Ochsner St. Mary’s COVID-19 mass vaccination and health fair scheduled for Saturday has been postponed due to the threat of inclement weather.
The event, which will feature crawfish for those who participate, will now be held June 26 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Morgan City hospital.
The Central Catholic High students shown here received scholarships and awards at the school's recent Awards Breakfast. More pictures will appear in an upcoming edition. The photos are courtesy of Wade Gussman Photography.
Nearly a month into the effort to inoculate those ages 12-15 with the COVID-19 vaccine, numbers are low, but the Region 3 director of the Louisiana Department of Health said that the timing for the introductions plays a part in that.
According Dr. Chip Riggins, the state health agency’s director in Region 3, the Emergency Use Authorization granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 10 coincided with the end of the school year, producing lower numbers thus far.
However, he said that age group is something the state and Region 3, which includes St. Mary Parish, will be increasing efforts in this summer.
“We do want to encourage folks with kids in that group to go ahead and not wait, come in,” Riggins said. “It’s a good time to get it started.”
This summer, he said the state would be working with businesses, churches and community groups to hold events to give the vaccine.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the only one that has been granted approval thus far. Because only one company has been given approval of the vaccine, it is limited to the parish’s Public Health Unit in Morgan City and Ochsner St. Mary. Appointments can be made at either location to get kids the vaccine. Written parental consent is not required but strongly encouraged, Riggins said.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, 1.92%, or 18,856, of all those who have begun the vaccine sequence are in the ages 5-17 group. A total of 0.84% of all those who have been fully vaccinated, or 12,017, come from this age group, too. There are 768,262 in this age group who have not received a vaccine.
While the age group is characterized as ages 5-17, it actually only includes those who are ages 12-17, Riggins said.
“We used the 5-17 age range early in the pandemic to capture school-age children in our case reporting, so for consistency, we have matched those categorizations for vaccinations,” Louisiana Department of Health Public Information Officer Mindy Faciane said.
Closer to home in Region 3, state data shows that 1.49% of all those who have begun the vaccination regime, or 1,031, come from the 5-17 age group.
In the region, 0.68% of all those fully vaccinated, or 777, come from this age group. There are 69,916 who have not been vaccinated in the 12-17 age range.
In St. Mary Parish, the state’s data shows that of those who have begun the vaccination sequence, 0.86% of that population, or 61 youngsters, come from the 12-17 age group. Of all that have completed the vaccine, 0.49%, or 65 total, come from this age group. The total who have not been vaccinated in this age group is 8,903.
Nationally and in the state, the American Academy of Pediatricians, as well as pediatricians, are joining government health professionals in the effort to encourage parents to have their children vaccinated.
“Because I think that’s where parents go for that information,” Riggins said. “That’s the trusted voice about childhood immunizations.”
Teche Action Clinic CEO Dr. Gary Wiltz noted that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has an effective rate of 100% in children.
“So you can’t get any better than that,” he said.
The longtime physician said the system in place for giving the vaccines Emergency Use Authorizations is a great one.
“That is, the clinical trials were done in accordance with all the FDA regulations, and that’s why they got the Emergency Use Auth-orization,” Wiltz said. “So it’s not like it hasn’t been tested. It has been tested, and the sample size that it was tested in was felt to be adequate and representative with confidence that it was granted the Emergency Use Authorization.”
Riggins said when the Moderna vaccine is approved for this age group, availability will expand to other locations.
Wiltz said his agency is surveying the parents of those eligible for the vaccine before even determining how much of it they will need to order. He said about 2,000 people his agency serves in St. Mary Parish would qualify in the 12-15 age group.
The shots youngsters will receive are the same one adults received, and the same flu-like type symptoms experienced in adults are expected in children.
“For the most part, kids tolerate the vaccine a little bit better,” Riggins said. “Of course, they don’t vocalize their symptoms maybe as well sometimes, but yes, the side-effect profile seems to be similar and tolerable.”
In referencing the 5-17 age group used on the state’s website, Faciane noted that the eligibility for vaccines has changed before and probably will change again.
Riggins said that’s where medicine is headed with the vaccine with studies first, and then after approval is given by the FDA, opening up the age group even further.
Wiltz said today’s youth are “probably the most vaccinated group that we’ve ever had in history.”
He and Riggins did recognize how parents will take a closer look at the vaccines because unlike themselves, it will be given to a loved one.
“You want to do what’s best for them, and you can only base it on science,” Wiltz said. However, he said the science has proven itself.
The recommended age to begin giving a flu shot is six months old, and further down the line, Riggins said he thinks that’s where medical professionals will go with the COVID-19 vaccine.
As of Thursday in all age groups, the state has begun nearly 1.66 million vaccine series and has concluded almost 1.48 million, according to state Department of Health data.
In Region 3, 28.82% of the population has been vaccinated, which is the fourth-best among the state’s nine regions. The number of people fully vaccinated in the region is 128,288, according to the state data.
In St. Mary Parish, 14,606 series have been started and 13,181 have been completed, according to the state.
Riggins said getting the younger age group vaccinated is important.
“If we can get a significant number of younger adults and of children, I think it’s going to bode much better for a normal school year, and we’re kind of minimizing the other mitigation measures that are necessary if we see more spikes due to the COVID,” he said.
March 31, 2021 — May 31, 2021
Deborah Mary Stansbury Jones, 72, of Hilliard, Ohio, passed away peacefully in the presence of her loving family on May 31, 2021, after a courageous battle with ovarian cancer.
Deborah was born March 31, 1949, in Morgan City, Louisiana. She was the valedictorian of the class of 1967 at Morgan City High School then graduated with a Biology major and Physics minor at Louisiana State University in 1971. A dedicated Air Force wife, Debbie was a teacher in numerous schools throughout the United States as she followed her husband’s career.
Debbie met her husband of 50 years, David Jones, at Louisiana State University in 1969 when he asked a friend “who is that girl and can I have a date with her,” the two most important questions he’s ever asked. They married June 5, 1971. Together they traveled throughout Europe, the Baltic, and St. Petersburg, Russia. After retiring, they settled and lived for many years in Beavercreek, Ohio.
Debbie had many accomplishments in her life, none more important than being a mother and grandmother. Throughout her illness, her greatest desire was that she would live long enough for her grandchildren to know her love. There is no question she succeeded.
A dedicated genealogist, Debbie brought to life thousands of ancestors through her meticulous research. Debbie served as a precinct captain of the Greene County Ohio GOP Central Committee. She also was a member of Noble Circle Sisters, a cancer support community, where she found many dear and supportive friends. She was a Court Appointed Special Advocate-Guardian ad litem (CASA) for six years, lending her voice on behalf of abused and neglected children.
Debbie is preceded in death by her parents Merlin Conrad Stansbury and Margaret Mary Cram and her stepfather Nicholas Paul Spinella. She is joyfully reuniting with them and her beloved grandparents Bruce and Mary Cram.
Debbie is survived by her husband, USAF Lt. Col. David K. Jones (ret), and her daughters Erin (Michael) Pettegrew of Hilliard, Ohio, and Courtney (Sean) Nealon of Jupiter, Florida, her brother Merlin “Chip” (Rena) Stansbury, her sister Maria (Robin) Preston, and grandchildren Samantha and Sydney Pettegrew and Conner and Claire Nealon and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins who were all precious to her.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, or the Terrebonne Genealogical Society.
Family will welcome visitors at Tidd Family Funeral Home in Hilliard, Ohio from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Her funeral will be held at Scioto Ridge United Methodist Church on Friday, June 11, 2021 at 11 a.m., Pastor Jason Wellman officiating. Debbie will be interred in Morgan City, Louisiana and a Celebration of Life will be held there later this year. www.tiddfuneralservice.com.
Tidd Family Funeral Home, 5265 Norwich St., Hilliard, Ohio 43026, is in charge of arrangements.
RUMMAGE SALE
Hosted by Patterson United Methodist Church, 1204 Main St., Patterson, from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, June 5. Features clothes, shoes, jewelry and household items.
LOSS OF SPOUSE
Luncheon meeting resumes 12:30 p.m. July 16, Atkinson Memorial Presbyterian Church hall, for fellowship for those who have lost a spouse. For info call 985-385-2772.
Happy birthday Saturday to Nettie Ruth Valentine from family, friends and Ira … Happy anniversary Brandon and Michelle Delco from family and friends … Happy birthday Jody Carinhas from the gang at MC Rentals
The Louisiana Legislature voted Thursday to create a single statewide board to oversee state sales tax collection, though voter approval and more legislation still are needed.
The House and Senate both gave final passage to Speaker Clay Schexnayder’s House Bill 199, a proposed constitutional amendment to create the State and Local Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Commission. Amending the state constitution requires the support of at least two-thirds of the members of both chambers and a majority of voters but not the governor’s signature.
Louisiana is one of only three states without a centralized sales tax collector. Local officials have collected local taxes. They have argued doing so ensures they get their revenue in a timely manner and can spend the money they way local taxpayers and voters want it spent.
Business advocates, however, contend the system is too complex and difficult to navigate, particularly for small businesses. Companies that do business in multiple jurisdictions have to deal with – and potentially be audited by – multiple collectors.
“Each parish in Louisiana oversees its own sales tax collection, audits, rates and even interpretations of what is taxed,” the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana said in a 2018 report. “No other state has this degree of local independence and control of its sales tax system.”
Under HB 199, the state still would not have full control of sales tax collection, which is important to many local officials. The eight-member commission would have four representatives of state government and four representing local government. The commission would be tasked with streamlining collections, simplifying the audit process and giving policy advice relative to sales taxes.
Usually bills that call for a constitutional amendment are paired with a separate bill laying out the companion statute that would go into effect. HB 199 doesn’t have a statutory companion, which means legislators would have to work out some of the details in a future session.
Schexnayder called HB 199 “the first step in bringing Louisiana in line with the rest of the country.”
“We’ve been trying to do this for nearly forty years and today we did it,” he said in a prepared statement.
The public vote will be held this fall.
The House approved Senate Bill 149 Thursday, which calls for a special election for proposed constitutional amendments in October at an expected cost of $2 million.
BATON ROUGE -- A bill to make kindergarten mandatory in Louisiana passed the House 59-31 Thursday and will go back to the Senate for final consideration.
Senators will need to decide if they concur with a House amendment changing the birthdate for when children would become eligible.
“Education is the mortal enemy to poverty,” said Rep. Jason Hughes, D-Orleans. “It just makes sense because it is good for our children and because it is good for our state.”
In a floor debate that lasted an hour and 10 minutes, opposing arguments were unable to kill the bill and resulted in just that one change.
The original bill would have required children turning five by September 30 to start kindergarten that fall. Amendment 3887 by Rep. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, moved up the eligibility to children with birth dates by March 31.
Pressly’s amendment passed 57-38.
If the Senate passes the bill before the session ends next Thursday, the bill will move to the governor’s desk to sign.
Hughes reported that as of 2019, 160,000 students in Louisiana could not read.
Many arguments were debated relating to the impact of the bill, such as sports eligibility, truancy and parent’s choice.
The bill will allow parents to send their children to kindergarten at a public or private school or home-school them.
“The bill will allow homeschooling,” Hughes said. “Parents have the right to send their child to their school of choice.”
Rep. Beryl Amedeé argued that lowering the compulsory attendance age to attend kindergarten from 7 to 5 keeps parents from having a choice in deciding if a child is ready or not.
Amedeé’s amendment failed to pass with a 30-65 vote.
Some lawmakers were disappointed that everyone was not able to speak before voting on the final passage.
“I am absolutely totally disgusted that you would not allow for a full debate on this important debate,” said Rep. Polly Thomas, R-Metairie.
Also on Thursday, two bills relating to campus safety and accountability in higher education were adopted as the House concurred with Senate amendments.
Lawmakers concurred with the Senate amendments for House Bills 394 and HB 409.
House Bill 409 mandates college employees report known power-based violence violations under threat of termination and gives more clarity on to whom they should report violations.
The bill stemmed from a scandal involving sexual assault allegations against LSU football players that the school did not properly investigate.
House Bill 394 requires colleges and universities to post their campus policies and crime statistics on their websites.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 2 was recommitted to the House Appropriations Committee.
The resolution supports the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education budget plan and the pay raises of $800 for teachers and $400 for K-12 support personnel.
The resolution is scheduled for debate in the Appropriations Committee on Monday.
The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the police department at 985-380-4605.
Wednesday, June 2
6:29 a.m. 100 block of Eleventh Street; Disturbance.
8:11 a.m. 1000 block of David Drive; Alarm.
8:35 a.m. 200 block of Chennault Street; Warrant/arrest.
10:52 a.m. 200 block of Chennault Street; Search warrant/arrest.
11:19 a.m. Onstead Street and Federal Avenue; Accident.
11:29 a.m. 400 block of Aucoin Street; Theft.
12:02 p.m. 1000 block of Front Street; Criminal damage to property.
12:29 p.m. Lake End Park area; Loud music.
1:09 p.m. 200 block of Franklin Street; Animal complaint.
2:15 p.m. 1100 block of Marguerite Street; Complaint.
2:59 p.m. Federal Avenue and Onstead Street area; Battery.
4:51 p.m. 7400 block of La. 182; Complaint.
6:00 p.m. 1100 block of Victor II Boulevard; Crash.
6:23 p.m. Justa and Allison streets; Animal complaint.
7:14 p.m. 400 block of Fourth Street; Medical.
8:09 p.m. 600 block of Fifth Street; Theft.
8:20 p.m. 200 block of Chennault Street; Civil.
8:28 p.m. Front Street; Patrol.
8:40 p.m. 6300 block of La. 182; Complaint.
8:50 p.m. 2400 block of Apple Street; Complaint.
9:14 p.m. 900 block of Cherry Street; Medical.
9:47 p.m. 200 block of Ann Street; Complaint.
10:13 p.m. 1600 block of Front Street; Removal of subject.
10:48 p.m. 100 block of Louisa Street; Assistance.
11:09 p.m. Freret and Second streets; Stalled vehicle.
Thursday, June 3
2:26 a.m. Louisiana Street; Loud music.
2:49 a.m. 7800 block of La. 182; Animal complaint.
3:13 a.m. 2000 block of Allison Street; Animal complaint.
South Louisiana was not left out when the U.S. entry into World War I caused everyone and his brother to become wary of strangers, and sometimes neighbors, suspected of being German spies.
Folks in Eunice thought they’d found one when a drifter passed through just about Christmas time in 1917.
A newspaper report identified him as “John de Armand, alias Frederick Hebert.”
The newspaper said he also went by Frederick Schwartz, and that he variously represented himself as a reporter for a New Orleans paper, a watchmaker, and a Baptist minister.
He was held in Eunice after nervous passengers on a train he boarded in DeQuincy said he was acting suspiciously. They said that just before the train reached Eunice “the stranger continually paced up and down the car,” asking some of the passengers for money.
The newspaper described him as a man about 55 years old who “wore neat clothing, his vest bearing the brand of a Milwaukee firm.”
He said he had no permanent address and refused to answer questions “as to his mission in this part of the country.”
Local authorities sent him to New Orleans to be questioned by federal agents who may or may not have been more adept at sniffing out enemy agents.
Another suspect was arrested in Crowley a month later, when, according to the Crowley Signal, “Patriotism of Crowleyites proved itself … despite the fact that … the ‘suspect’ proved out and was released.” He was picked up when sheriff’s deputies received complaints about a “German piano tuner” who had recently come to town. It turned out that he really was a piano tuner and that he was from England.
Nobody seemed exactly sure what aroused suspicion in June 1918 when the Rev. Fred Ross, pastor of the First Christian Church in Crowley, was accused of spying. The reverend proclaimed his loyalty in the press when rumors began to spread.
“My father was born in Glasgow, Scotland,” he wrote.
“My mother was born in Paris, France. Each of these countries are in the great struggle for truth and righteousness.” He said he had more than a hundred relatives fighting in France, and that “the public can judge my loyalty by the loyalty of the family I have the honor of being a member of.”
Another part of his statement might offer a clue as to why talk started.
“As I have often said in the pulpit,” he said, “I am for everything the government is for and against everything the government is against. … I am … doing all I can to aid the government to a conclusion of this war that will mean a permanent peace, so the world will be a safe place to live in.
But a premature peace that does not mean this, I am against.”
Many Americans believed that the U.S. had no business in fighting World War I and favored “peace any cost.” But it is worth mentioning that later events suggest the reverend had a point. Most historians agree that the treaty that ended World War I stopped the fighting but did not guarantee the peace. They say it planted seeds that led inevitably to World War II.
When a man was arrested in Alexandria and “sweated all day” by the police, he reportedly confessed that he was on his way to blow up the Shreveport waterworks. According to some news accounts, he was carrying two quarts of nitroglycerin to do the job.
It turned out that the liquid was not nitro, but was pretty potent stuff.
Police said the man was “more interested in breweries than in waterworks.”
That story prompted the Shreveport Times to comment, “At times like these the mischievous and mendacious can do a lot of harm by repeating senseless and inflammatory rumors.
These rumors are going to be hatched from time to time, and the people should recognize this fact and exercise some care in repeating and giving currency to them.
In this particular instance there was not one scintilla of truth in the wild story of the nitroglycerin and the murderous intent of the ‘German spy,’ who was not even a German.”
It was good advice, but the rumors continued. Anti-German sentiment was exacerbated in Louisiana in 1918 when the Legislature outlawed teaching German in any school in the state and banned speaking the language, flying the German flag, or even selling products made in Germany. Punishment could be up to 60 years in prison.
Fortunately, these laws were repealed in 1921, but they left their mark on families who had been here for generations.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, "Cajuns and Other Characters," is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.
Franklin Banner-Tribune
P.O. Box 566, Franklin, LA 70538
Phone: 337-828-3706
Fax: 337-828-2874
Morgan City Review
1014 Front Street, Morgan City, LA 70380
Phone: 985-384-8370
Fax: 985-384-4255