THE ZACHA Y
ADVOCATE& T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
W e d n e s d ay, N ov e m b e r 5, 2025
12TH YEAR, NO. 4
$1.00N
Council delays decision of pay raises Leila Pitchford AROUND ZACHARY
Helping others in Zachary With the uncertainty over food benefits, people have been making suggestions on social media to help. One reminder came in a Zachary group. It reminded people there is a little pantry in HugYourPeople Park near City Hall. The poster said they drop off food and hygiene items on a regular basis and suggests donations of shampoo, soap bars, hand pump soaps, toothpaste and deodorant. The poster said great prices on these items are at Walmart and Dollar Tree. Other suggestions include baby, toddler and kids shampoos and body wash; spaghetti; ramen noodles; and mac and cheese. Remember that often people don’t have all the things needed to fix a dish. Things like mac and cheese need milk and butter to make the traditional blue box. Consider giving the kind that already have sauce made. If you have suggestions on how to help people in need in the community — items to give, places and organizations to give to, inexpensive recipes, where to find help, etc. — please submit them to zachary@theadvocate.com.
BY OLIVIA MCCLURE Contributing writer
Zachary City Council members couldn’t come to an agreement Oct. 28 about how much money they — along with the mayor and police chief — should earn. The council was expected to adopt an ordinance that would set higher starting salaries for the
city’s elected officials at the beginning of the next term in January 2027. Although they’ve discussed the matter multiple times — at previous council meetings, at a special workshop preceding the Oct. 28 meeting and again during the meeting — members found themselves at odds over the proposed compensation changes, deciding to put off a vote until their
Nov. 10 gathering. The council must approve any changes to officials’ pay by the end of 2025. State law prohibits voting on such changes in the final year of an election cycle. The ordinance would significantly boost starting salaries: The mayor would go from $85,000 to $108,200, police chief from $69,000 to $89,100 and council members
WHAT A TREAT
Warren Brady ZACHARY SPORTS
Tidbits and updates Softball
Woman’s Hospital mobile mammography coach brings 3D mammogram technology to the area. A physician’s order is required, and appointments are strongly encouraged. On Wednesday, Nov. 12, the coach will be at United Methodist Church, 4205 Church St., Zachary. Call 225-924-8268 to schedule.
Raise the flag for veterans
ä See AROUND, page 2G
ä See PAY, page 2G
Many sports in Zachary heading into championships or finishing seasons
Breast imaging available
At 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, the 17th annual Veterans Day flag-raising ceremony will take place at the Regional Veterans Park behind Lane Regional Medical Center, 6300 Main St., Zachary. The annual event, which began at Bank of Zachary’s main office on Main Street, moved to the veterans’ park upon its completion in 2016. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Darren T. Spears will serve as master of ceremonies, and Lt. Col. (Ret.) Lawrence J. Baker, who is a veteran of both Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), will offer remarks. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Baker serves as the chief strategic initiatives officer and director of Physician Recruitment at Lane Regional Medical Center. Cadets from Zachary High School Army Junior ROTC Bronco Battalion and Cub Scout Pack 46 and Boy Scout Troop 46 will provide the flag detail. Former Band of Blue member and current LSU Tiger Band member Ryan Venable will serve as the program’s bugler and will play the Call to Colors and taps. Zachary High’s band and choir, under band director Donny Alexander and choir director Cierra Fountain, will perform patriotic music selections.
from $10,414 to $12,950. If passed, it will mark the first update to officials’ salaries in nearly a decade. Some council members think the pay proposed for themselves and the police chief is too low. A couple are interested in making health insurance coverage part of council members’ compensation.
PHOTO BY SONYA GOSS
Father and sons dressing as Dragon Ball Z characters, center, are Clint Douzat as Goku, with Rhett Douzat, 5, as Gohan and Abbott Douzat, 8, as Vegeta.
Zachary Zachary children took to neighborhoods throughout the city Friday to turns out celebrate Halloween. The City Council had originally decided to move trick-or-treating to Oct. 30 Friday for because of the Friday night Zachary High football game. But after the Zachary trick-or- School Board moved the football game to Thursday night, trick-or-treating was treating moved back to Oct. 31. ä More
Photographer Sonya Goss took her camera to the Cooper Mill neighborhood to
photos. PAGE 4G catch the festivities.
Zachary Youth Park Director Gordon P-Wee Leblanc passed along information on the 2025 senior softball fall league champs Team Page at the Zachary Youth Park. Team Page had a record of 7-1 and outscored their opponents 164-105. Team Page consisted of Scott Page, Johnny Boyette, Calvin Butler, Wayne Davenport, Gary Dukes, Joel Gilbert, Don Hall, Anthony Howard, Ricardo “Chip” Peters and Ryan Picou. Pride Posse won the Fall Coed league, also at the Zachary Youth Park. The Posse went undefeated with a 9-0 record and outscored opponents 17857. Team members of the Pride Posse were Cody Shaffer, Ty Shaffer, Ty Lipscomb, Joey Shaffer, Dustin Byrd, Jake Lipscomb, McKinsey Shaffer, Lauren Caldwell, McKenna Chaney, Cassie Chaney and Shelby Caldwell Zachary Youth Park will be having a Spring league for CoEd and Senior softball. Registration will run March 23-April 19. The season will take place April 27-June 1. Girls winter softball registration is Dec. 2-Jan. 4. For all upcoming events go to the park Web page. Leblanc reminds folks: No sunflower seeds in the park.
Volleyball The Zachary High School volleyball team finished the regular season and district play with a convincing straight set win over Woodlawn (25-12, 2514, 25-19). Coach Cheri Perry noted said, “A win over Woodlawn was a good ending not only in district but also the regular season.”
ä See BRADY, page 2G
Missing Baker girl, 13, found in Pittsburgh, officials say She was found in basement of home BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer
A 13-year-old Baker girl who was reported missing last week was found alive Thursday in Pittsburgh, and three suspects have been arrested. The girl was found in the basement of a home with the assistance of the FBI, Pittsburgh Police Department, and Allegheny County Juvenile Probation Office. The girl was found with an adult male and a woman from the
Washington, D.C., area. Medical personnel determined she had been sexually assaulted, the U.S. Marshals Service said. Ki-Shawn Crumity, 26, was arrested on multiple charges, including trafficking in individuals, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault and selling or furnishing alcohol to minors, according to an affidavit from Pittsburgh police. He has been denied bail. Crumity admitted to officers that he had sex with the girl multiple times, according to the affidavit. The girl told police she met Crumity on Snapchat. Investigators determined the
girl had traveled on a bus from Columbus, Georgia, to Pittsburgh. At the time of her disappearance, the girl had been seen at the Greyhound bus station in Baton Rouge. When the girl was reported missing, the Louisiana’s Attorney General’s Office Cyber Crime Unit reported to the Marshals Service that the child may have had online contact with an unknown adult male. On Monday, a 62-year-old male, not identified in the news release, was arrested in New Orleans by marshals on a count of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. While questioning the subject, it
was discovered that he was with the child at the Greyhound station a few days earlier. Investigators learned the child was with another subject, later identified as Ronald Smith, also 62, who was located and arrested in Columbus, Georgia, for simple kidnapping and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. The investigation is ongoing. “Further arrests are pending and additional charges are forthcoming,” the service said in a release. “Our precious missing child has been found and is safe,” the Baker Police Department said in an online post Friday.