News

Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook, announced that Dillon James Merritt, 54, of Many, Louisiana was sentenced today by United States District Judge Donald E. Walter to life imprisonment, plus 600 months in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release, on kidnapping, interstate domestic violence, and firearms charges. This sentence is the result of two separate cases in which Merritt was charged and convicted.

In the first case, Merritt was charged in December 2019 with two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Law enforcement officers with the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office, learned that Merritt, who had several felony convictions, had firearms in his possession. On January 12, 2018, law enforcement officers arrested Merritt on a warrant based on his illegal possession of a firearm. Merritt went to trial in April 2021 and was convicted by a federal jury on both of those counts.

In today’s paper, you’ll find a list of name-of-your parish residents owed money by the state of Louisiana.

The state currently has millions of dollars it wants to return to its rightful owners, but first it has to locate those to whom money is owed, according to State Treasurer John M. Schroder Sr.

The list in today’s paper shows name-of parish residents who have unclaimed property of various types on record in the state Treasurer’s office.

Businesses from all over the country are required by law to report unclaimed property to the Treasury each year. Sometimes, the address the company has on record is no longer correct. Funds may be in the form of cash, stocks, bonds, securities, insurance benefits or other. The assets are reported in the name and last known address of the owner(s).

Two years ago, Schroder reported on a woman who claimed more than $2 million she didn’t know she was owed.

“It happens a lot more than you think,” Schroder said.

Many Mayor Robert Hable and the Town of Many happily provided Many High School with three Softball Championship Signs. The signs will be placed on sign posts coming into town at Highway 171 South by Walmart, Natchitoches Hwy. by Many High School and Texas Hwy. at the city limits. We are proud of the Lady Tigers softball team. Pictured from left are Dayton Craig, Keaton Booker, Josh Jenkins and Mayor Robert Hable. Special thanks to Jackie Goodman and Sky’s the Limit for the great looking signs.

Mrs. Eylda G. Thaxton, Ed.S, Principal of Negreet High School (NHS) has been named Sabine Parish Principal of the Year for the 2021- 2022 school year.

Mrs. Thaxton shares that one of the most important elements in a school setting is to have a vision. From that vision, all stakeholders move forward to achieve the established and identified goals. Our vision at NHS is to achieve the highest level of academic success for all students.

Mary Key Brocato of Many has been elected to serve on the board of directors for Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

She will serve a three-year term with the option to renew for another three years.

President of the Board, Kathy Seymour, nominated Brocato. After all nominations were in, the board voted and she was elected.

The Mission of Louisiana Public Broadcasting is to provide programming that is intelligent, informative, educational and entertaining. LPB strives to connect the citizens of Louisiana by creating content that showcases Louisiana’s unique history, people, places and events.

Louisiana Public Broadcasting is a state network of six non-commercial television stations licensed to the Louisiana Educational Television Authority (LETA), established in 1971 by the Louisiana Legislature.

An attractive new sign has been placed in front of the Many Depot.

The sign, which was funded by a grant from the William C. Pomeroy Foundation, reads as follows: ‘ KANSAS CITY SOUTHER RAILWAY DEPOT HAS BEEN PLACED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES IN 2000 BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.’

Many street workers installed the sign at the depot last week. The metal sign is printed on both so motorists approaching the depot from both directions can read it.

Mary Brocato, chairperson of the Many Cultural District Advisory Committee, said “We are so pleased to have obtained this sign honoring our historic old depot.” She thanked Many’s grants writer Suzanne Williams for finding the grant opportunity and writing the grant proposal that made having the sign possible.

“SPONSORED CONTENT”

By Amanda McElfresh, amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

Plans are moving along rapidly for the Choctaw-Apache Exhibit Room at the Town of Many’s upcoming “No Man’s Land” Museum at the Many KCS Depot. The goal is to have the museum open in Spring 2022. Author Dorsey Ebarb Bronson, a member of the Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb and the author of Trail of Tears, the Story of the Choctaw Apache Tribe of Louisiana, and Lauren Moore, owner of Nichols Stores, have donated $1000 from the sale of the book. The money will be used to help fund the Choctaw-Apache Exhibit Room at the highly anticipated Depot Museum.

The South Toledo Bend Water District is investing $2.855 million into converting its existing surface water system into a groundwater system that will improve the quality of drinking water for nearly 2,000 customers, lower its production costs, and allow greater opportunities for the system to expand and share its water with neighboring systems in emergency situations.

The district obtained the funding through an affordable loan from the state’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund (DWRLF) Program, which is managed by the Louisiana Department of Health’s (LDH) Office of Public Health.

“This investment allows this district to look to the future, to provide affordable water for its current customer base and those to come in the future,” said DWRLF Program Manager Joel McKenzie.

The Town of Many will honor our veterans with the special movie “1917” on Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Many Community Center.

The film, about World War I, will begin at 7 p.m. and will be free to everyone who attends.

During World War I, two British soldiers -- Lance Cpl. Schofield and Lance Cpl. Blake -- receive seemingly impossible orders. In a race against time, they must cross over into enemy territory to deliver a message that could potentially save 1,600 of their fellow comrades -- including Blake’s own brother.