DENHAM SPRINGS • LIVINGSTON • WALKER • WATSON • AMITE • HAMMOND
THE LIVINGSTON-TANGIPAHOA
ADVOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, s e p t e m b e r 18, 2024
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Council OKs loan to fund water treatment improvements Darlene Denstorff AROUND LIVINGSTON
Urgent need for blood donations In the aftermath of Hurricane Francine, The Blood Center is calling on all eligible donors to help replenish the community’s blood supply. Cancellations and closures have severely impacted reserves. Why donate? “Our community needs a three- to four-day supply of blood to handle emergencies like Hurricane Francine,” Billy Weales, president & CEO of The Blood Center, said. “All citizens are highly encouraged to DONATE NOW!” “As emergency room visits increase, it’s our responsibility to ensure hospitals are prepared,” Dr. Tim Peterson, Medical Director for The Blood Center, said. “Blood donations save lives.” Visit bit.ly/3Xt0b9M for more information.
Mighty Moms raising money September is Childhood Hunger Awareness Month and Mighty Moms is doing its part to feed children in need. Want to help make a difference? Sign up to sponsor a child for only $30 by visiting www. mightymomsgo.org/donate.
BY VIC COUVILLION Contributing writer
Action taken by the Walker City Council Sept. 9 will clear the way for improved water treatment at the well that serves the area south of the city in the vicinity of Our Lady of the Lake Hospital. The council voted unanimously to authorize Mayor Jimmy Watson to sign a revolving loan application of approximately $4.2 million for improvements to Well Number 5.
WALKER The improvements will include a process that removes manganese from the water. Manganese, which occurs naturally in some water, is not a health threat but it does discolor the water resulting in what is commonly called “brown water.” Well improvements will result in the city not having to expend funds on chemicals, especially chlorine, that the city now uses to treat the
manganese, Watson said. In presenting the measure to the council, Chief of Operations Jamie Etheridge said the loan will be forgiven and that the city will not have to pay it back. The loan will come through the Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund offered by the Louisiana Department of Health Office of Public Health. Much of the meeting was dedicated to recognizing Junior Marine ROTC cadets from Walker
Livingston Parish Deputy Sheriff George C. White’s portrait has been preserved by his family well more than 100 years. White was gunned down near Springfield in 1890, and his name is now inscribed in the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. PHOTO BY VIC COUVILLION
Retired lawman tells the story of 1890 unsolved murder of Livingston Parish deputy sheriff BY VIC COUVILLION Contributing writer
After Hurricane Francine forced organizers to reschedule the traveling Vietnam Wall’s visit to Walker, new dates have been set. The traveling wall and Cost of Freedom Tribute is set from Sept. 25-29.
ä See AROUND, page 3G
Charles Salzer SPORTS ROUNDUP
Walker running back showcasing talents in senior season
ä See SALZER, page 3G
ä See COUNCIL, page 4G
UNEARTHING HISTORY
Traveling Vietnam Wall visiting
In previous seasons, Walker High running back Cayden Jones has been used some at running back but mostly at wide receiver. This season, those roles have reversed and his running ability has been an important part of Walker’s offense. For Jones, it’s an extension of a mindset in which he is always looking for a way to help his team. So far, he is making his senior season a showcase for that attitude. “He’s been solid,” Walker coach Chad Mahaffey said of Jones. “He was a starter last year, but he was more of a wide receiver. We like getting the ball in his hands. He just keeps popping out of there and making big plays. Its been huge for us.” A case in point was Friday, when Walker was looking for some offensive consistency in its nondistrict home game with Woodlawn. In a game the Wildcats ultimately won 34-14, it was an interesting dilemma.
High School who won two national contests in 2023. Marine Lt. Col. Jason Tubbs (retired), who heads the program and his fellow Marine, 1st Sgt. Billietae Johnson, introduced the members of the winning teams who were each given certificates of appreciating from the city and memorial coins struck in connection with the opening of Walker’s new City Hall. Tubbs said Marine JROTC units
PHOTO BY JAMES MINTON
Cindy Anderson Pigott, of Tylertown, Miss., looks over some items owned by her great-grandfather, George C. White, including a cap-and-ball pistol, before a Sept. 7 presentation by retired sheriff’s Lt. Col. Alden Thomasson to the Edward Livingston Historical Association.
In the three decades following the Civil War, Livingston Parish, like much of the nation’s Deep South, was wracked by mayhem and violence, and law enforcement agencies were tasked with trying to maintain peace and order while vigilante groups sought to keep the Democratic Party in power through intimidation and common criminals were frequently ready to take the law into their own hands. One result of the chaos and lawlessness was that George Calvin White, a gritty Livingston Parish deputy sheriff, was killed when hit with a hail of buckshot while riding home from Springfield. The story of White’s demise was told in great detail by Lt. Cmdr. Alden Thomasson, of the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, to members of the Edward Livingston Historical Society at the group’s Sept. 7 meeting at the Main Branch of the Livingston Parish Library. Thomasson recounted the difficulty he had in researching details related to White’s death and explained that he undertook the daunting project in an effort to determine whether White should be enshrined in the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. Ultimately, his work was rewarded when White earned recognition in that memorial in April. Recounting White’s saga reflected Thomasson’s years of dedication pouring through old newspaper accounts and courthouse record books searching for the complicated story. He pointed out that official record books are difficult to work with because many entries were handwritten and names were not always accurately entered in the books. “Different spellings, nicknames, wrong names make it hard to identify exactly who is being mentioned in some of the old record books,” he said. Further complicating research was the fact that an early parish courthouse in Port Vincent burned. A second courthouse was built there, but eventually the courthouse was moved to Centerville. Thomasson said that some records have been lost, such as some census accounts. The connection between White and the Saturday meeting of the historical society had some special relevance because Maxine
ä See UNEARTHED, page 2G