, that if not resolved, will affect millions of Americans. The ones that won’t be affected are the rich/wealthy and yes, members of Congress. Various f...
On the last holiday of the summer, Latoya Williams, 29, lost her life in a traffic crash. Law enforcement authorities said that on Saturday, September 2, 2023, around 1:00 AM, they responded to a traffic fatality on I-20 near Jackson Street in Monroe, LA. According to reports, Williams was traveling west in the eastbound lanes and was struck by an 18-wheeler that was also traveling in the eastbound lanes. Officers at the scene said Latoya Williams struck the 18-wheeler head-on while driving a...
Two people are dead following the aftermath of a fatal house fire that occurred on the Labor Day holiday weekend in Ouachita Parish. According to parish officials, on Sunday, September 3, 2023 around 4:00 AM, Ouachita Parish firefighters responded to a house fire call on Burton Place in Monroe, LA. According to reports, firefighters located the bodies of two male victims inside the dwelling. One of the victims was found in the dining area of the house, while the other individual was located in...
What appears to be a looming controversy over a large sum of money in uncleared checks emanating from a town's general fund led to the mayor abruptly leaving a recent town hall meeting. Saying that he didn't "want to be called a liar" Richwood Mayor Gerald Brown left the special meeting after getting into a disagreement with Alderman Wysinger Cleveland. An issue between the mayor and the board of Alderpersons was a questionnaire provided by the Digital Forensic Corporation, hired by the town to...
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. It is always advisable to settle a dispute as amicably and as soon as possible can be done. Far too often, disagreements or disputes can escalate quickly, making any resolution practically impossible. Disputes usually start verbally and can quickly turn violent with one wrong word or gesture. A local man is behind bars for allegedly being accused of committing a violent act that drew blood from someone. According to a recent...
If anyone is wondering why Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis continues to lag so far behind Donald Trump, one only needs to look at what happened after Hurricane Idalia crossed the state causing billions of damage in her aftermath. President Joe Biden has done what he and other presidents have done countless times following major natural disasters in states where a “show of unity” between leaders starts with the governor on behalf of its citizens. That is when on too few occasions, a sense of unity is exhibited between leaders of both polit...
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Relationships between adults can sometimes become complicated. After all, grown people know what they want and how they will go about doing what they want. Relationships between a parent and the child should be about who has the authority in the household. Even those relationships can sometimes take a bad turn. A domestic disturbance between a mother and her daughter landed the woman in jail after she allegedly beat and...
Matthew Sims had a very important day in court recently. Sims, who is fighting felony domestic charges in a case against his former wife, had the opportunity to ask her questions concerning their relationship, which led to him having to appear in hearings numerous times. It has been three years since an incident involving Sims and his former wife that led to him being arrested on domestic charges. He has contested how Monroe Police handled the investigation. Sims, acting as his own counsel, has attacked the investigation from the start, questio...
Indignities. No special privileges. Everyone will be treated the same. That’s what we are told happens to someone who is suspected of and has been indicted for committing a criminal act. We saw that happen last week in Fulton County in Georgia when 18 co-defendants of former president Donald Trump turned themselves in to go through a booking/processing procedure that people who are facing a trial go through. By now, the mugshots of Donald Trump and those who are facing trial in state court are already in the history books, something that so m...
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. An alleged threat by an armed person is a sure recipe for someone to land themselves in heartbreak hotel. It may also be hot outside, but there are some things one can’t blame on the heat. Guns should not be seen as the first means to settle an altercation, but many do not learn. On Monday, August 20, 2023, a Monroe man was placed under arrest for allegedly running into a fence and making threats with a gun. According to officials with the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s office, Hen...
A concerned city employee recently told The Monroe Dispatch that the city of Monroe front-line workers, the ones that do the “dirty work” are not appreciated by those who give the orders. They are, for lack of better words, “treated like garbage” on a daily basis. The city workers, like those who ride the garbage trucks or those who pick up the trash and work with sewerage and water, don’t have the luxury of working in air-conditioned offices. They are literally “on the front lines” engaging with the public who see them daily and see how hard t...
A concerned city employee recently told The Monroe Dispatch that the city of Monroe front-line workers, the ones that do the “dirty work” are not appreciated by those who give the orders. They are, for lack of better words, “treated like garbage” on a daily basis. The city workers, like those who ride the garbage trucks or those who pick up the trash and work with sewerage and water, don’t have the luxury of working in air-conditioned offices. They are literally “on the front lines” engaging with the public who see them daily and see how hard t...
Another tenant who lives in the Richwood Cottages Complex has reached out to The Monroe Dispatch in an effort to bring awareness to the living conditions that they find themselves under. The Monroe Dispatch reported on the living conditions of a previous tenant who spoke anonymously about what she had experienced since she moved into the complex. In an interview with the latest tenant, this reporter heard many of the same living conditions issues, supplementing what others had been saying...
The Republican Party as a whole has a headache that just will not go away. At least just not yet. Maybe that might change after Donald Trump shows up at a Fulton County jail to be fingerprinted and have his mug shot done by the time these words are read. The spectacle of a former president’s face on a suspected criminal mug shot will go down in history as one of this nation’s most embarrassing moments. Presidents, former or otherwise are not supposed to have a photo of their mug shot next to their biography when talked about in the history cla...
Another school year has begun. There is always excitement in the air as teachers and students prepare to face new challenges and expectations in an ever-changing learning environment. Some districts across the nation are going in different directions, either through changes by new board members or by legislative instructions by the state. As always, the kids that attend our schools will not be the focus of many academic concerns but cultural concerns. The other day, this reporter drove by Carroll High School in Monroe, LA, and saw the...
A concerned citizen is speaking about what she maintains are deplorable conditions for residents living at the Richwood Cottages Complex in Richwood. The Monroe Dispatch spoke to someone who has a relative living there but is in the process of moving and expressed alarm at some of the things that she saw while she was there. She said the manager is allegedly difficult to work with when it comes to making needy repairs. Not only that, she said, but with the onslaught of almost unbearable heat, ma...
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The possibility of any one of us being a victim of a criminal act is a major concern for all of us. We have to remain vigilant and always be aware of where we may be at all times because a criminal act can occur anywhere. According to a recent police report, that appeared just to have happened to two unidentified victims. On August 13, 2023, officers of the Monroe Police Dept. responded to a disturbance call. Officers arrived on...
The last of three Carroll High School football coaches who were involved in an ugly incident during a football game in Franklin Parish in 2022 is slated to be sentenced Monday, August 14, 2023. Drouzon Quillen was one of four coaches who were situated above(not in) the press box. He asserts that it was his idea for the coaches to go back to the Carroll side of the field before the incident happened because late in the third quarter, the game was basically over. He said he was in contact with...
Disclaimer: All persons are innocent until proven guilty. An incident in 2019 involving a local man using a crowbar toward his ex-girlfriend during an altercation led to a guilty verdict following a recent trial. On August 3, 2019, Anthony L. Willis was found guilty of Attempted Second Degree Murder against the female victim after he was accused of assault that led to multiple injuries to the victim. In December 2019, Monroe Police were called to the Aurora Trailer Park on Desiard Street about...
A local barber says he wants to "set the record straight" about his experience while working as an instructor teaching Richwood High School students about obtaining a career as a professional barber/hair stylist. The individual said that he has been in the hair business for almost forty years and has not only learned his trade well but has made a reputation of being among the best in the business. He said he was under a contract to work at Richwood High School in Monroe, LA starting when the...
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. They say that a criminal suspect almost often returns to the scene of the crime. Perhaps their way of thinking is to wait until the heat cools down before they begin to venture back out. Along with community involvement, it is only a matter of time and opportunity for law enforcement to apprehend the individual on their "wanted" list. That appeared to have played out concerning a recent arrest. According to law enforcement,...
