RSS Feed

Bollinger Shipyards LLC christened the Holland, an ocean transport barge for General Dynamics Electric Boat, on Saturday.
The Holland will support the construction and maintenance of the United States’ Columbia Class ballistic missile submarines and Virginia Class fast attack submarines. General Dynamics Electric Boat is the prime contractor on the design and build of the Columbia Class submarine, which will replace the aging Ohio Class ballistic missile submarines.
“Bollinger Shipyards is pleased to partner with General Dynamics Electric Boat to help meet the expanding needs of the United States’ Navy,” said Bollinger President & CEO Ben Bordelon. “We believe that in order to build 21st century American vessels, it requires 21st century American tools and equipment manufactured right here in the United States. The Bollinger management team and our skilled workforce are proud and look forward to continue supporting the efforts to modernize our Nation’s fleet.”
“The men and women of Electric Boat are proud of our long history in providing the world’s finest submarines to our Navy and our Nation,” said Kevin Graney, president, General Dynamics Electric Boat.
In November 2019, General Dynamics Electric Boat selected Bollinger to construct the Holland, a 400-by-100-foot ocean transport barge.
The concept and contract design was performed by the Bristol Harbor Group in Rhode Island, while Bollinger performed the detail design engineering at its Lockport facility and construction at the Bollinger Marine Fabrication facility in Amelia.

The Donjon-SMIT salvage team raised the bow section of the SEACOR Power to the surface of the water and transported it by barge on Saturday to the Modern American Recycling Services Inc. facility in Houma.
With the bow section removed, salvage work continued at the site, where crews conducted more acoustic surveys of the stern and accommodation sections.
The updated surveys will be used to complete the rigging configuration to prepare the stern section for removal. Once the stern section is raised, the crews will continue the preparation and removal of the accommodations section.
Safety remains paramount. The unified commander is closely monitoring the weather and adjusting operations as needed to ensure the safety of salvage crews.
The Coast Guard safety zone extending one nautical mile around the site and the Federal Aviation Administration temporary flight restriction covering a five nautical mile radius around the wreckage site and 2,000-foot minimum altitude will remain in place until salvage operations are complete. Additionally, a temporary flight restriction is in place around the M.A.R.S., Inc. facility. These restrictions are in place to ensure the safety of salvage crews working at the wreckage site and the M.A.R.S. Inc. facility as well as boaters who could place themselves in danger by transiting through an active work site where debris and other underwater obstructions such as anchor wires, mooring ropes and navigational buoys may be present.

An outsized figure in Louisiana politics, former Gov. Edwin Edwards, passed away Monday, just a few days before the legislative deadline for constitutionally-required veto session ballots. The significance wasn’t lost on those who know the history of the state Constitution and the role Edwards had in its passage in 1974.
Edwards and the delegates to the 1973-74 Constitutional Convention managed to do what other towering figures from modern Louisiana politics were unable to — reform the state’s much ballyhooed 1921 charter.
Huey Long tried and failed, as did his brother Earl. “In fact,” Edwards noted in what may be the last thing he ever wrote on the subject, “much of the 20th Century saw some of Louisiana’s most brilliant political minds endeavoring to overhaul a state Constitution in shambles.”
Writing the epilogue for “The Last Constitution: Louisiana’s Greatest Political Generation and the Document that Defined Them All,” Edwards recounted how the odds were stacked against him and the delegates:
As I met individually with legislators before the inauguration, many remained skeptical of the idea that we could successfully rewrite the Constitution.
Many showed reluctance to move forward with any revisions to the existing document.
Addressing the Legislature on my first day as governor, I said, “The time has come to modernize the system itself so that we and those who follow will not be stymied by built-in waste, inefficiency and lack of accountability.” The Constitutional Convention became the first step to put our state’s house in order, and to prepare Louisiana for the new age.
By the Friday of my first week in office, the constitutional convention bill had reached my desk. When I signed it, I told the press, “We have set the stage for the people to have a voice in state government.” I still believe that the Convention gave the people of Louisiana a level of input on state government previously unavailable to them. In 1921 and years prior, the average citizen could not simply pick up the phone and reach their delegates at a constitutional convention.
While popular legend suggests Edwards more or less controlled the entire Convention, that wasn’t the case. At what may have been the height of his power, Edwards didn’t even come close to getting everything he wanted. In fact, delegates decided to give the Legislative Branch more authority, which Edwards, a former legislator himself, didn’t aggressively fight against.
Under the 1921 Constitution, no veto session could ensue unless a majority of the members of each chamber agreed to consider an override. The current Constitution reversed that scenario by mandating an automatic veto session after each legislative session — unless a majority of members from either chamber “declare(s) in writing that a veto session is unnecessary.”
Edwards hoped lawmakers would never use that provision to override one of his vetoes, and they never did, at least not in a full-blown veto session. That honor will probably be bestowed upon the sitting governor of the same name — Gov. John Bel Edwards. (While not related to the late governor, Gov. Edwards’ father, the one-time sheriff of Tangipahoa Parish, was a delegate to the 1973-73 Convention.)
The governor has vetoed a number of bills from the recent regular session that were near and dear to conservative lawmakers, including one that would have banned participation in certain sports by transgender athletes and another that would have allowed for the concealed carry of firearms without a permit. Lawmakers must turn in their veto ballots by July 15, which in turn is expected to trigger the state’s first veto session ever.
One of the loudest voices in favor of a veto override session belongs to House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, who was reportedly by the side of late Gov. Edwin Edwards when he passed earlier this week.
Schexnayder has done as much as anyone to make sure the Legislature becomes a more independent branch of state government.
Edwin Edwards, meanwhile, did more than any other state executive to add a mystique of power and control to the office of governor that you won’t find enshrined in any law or constitution.
Those contrasting ideas — of a strong Executive Branch and an independent Legislative Branch — will come to a head later this month, should lawmakers trigger a history-making veto session.
And the only thing that will definitely survive the dustup is the legacy of the man we knew as EWE.
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow

Born to Chassity M. Grimball and Chase A. Scully of Morgan City, a boy, Oliver James Scully, on June 11 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. He weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 20 inches.
——
Born to Brianna C. Fabre and Quenteris Taylor of Morgan City, a boy, Kamron Charles Taylor, on June 17 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. He weighed 5 pounds, 9 ounces and measured 19 inches.
——
Born to Mr. and Mrs. James Freeman III (nee: Kylie Dehart) of Patterson, a boy, Luke Thomas Freeman, on June 23 at Ochsner St. Mary in Morgan City. He weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces and measured 19.6 inches.
——
Born to Kassy Durapau and Benjamin Hicks of Patterson, a girl, Keighan Ruth Hicks on June 24 at Ochsner St. Mary in Morgan City. She weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and measured 21.5 inches.
——
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Claudio Peralta Santiago (nee: Maria Teresa Henandez Francisco) of Morgan City, a girl, Maylen Peralta Hernandez, on June 27 at Ochsner St. Mary in Morgan City. She weighed 7 pounds and measured 19.5 inches.
——
Born to Cheyenne N. Williams of Morgan City and Cody T. Plaisance of Napoleonville, a girl, Christine Nicole Plaisance, on June 30 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. She weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 19.25 inches.
——
Born to Malerie B. Vining and Layne M. Arnaud of Morgan City, a boy, Carter James Arnaud, on June 30 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. He weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces and measured 18 inches.
——
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Jessie Wesley Jr. (nee: Brianisha Drew) of Patterson, a boy, Israel Ni’Jae Wesley, on July 6 at Ochsner St. Mary in Morgan City. He weighed 8 pounds, 2.5 ounces and measured 19 inches.