The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 19

THE TIMES Ark-La-Tex SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 2000 3B 00th bird count to start new year 58 graduate from bpcc ers involved, the higher the count will be. "There are actually some people who get up before sunrise to look for owls," Demcheck added. "Each person will have an assigned area. You usually commit to working the entire day. By the end of the day, you're pretty tired." But residents who prefer to stay home also can do their part by counting the birds that arrive at their backyard feeders on Sunday.

All they have to do is record their observations on a special Audubon Society form. "Many people think that the Christmas Bird Counts involve a lot of work. But it can be as simple as The Associated Press BAT0N ROUGE On Sunday, Louisiana bird watchers join birders across the country as they mark the 100th anniversary of the National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count. If you want to participate in this year's centennial count, the Audubon Society welcomes volunteers. And here's the good news: (.

You don't even have to leave your house. Since its inception 100 years ago, the bird count has become an annual event for amateur birders across the country. Bird watchers in local chapters around the nation designate one day during the holiday season to count as many birds as they can. ihe tallies go to Audubon na can. The tallies go to Audubon's na- From Staff Reports Bossier Parish Community College Chancellor Tom Carleton recently awarded 58 degrees and certificates during graduation held in the Bossier Civic Center.

Following are the graduates, listed by hometown and degree or certificate. Barksdale Air Force Base General studies: Christine H. Ward. Bethany Computer information systems: Mark Anthony Fong. Bossier City Criminal justice: Karen Melissa Halphen.

Industrial control systems: Gerald Donald Joncas. Business administration: Audrey Scott Bolin. Computer information systems: Casey Elizabeth Romero. General studies: Deborah S. Bates, Adrienne Marie Burts, Trina Marie Lott and Becky R.

Poole. Phlebotomy Certificate: Amanda Irene Ethredge. Michele Larine Pourteau and Monica O'Neal Salley. Telecommunications: Dianne Gaile Harris. Haughton Industrial control systems: Roy Clayton Almond.

Business administration: Carla Lowery and Justin D. Small. Computer information systems: Toni C. Allen. the winter in the nation?" volunteer Dennis Demcheck said.

"Right now, Baton Rouge has six species with a total of 44 hummers and rising." The Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count began as an alternative to the holiday tradition known as the "Christmas Side Hunt." On Christmas Day, hunters would choose sides and go afield with their guns; whoever shot the most birds won the contest. Audubon Society officer Frank Chapman called for an end to the slaughter. He urged people to count the birds rather than shoot them. The first Christmas Bird Count was held Dec. 25, 1900.

Volunteers who agree to count birds in the field typically work from tivated by robbery. Mendenhall told investigators that he was with Powell and Hamilton downtown during the early morning hours of Dec. 23 and the three were discussing "hittin' a lick," slang for "committing a theft," according to a police affidavit. Mendenhall told police that the three went to Leader Barber Shop "for soda pop" and decided to return to rob Ellison, who was known to work late and carry large amounts of cash. The 16-year-old said he was posted outside as a lookout while his diversity of hummingbird species in dawn until dusk, and the more bird- ing the day," said Demcheck.

3rd person charged in barbershop shooting deaths The Associated Press I 1 I I gested that the shootings were mo- friends went inside to rob the friends went inside to rob the EL DORADO, Ark. A 16-year-old boy has been charged as an adult as an accomplice to murder in the slayings of a barbershop owner and his customer. Tremain Mendenhall cried when he appeared Thursday in Union County Municipal Court. He was the third person charged in last week's fatal shootings of barber James Ellison, 58, and customer Carlos Meeks, 27. Mendenhall is being held without bond on two charges of being an accomplice to capital murder.

Deatria Young inmate from Caddo hangs self in juvenile prison looking in your yard a few times dur business, the police affidavit said. Mendenhall told police that Powell was carrying a gun. According to the affidavit, Mendenhall said he decided to take a stroll around the block and heard a gunshot. He then ran to a bridge to meet Powell and Hamilton, who brought a "suitcase" that police said actually was the barber's briefcase. Investigators said Mendenhall's mother described a "big fire" that Powell had set in her back yard.

Police later learned that Powell had set the fire to burn his clothing, the affidavit said. That is when the Ozone Camellia Club stepped in. "Our club had tried for over a year to find a location for a camellia garden," Kooney said. "The memorial was perfect." In addition to the purchase of 14 varieties of camellias, the club also installed an automated sprinkler system with 14 heads. The city provided the materials and labor to attach the sprinkler system into the city line and will also provide the electrical service to operate the automated system.

"But until the automatic part gets turned on, I'll keep coming out here each day to give the garden water," Kooney said. Community grieves slain girl more than a year after death I General studies: Debra Ann HoTton and Latonya Yvette Marshall. Phlebotomy certificate: Jessica" Blanche Laing. Telecommunications: Gregory S. Reed.

Shreveport Criminal justice: John David Kincaid, Tiranisha Marial Taylor and Robert J. Lummus. Auto CAD certificate: Dlea Becker. Business administration: Miriam G. Martinez, Ulander Mashae Holloway, Barbara Taylor Smith, Hubert Nolan Williams and Shondra Rene Shovan.

Computer information systems: Christopher Eral Garrett, Quincy Ranard Hood, Demetrius L. Smith and Orval Scott Richards. Office information systems: Theresa Leon Cobb, Kathy D. Goodwill, Christine Elizabeth Shaw, Chandra Renay Snow and Shah McGowegal Young. General studies: Brandi Michelle Almond, Julie Machelle Sharp and Barbara F.

Wilson. Phlebotomy certificate: Kenya Hermenia Deshon Auston. EMT paramedic: William Anthony Theriot. Telecommunications: Kermit Carlyce Burns III, Martin Damon Hawkins, Robert Elkms Jr. and Emily McGowan Horn.

Telecommunications certificate: -Richard Venable Hadwin Jr. and' Brandon T. McCoy. Vivian Industrial control systems: Cliton. Drew McEachern.

The guard cut the sheet and began CPR immediately. A prison nurse and paramedics tried unsuccessfully to revive the boy. He was pronounced dead at Earl K. Long Regional Medical Center, Lewis said. The boy was scheduled to serve time until Dec.

8, 2005, Lewis said. "This saddens all of us." Lewis said he believed the death was the first inmate suicide at the prison in more than 20 years. Looking for a car? Wheels ht ffilMS (I Now You Know. For home delivery call 459-3322. newsletter.

KILPATR1CK LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY SERVING LOUISIANA SINCE 1932- The Associated Press BATON ROUGE A 14-year-old boy hanged himself in his cell at the Jetson Correctional Center. The boy from Caddo Parish arrived at the juvenile prison Dec. 21 to serve a "juvenile life" sentence of six years, Warden Elijah Lewis said. Lewis refused to identify the youth or reveal his crime. The boy was in a disciplinary unit separate from the prison's general population when the hanging occurred Thursday, Lewis said.

"Our officer patrols that unit every 15 minutes." At 12:15 p.m., the guard saw the boy had torn his bedsheet into a long rag and tied one end around his neck, Lewis said. The other end was attached to a water pipe. financed through donations and fund-raising efforts of a group of citizens known as the Lorin Care Group. For months, the group held spaghetti dinners, garage sales and sold raffle tickets to raise money for the statue. On April 25, just days after the one-year anniversary of Lorin's slaying on April 17, 1998, the statue in the park was dedicated in memory of Lorin.

A master garden plan was designed by landscape architect Linda Murrah and would have included the planting of dogwood trees, azaleas and camellias for an estimated $10,000 to $15,000. The cost caused city officials to delay development of the project. Taxpayers with IRAs: FY1 The IRS Does NOT Approve IRA Investments How to volunteer For more information about becoming 'a field volunteer, call Mike Seymour at (225) 928-3606. To volunteer as a backyard bird watcher; call 5 Dennis Demcheck at (225) 923-1437. tional headquarters, where they're used to track trends in America's bird populations.

The annual counts lend equally significant insights into local patterns of bird life. "Did you know that the Baton Rouge area typically has the greatest Hamilton Powell Hamilton and Jerome Powell, both 21, each is charged with two counts of capital murder after being arrested earlier this week. El Dorado police said Mendenhall gave a statement in which he sug to take on a $1,500 planting project to beautify Ixtrin's memorial in the park and continue spreading the use of camellias, the city's official flower, throughout Slidell. Club member Nicholas Kooney drives to the park each morning to turn on a new sprinkler system that waters 14 new camellia bushes planted in the memorial garden for Lorin. "We selected the soft pink and white varieties of camellias to honor the memory of Lorin and other children of Slidell," Kooney said.

"We also chose varieties hardy enough to withstand cold winters." The $12,000 statue of Lorin, sculpted by William Binnings, was Business Bureau Cat THE WE CARE TREE CARE PEOPLE rt 1 1 Chmoer Service Qualitv Service I Fair Prices OVER 30 YEARS EXP. or 929-3301 FREE ESTIMATES Removal 'Bracing 'Right of Way Pruning Fertilizing 'Roof Clearance Topping Storm Damage "Cavities Cabling Line Clearance 'Firewood CONSTRUCTION CORP. and TRI-STATE ALUMINUM PRODUCTS. INC. 4310 Mansfield Road Shreveport, LA 71106 Fax 636-3058 BURGER 9132 Mansfield Rd.

"Locally Owned Locally Operated' JmsinansIm Club agrees to beautify memorial. The Associated Press SLIDELL The depth of sadness surrounding the 1998 kidnapping, rape and murder of 11-year-old Lorin Easterling of Slidell still tugs at the heart strings of the community a year and a half later. Only months since the one-year anniversary of Lorin's death, when statue of the child was in John Slidell Park, the community again has pulled together to remember Iorin. 1 The Ozone Camellia Club agreed From Your Better 3911 Southern Ave. 861-0541 "Celebrating 51 Years!" A.

IRS does not: review or approve investments; advise people on how to invest their IRAs; endorse any investments; or issue statements that in investment in an IRA is protected because the IRS has approved a particular trustee or custodian. Before you invest, check with your state securities regulator to make sure the investment and person selling it are registered. You can find the phone number for your state securities regulator in the blue pages of the phone book. For questions or complaints about claims for IRA investment opportunities made through telephone, mail or online promotions, contact the Federal Trade, Commission (202-FTC-Help), the Securities and Exchange Commission (1-800-SEC-0330) or the North American Securities Administrators Association (202-737-0900) or visit them online at www.ftc.gov, www.sec.gov of www.nasaa.org. For information about setting up, contributins to.

and deductions for and IRA, contact I-800-TAX-3676 and ask for the "free IRS Publication 590,,. "Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)." Washington, D.C. Investors with Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) should be on the lookout for ads and solicitations that claim certain types of investments for IRAs are IRS-Approved" or "IRA-Approved." The government says these ads are misleading, because the IRS does not approve investments for IRAs. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the North American Securities Administrators Association, investors are getting misleading sales pitches for specific IRA investments via the telephone, the mail and the Internet. Most solicitations are variations on this theme: "This investment has been approved for vour IRA.

You can use your IRA for this investment by filing out the forms in the attached information package. Our agent will take care of the rest. This has been reviewed by the government (or the IRS.) This investment is so safe you can use it for your IRA. Only certain investments are approved for The agencies say that fraudulent promoters are trying to take advantage of consumers who may me confused about the role of trie iRS when it comes to IRAs. The IRS issues letters to IRA sponsors, trustees and custodians certifying that they are complying with requirements concerning investor rights, account administration, and standards that follow contributions to be deductible.

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