The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 19

LaDowris nears deadline i for expansion project. Page 6B She dimes CONTACT LISA FAUST 459-3248 or newsshreveporttimes.com THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2003 Red River murder suspect changes plea wnnffrj mitted the crime. penalty if convicted. Second attempt to head on April 14, 2001, and left her body alongside of state Local airport official makes bid for House Shreveport native Raymond Alley, a Republican, has announced his candidacy for the Louisiana House of Representatives District 6 seat "Shreveport needs a voice in tagtesn law Shreveport attorney Richard Goorley, who along with attorney Marty Stroud, is representing Stewart on behalf of the Capital Assistance Project of Louisiana, said the initial plea was entered by Stewart's first counsel and was "based on a misunderstanding of the law." The insanity plea, Goorley said, deals with the mental condition of a person and See CASE 3B Attorneys for Robert "Rocky" Stewart, 25, during a court hearing Wednesday afternoon withdrew their client's original dual plea of innocent and innocent by reason of insanity and entered a new plea of innocent. Stewart was arrested in December 2001 and indicted by a grand jury for the first-degree murder of Long.

He allegedly shot Long in the back of the suppress confession is denied. By Vickie Welborn Times Mansfield Bureau COUSHATTA The Red River Parish man accused of the rape and murder of Wendi Long, 21, of Martin has entered a new plea, but still denies to the court that he com- Highway 1 in north Red River Parish. Her seven-month disappearance touched off a multi-parish search that lasted until November 2001 when Long's skeletal remains were discovered by authorities using information supplied by Stewart, who by that time was in jail in Natchitoches on unrelated offenses. Stewart faces the death Baton Rouge that will remind state government that we are a part of Louisiana and that we deserve our share," Alley Alley rates are increasing and, as a result, drunken drivers are often convicted on less serious charges. It is an unwanted side effect of tougher DWI legislation MADD has pushed over the years, Childers said.

The panel also approved other tougher DWI laws, including: A measure making it illegal for anyone to have an open container of alcohol in a vehicle. Current law applies only to the driver, which violates federal mandates. Backers of the bill by Sen. Joel Chaisson, D-Destre-han, say the drivers-only law is useless because a driver could easily hand an open drink over to a passenger and deny having drunk from it. The alcohol industry is vehemently opposed to the measure.

A mandatory suspension of driving privileges for one year for drivers convicted of second-offense DWI, with no provision for the hardship license that is currently allowed. After one year, the driver would have to have an ignition interlock device designed to keep him from driving drunk. Passage of this bill also is needed to comply with federal mandates that govern the use of federal highway money. All three measures go next to the full Senate for debate. The Associated Press BATON ROUGE Wily drunken drivers may be getting around tougher DWI laws by refusing to submit to blood-alcohol level tests.

A Senate panel voted Wednesday for legislation that would make refusing the test a crime following an accident in which someone is killed or seriously injured. Refusing a drunken-driving test already requires suspension of driving privileges a civil penalty. But there is no criminal penalty. Sen. Reggie Dupre's bill would make it a crime when the driver has just been involved in an accident resulting in a death or serious injury, if the police officer on the scene has probable cause to suspect the driver is drunk.

Conviction could result in a fine of $300 to $1000 and possible jail time of anywhere from two days to six months, under the bill by Dupre, D-Houma. "We are rewarding people who refuse the test" under current law, said Cathy Childers of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which advanced Hie bill to the full Senate. Backers of the bill said refusal la Wih Xjw I wm I 1 said. "Ve are shipping millions of dollars to the state treasury yet when it comes to state boards and capital outlay funds, we are often left out." Alley, a commercial Realtor for 20 years, currently serves as chairman of the Shreveport Airport Authority and is a chief petty officer in the United States Naval Reserve. He holds business administration and marketing degrees from Louisiana Tech University and is a member of the Shreveport-Bossier Military Affairs Council.

Alley is married to Ellen Pay-lor Alley and has three daughters. He attends St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Times, KSLA plan diversity forum To better cover our changing and growing community, The Times and KSLA News 12 is inviting Shreveport-Bossier City residents to participate in the first Time Out for Diversity Community News Summit Monday and Tuesday. The event is free and open to the public.

The first day of the two-day summit will take place at 6 p.m. at the Downtown Shreve Memorial Library, 424 Texas Street. The second day will be held at 6 p.m. in the Bossier Parish Community College student lounge, 2719 Airline Drive. Seating is limited to 50.

Refreshments will be served. For more information or to reserve a seat, call J.L Scott at 459-3206. Haughton High to hold blood drive The Haughton High AFJROTC is sponsoring a blood drive in the school library from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. today.

The school library is hosting a health fair the same day. Experts will be on hand to provide health and nutritional information for students and staff. For more information, call Mary Sullivan at 549-5469. From Staff Reports Caddo sheriff, parish head to court today Robert RuliThe limes Bossier City Patrolman First Class M.J. Williams writes a road, in conjunction with Louisiana Operation Lifesaver, ticket to a driver for crossing a railroad track after ignoring held a class on train and motor vehicle safety and regula-signals of an oncoming train.

Kansas City Southern Rail- tions for area law officers Wednesday in Bossier City. Train ride gives officers new outlook on railroad safety By the numbers Here's a look at train-auto accident data in Caddo and Bossier parishes in recent years. Bossier Parish Caddo Parish Year Collisions Fatalities Year Collisions Fatalities 2001 10 2 2001 8 2 2000 8 0 2000 7 0 1999 14 0 1999 4 2 1998 20 1 1998 9 2 workers, and it's almost $1 million a year," Prator said. Prator said his office would like to see an increase to a more "reasonable amount," such as to $9 or $10 a day. In October 2001, Prator sent a letter to the commissioners suggesting a review of all funding obligations between the two parties was essential.

The letter came after Parish Administrator Bill Hanna asked Prator for as reimbursement for housing state prisoners at CCC. The two agencies have since resolved several issues regarding jail operation, but failed to compromise on Pra-tor's requests to increase the amount the parish pays for keeping and feeding prisoners in jail. Commission President Carl Pierson said, regardless of the hearing's outcome, "the sheriff and the commission have to continue to work together." The money we are talking about is taxpayer money for operation of parish government, and in this case, for Caddo Correctional Center." Jail operating revenues focus of trial. By Loresha Wilson and Kym Klass The Times More than a year of legal quarreling over jail operating revenues could see the beginning of an end in Caddo District Court today. The fate of a lawsuit filed against the Caddo Parish Commission by Sheriff Steve Prator will be in the hands of Caddo District Judge Roy Brun at 9:30 a.m.

The trial is expected to last two days. The issue at stake is how much the parish pays per day for housing inmates at Caddo Correctional Center. The parish owns the jail, but the sheriff operates it. Prator hopes Brun sees the need to require the parish to increase the per diem from the $3.50 they've been paying for the last 25 years. This will free up money that is meant for law enforcement that (the office) is having to pay for cooks and laundry "Most recent data available Source: Federal Railroad Administration monitoring tracks on Barks-dale Boulevard for less than 30 minutes.

One driver's excuse: "Said he had plenty of time to make it," Viola said. Others weren't so lucky. There were 161 train-car collisions resulting in 93 injuries and 22 deaths in 2001 a 57 percent increase from the previous year ranking Louisiana fourth in the nation for the number of fatalities at railroad crossings, and second to Texas for injuries. Perhaps some of those accidents were due to what officers witnessed Wednesday as they rode a train along the tracks on Barksdale Boulevard. A bus failed to stop at the tracks at Barks-dale and Airline Drive, and See TRAIN 3B By Kym Klass The Times If there's one message Lt.

J.D. Viola wants to stress to drivers approaching railroad crossings with an oncoming train, it's this: Stop. These trains will kill you," the Bossier City police officer said. About 16 officers from police departments in Monroe, Grambling, Shreveport, Bossier City. West Monroe and Caddo Parish took part in a two-day training class designed to familiarize state and local law enforcement personnel with railroad crossing safety and accident investigation.

Aside from classroom instruction, the officers learned how to investigate collisions and about laws The Times Commission. Officers rode the trains in order to receive a bird's-eye view of what takes place before an accident, such as vehicles driving under railroad crossing arms as they come down. Viola issued two citations for that Wednesday after pertaining to railroad crossings. Kansas City Southern Railroad, in conjunction with Louisiana Operation Life-saver, took law enforcement on train rides through Bossier City as part of the outdoor exercises of the Louisiana Highway Safety Lottery numbers April 23, 2003 LOUISIANA PICK THROE LOUISIANA PICK FOUR 14 A man always late leaves early but right on time CASH QUEST mm LOUISIANA LOTTO If it's true a man's worth is judged by what's in his heart and not what's in his bank account. Bill Teddy Allen Steadman died a rich man.

Through the years from his cramped and busy little sporting goods store in Bossier City little came in contrast to his life's unrushed but methodical and steady gait. And the stream of people to see him in that hurried time, well, the nurse said she'd never seen anything like it. "If you'd have met him, you'd have liked him," she was told by one of those many visitors. "And if you'd have known him, you'd have loved him." So they came Tuesday and filed by the casket while less than a mile away, under that blue spring sky, Steadman's Sports Center sat quiet and oddly closed, a black wreath on its door. This place of a million lies and no coffee today.

His friends it took them more than an hour to clear the church's lot and head for the cemetery they always told him he'd be late for his own funeral. But this time, they were wrong. Only 59, Mr. Steadman left early. But on this sad morning, surely, he was doing what he'd always done, catching up with old friends and making new ones, asking them about their kids, listening to them brag, and smiling, content, with no reason at all to look at that old watch.

1 Teddy Allen's column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Check out the Teddy Web site at shreveporttimes. comteddy Call him at (318) 459-3264 or send a fax to (318) 459-3301 or e-mail to teddyshreveporttimes.com. People who sell a jersey to you today and to your grandson 20 years later. Real places.

Homes away from home. The family-owned hardware store or beauty shop with the same faces through the years. Dependable. Steady. Bill Steadman.

They say he would have made a good coach except for one thing: he'd have seldom been on time for either practice or, God help us, a game. He wore an old wristwatch his friends swear never worked. His store closed when he'd look around and see everyone was gone. The suddenness of his death caused by an inoperable malignant brain tumor discovered only a month ago They came instead to honor a simple man who worked in short-sleeved shirts selling knee pads and wristbands. These quiet people in pews, these are the same people who came to his store, and for the same reason.

They didn't necessarily want to buy something; but to feel better, they just wanted to spend a little time with Mr. Steadman. So they came. In their Bossier City policeman uniforms. In their khaki shorts and Bossier High letter jackets.

In golf shirts and suits. Women and men. Black and white. Young and old. It is through this kind of store the blood of a community pumps.

Shreveport Gymnastic Supply. Sports World. Steadman's Sports Center. You could see Mr. Stead-man there early, the coffee pot on in That Back Room, the holy of holies, ready for any coach who needed a shoulder to cry on.

Or you could find him behind that cluttered counter by the door, surrounded by pictures of Dixie Baseball teams and junior high football squads and receipts and jersey order forms. Or you could find him in the evenings at some game children were playing, supporting students and their parents, whoever needed it most. And so it was that the First Baptist Church of Bossier City was filled to the brim Tuesday morning, not for a city official or famous entertainer or wealthy benefactor. Powerball, Texas lottery numbers not available at press time Columnist girls bought their first softball bats, boys bought their first tiny football helmets and coaches, in various stages of panic, ordered sweats and socks and jocks from the quiet man who called everyone "Coach." 7 9 A BE LISTENING FOR DETAILS THE LEGENDS ARB COMING HOME! i 1 CLilSSIC COUlll'RY TOO IM.