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St. Mary Parish public schools will resume classes Wednesday, Superintendent Dr. Teresa Bagwell said Tuesday.

Classes ended by 12:30 p.m. Tuesday because of the heavy rain anticipated from Tropical Storm Nicholas.

The August meeting of the Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District Commission was one for the books. Commissioners heard that four dredges would be working in area waters at the same time, from Berwick Bay to the sea buoy.
Monday’s September meeting had some twists and turns, many but not all courtesy of Hurricane Ida. In the end, the overall feeling was relief.
“We dodged a bullet, guys,” said Tim Connell, civil engineer and project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, who took in the meeting by conference call.
But it’s too early to say that the port escaped damage altogether.
Port Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade warned immediately after Ida that sediment below the surface may have encroached on channels being cleared by the dredging. Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm that hit the Texas coast in 2017, created tidal shifts that reduced the depth in some areas of the channel by 5 feet, Wade said
So, after Ida, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-istration sent a survey boat. That hasn’t worked out yet.
The boat first went to the wrong location, Wade said. And as it moved to the right survey area, it broke down.
Another survey boat was dispatched, only to run out of fuel. A third vessel sent to bring fuel to the survey boat broke down.
Those weren’t the only mechanical problems experienced by the port in the last month.
The four dredges set to begin or continue work in the last month are the Brice Civil Constructors’ Arulaq, designed especially for the channel between Eugene Island and the sea buoy; a Manson Constructors dredge that was to work the same portion of the channel; a Great Lakes Dredge & Dock dredge tasked with work closer to the port near Crewboat Cut; and a Weeks Marine dredge to work elsewhere in the Atchafalaya.
The Arulaq continues to perform its function of agitating and removing sticky “fluff” mud from the Eugene Island-sea buoy leg. And the Corps’ $7 million contract was altered to exercise an option to bring the Manson dredge Newport to the bar channel.
The Great Lakes dredge Alaska went to work Aug. 20 and paused for Ida. But before it could resume work, a problem was discovered: The dredge’s Coast Guard certificate of inspection expired.
The expiration isn’t just a matter of paperwork.
“Apparently, there are some substantial deficiencies to be ironed out ...,” Connell told the commissioners. “We really need to get going down there.”
The Weeks Marine barge was set to begin work the middle of this month. But it was called away during Ida for emergency work on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. That’s expected to cause a two- to three-week delay, Connell said.
But the last month brought some triumphs, too.
Consultant Mike Knobloch told the commissioners Monday that a joint state legislative committee approved the port’s application for a grant to finance the western portion of the planned dock expansion.
The $15 million grant will come in three $5 million installments, the first in about 2½ years.
The expansion and the push to dredge the channel to its authorized dimensions of 20 feet deep and 400 feet wide are designed to help the port handle large vessels. The port has been largely off limits for those vessels since 2015 because of silting resulting from floods.
The Emergency Operations Center also performed the way it was designed to perform, commissioners heard. The EOC, which opened just in time for newly sworn Gov. John Bel Edwards’ trip to Morgan City during the 2016 flood, provided a base of operations for Coast Guard members from around the country, as well as NOAA and Homeland Security.
The EOC has cots for 20 people, a kitchen and showers, all used by members of the military and officials who needed a base close to the most heavily damaged areas but also a secure headquarters with reliable power and communication.
Bill Decker is managing editor of The Daily Review.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry is raising concerns over President Joe Biden’s new COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees and private sector businesses, a policy that could affect as many as 100 million Americans.
The group is Louisiana’s largest business organization, representing more than 2,000 employers. It also serves as the state chapter for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.
After Biden’s announcement requiring mandatory vaccinations at businesses with 100 or more employees, LABI President and CEO Stephen Waguespack expressed legal and economic unease.
“I have been vaccinated and LABI encourages everyone to consult their doctor about doing so if they haven’t already. Improving vaccination rates is critical to our community’s health and economy,” Waguespack said. “Having said that, President Biden’s proposal to require American companies to mandate vaccinations is clearly not the role of the federal government, and OSHA has no constitutional authority, capacity or standing to enforce such an action.”
The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate plan will be enacted through a regulatory rule from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The plan also includes weekly testing regimens for employees with religious, medical and other legally recognized exemptions. Each violation carries a potential $14,000 penalty, the administration said.
Waguespack cited numerous considerations, such as companies offshoring operations to retain skilled employees, the potential for predatory litigation, lost jobs and labor shortages, as well as the risks and costs associated with exorbitant fines.
“Instead of taking targeted actions to jump start our stagnant economy, the Administration and Congressional leadership continue to propose new taxes, unprecedented spending and mandates that will drive up costs and stifle economic growth,” Waguespack said.
“We implore the President to reconsider this action and return to a more productive and constitutional effort to improve vaccination rates through education and access.”
Biden said Thursday unvaccinated Americans “can cause a lot of damage, and they are.”
“We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,” he said. “This is not about freedom or personal choice. It’s about protecting yourself and those around you, the people you work with the people you care about, the people you love.”
Louisiana has ranked among the lowest-vaccinated states. Gov. John Bel Edwards said about 43% of vaccine eligible Louisianans are fully vaccinated.
Edwards, a Democrat, has yet to comment on the large employer vaccine mandate. His public statements and social media remain focused on Hurricane Ida recovery and COVID-19 health-related activities. A request for comment was not returned.
Louisiana’s two Republican U.S. senators, Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, also remained silent, as has U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat representing New Orleans.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has not commented, though she has implemented some of the most stringent coronavirus health measures in the country, such as the so-called vaccine passport system to enter restaurants, bars, gyms, pool halls, arcades and many other private businesses.
Louisiana’s GOP-dominated congressional delegation, however, has levied harsh criticisms against the president.
U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the second-highest ranking House Republican, said the Biden employer mandate was “about government control.” He also cited Biden’s statement July 25, which said vaccine mandates are “not the role of government.”
“This is not about science,” Scalise said.
Louisiana Republican House representatives Clay Higgins and Mike Johnson followed suit. Higgins said the president “has zero authority to mandate vaccine compliance.” Johnson called the move a “brazen overreach.”

March 20, 1953 — August 29, 2021
Lee A. Nini, Jr. passed away peacefully at his home in Marrero, LA at the age of 68. He was a native of Berwick, LA and a longtime resident of Marrero, LA. Son of Gloria Chauvin Nini and the late Lee A. Nini, Sr. He was an avid hunter and fisherman and forever a family man. He is the beloved husband of Gretchen Winters Nini, deceased. Survivors include: his dear son Carl Nini and wife Ann Boullosa Nini, Gretna, LA, granddaughter Ashley Nini Wilson (husband Nick), Madisonville, LA, two grandsons, Jace and Cory, Gretna, LA and two great-grandchildren, Addison and Peyton Wilson, Madisonville, LA. He leaves behind his “Sidekick” Koko who never left his side, three Aunts: Lana Chauvin Hood, Des Allemands, LA, Eljean Carline Nesmith, Berwick, LA and Gloria Reed Chauvin, New Iberia, LA and many cousins. He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.
The funeral mass will be conducted at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Berwick, LA, Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. with Fr. Manny and Monsignor Courville officiating. Interment will be held at Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Gretna, LA.