Thursday, March 18, 2010

Opportunity for Northeast Louisiana Workers

From the NCL Interfaith BLOG

The new ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston sweet potato processing facility near Delhi is making great progress! Lamb Weston, in partnership with Louisiana FastStart, the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, will be holding job fairs the week of March 29.

The job fairs will be daily March 29 through April 2, 2:00 – 7:00 p.m. Each job fair will consist of presentations, Q&A and application process information sharing that begins each half hour.

For a schedule see the NCL Interfaith Blog at
http://nclinterfaith.blogspot.com/

Saturday, February 20, 2010

TALLULAH ELECTIONS ACCOUNTABILITY NIGHT - MARCH 4th at NEW TALLULAH HIGH SCHOOL

DELTA CLUSTER of NORTHERN AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA INTERFAITH TO HOLD ACCOUNTABILITY NIGHT IN ADVANCE OF TALLULAH ELECTIONS.

The Delta Cluster of Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith is organizing one hundred leaders from Tallulah to meet Thursday, March 4, 6:00 pm – 7:30 PM at the new Tallulah High Auditorium, 1234 Madison High School Drive off Old US Hwy 65 South for an accountability session to which we have invited the candidates for Mayor of Tallulah, Louisiana to speak. We invite all candidates for upcoming Tallulah, LA elections to attend. Tallulah residents are invited to this important event and we encourage you to attend.

The Delta Cluster of Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith is a broad-based coalition of institutions dedicated to providing a way for ordinary residents to have a voice in decisions being made about them and their families. It is a non-partisan political organization and Delta Cluster leaders do not back any political party or endorse candidates. It does not take money from elected officials or those running for office.

Through relational and house meetings over the last two years, several issues have emerged that residents say will make our area better. Delta Cluster leaders from Tallulah, Lake Providence, St. Joseph and Waterproof have met with Congressman Rodney Alexander, State Senator Frances Thompson and others regarding these issues. A similar session was held with Congressman Alexander in early 2009.
During election season Interfaith hosts an “Accountability Night”, inviting candidates for office to meet with us so that Interfaith members, in this case from Tallulah and Madison Parish can present our agenda of issues. It is also an opportunity for candidates to talk about their vision for the community and why they have chosen to run for office.

For more information, please contact Rev. Charles Trimble at Andy Saavedra at 318-341-0989 or Shorty Ervin at 318-574-5002 or see our Blog website at
www.ladeltacommunitydevelopmentstuff.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Delta Cluster Leaders support emerging Interfaith Committee in Jackson, MS




Leaders from the Delta Cluster of Northern Louisiana Interfaith traveled to Jackson, Mississippi to support an emerging interfaith organization there. Rev. Charles Trimble of Tallulah addressed the group.

Monday, November 30, 2009

DELTA CLUSTER UPDATE - Lake Providence - Nov 2009

Lake Providence: The Issue is Animal Control

Leaders from the Delta Cluster of Northern and Central Interfaith from Lake Providence, Louisiana have been working on the issue of animal control. Lake Providence residents have been complaining of not being able to let their grandchildren play outside due to stray dogs wandering around their neighborhood.

It is understood that Lake Providence has greater issues than stray dogs but correcting simple quality of life issues such as animal control and neighborhood clean up are important to improving a community and make it somewhere people want to come to.

Lake Providence Interfaith leaders have been meeting with Town of Lake Providence staff and will continue to attend Town Council meetings until a solution is found.

DELTA CLUSTER UPDATE - Tallulah - Nov 2009

Tallulah – Narrowing Down Issues – Streets and Intersections


Following up on the meetings with Congressman Rodney Alexander and State Senator Francis Thompson, Tallulah Interfaith leaders recently invited Madison Parish elected officials to meet to discuss the infrastructure issues Interfaith has been advocating for since last year.

Senator Thompson's advice was to narrow down our list of issues.

So while the Madison Parish members of Interfaith have several issues, for now we have narrowed our concerns to the following:

  1. Kimbrough Street – There seems to be some debate over who is responsible for the street. Also, the street does not score well for many of the government funding sources available to repair it. This street services two schools, a fire station and both Tallulah and Richmond.

  2. Interstate Lighting – This has also been an issue with the Chamber of Commerce. It's important for economic development to attract travelers to stop in Tallulah.

  3. Intersection of Hwy 65 just north of the Interstate and access to the new school. That location has several accidents and maybe a key with the solution to access to the new school. We are very concerned about access to the school and the safety of our children. We are disappointed that adequate access to the new school appears to have illogically been placed behind completion of the new school.


The only officials who responded and met with Interfaith were Mayor Beckwith of Tallulah and Mayor Kivett of Richmond who both provided updates on what infrastructure projects they are working on.

Both Mayors were very responsive and agreed to a joint followup meeting to discuss possible solutions on these three issues.

Monday, September 28, 2009

DELTA CLUSTER UPDATE Sept 2009

Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith
DELTA CLUSTER UPDATE Sept 2009


Leaders from the Delta Cluster of Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith met with Louisiana State Senator Francis Thompson on Thursday, September 24, 2009. The Senator was reminded of the large public meeting in St. Joseph and in Tallulah, LA with Congressman Rodney Alexander and House Rep. Sam Little.

Leaders from Madison and East Carroll Parishes reported on their meeting with Congressman Rodney Alexander on Monday, August 31, 2009. The Delta Cluster is focused on three broad issues from the large public meeting in April: 1. Workforce and Economic Development, 2. Infrastructure, and 3. Transportation. Since then it has followed up with Congressm an Alexander's staff these broad issues and working on specifics locally. Congressman Alexander strongly recommended Interfaith meet with Senator Thompson based on his history of service in the area.

Senator Francis Thompson was presented with the same platform given to Congressman Alexander a few weeks ago. Bill Davis, Rev. Charles Trimble and Lloyd Erwin presented various infrastructure projects in Tallulah – which came from meeting with Tallulah Mayor Eddie Beckwith and Madison parish Police Jury President James Griffin. Melvin Williams presented various infrastructure projects for Lake Providence, LA. Sandra Everfield, another Lake Providence leader spoke about animal control. Paul West, Andy Saavedra, and Scott Cox spoke about economic and workforce development and how supporting NOVA and the Louisiana Technical College in Tallulah and Lake Providence would have synergy with the new Con Agra and V Vehicle projects coming to the region. Leaders also reported on the meeting on NOVA held in Tallulah, LA in June 2009 and how we want to work with NOVA to expand to the rural areas, particularly with employers in Madison, East Carroll, Tensas and Richland Parishes.

Senator Thompson spent several hours educating the group on how funding for various projects work, including the state LGAP funds distributed to each Parish, the competitive CDBG programs, and oth ers. The Senator outlined what he does for his District, and called Mayor Beckwith directly to discuss various City of Tallulah projects, including the Interstate lighting and Tallulah City Hall renovations.

Senator Thompson agreed to work with Interfaith and recommended that we work with and remind our local officials of funding opportunities. When it came to the issue of a meeting with Governor Jindal, the Senator agreed to help but suggested we seek out key Workforce Development staff first. The Senator agreed to help seek funding for NOVA on the Workforce Development issue. He reminded us of Northeast Louisiana Economic Alliance's work and the Louisiana Delta Initiative with LSU and Southern AgCenters. Interfaith leaders thanked the Senator and agreed to follow up with him and work with our local towns and police juries to continue to push Interfaith's citizen-raised issues. Interfaith leaders will also will set up follow up meetings with area House Representatives in the near future.

Interfaith leaders from Madison, East Carroll or Tensas Parishes should bring their ideas to Lady Carlson, our organizer at Ladymae51@gmail.com and send comments to Andy Saavedra at Andyhac@aol.com.

DELTA CLUSTER UPDATE August 2009

Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith
DELTA CLUSTER UPDATE August 2009


Leaders from the Delta Cluster of Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith met with Congressman Rodney Alexander on Monday, August 31, 2009 in Monroe, Louisiana to follow up on the successful April 2009 Public Meeting in Tallulah.


The Delta Cluster has been focused on three broad issues from the large public meeting in April with Congressman Alexander: 1. Workforce and Economic Development, 2. Infrastructure, and 3. Transportation. Since then it has followed up with Congressman Alexander's staff on these broad issues and working on specifics locally. Leaders have also worked to selecting specific Town and Parish issues within this framework.


For example, Madison Parish leaders have met with Tallulah Mayor Beckwith and Madison Parish Police Jury President Griffin and gone over various infrastructure projects and the Northern Exposure trip to the State Capitol. Delta Cluster leaders have specifically asked for Congressman Alexander's assistance with repairing Kimbrough Street bordering Tallulah and Richmond, East Bear Lake Road, access roads to the new Tallulah school project, Interstate 20 lighting, streetlight off Hwy 65 by the Interstate which has been the scene of several accidents.


East Carroll Parish and Lake Providence leaders have a list of infrastructure needs for several streets and drainage needs in the town. Their leaders have also taken up the need for improved animal control.


On workforce development, Paul West of NOVA also attended the meeting and we requested the Congressman's assistance to seek funding for NOVA. Based on the interest from the presentation on NOVA in Madison Parish during the summer of 2009, Interfaith leaders are seeking to work with NOVA to possibly expand its work and approach employers in Madison, East Carroll, Tensas and Richland. Delta Cluster leaders are asking Congressman Alexander to assist us with a meeting with Gov. Jindal and state workforce development staff about funding for NOVA.


Congressman Alexander and his staff were very gracious and informed us he would support and seek funding for several of the infrastructure projects and funding for NOVA, but urged us to follow up with both our Senators and our State Senators and House members. Leaders thanks the Congressman, agreed to follow up with staff on specific bill items, and decided to seek a meeting with LA State Senator Francis Thompson next, while following up with our local police juries and city councils as well.


NOTE: The Delta Cluster of Northern and Central Interfaith is working on database to better share information on our activity. Please e-mail Andy Saavedra at andyhac@aol.com if you wish to be notified about Interfaith's work.