Freshman sire Vekoma   picked up his first black-type stakes winner as Louisiana Jess  ran away from the field in the D.S. Shine Young Futurity Aug. 3 at Evangeline Downs. 

Breaking from the inside, the colt stalked the lead from the start before jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. brought the 2-year-old three wide around the turn of the 5 1/2-furlong trial. Overtaking Big Rasee , Vekoma’s son continued to strengthen and overtook the lead to win by five lengths in 1:05.67 on the fast main track.

Bred by Clear Creek Stud and Warren Harang, Louisiana Jess is out of the Tale of the Cat mare Miss Jazebel. Owned by Mansfield Racing and trained by Bret Calhoun, Louisiana Jess was a $50,000 purchase at Fasig-Tipton’s The July Sale in 2023 out of the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment. 

The colt is undefeated from two starts with $82,320 in earnings.

Vekoma, who stood this year for $15,000 at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington, has had 32 runners and 13 winners from his first group of progeny to hit the track through Aug. 3. 

A millionaire in his racing days ($1,245,535), the Kentucky-bred Vekoma was 6-0-1 from eight starts. His record includes wins in the 2020 Metropolitan Handicap (G1) and Carter Handicap (G1), 2019 Blue Grass Stakes (G2), and the 2018 Nashua Stakes (G3). 

He was bred by Alpha Delta Stables and owned by R.A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables.

Video: D. S. Shine Young Futurity (BT)

After resigning as mayor of a southwest Louisiana town, a 42-year-old woman is now facing charges of rape and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.

Misty Clanton Roberts, the former mayor of DeRidder, Louisiana, turned herself in on Thursday and was booked and charged with third-degree rape and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, according to the Louisiana State Police.

Last week, on July 26, the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office had requested the department’s special victims unit investigate a complaint against Roberts for allegations of sexual relations with a juvenile, police said.

Police said investigators interviewed two juveniles, one who said they were the victim, who told the investigators Roberts had sexual intercourse with the juvenile victim while employed as mayor.

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Investigators got an arrest warrant for Roberts from the Beauregard Parish 36th Judicial District Court and subsequently Roberts surrendered to police. She was released on a $75,000 bond, reported KPLC, a Lake Charles, Louisiana NBC affiliate.

The arrest came less than a week after Roberts resigned as mayor of DeRidder, a southwest Louisiana town of nearly 10,000 residents. On July 25, Roberts told city officials she would be out of the office for two weeks and appointed Fire Chief Ken Harlow as acting mayor while she was gone, the American Press, a Lake Charles, Louisiana news outlet, reported. She resigned two days later on July 27.

Roberts’ attorney Adam Johnson said his client is innocent in a statement to KPLC. “She has not been charged with a crime and/or convicted of any crime,” he said in the statement. “And we trust the public will respect her constitutional presumption of innocence which is fundamental to our system of justice. Misty and her family are very grateful for the support they have received from their friends and neighbors and we look forward to putting this unfortunate situation behind them.”

Elected in 2018, Roberts, an independent, became the first woman to become DeRidder’s mayor, The Associated Press reported. She won reelection in 2022.

A graduate of DeRidder High School in 2000, Roberts earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mass communications from McNeese State University in 2004, CBS News reported. Before becoming mayor, she was the city’s director of community service for nine years.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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JACKSON, Miss. — Flooding left squishy, stinky messes in hundreds of homes in Mississippi’s capital city in 2020 — a recurring problem when heavy rains push the Pearl River over its banks.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it intends to make a final recommendation by the end of this year on flood-control plans for the Pearl River Basin in the Jackson area, after decades of discussion among local, state and federal officials.

The biggest point of contention is whether to develop a new lake near Jackson. It would would be south of, and smaller than, a reservoir built outside the city more than 60 years ago.

While Jackson-area residents and business owners are pushing for flood mitigation, people are also expressing concern about the potential environmental impact in areas downstream in both Mississippi and Louisiana.

The corps is wrapping up a public comment period on a report it released in June, which included several flood-control proposals such as elevating, flood-proofing or buying out some homes in the Jackson area; development of a new lake; or the addition of levees.

During a hearing last month, Deion Thompson told corps officials he had to evacuate his northeast Jackson home because of the 2020 flooding. He said he wants to protect houses without destroying the environment.

“We’re just sitting ducks waiting for the next flood to happen,” said Thompson, who has lived in the same neighborhood for more than 20 years.

The Pearl River originates northeast of Jackson and flows about 490 miles (789 kilometers) through central and southern Mississippi and south Louisiana before draining into the Mississippi Sound, Lake Borgne and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Jackson area also experienced significant floods in 1961, 1979, 1982 and 1983, with some impact along the Pearl River downstream.

During a public hearing in Slidell, Louisiana, Gerald Morris said he has lived in Slidell since 1977 and experienced floods in 1979 and 1983. He said he has a bachelor’s degree in geological engineering, a master’s degree in geophysics and doctoral degree in earth sciences.

“If you can show that your various options that you’re looking at as far as dredging and all would reduce the amount of water coming down into the flood plain of the Pearl River, then it might be acceptable,” Morris said. “But until you can do that, then I am violently opposed to any sort of increase in the amount of water coming down from Mississippi into the Louisiana coast.”

Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker is among the Mississippi officials who have pushed for federal funding to improve flood control in the Jackson area.

Four members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation sent a letter Monday to Michael Connor, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, about how flood-control proposals for central Mississippi could impact their state.

“In Southeast Louisiana, our unique landscape, created in part by the Pearl River system, is essential to our way of life, culture, and economy,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Rep. Troy Carter and Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy said in the letter.

“Before this project is allowed to move forward, we need to know that it will not decrease the water flow downriver, impact our coastal restoration efforts, or result in additional flooding in areas downriver from the proposed project,” the Louisiana officials wrote.

A governing board in central Mississippi, the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District, has advocated the development of a new 1,700-acre (688-hectare) lake along the Pearl River by Jackson. This proposal is called the “One Lake” project because it is an alteration of a proposal years ago to create two new lakes.

The Corps of Engineers’ report said construction of “One Lake” would cost between $1 billion and $2.1 billion, and the expense would be too high for the amount of flood protection the lake would provide.

The engineers’ report had alternatives that would cost less, including a scaled-back proposal for a new lake that would not encompass environmentally sensitive areas.

Greg Divinity, a pastor in Jackson, said officials have been talking about improving flood-control measures since he was a junior in high school.

“Now, my grandbabies are juniors in high school,” Divinity said during the Jackson hearing as he urged the Corps of Engineers to move forward with a plan. “If we continue to kick the can down the road, my grandchildren’s grandchildren will be juniors in high school and will still be kicking this can down the road.”