N JUNETEENTH - OUR HISTORY N JUNETEENTH: OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY N JUNETEENTH: NOT JUST IN JUNE!...PAGE 3
THURSDAY • June 18, 2015
VOL. 01 • NO. 09
Serving Baker, Louisiana & Surrounding Areas
INSIDE NATIONAL/FAITH
Suspect arrested in killing of nine at black U.S. church
A white man suspected of killing nine people in a Bible-study group at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina was arrested on Thursday and U.S. officials are investigating the attack as a hate crime.. Page 4
COMMUNITY
Brister, who serves as associate superintendent for student support services in the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, will begin as the superintendent of Baker schools as soon as his contract is finalized. ...Page 2
Business South La Organizations Using $220M in Federal Tax Credits for Jobs, Small Businesses Four organizations spread across south Louisiana recently received a collective $220 million in federal New Market Tax Credits to go toward increasing opportunity in low-income and distressed neighborhoods.. Page 5
Bill Cassidy seeks to repeal ethanol mandate for gasoline
Louisiana’s budget a long-term solution: Jindal’s office NEW YORK - Louisiana’s newly approved budget mostly relied on recurring revenues to close a $1.6 billion gap, a spokeswoman for the state’s governor and possible presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal said on Saturday, responding to a credit analyst’s view that it was heavily reliant on onetime measures. The state’s legislature on Thursday approved a budget that relies on some revenueraising measures to close the projected shortfall, and includes education tax credits of $350 million. Moody’s analyst Marcia Van Wagner said on Friday the legislature closed that gap with a heavy reliance on short-term measures, meaning the state “will likely see continued large budgetary gaps next year, when it has to craft the budget for fiscal year 2017”. Kristy Nichols, the state’s Commissioner of the Division of Administration, who is in charge of the state’s budget and a spokeswoman for Jindal, said most of the revenues and sav-
Republican presidential hopeful, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal addresses an economic summit hosted by Florida Gov. Rick Scott in Orlando, Florida, June 2, 2015.
ings were recurring rather than one-off measures. “Louisiana did what it intended to do, which was to close the structural imbalance
of the state’s budget and to create long-term solutions that close that gap over the next 2-3 years and even further,” said Nichols.
Nichols’ office said $736 million in additional revenue was raised in this budget, of See BUDGET, Page 2
Louisiana health insurers request rate hikes in 2016
Louisiana customers could be paying 11 percent to 56 percent more for their health insurance in 2016 if rate increases requested by eight companies are finalized. The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services this week released the companies’ requested rate hikes in the form of a publicly searchable database. The data reflect any rate hike requests of more than 10 percent on Affordable Care Act plans. If finalized, the higher rates would take effect on Jan. 1. Of the 15 products for which insurers requested rate hikes, all but two are for individual plans. The highest planned increase, 55.5 percent, came on individual plans of from Assurant Health, also known as Time Insurance Co. and John Alden Life Insurance Co. Mary Hinderliter, vice president of Assurant Health, would not say how many Louisiana customers would be affected by that increase. “As part of a public company with sales in nearly every state, Assurant Health does not share that level of detail about our business,” Hinderliter said. Overall, the median increase requested by companies seeking to raise premiums beyond 10 percent came in much
Health insurance rates are likely to increase in 2016, requests from insurers show.
lower, at 17.6 percent. The reasons that the companies gave for the higher rates included increased medical costs, higherthan-expected patient morbidity, increased use by patients and the expense of medical technology in treating patients. Aetna,
which along with Coventry Health and Life has requested a rate increase in its small group preferred provider plans, said “the cost for inpatient hospital admissions has increased 12 percent” and pharmaceuticals “have gone up 22 percent.”
For 152,000 people in Louisiana, the rate boost could average 11.4 percent to 26 percent, according to plan data submitted by six of the insurers: Aetna Health, United Healthcare Life, See HEALTH, Page 2
Sequel Begins For Film Tax Credits
It was less happily ever after and more of a surprise twist at the end of a horror movie for film tax buffs. Patrick Mulhearn of Celtic Studios did his best to express it in a tweet late Thursday night: “If you’re going in for a haircut, make sure Helen Keller isn’t the barber.” The film tax credit change in HB 829 by Rep. Joel Robideaux emerged at the end of the session in much worse condition than proponents had hoped. Now boosters are moving into a new phase, first with an appeal to the governor for a veto and then, if needed, possible litigation to challenge the law. Few were more enraged than Sen. J.P. Morrell, who has spent the past two years beefing up on the movie tax credit program and hosting hearings. In a floor speech that was the buzz of the Capitol Thursday evening, Morrell angrily accused lawmakers of cutting him out of the negotiations and ignoring his expertise. “Today, I don’t feel like we’re a band of brothers,” he said. “I feel like we’re packs of wolves.” The bill consumed Robideaux’s attention most of the day. While House Speaker Chuck Kleckley delivered his farewell speech, sometimes choking back tears, Robideaux’s sight was glued to his cell phone, texting with the key players on the bill. When his colleagues stood to cheer Kleckley, Robideaux remained seated, typing with his thumbs and shaking his head. The deal was pushed to the closing minutes of the session, with the usually cool Robideaux signing the conference committee report frantically while standing at his desk. Among many other provisions, the final bill caps the film tax credit at $180 million annually, down from $250 million. It limits major productions, and, in what opponents claim is illegal, issues credits when expenditures are certified, not when they are made.
US Prisoner Released After Four Decades In Solitary Confinement Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has introduced legislation to repeal the federal government’s Renewable Fuel Standards, which require ethanol or other renewable fuels to be mixed into gasoline. Page 5
INDEX Local & State.......................2 Juneteenth...........................3 Religion...............................4 Business...............................5
The last of the siana attorney general said the state would ap‘Angola Three’ inpeal Brady’s ruling to the mates , who spent 5th U.S. Circuit Court of decades in solitary Appeals ‘to make sure confinement in conthis murderer stays in nection with the death prison and remains fully of a prison guard, was accountable for his acordered to be released tions’. on Monday. Woodfox was placed The ruling would Albert Woodfox in solitary confinement in free 68-year-old Albert 1972 after being charged Woodfox after more than 40 years in solitary, which in the death of a Louisiana State human rights experts have said Penitentiary guard Brent Miller constitutes torture. U.S. District Judge James See RELEASED, Page 2 Brady of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ordered the release of Woodfox The Angola prison where the three and took the extraordinary step men were in solitary confinement of barring Louisiana prosecutors for decades is Louisiana’s only from trying him for a third time. maximum-security prison A spokesman for the Loui-
Page 2 • The
Baker Reporter • Friday, June 18, 2015
STATE & LOCAL Serving Baker, Louisiana & Surrounding Areas
Cops Care commUNITY Summer Camp Days The Baton Rouge Police Department will present 3 one day camps during the months of June and July 2015 for the children of Baton Rouge. Join us for a day of stimulating enrichment, fun physical activities through interaction with volunteer community leaders and motivational speakers. Campers will have an opportunity to interact with dedicated, caring police officers, supervisors, and Command staff, including Carl R. Dabadie, the Chief of Police! The dates and locations are: • June 26 Baranco Clark YMCA • July 17 Greater Mt. Carmel Baptist Church (Scotlandville) • July 31 Central Baptist Church. Camps will be held from 9:30 am - 3:00 pm and lunch will be provided. Activities consist of enrichment workshops/ guest speakers in the morning, lunch with a Motivational Speaker, followed by pick up basketball and other sports and activities in the afternoon, including dance, cheerleading, arts & crafts, and Quiet Zone (reading & quiet games) . Participation is open to children ages 9-13 years old. Applications can be obtained at Site Locations or by emailing LTJones@brgov.com for additional information. This is a great way to cultivate and improve relationships between cops and the community through a fun and positive experience!
Baker School Board Names Herman Brister Sr. as its Next Superintendent Brister, who serves as associate superintendent for student support services in the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, will begin as the superintendent of Baker schools as soon as his contract is finalized. That’s expected to happen at a special School Board meeting Thursday. The terms of his contract are likely to be similar to those of outgoing superintendent Ulysses Joseph, who makes $118,000 per year plus benefits, board President Elaine Davis said after the meeting. Joseph submitted his resignation March 31 and will leave his position Thursday. The vote came after a meeting during which Brister took questions from board members and Baker residents alike. Brister began his presentation by distancing himself from a charter school organization founded by his son, Herman Brister Jr., and others. The Community School for Apprenticeship Learning is the management organization for the school sharing its name, as well as Madison Preparatory Academy and the Louisiana Virtual Charter Academy. Brister said his role in the organization is strictly advisory and he does not serve as an active board member. Charter schools are simply competition, Brister told the board. “Money comes with student count. Student count
Baton Rouge, Louisiana Tune into The Justice Files on WPFC 1550am at 11:30am-12noon EVERY SATURDAY!!! If you have suffered INJUSTICE with Human rights, Civil
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Budget from page 1 which $626 million was recurring, such as an increase in the tobacco tax. The budget also included $464 million in recurring savings, Nichols’ office said. That cut the state’s reliance on non-recurring revenue in half, to around $500 million compared with $1 billion in last fiscal year’s budget, Nichols’ office said. In total, the budget decreased from $25.8 billion in 2015 to approximately $25.1 bil-
lion, Nichols said in a statement. Nichols added that they were expecting a “steady, firm, continuing increase in overall collections” for 2016. Jindal, a Republican who plans to make an announcement this month on whether to join the crowded field of candidates seeking his party’s 2016 presidential nomination, said in a statement on Thursday that the budget “protects higher education and healthcare without a tax increase”.
Health from page 1
Herman Brister Sr.
will increase when academic performance in the schools increases, when we hold teachers accountable. I’m not worried about charter schools, that’s competition. Parents need choices. I’m not going to get upset because momma made a choice (to send a child to a charter school),” he said. Brister said he is confident that Baker schools can compete with the charter schools by offering a high-quality education to students. “We need to care about the students. Treat them like our own,” he said.
“Team Working For Success Through Quality Performance”
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Board member Shona Boxie asked Brister about his plans for improving Bakerfield Elementary School. After four years as an F school, Bakerfield was nearly taken over by the state’s Recovery School District at the end of the school year. The district has one year to improve the school or again face the threat of takeover. Brister said he has been involved in several reconstitution plans for failing schools in his position with the East Baton Rouge Parish school system. The important elements in turning around schools are strong support teams from the district level, leadership at the school level, finances to pay for quality teachers and leaders, maximizing student and teacher potential, finding out how to make each individual student succeed, and holding people accountable, he said. The last remark drew applause from the audience. See BRISTER, Page 5
INJURED IN A CAR WRECK? If this happens to you call Attorney McManus
Louisiana Health Cooperative, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana and HMO Louisiana, a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services said the rates will be finalized in October and, it warns, many are subject to change
before then. Approved rates are to be published no later than Nov. 1. The proposed rates don’t include tax credits that are awarded to customers whose incomes and family size make them eligible for help on their premiums. In 2015, the agency said, eight in 10 people See HEALTH, Page 5
Released from page 1 in April of that year. The prison farm where he held is commonly known as the Angola prison and is Louisiana’s only maximum-security prison. Woodfox and two other state prisoners became known as the Angola Three because of their long stretches in solitary confinement at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. Other members of the Angola Three were prisoners Robert King and Herman Wallace. Woodfox and Wallace, who were both serving unrelated armed robbery sentences, had said they were singled out for harsh treatment, including isolation, because of their political activism . Woodfox and Wallace were former Black Panthers and helped establish a prison chapter of the Black Panther Party at the Angola prison in 1971, set up demonstrations and organized strikes for better conditions. Wallace, convicted with Woodfox of murder in the death of
guard Brent Miller, died in October 2013 only days after a judge freed him and granted him a new trial. King was released in 2001 after his conviction in the death of a fellow inmate in 1973 was reversed. Woodfox has been tried twice in the guard’s death, but both convictions were overturned. Brady said the ‘exceptional circumstances’ of the case had led him to bar the state from seeking a third trial. In his ruling, he cited doubt that the state could provide a ‘fair third trial’; the inmate’s age and poor health; the unavailability of witnesses; ‘the prejudice done onto Mr. Woodfox by spending over forty-years in solitary confinement,’ and ‘the very fact that Mr. Woodfox has already been tried twice’. Tory Pegram of the International Coalition to Free the Angola See RELEASED, Page 5
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY From
ILLUSTRATION SHOWING AN ACCIDENT
Call the McManus law office and get all you deserve
Charles C. McManus A T T O R N E Y
A T
L A W
8520 Scotland Ave, Suite C • Baton Rouge, La. 225-774-5771
charlesmcmanus@ mcmanuslawoffice.brcoxmail.com www.charlesmcmanus.com
Mayor Harold Rideau And the City of Baker Employees Dwaites@cityofbakerla.com
Friday, June 18, 2015 •
The Baker Reporter • Page 3
JUNETEENTH Serving Baker, Louisiana & Surrounding Areas
JUNETEENTH - OUR HISTORY
J
uneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863.
Juneteenth is our Independence Day By James Clingman June 19, 1865 is commemorated by Africans in America as the day the last slaves were freed. For many Black folks Juneteenth – as it is now called – is our Independence Day, that final nail in the coffin of the worst treatment ever put on a people. Juneteenth was the culmination of the prayers, hopes, and dreams of our enslaved relatives, the notice that finally they had their freedom, despite recalcitrant cotton plantation owners who were not about to allow our ancestors to go in peace. Freedom was in the air on that day in June 1865, and millions of Black people still celebrate that freedom today. This year . . . I hope that the brothers and sisters will come out and participate in Juneteenth events in even higher numbers than they would if it were a concert or a football game. Yes, there are sometimes admission fees, but there are also admission fees for amusement parks, theaters, music festivals, sporting events, et al. At those events, you get entertained; at the Juneteenth event, you will get educated, inspired, and I hope infected with a consciousness that will cause you to always support your brothers and sisters in efforts such as this. Juneteenth is about freedom. I ask again: “Are you really free?” Many of those ancestors in Texas, upon hearing the good news, left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They left to “seek for themselves,” as Richard Allen stated 100 years earlier. They took the risk of being killed or even enslaved again, despite so-called emancipation. They were willing to go out into a land about which they had no knowledge and get something for themselves. They were not about to continue to “work for their former masters for wages;” they knew full well what that would mean. The trick of emancipation has pervasively perpetuated itself in this country, especially in our children’s textbooks, thus; it is incumbent upon us to learn as much as we can about what really happened and what the Proclamation was all about. It is also important for us to know the words of General Order Number 3, read by Major General Gordon Granger on that day in June 1865. Many of us celebrate Juneteenth, but have no idea of the details of the celebration. We should know and teach our children that the Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves; approximately 800,000 slaves were not covered by the proclamation, and the rest were in states that had seceded from the Union, so those states simply ignored Abraham Lincoln’s order. The power of words is important, however, and even though the 13th Amendment was not ratified until December 1865, the brothers and sisters in Galveston heard loud and clear the words, “all slaves are free,” and they took it from there. One hundred and forty-four years later, we should ask ourselves, “What are we celebrating?” Our ancestors celebrated physical freedom. Shouldn’t our celebration be about psychological freedom by now? Our brothers and sisters celebrated the right to leave and explore new lands and new opportunities. Is it not our obligation to celebrate ownership of income-producing assets and having realized the opportunities our parents and grandparents passed on to us? They celebrated life in its simplest form when their chains were broken. With all of our excess, are we celebrating their lives, their sacrifices, their pain and suffering on our behalf? My call to you this year is as it has been for many years now. Celebrate the freedom of our ancestors with the understanding that they wanted us to be free as well. Have we done our jobs the way they did theirs? Are we free if we continue to allow crooked, greedy politicians to use us as political pawns? Are we free if we continue to settle for the economic crumbs from the master’s table in the form of parties, football games, concerts, and dysfunctional programs that only demonstrate and perpetuate our dysfunction? Are we free if we continue to allow our brothers and sisters to be beat down, shot down, and abused by racist police officers? Are we free if we continue to allow our children to be shot down by their peers, as we impotently look on and do nothing but complain about it? Are we free if we allow drugs and guns free access into our neighborhoods? Are we free if we allow or children to be mis-educated by teachers who only teach our children to grow up and work for their children? Are we free when we settle for minority programs, pass-through contracts, and 20 percent allocations for subcontracts, rather than development and control? Are we free if we allow our most heralded leaders, especially our supposed moral leaders, to traipse after immoral acts and attach themselves to immoral people? When you celebrate freedom this year, ask yourself, “Is it for real this time? “ If it’s not, commit to doing something to get your freedom. ders for our freedom. We must write our own general orders, and start our march, albeit very late, toward true freedom! James Clingman, is an adjunct professor, former editor and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African-American Chamber of Commerce. He hosts the radio program, “Blackonomics,” and has written several books. To contact Clingman, go to his web site, www. blackonomics.com.
The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance. Later attempts to explain this two and a half year delay in the receipt of this important news have yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years. Often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom. Another, is that the news was deliberately withheld by the enslavers to maintain the labor force on the plantations. And still another, is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. All or none of them could be true. For whatever the reason, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what was statutory. GENERAL ORDER NUMBER 3 One of General Granger’s first orders of business was to read to the people of Texas, General Order Number 3 which began most significantly with: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection
This stunning photograph shows the hands of a slave. The slave was Mr. Henry Brooks, of Parks Ferry Road, Greene County Georgia. The photograph was taken by Jack Delano, and taken in 1941. Mr Brooks was a slave when he was a young man. heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.” The reactions to this profound news ranged from pure shock to immediate jubilation. While many lingered to learn of this new employer to employee relationship, many left before these offers were completely off the lips of their former ‘masters’ - attesting to the varying conditions on the plantations and the realization of freedom. Even with nowhere to go, many felt that leaving the plantation would
be their first grasp of freedom. North was a logical destination and for many it represented true freedom, while the desire to reach family members in neighboring states drove some into Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Settling into these new areas as free men and women brought on new realities and the challenges of establishing a heretofore nonexistent status for Black people in America. Recounting the memories of that great day in June of 1865 and its festivities would serve as
motivation as well as a release from the growing pressures encountered in their new territory. The celebration of June 19th was coined “Juneteenth” and grew with more participation from descendants. The Juneteenth celebration was a time for reassuring each other, for praying and for gathering remaining family members. Juneteenth continued to be highly revered in Texas decades later, with many former slaves and descendants making an annual pilgrimage back to Galveston on this date.
Juneteenth is not just for June! Each February, a celebration explodes in the African-American community, emphasizing the shared history of a people, rich in culture and phenomenal achievements– past and present. The key component of this yearly observance is the innate history lesson. An integral part of the history lesson is the Juneteenth celebration. Juneteenth, or June 19, 1865, is considered the date when the last slaves in America were freed. Although the rumors of freedom were widespread prior to June 19, actual emancipation was not confirmed until General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas and issued General Order Number 3, almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. That day has since become known as Juneteenth, a name derived from a portmanteau of the words June and nineteenth. Former slaves in Galveston rejoiced in the streets with jubilant celebrations. Juneteenth celebrations began in Texas the following year. Across many parts of Texas, freed people pooled their funds to purchase land specifically for their communities’ increasingly large Juneteenth gatherings – including Houston’s Emancipation Park, Mexia’s Booker T. Washington Park, and Emancipation Park in Austin. Juneteenth celebrations include a wide range of festivities, such as parades, street fairs, cookouts, or park parties and include such things as music and dancing or even contests of physical strength and intellect. Baseball and other popular American games may also be played. Juneteenth has come to symbolize for many AfricanAmericans what the Fourth of July symbolizes for all Americans – Freedom. As of May 2009, 31 states and the District of Columbia have recognized Juneteenth as either
This is a photograph slaves in Richmond, Virginia. The photograph appears to be taken shortly after the fall of Richmond, in April, 1865. The picture appears to be of a family, but only men and children are seen . . . the fate of the mother is unknown. The photograph was undoubtedly taken shortly after these people obtained their freedom. The ruins of Richmond can be seen in the background.
a state holiday or state holiday observance; these include Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. On April 10, 1997, an unprecedented Resolution (S.J. 11), where the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Congress adopted legislation officially recognizing June 19th as
Juneteenth Independence Day and encouraged its observance. Just as Black History should be celebrated all year long, Juneteenth should be recognized – not only in June– but also throughout the year!
Page 4 • The
Baker Reporter • Friday, June 18, 2015
FAITH Serving Baker, Louisiana & Surrounding Areas
I’m Totally Tired With El Negativity By Dr. James L. Snyder I will admit throughout the years I have had my negative moments and some negative rants. I know nobody can be 100% positive. I am 100% positive they cannot be 100% positive. In the husband and wife relationship, some call it marriage, there is both a positive and a negative. Some days it seems to be all negative. Then there are those wonderful days when it seems to be all positive. I really like those days. Every relationship has its ups and downs; times when you get along and then there are times that you do not get along. However, I if you accent the positive in a relationship and sort of put the negative in the back closet, things seem to go along much more smoothly. I try to keep up with the stories on the news. It seems that you cannot get away from the news these days with all of this 24/7 exposure. I think it might be great, although it will not last very long, to have a news program some time devoted just to “good news.” The way things are today, I do not know if there is any good news out there. All we hear is the bad. The worse the news, the more publicity it gets on the media. Then there is politics. I think there could be something positive to say about politics, but at this moment, nothing really comes to my mind. I will give this a lot of thought (actually not too much thought) and just see if there is anything positive I can say about politics. For every positive you might find in politics, there are at least a dozen negative votes that
completely swamp the positive. Of course, if you could get the negative and the positive together in politics, it would be a rather shocking experience. The thing that is wrong with politics is simply politicians. To find a politician balanced is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The problem with looking for a needle in a haystack is that when you find the needle you are stuck with it. Religion is also full of negativity. I am tired of all the negative comments that come out of the mouth of people who are religious. I think religion, for the most part, has more negatives than positives. In fact, I think they know more about the negatives and have forgotten completely about anything positive. But that is the nature of religion. The problem with religion is the same problem with politics. If we just get rid of leaders in our country today who are all negative, we might have a chance of looking on a positive future. The only positive I see today is in Christianity. Not the Christianity of religion; that’s a given that it is more negative than positive. But the Christianity that focuses on the person of Jesus Christ. I choose to be a follower of Jesus. Can I get an Amen? Jesus had a positive message. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). I know can we cannot be 100% positive, but I think we should focus a little more on the positive and really enjoy the rest God has for us.
JESUS: THE WAY FULL GOSPEL CHURCH HOUSE WARMING WORSHIP Baker, Louisiana – On July 19, 2015 Jesus: The Way Full Gospel Church will be hosting its House Warming Worship at 3pm. The church is located at 1700 McHugh Road and is pastored by Elder Oscar Braxton.
Suspect arrested in killing of nine at black U.S. church
A white man suspected of killing nine people in a Biblestudy group at a historic AfricanAmerican church in Charleston, South Carolina was arrested on Thursday and U.S. officials are investigating the attack as a hate crime. Law enforcement officials detained alleged gunman Dylann Roof, 21, after a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina, about 220 miles (350 km) north of Charleston, said police chief Gregory Mullen. Wednesday’s mass shooting, which occurred after the suspect had sat with parishioners at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church for an hour, follows months of protests over killings of black men which have shaken the United States. In a Facebook profile apparently belonging to Roof, a portrait showed him wearing a jacket emblazoned with the flags of apartheid-era South Africa and of the former Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, both formerly ruled by white minorities. The victims, six females and three males, included Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who was the church’s 41-year-old pastor and a Democratic member of the state Senate. A man who identified himself as Carson Cowles, Roof’s uncle, told Reuters that Roof’s father had recently given him a .45-caliber handgun as a birthday present and that Roof had seemed adrift. “I don’t have any words for it,” Cowles, 56, said in a telephone interview. “Nobody in my family had seen anything like this coming.” Sylvia Johnson, a cousin of Pinckney, told MSNBC that a survivor told her the gunman reloaded five times during the attack despite pleas for him to stop. “He just said, ‘I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country,” Johnson said.
New York, Baltimore, Ferguson, Missouri and other cities following police killings of unarmed black men including Eric Garner, Freddie Gray and Michael Brown. A white police officer was charged with murder after he shot Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, in the back in April in neighboring North Charleston. The 197-year-old church nicknamed “Mother Emanuel” is one of the oldest AfricanAmerican Episcopal churches in the southeastern United States. It was burned to the ground in the late 1820s after a slave revolt led by one of its founders. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which researches U.S. hate groups, said the attack illustrates the dangers that home-grown extremists pose. “Since 9/11, our country has
been fixated on the threat of Jihadi terrorism. But the horrific tragedy at the Emanuel AME reminds us that the threat of homegrown domestic terrorism is very real,” the group said in a statement, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Other victims included Cynthia Hurd, a 31-year veteran of the Charleston County Public Library, and Sharonda Coleman Singleton, an associate pastor at the church, according to statements by the library and Charleston Southern University, attended by Singleton’s son. Five of the dead, four women and one man, were ministers at the church, said William Dudley Gregorie, a Charleston city councilman, as he left a memorial vigil. “This is going to put a lot of concern to every black church when guys have to worry about getting shot in the church,” said Tamika Brown while waiting for a prayer vigil at an AME church near the site of the shooting. “They might need security guards, police officers.” Churches around Charleston were packed at midday, with crowds spilling out into the city’s streets. Eight victims were found dead in the church, Mullen said, and a ninth died after being taken to hospital. Three people survived the attack. Roof was charged on two separate occasions earlier this year with a drug offense and trespassing, according to court documents. Roof’s mother, Amy, declined to comment when reached by phone. “We will be doing no interviews, ever,” she said before hanging up. “It is a very, very sad day in South Carolina,” Governor Nikki Haley, a Republican, told reporters. “Parents are having to explain to their kids how they can go to church and feel safe, and that’s not something we ever thought we’d deal with.”
Hightime Evangelistic Center 9240 Pettit Rd Baker, LA 70714
New Light Baptist Church 17954 S Spur Ln Baker, LA 70714
St Pauls Free Baptist Church 2064 Groom Rd Baker, LA 70714
Holy Trinity Baptist Church 4201 S Morvant Pl Baker, LA 70714
Northside Baptist Church 2400 Debra Dr Baker, LA 70714
Dylann Roof is pictured in this undated booking photo provided by the Lexington County Sheriff’ Department. Roof, a 21-year-old white gunman accused of killing nine people at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, was arrested on June 18, 2015
Police said Roof was armed with a handgun but surrendered quietly when he was stopped. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said her office was investigating whether to charge Roof with a hate crime motivated by racial or other prejudice. Under federal and some state laws, such crimes typically carry harsher penalties, but South Carolina is one of just five U.S. states not to have a hate-crimes law. “The fact that this took place in a black church obviously raises questions about a dark part of our history,” U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters. “Once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun.” Demonstrations have rocked
BAKER, LOUISIANA
CHURCH DIRECTORY
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. - Hebrews 10:25 Assembly of God Baker Church 3919 Groom Rd Baker, LA 70714 Baker Christian Church 5512 Groom Rd Baker, LA 70714 Baker Church of The Nazarene 4366 Groom Rd Baker, LA 70714 Baker Presbyterian Church 3015 Groom Rd Baker, LA 70714 Bethany Cell Church Network 5280 Groom Rd Baker, LA 70714 Bethany World Prayer Center 13855 Plank Rd Baker, LA 70714
Bethel Full Gospel Baptist Church 5160 Groom Road Baker, LA 70714 Blackwater United Methodist Church 10000 Blackwater Rd Baker, LA 70714
Family Outreach Christian Center 201 Sherron Ave Baker, LA 70714 First United Methodist Church of Baker 1255 Camelia Ave Baker, LA 70714
Church of Christ Baker Blvd 4110 Baker Blvd Baker, LA 70714
Freedom Land Missionary Baptist Church 2322 Chamberlain Ave Baker, LA 70714
Circle Baptist Church 13285 Morvant Rd Baker, LA 70714
Friendship Baptist Church 10011 Comite Dr Baker, LA 70714
Cornerstone Fellowship 9611 Blackwater Rd Baker, LA 70714
Grace Pentecostal Church 4669 Groom Rd Baker, LA 70714
Faith Baptist Church 15880 Plank Rd Baker, LA 70714
Harding Street Baptist Church 4345 Harding St Baker, LA 70714
Kingdom Hall of Jehovahs Witness 2160 Main St Baker, LA 70714 Kingdom Hall of Jehovahs Witness 12842 Plank Rd Baker, LA 70714 Miracle Place Church 208 Main St Baker, LA 70714 New Beginnings Church of God 1124 Georgia St Baker, LA 70714
Open Faith Door 2550 N Day Dr Baker, LA 70714 Preeminent Life World Ministry 12753 Plank Rd Baker, LA 70714 Rock Zion Baptist Church 3270 Monroe St Baker, LA 70714 Shady Grove Baptist Church 16443 Plank Rd Baker, LA 70714
To place your church in the Baker, La. Church Directory call The Baker Reporter @ thebakerreporter@yahoo.com or call 225-775-2002
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 4901 Harding St Baker, LA 70714 The Greater United Baptist Church 2602 Main St Baker, LA 70714 Trinity Methodist Protestant Church 5825 Groom Rd Baker, LA 70714 Wayside Christian Fellowship 201 Sherron Ave Baker, LA 70714
Friday, June 18, 2015 •
Bill Cassidy seeks to repeal ethanol mandate for gasoline
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., wants to repeal the federal Renewable Fuel Standards program.
WASHINGTON – Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has introduced legislation to repeal the federal government’s Renewable Fuel Standards, which require ethanol or other renewable fuels to be mixed into gasoline. “Workers, refiners, producers, farmers and ranchers across the country are affected by the Renewable Fuel Standard,” Cassidy said. “More mandates mean less jobs. It means families are paying more for gas and groceries. American energy production is increasing and fuel efficient technologies are improving. Our workers need policies that help move our energy, farming and manufacturing industries forward—that starts by repealing the RFS.” The Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the program, said the program helps reduce greenhouse gases linked to climate change and reduce the need for imported petroleum. It is moving to expand the required renewable fuel mix from 9 billion gallons to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Cassidy said the requirement increases the cost of corn, which generates ethanol. The result is higher costs for food products, particularly meat. He also said the EPA’s mandate overestimates how much ethanol consumers are willing to buy, or that gasoline can handle. Cassidy’s office said the freshman senator’s legislation is backed by the American En-
ergy Alliance, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, American Sportfishing Association, Milk Producers Council and National Council of Chain Restaurants, among others. Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, disputes Cassidy’s negative assessment of the renewable fuel standards program, saying it has been “a boon for consumers, the economy and environment.” “The RFS gives consumers choices at the gas pump, it provides jobs for those who produce our nation’s feed and fiber, and it reduces our nation’s dependence on foreign oil,” Dinneen said. He also said Cassidy’s bill that boosts oil and gas producers isn’t in the best interest of Louisiana, “given that the BP oil spill has not only hurt the Louisiana’s economy but has also caused unprecedented damage to the state’s seafood industry.” Scott Gudes, vice president of the American Sportfishing Association, said that ethanol mandates have “imposed potentially disastrous consequences on consumers, such as anglers and boaters.” “The American Sportfishing Association applauds the senator ’s actions to protect engines from high ethanol blends of gasoline and block the implementation of a policy that does more harm than good,” Gudes said.
Released from page 2 3, who is working with Woodfox’s lawyers on his release, said they are all ‘thrilled that justice has come for our innocent friend’. Woodfox is in solitary confinement at a prison in St Francisville, Louisiana, and awaiting trial. His lawyers were headed there Monday to seek his release. Pegram said Woodfox gets to exercise for one hour three times a week during his confinement at the West Feliciana Parish Detention Center. He has a television to watch and a shower in his cell, she added. Of Brady’s order for an unconditional release, Pegram said, ‘I call it the unicorn. It’s almost never done’. Jasmine Heiss, a senior campaigner with Amnesty International USA, called Brady’s ruling ‘a momentous step toward justice’.
Heiss said Woodfox has been ‘trapped in a legal process riddled with flaws’. ‘The only humane action that the Louisiana authorities can take now is to ensure his immediate release.’ At the same time, though, state prosecutors were working to keep Woodfox in prison. Aaron Sadler, a spokesman for Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, said the state was seeking an emergency stay of Brady’s ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. ‘With today’s order, the court would see fit to set free a twice-convicted murderer,’ Sadler said. ‘This order arbitrarily sets aside jury decisions and gives a free pass to a murderer based on faulty procedural issues.’
Brister from page 2 One mistake Brister felt was made in East Baton Rouge Parish was being too quick to close schools, bowing to what he called “outside influences.” “We could have fought a little harder,” he said. Brister was the sole candidate brought in for an interview with the board out of eight candidates. He graduated from South-
ern University in 1976, received a master’s degree in special education from LSU in 1979 and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2007. He has held various positions in the East Baton Rouge Parish school system since 1997, including principal of Capitol Middle School.
Health from page 2 who purchased plans through HealthCare.gov received an average premium tax credit of $263 per person per month. “In addition, 8 in 10 consumers in the HealthCare.gov
states had access to a plan for less than $100 per month after tax credits, and around 7 in 10 had access to a plan for less than $50 a month,” the agency wrote in its news release.
The Baker Reporter • Page 5
BUSINESS Serving Baker, Louisiana & Surrounding Areas
South Louisiana Organizations Using $220M in Federal Tax Credits for Jobs, Small Businesses Four organizations spread across south Louisiana recently received a collective $220 million in federal New Market Tax Credits to go toward increasing opportunity in low-income and distressed neighborhoods. The program is intended to help economically distressed neighborhoods become attractive to private investment capital, and fill any project financing gaps. Government officials hope the program will ultimately help increase the amount of jobs in a community, access to public facilities, services, healthy food, affordable housing, education and technology. Among the 76 total organizations to receive federal New Market Tax Credits Nationally, were New Orleans-based Capital One Community Renewal Fund, Enhanced Community Development and AMCREF Community Capital. Baton Rouge-based Stonehenge Community Development also received its share. Stonehenge Community Development plans to spread its $25 million in tax credits across Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Utah and Nevada. Since 2003, Stonehenge has gained $625.5 million in federal new market tax credits. Officials say they plan to invest in community service nonprofit organizations and small businesses
Business groups disappointed by outcome of 2015 session The 2015 legislative session may not go down in history as the single-worst session for the state’s business community, but it was one of the worst, according to business leaders who weighed in on the session today. In a recap of the six-week session, which ended June 11, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber says bills passed to help balance the state’s $1.6 billion budget shortfall have set the state’s business climate back and decreased Louisiana’s overall competitiveness. “The best we can say is the Legislature increased business taxes less than the governor sought to do,” says the BRAC Legislative Review. “While some positive steps were taken and some much worse outcomes were avoided … describing the session as a missed opportunity would be an exercise in understatement.” Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack puts it this way: “You’re talking about $2.2 billion over five years that will be falling primarily on the backs of business. By no means can you call that a successful session.” The biggest problem with the session, from the business community’s perspective, is a series of legislation that reduces business tax credits, exclusions and rebates. Among other things, those bills will cut the digital interactive media and software tax credit, angel investor tax credit and the inventory tax credit. They will also cap the motion picture tax credit at $180 million a year for the next three years, gut the solar tax credit program, reduce the Corporate Headquarter Relocation Program rebate and limit which businesses are eligible for participation in the Enterprise Zone program. “The Legislature did not try to balance the state’s economic competitiveness or balance the increase in taxes between business and non-business payers,” BRAC says. “Instead the Legislature primarily sought to enact changes on business in lieu of enacting fairer structural changes to the tax code.”
Four organizations spread across south Louisiana recently received a collective $220 million in federal New Market Tax Credits to go toward increasing opportunity in low-income and distressed neighborhoods.
impacting minorities and that could create jobs. Capital One Community Renewal Fund will use its $55 million in tax credits to invest in projects providing quality health care, education, job training and placement programs. It’ll also use part of its tax credits to provide low-income families access to healthy food. The fund serves Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Virginia, New York and Washington, D.C. Capital One
Community Renewal Fund has receied $421 million in federal new market tax credits since 2006. AMCREF Community Capital received the largest portion, $75 million. Since 2007, the organization received $357.5 million in federal new market tax credits. Officials say they’ll use the funds to offer lower-than-market-rates to finance businesses in low income areas of Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas.
Enhanced Community Development received $65 million in new market tax credits, and $215 million since 2006. The New Orleans-based organization will use its share to invest in businesses in low-income communities. Officials say they’ll also place a special emphasis on job-creation projects and increase minorityowned businesses’ access to capital in Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, New York, Nebraska, Nevada and Oregon.
Page 6 • The
Baker Reporter • Friday, June 18, 2015