Central City News

In the spring of 1970, Robert Williams was teaching American history at all-black Chaneyville High School when his supervisor, Dr. Helen Brown, told him, Congratulations, you’re going to Central High School! He was to be the first “crossover”  black coach assigned to all-white Central High School. Williams was so upset that he and his wife […]

In May 1913, Pearl Elizabeth Felps walked to the podium as the valedictorian of the first graduating of the new Central High School, located at the corner of Canal (now Hooper) and Sullivan roads. A copy of her speech was discovered in 2009 and given to the Central City News. It is a timeless message […]

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News — CENTRAL — A little more than 50 years ago, I had the unique opportunity as a young man of 26 to serve as a delegate to CC/73, a state constitutional convention, called by the legislature to rewrite the Louisiana Constitution of 1921, the longest constitution in the world.  […]

In April 2023, WAFB-TV will celebrate the 70th anniversary of signing on the air in Baton Rouge.  The local station has had a great run and established itself as one of the top TV stations in the South. Congratulations to WAFB-TV for all it has accomplished!   By the way, I may be the only […]

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News — CENTRAL — The City of Central has purchased 9.55 acres of land near the intersection of Hooper and Sullivan roads for construction of a new City Hall.  The property is located on the west side of Hooper. Mayor David Barrow negotiated the deal with Jay and Ray […]

 On Monday, Oct. 3, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, meeting at Texas A&M College of Law in Fort Worth, held a hearing in the case of Pastor Tony Spell v. Gov. John Bel Edwards.  No decision has yet been rendered in the historic case.  Pastor Spell has already won a final judgment dismissing […]

In an historic 5-2 decision, the Louisiana Supreme Court last week ruled that Gov. John Bel Edwards’ edicts closing churches and the subsequent arrest of Rev. Tony Spell for holding church services were illegal and unconstitutional.  This means the pastor’s arrest, imprisonment, house arrest, being fitted with an ankle bracelet, order not to hold church, […]

The Louisiana Supreme Court was the scene last week of a major victory for religious liberty in a case out of Central.  In State of Louisiana v. Pastor Tony Spell, the court struck down Gov. John Bel Edwards’ emergency orders closing churches and ended criminal charges against Rev. Spell, the pastor of Life Tabernacle Church […]

 After more than two years of arrests, handcuffs, fingerprinting, imprisonment, home incarceration, ankle bracelets, surveillance, hearings, meetings with judges, and travel restrictions for a crime that doesn’t exist, Rev. Tony Spell is a free man. Last Friday, the Louisiana Supreme Court threw out the criminal charges against the Central pastor as illegal and unconstitutional.  His […]

In the aftermath of the Louisiana Supreme Court decision in the case of State of Louisiana v. Pastor Tony Spell, many people have asked what Rev. Spell’s legal options are.  Both state and federal law provide powerful remedies to use when government officials violate a citizen’s rights.  One of the most important is 42 USC […]