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Morgan City Main Street has earned national accreditation for 2021 through the Main Street America program, the state announced last month in a news release.
The city is one of 25 in the state to earn the designation, which according to a Main Street America news release, is the top recognition that a program can achieve. To do so, Main Street Programs must meet 10 benchmarks.
“This elite designation signifies a strong commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization, along with a track record of effectively applying the Main Street Approach,” the news release said.
Morgan City is one of 883 programs to earn the recognition nationwide.
“We are proud to recognize this year’s nationally accredited Main Street programs that have worked tirelessly to advance economic vitality and quality of life in their downtowns and commercial districts,” Main Street America President and CEO Patrice Frey said in the state news release. “During an incredibly challenging year, these programs demonstrated the power of the Main Street movement to drive impressive local recovery efforts, champion small businesses and foster vibrant downtown districts. I am inspired by their hard work and confident that these accredited communities will continue to help their downtowns flourish in the next stages of recovery.”
In 2020, Main Street America programs nationwide produced $4.14 billion in local reinvestment, made renovations to 8,488 historic buildings and volunteers logged 983,702 hours of service, among other statistics.
In St. Mary Parish, Morgan City was joined by Franklin’s Main Street Program, which also earned reaccreditation.
Other nearby communities that earned accreditation in 2021 are as follows: Houma Downtown Development Corp. (Terrebonne Parish), New Iberia Main Street (Iberia Parish), St. Martinville Main Street (St. Martin Parish) and Thibodaux Main Street (Lafourche Parish).
“Louisiana’s Main Street communities persevered through one of the toughest economic years they have ever faced,” Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said in a Louisiana Main Street release on the announcement. “Now that we are on the road to recovery, our Main Street communities will be needed now more than ever. They are the heartbeat of many of our smaller towns and communities.”
Morgan City Main Street Executive Director Beth Price was unavailable for comment Monday.

Walking trails for Bayou Vista and Amelia are on the agenda for Wednesday’s St. Mary Parish Council meeting.
The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Parish Courthouse in Franklin.
The agenda includes separate proposed resolutions authorizing grant applications for walking-bike trails in Amelia and Bayou Vista.
The grants would come from the Federal Highway Administration’s Recreation Trails Program.
The Bayou Vista walking trail became an issue at the June 9 meeting when Councilmember Scott Ramsey of Bayou Vista tried to have a member removed from the St. Mary Parish Recreation District No. 3 board.
Ramsey said the member seemed to be holding up plans for the community’s walking trail by, among other things, not taking up a land donation for the new recreational feature.
St. Mary Parish needs activities for its residents, Ramsey argued.
Board members said they want to see detailed plans for the trail before committing district resources.
Ramsey eventually withdrew his attempt to remove the board member.
Also Wednesday, the council is scheduled to take up a change order in the Gravity District No. 2 and 2A improvements project.
The agenda doesn’t specify the nature of the change order.
On June 8, Parish President David Hanagriff sought and obtained a letter of credit from the St. Mary Levee District to beef up plans for a new pump station.
The district operates Morgan City pump stations that pull water from within the levee system when heavy rain is falling.
There are plans to move an existing pump station with four pumps from near Ochsner St. Mary to near Lake Palourde at Lake End Park.
Plans call for a fifth pump to be added to the new station, but the anticipated state funding for the additional pump aren’t yet available from the state.
The loan from the Levee District will allow the Gravity Drainage District to add the fifth pump sooner and at the current price.
The council will also be looking for a replacement for Tammie Moore on the Recreation District No. 5 board, which serves the Four Corners-Sorrell-Glencoe area. Moore submitted her resignation recently.
“I am grateful for having had the opportunity to serve on the board of this fine organization for the past few years, and I offer my best wishes for its continued success,” Moore wrote.

The Patterson Lumberjacks led the area’s All-District 9-3A boys basketball team selections with one first-team pick.
Junior Tylon Walton made the top squad.
The Lumberjacks had one second-team selection, sophomore Josiah Jennings. Patterson had three seniors earn honorable mention picks. Dillon Gunner, Louis Jones and Randan Paul made the squad for the Lumberjacks.
Berwick had three sophomores earn honorable mention status. Zack Gonzalez, Zane Griffin and Jayden Milton represented the Panthers.
Donaldsonville junior Lawrence Forcell is the district’s Most Valuable Player, while Lutcher’s J.P. Piper is the district’s Coach of the Year.
Below is the complete all-district team:
First Team
—Lawrence Forcell, Donaldsonville, Jr.; Savion Jones, St. James, Sr.; Jeremiah Pierre, Lutcher, So.; Ethan Soignet, E.D. White, Sr.; and Tylon Walton, Patterson, Jr.
MVP
Lawrence Forcell, Donaldsonville.
Coach of the Year
J.P. Piper, Lutcher
Second Team
—Josiah Jennings, Patterson, So.; Mason Lawless, E.D. White, Jr.; Rayien Oatis, Donaldsonville, Fr.; Copeland Williams, Lutcher, Sr.; and D’Wanye’ Winfield, Lutcher, So.
Honorable Mention
—Kobe Brown, St. James, Fr.; Zack Gonzalez, Berwick, So.; Zane Griffin, Berwick, So.; Dillon Gunner, Patterson, Sr.; Louis Jones, Patterson, Sr.; Jayden Milton, Berwick, So.; Mekhi Patterson, Lutcher, Sr.; Randan Paul, Patterson, Sr.; Blake Sellers, St. James, Sr.; and Sam Scott, Lutcher, Sr.

LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network has selected four Nicholls State University educators to help develop interactive dual enrollment courses using open educational resources.
The project is part of the federal Open Textbooks Pilot Program, funded by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Participants from Nicholls are:
---Elizabeth Batte, director of the Ellender Memorial Library
--Brandy Burbante, cataloging librarian
--Dr. James Gilley, assistant professor of political science
--Dr. Kevin McQueeney, assistant professor of history and geography.
Batte and Burbante are among 25 Louisiana academic librarians to lead faculty cohorts on the Interactive OER for Dual Enrollment project.
The goal of the project is to create 25 general education courses using OERs. OERs are teaching materials – such as textbooks and lesson plans – which are available for free with an open license. By using OERS, this will reduce the cost for over 250,000 dual enrollment students across the state. “Through this program, we can provide access to high-quality materials at very affordable prices,” Dr. Gilley said. “It is important to provide affordable options for educational resources so that everyone has a chance to learn and grow as full people.”
Batte will assist a faculty cohort in developing Fundamentals for Communication, while Burbante will do the same for the Computer Applications cohort. Dr. Gilley will work with faculty on the Introductions to American Government team, and Dr. McQueeney will work with the team for American History II.
Chosen courses have high enrollment, but poor outcomes and low passing rates. Besides identifying OERs, cohorts will also design interactive and diverse courses for students.
“This program addresses the equity issues involved in dual enrollment and access to higher education,” Burbante said. “In the end, this will create more opportunities for students to earn college credit. And those students who find success early on have a better chance to become college graduates who become productive members of our community.”
Since 2006, textbook prices have risen about 88 percent, according to the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal.
“As a university that serves a population with a majority of students coming from low and moderate-income backgrounds, and a high percentage of students of color, this issue is particularly pressing,” Dr. McQueeney said. “Hopefully, these courses can better meet the diverse learning needs of all students.”
Almost two-thirds of students have skipped buying a required textbook for class, according to a 2019 survey by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Additionally, 19 percent of students choose their classes based on the cost of textbooks, while 11 percent say they have skipped a meal after purchasing books for the semester, according to the survey.
“As a first-gen student, I understand the value of every penny spent on education and how hard it can be to pay for expensive textbooks,” Batte said. “Every little bit counts and if there is something I can do to make higher education more affordable and accessible to students, then I am going to do it.”
The U.S. Department of Education established the Open Textbooks Pilot Program in 2018. LOUIS was chosen as part of the program in 2020.