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Staff Report

Berwick police arrested two people on drug-related charges, Police Chief David Leonard said.

—Jamarcus Gunner, 27, Sixth Street, Berwick was arrested at 12:09 a.m. Wednesday on charges of posses-sion with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, transactions involving drug proceeds and possession of drug paraphernalia.

—Reva Thomas, 30, Sixth Street, Berwick, was arrested 12:09 a.m. Wednesday on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.

About 10:34 p.m., officers with the Berwick Police Department, with assistance from the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, executed a narcotics search warrant at a resident on Sixth Street. During this time officers came into contact with Gunner and Thomas.

Marijuana and methamphetamine destined to be sold were located along with U.S. currency and items of drug para-phernalia. Thomas was found to be in possession of items of drug paraphernalia. The residence where the incident took place is directly across the street from a church.

Gunner and Thomas were placed under arrest and transported to the Berwick Police Department. Gunner and Thomas were booked into the Berwick Jail on the charges. Both remain incarcerated in the Berwick jail awaiting a bond.

Assumption Parish Sheriff Leland Falcon reported these arrests:

—Jules Anthony Joiner Jr., 23, La Chene Street, Belle River, was arrested Monday on charges of aggravated flight, speeding, driving on roadway laned for traffic, failure to drive on right side of road, proper equipment required on vehicle, and signals required.

A deputy observed a vehicle on La. 70 in Pierre Part commit a traffic violation and proceeded to stop the viola-tor. As the deputy did so, the suspect vehicle accelerated to speeds in excess of 100 mph.

The suspect vehicle was eventually stopped and the driver, identified Joiner, was arrested. Joiner was booked into the Assumption Parish Detention Center pending a bond hearing

—Chaninthorn Jenice Cuney, 38, Henning Drive, Sulphur, was arrested Tuesday on charges reckless operation of a motor vehicle with accident and felony criminal damage to property.

Deputies were dispatched to a home in Bertrandville and were provided a description of a suspect vehicle that had purportedly caused extensive damage to private property at the location of the dispute.

Deputies noticed severe damage to the vehicle as well.

Upon investigating the actual crime scene and circumstances that led up to this incident, deputies determined that a suspect and the victim were engaged in a dispute. The suspect, identified as Cuney, ran her vehicle into several automobiles as well as a home and other personal property.

Cuney was arrested and booked into the Assumption Parish Detention Center pending a bond hearing.

St. Mary Parish Sheriff Blaise Smith reported these arrests:

—Yuri Hernandez, 30, Lake Palourde Road, Amelia, was arrested Tuesday on charges of child passenger re-straint system (three counts), driver must be licensed and careless operation. Hernandez was released on a summons to appear Jan. 7.

—James Oday Notto, 53, Freeman Street, Patterson, was arrested Tuesday on charges of brake lights re-quired, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Notto was released on a summons to appear Jan. 7.

Morgan City Police Chief James F. Blair reported these arrests:

—Carl Allen Jr., 29, Wren Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 5:42 a.m. Tuesday on charges of driving under suspension, no child restraint and no insurance, and on a warrant for failure to appear in City Court.

Officers responded to a vehicle accident U.S. 90. During the investigation, the driver of the vehicle, identified as Allen, was found to be driving under suspension.

During the investigation, it was learned that Allen failed to have a child in a car seat while driving and had no insur-ance. City Court of Morgan City also held warrants on Allen for failure to appear. Allen was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking.

—Seth Wayne Dantin, 34 Cemetary Highway, St. Martinville, was arrested at 1:42 p.m. Tuesday on warrants for molestation of a juvenile.

Dantin was already incarcerated in the Morgan City Police Department Jail and was booked on warrants from the Franklin Police Department.

By BILL DECKER
bdecker@daily-review.com
If you’ve followed the race for 16th Judicial District attorney, you’ve heard about drug courts, changing the way bail is set, providing better funding for public defenders, justice reform generally, and that old favorite, “thinking outside the box.”
Incumbent Bo Duhe and challenger Lori Landry, a former 16th JDC judge, have lots of ideas.
One of them caught me by surprise. It came up during Duhe’s presentation Thursday at a St. Mary Parish School Board meeting.
Duhe talked about looking into the creation of a veterans court.
This isn’t meant to be an endorsement of either candidate. But veterans courts? There’s an idea that deserves an endorsement.
We’ve seen other types of courts aimed at a specific class of offender, based on the idea that those offenders need some type of adjudication other than locking them up for a while and turning them back out. Juvenile courts and drug courts are examples.
If you look at some statistics about veterans, you’ll get the idea that they face specific types of problems that seem unlikely to be solved by a conventional approach.
—On any given night, there are nearly 50,000 homeless veterans, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Veterans are 2% of the U.S. population but 11% of the homeless population.
—The Veterans Administration reported in 2019 that the number of suicides among veterans had declined. But the numbers were still alarming. The decrease in four years was from 22 per suicides per day to 17. The Military Times reports that some experts say the VA is drastically undercounting the number of veteran suicides.
—The VA says a fifth of veterans who seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder also have a drug or alcohol problem. A third of veterans seeking treatment for substance abuse also suffer from PTSD. And veterans with PTSD and substance abuse problems are prone to binge-drinking, the VA said.
It’s been a privilege over the last 35 years to interview veterans of every American war since World War I. As a group, they displayed a lot of courage in talking about their experiences.
But sometimes it was clear the memories were difficult to deal with.
One man who served in Vietnam as a helicopter door-gunner broke down and cried in our office as he talked about what he’d seen. Another veteran, a bomber crew member who was shot down and taken prisoner by the Germans, talked my ear off. A relative told me the man remained preoccupied with his POW experience after what was then half a century.
My World War I interview was with the father-in-law of a co-worker in Missouri. She called him ’Nother Daddy.
He talked about his life before the war, and he talked about wandering around France looking for food after the armistice. But I couldn’t get him to talk about what combat was like. His family told me later that he’d never talked much about his war experiences.
The closest I got was when he leaned forward in his chair to tell me what it was all about. At the time, in the mid-Eighties, I had long hair and a full beard.
“Whiskers,” ’Nother Daddy said, “you don’t want none of what I had.”
My own experience with relatives and co-workers leads me to think that the special problems of veterans are not limited to those who have gone into combat. Separation from the military even in peacetime seems to be a problem for some veterans, although certainly not for all. And sometimes those problems manifest themselves as substance abuse or emotional problems of one kind or another.
There seems to be a lot of variation in the way other jurisdictions have developed veterans courts. But the common threads seem to be a request from the veteran to have the case handled by a veterans court and agreement among prosecutor, judge and defendant that it’s appropriate.
The court would be empowered to explore options other than just jail time or probation for veterans. The options would presumably include mental health counseling or substance abuse treatment.
We often talk about the bad choices that offenders make, the choices that put them behind bars. Veterans made a choice to serve their country, knowing that they could be called on to put their own lives at risk.
They deserve a second chance.
Bill Decker is managing editor of The Daily Review.

Two men are wanted in connection with a shooting Wednesday night near Lawrence Park in Morgan City.

Aris Granger and Caswick Clark are named in warrants alleging eight counts of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated criminal damage to property, illegal use of a weapon and violation of a fire-arm free zone.

Police responded to a report of shots fired on Third Street near the park about 6:49 p.m. Wednesday. Detectives learned that several shots were fired.

"The charges stem from the number of people in the area along with the area being a firearm free zone," the Police Department said in a new release.

Granger and Clark should be considered armed and dangerous, police said. If you see either of the two suspects, please contact the Morgan City Police Department or your local agency.

Staff Report
The Morgan City Lady Tigers fell to Lutcher on the road Tuesday in a District 7-III contest that was a battle of Division III top 10 squads.
Morgan City, ranked No. 8 in the latest Louisiana High School Athletic Association Division III power rankings, fell in straight sets by scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-16 to seventh-ranked Lutcher.
Mary Vincent led Morgan City with two kills, 16 assists and seven digs.
Other top Morgan City contributors were as follows: Haylie Crappell, one ace, five kills, one assist and nine digs; Sarah Daniels, six kills, one block assist and three digs; Brynn Stephens, two aces, one assist and nine digs; Mariah Pleasant, one ace, four kills, two blocks and one block assist; Arion Calloway, three kills, two block assists and one dig; and Kamryn Olivier, five digs.
In junior varsity action, Morgan City fell 2-0 (25-14 and 25-13), while in freshman play, Morgan City defeated Lutcher 2-0 (25-16 and 26-24).
Morgan City (10-8 overall, 1-2 in district) returns to action Thursday when it hosts Berwick in District 7-III play. It also is Morgan City’s annual Pink Game. Freshman action begins at 3:45 p.m., followed by junior varsity action at 4:30 p.m. A survivor ceremony, a check presentation and honorary serve all will be held at approximately 5:20 p.m., while the varsity contest will begin at 6 p.m.
CCHS defeats
Centerville
The Central Catholic Lady Eagles defeated Centerville in straight sets by scores of 25-9, 25-1 and 25-7 on the road Tuesday.
No individual stats were submitted from the nondistrict contest.
Central Catholic (9-8), ranked No. 11 in Division V, will return to action Thursday when it hosts East Ascension in nondistrict action.
Patterson falls
to LCA
The Patterson Lumberjills fell to Lafayette Christian Academy in straight sets at home Tuesday in District 2-IV action.
Patterson, ranked No. 30 in Division IV, fell by scores of 25-11, 25-9 and 25-12 to Lafayette Christian Academy, ranked No. 10 in Division IV.
No individual stats were submitted.
Patterson (3-7, 0-5) will return to action Tuesday when it hosts West St. Mary in district play.
Berwick falls
to E.D. White
The Berwick Lady Panthers fell to E.D. White in three games in District 8-III action in Berwick Tuesday.
Berwick, ranked No. 26 in Division III, fell by scores of 25-8, 25-12 and 25-14 to top-ranked E.D. White.
No individual stats were submitted.
Berwick (1-9, 0-3) will return to action Thursday when it travels to face Morgan City in the Lady Tigers’ Pink Game.