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Born to Mr. and Mrs. Bradley P. Matte (nee: Alli Landry) of Morgan City, a boy, John Bradley Matte, on Dec. 26 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. He weighed 7 pounds and measured 20 inches.
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Born to Destiny N. Escort and Keiondre O. Allridge of Morgan City, twin boys, Drelyn Dream Allridge and Drevyn Deuce Allridge, on Jan. 5 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center.
Drelyn weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces and measured 18 inches. Drevyn weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 18 inches.
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Born to Carley R. Daigle and Anthony A. Aleman of Morgan City, a girl, Aleigha Rosee’ Aleman, on Jan. 8 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. She weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 18¾ inches.
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Born to Mr. and Mrs. Larry A. Aucoin (nee: Kimberly Mitchell) of Morgan City, a girl, Lakyn Jo Aucoin, on Jan. 11 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. She weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces and measured 18.5 inches.
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Born to Michaela Legendre and Devin C. Thornton of Morgan City, a girl, Layne Avery Legendre-Thornton, on Jan. 11 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. She weighed 5 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 18 inches.
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Born to Mr. and Mrs. Namon Bennett Sr. (nee: Maggie Galloway) of Morgan City, a boy, Nathanyll Thomas-Rae Bennett, on Jan. 14 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. He weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and measured 22 inches.
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Born to Dajia Z. Johnson and Wayne M. Escort of Morgan City, a boy, Kaegan Michael Escort, on Jan. 14 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. He weighed 6 pounds and measured 18 inches.

PATTERSON -- Some days, every task is easy. And then, for the Patterson City Council, there was Tuesday.

The agenda for Tuesday's regular monthly meeting included discussion of a possible pay raise for Police Chief Garrett Grogan's next term if he wins re-election, and the introduction of proposed ordinances clarifying subdivision rules and creating a municipal cemetery.

But, after discussing the issues from many angles, the council and especially City Attorney Russel Cremaldi are going back to work on proposals for the March meeting.

Grogan, who won election as police chief in 2018, asked the council to consider the pay raise and was armed with figures from surrounding municipalities.

They showed that Grogan makes $54,000 per year, not counting $6,000 in annual supplemental pay from the state government.

Morgan City's chief makes $76,000, Berwick's $61,750 and Baldwin's $42,335, all excluding the $6,000 in annual supplemental pay.

Grogan's predecessor, Patrick LaSalle, was making $86,000 annually, the chief said. And Grogan now supervises at least one officer who makes more than Grogan does.

Grogan is asking the council to raise his base pay to $62,000-$65,000 during his next term, which would begin in January 2023. That raise would apply only tp Grogan if he's re-elected.

And that was a potential problem for attorney Cremaldi.

"I don't know any place that sets a salary that depends on who the chief is," Cremaldi said.

But Mayor Rodney Grogan, the chief's cousin, said that's the way the council takes into account a newly elected chief's age and experience.

Councilman Joe Russo said he approaches the question from a teacher's point of view, and teachers are paid according to a step schedule that grants fixed raises with each year of experience and additional educational attainment. Russo wondered whether a similar system could be established for the police chief.

The objection there is that the city charter requires the mayor and council to set the chief's salary.

A firm proposal will have to wait for a council consensus. The same is true for what was supposed to be an introductory ordinance on "flag lot" subdivision rules.

The rules governing the subdividing of property for development are designed in part to ensure that lots have access to a public road and to utilities. If the back portion of a lot is divided into a separate lot that doesn't have road frontage, it has to be connected to a public road with at least a thin strip of land.

The configuration resembles a flag on a pole. That new lot is the flag, and the thin strip is the pole.

Cremaldi came to the meeting with an ordinance clarifying Patterson's subdivision rules. That ordinance would have amended the rules to allow the "pole" strip to be either part of the new flag lot or to have a recorded, perpetual right of way across the front lot to the adjoining street and for access to utilities.

But the city government's new chief building officer, William Gil, said the parish's subdivision rules require the "pole" strip to be part of the new lot and not just a right of way.

And consulting engineer Melanie Caillouet of Providence Engineering, at the meeting to make her monthly report, stepped to the microphone to say she's seen problems with flog lot rights of way, including disputes over who fixes clogged sewer lines.

Councilman John Rentrop was also concerned about requirements for the width of the right of way.

The council didn't introduce the ordinance, the first step toward a public hearing and a final passage vote. Cremaldi will come back later with another version of the ordinance.

That's also true for another proposed ordinance, this one establishing a city cemetery on Williams Street tracts that already contains graves. Mayor Grogan said he wants the ordinance prepared by Cremaldi to include another nearby tract as part of the city cemetery.

Also Tuesday:

-The council was introduced to Gil, who worked in parish government planning and as a contractor. He became the city's chief building officer three weeks ago.

Gil said he hopes to expedite the building process with steps such as virtual permitting, database work and remote inspections.

"I want to help the public and help make it easier to build and remodel in Patterson," Gil told the council.

--Cremaldi administered the oath of office to Eric Stewart, who is the newest member of the Patterson Planning and Zoning Commission. Stewart succeeds his father, Cornelius Stewart, who resigned in January after serving on the commission for nearly three decades.

--The council approved a can shake fundraiser for the Patterson Volunteer Fire Department 9 a.m.-noon March 6 on Catherine Street.

Three new confirmed COVID-related fatalities and one death probably related to the coronavirus were reported in local parishes for the 24 hours ending at midday Tuesday, according to the Louisiana Office of Public Health.

Two confirmed fatalities were reported in St. Martin, which has now had 97 confirmed COVID deaths and eight probable.

St. Mary has one new confirmed COVID death and one new probable, raising the toll here to 103 confirmed with 12 probable.

Fourteen new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported Tuesday in Assumption, where the pandemic total is now 1,477 confirmed with 506 probable. The death toll remains at 28 confirmed and three probable.

St. Martin has 39 new confirmed cases, raising its totals to 4,278 confirmed with 354 probable.

St. Mary's total was adjusted downward by six to make its totals 3,194 confirmed with 676 probable.

Statewide:

--2,580 new cases raise the pandemic totals to 352,277 confirmed with 51,917 probable.

--41 new COVID fatalities raise the tolls to 8,375 confirmed with 578 probable.

--37 more COVID-positive people are in Louisiana hospitals, raising the total to 1,440.

--2 more people are on ventilators for a total of 189.

Residents of the small Terrebonne Parish town of Montegut are mourning two women who authorities say died trying to protect a rape victim targeted to keep her from testifying against her attacker.
The accused rapist, Beaux Cormier, 35, of Kaplan has been arrested on two counts of first-degree murder, Terrebonne Sheriff Tim Soignet said at a press conference Monday.
Also arrested on first-degree murder charges were the two men investigators believe Cormier hired to kill the rape victim: Andrew Erskine, 25, of Carencro and Dalvin Wilson, 22, of Rayne.
The homicides happened Jan. 13 at a Montegut Street home in the town of 2,100 people southeast of Houma. The deceased were identified as Brittany Cormier, 35, of that address and a neighbor, Hope Nettleton, 37.
They were two of the five people at the home, including the sexual assault victim, at the time of the killings, Soignet said.
The conspirators are known to have conducted surveillance of the home between July and November, Soignet said. A witness who saw their vehicle in the area provided a license plate number that later helped link the suspects to the crimes.
On Jan. 13, Erskine and Wilson came to the Montegut Street home and wanted to see the sexual assault victim. Brittany Cormier, the sister of suspect Beaux Cormier, falsely identified herself as the victim. Wilson shot and killed her, Soignet said.
Nettleton died in a struggle with the suspects, Soignet said. The sexual assault victim wasn’t injured.
A witness at the home provided a description of at least one of the suspects and their vehicle, Soignet said. The Vermilion, Lafayette and Acadia sheriff’s offices assisted in the investigation along with the Eunice Police Department and City Marshal’s Office.
“Considering what we started with and where we were to finish the case, they did a real good job …,” Soignet said.
“People are very close down there. … This really hit that community hard. So we worked real hard to try to bring peace to the family down there.”
The three men are awaiting return to Terrebonne Parish to face the first-degree murder charges.
In Louisiana, conviction on a first-degree murder charge means either life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
A homicide becomes a capital crime in Louisiana when it involves a certain class of victim — a child under 12 or a police officer on duty, for example — or when it occurs under certain circumstances. Among those circumstances are murder for hire and a killing committed to silence a witness.