RSS Feed

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Roland “Herman” Verret, who departed this life on October 11, 2025, at the age of 80. Born on August 16, 1945, in Gibson, Louisiana. Roland spent his life devoted to serving his community in countless meaningful ways.
Throughout his life, Roland exemplified unwavering dedication — not only to his family but also to his faith and community. He was an active member of St. Andrew Catholic Church, where he served as a Eucharistic Minister and earned the distinguished honor of Fourth Degree in the Knights of Columbus. His commitment to service and spiritual leadership left a lasting impact on all who knew him.
Roland was a man of many passions. He found peace and joy in the great outdoors, especially through hunting and fishing. His love for sports shone brightly in his younger years, when he dedicated time to coaching and umpiring baseball. Through these roles, he shared his enthusiasm and wisdom with young athletes, instilling in them the values of teamwork, perseverance, and sportsmanship.
His dedication to education and community service was evident throughout his life. He served for many years as a committed member of the Amelia Volunteer Fire Department and built a distinguished career with the St. Mary Parish School Board. He began as a teacher, advanced to principal, and later held multiple leadership roles at the central office. Even after retiring, his passion for education continued as he was elected multiple times to serve as a School Board Member, where he remained a steadfast advocate for students and the community.
A devoted family man, Roland is survived by his beloved wife, Mary Ann Verret; his sister, Grace Foret; four bonus children — Toby (Joann) Matherne, Rafe (Wendy) Matherne, Heath (Celeste) Matherne, and Tara Dorè; twenty cherished bonus grandchildren; three bonus great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.
Roland was preceded in death by his parents, Roland and Lucille Verret; two sisters, Nathalie “Joy” Puckett and Juanita Verret; and one bonus daughter, Gina Chiasson.
A visitation for Roland will be held at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Amelia on Friday, October 17, 2025, beginning at 8:30 AM. A rosary will be recited at 10:30 AM, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 AM, celebrated by Fr. Joseph Chacko. After the Mass, Roland will be laid to rest during a graveside service at St. Andrew Cemetery.

Vernon Joseph Aucoin, 72, a native of Morgan City and resident of Patterson, died Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025.
He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Vaughn; sons, Kurtis Aucoin, Travis Aucoin and Mac Landry; daughters, Krissa Chauvin, Carla Aucoin and Abby Broussard; seven grandchildren; numerous great-grandchildren; stepmother, Evelyn Aucoin; brothers, Ronald Aucoin Sr., Rickey Aucoin Sr. and Kevin Aucoin; and sisters, Mollie Falcon, Lois Aucoin, Sheila David, Jackie David and Liesa Peltier.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Services were Saturday at Hargrave Funeral Home with burial in St. Joseph the Work Cemetery in Pierre Part.
Hargrave Funeral Home of Morgan City was in charge of arrangements.

The Review/Bill Decker
At its Oct. 7 meeting, the Patterson City Council recognized the organizers of the Sept. 27 PHS Alumni Picnic, which drew 1,300 people. Receiving certificates were Sanika Dewey, Ranisa Washington Broussard, Kina Williams, Jo'Lynn Pierre and Tamsyn Siemen. Council members, standing in back from left: R. Demale Bowden, Ray Dewey Sr., Mamie Perry, Mayor Rodney Grogan, Miranda Weinbach, Lee Condolle and Police Chief Garrett Grogan.

Louisiana will argue on Wednesday at the U.S. Supreme Court that part of the Voting Rights Act is “is inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution.”
Though the arguments are the crescendo of a years-long legal battle within the state, they could also settle an even longer battle on how to interpret the Voting Rights Act in accordance with the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Louisiana took a sharp left turn the other week after the Supreme Court remitted the case back to the states to decide on a new question: whether “the State’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.”
The question hinges on a congressional district map drawn in 2022, which decides which people will vote in which races for the U.S House of Representatives. That map was drawn with two districts where Blacks in the districts outnumbered any other race.
These majority Black districts were created intentionally. These two districts were originally being defended by the state. Now, they are not.
When the federal courts "forced us to draw a new majority-minority district, we did so under protest and defended it because the Supreme Court’s backwards precedents permit that district,” state Attorney General Liz Murrill wrote in a statement.
Murrill thanked the Supreme Court for sending her on a road less traveled to decide “whether this entire system is constitutional.”
“My answer: it is not,” Murill continued. “Our Constitution sees neither Black voters nor white voters; it sees only American voters."
Originally, Louisiana was going to argue what it had been doing since the case began: that the congressional map drawn by the state was legal and should be upheld.
But with the case kicked back by the highest court, the state is arguing something radically different that has transformed the case from a familiar dispute seen before to one of major historical significance.
Now, the state will challenge Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, arguing that its race-conscious provisions “cannot be justified by current needs.”
Louisiana contends that Section 2’s framework for ensuring minority voting power has evolved into “discrimination’s main source and aggravator,” rather than a remedy for it.
The state argues that Congress has failed to show any present-day justification for maintaining what it calls an “extraordinary remedy” that forces states into “presumptively unconstitutional race-based districting.”
Louisiana’s filing urges the justices to apply strict scrutiny – the highest level of judicial review – to Section 2 and to strike it down as incongruent with the 14th and 15th Amendments. The brief claims that Section 2 “imposes race-based remedies without the requisite showing of need” and that the Voting Rights Act has come to “balkanize us into competing racial factions.”
The plaintiffs who originally sued Louisiana – the Robinson appellants – told the curt in their filing that such a move would “upend nearly 150 years of precedent.” Their brief, led by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and ACLU, defends Section 2 as “a permanent, nationwide ban on racial discrimination in voting,” enacted under Congress’ broad enforcement powers following the Reconstruction Amendments.
“Racial discrimination and racially polarized voting are not ancient history,” the brief says, citing the continued effects of racial bloc voting and modern efforts to dilute Black political power in Louisiana and elsewhere. “Section 2 did not create this problem; to the contrary, Congress enacted it to hasten the waning of racism in American politics.”
The Robinson appellants warn that overturning Section 2 would “strip it of its foundational context” and erase decades of precedent in which courts found that discrimination in redistricting persists.
“The history of constitutional violations supporting Section 2’s enactment is massive and well-documented,” they wrote, pointing to a century of discriminatory tactics in Louisiana – from poll taxes to gerrymanders that “sliced” Black communities to weaken their voting strength. “Even now, it appears that Louisiana is planning to roll back Black representation in its congressional delegation.”
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the state, a new map will have to be drawn – one that is not bound by Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.