Free Republic

Sherell Lewis Jr. was never big into birthdays. His latest came Tuesday, and there were no plans to celebrate beyond a morning visit with family in Leesville, La. He read birthday cards and carefully tucked them away; his gifts were unopened as he headed out for work. His mother would see him later that afternoon, 31 years to the day he was born - bleeding onto the scorching asphalt. Lewis was on foot, helping another driver clear debris from the road, when he was struck by a pickup, police said. A passerby found his phone and called Lewis' father, relatives...

<p>LEESVILLE - Three Leesville High School graduates pleaded guilty Wednesday to battering a fellow classmate following graduation rehearsal.</p> <p>Another student caught the entire incident, which was witnessed by school staff members, on videotape.</p> <p>Courtney Booth, 18, Byron Smith, 18, and Jason Leacock, 19, all of Leesville, were fined $200 for the May 16 incident on the Leesville High School football field.</p>

<p>Three members of the Leesville High School class of 2003 were arrested this week for simple battery of a fellow graduate on school grounds while school staff watched.</p> <p>The incident, caught on tape by a student's video camera, took place on the field of Wampus Cat Stadium after a graduation rehearsal May 16.</p>

<p>LEESVILLE - Fifty-four inmates at the Vernon Parish Correctional Center tested positive for drugs this month, according to Sheriff Sam Craft.</p> <p>The investigation began in March when corrections officers discovered someone was sending cocaine to the jail through the U.S. mail, Craft said.</p>