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Auto Rental Etc. held a St. Mary Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting Tuesday at its Tri-City area location at 6310 La. 182 in Morgan City. The Morgan City store is one of seven locations for the business. Morgan City store manager Jon Hebert, left, and rental agent Lucas Landry, right, cut the ribbon. Among the others present were store company owner Eric Stroderd as well as city, parish and Chamber officials.

The Daily Review/Geoff Stoute

Congressman Cedric Richmond has a few weeks to go until he has to abandon the congressional ship to join the administration of President-elect Joe Biden.
Those hoping to replace Richmond, however, aren’t waiting around to get into the field and the major players can already be easily identified. At the same time, no one closely involved with the developing 2nd District race is willing to describe the field as settled.
Two state senators, Troy Carter and Karen Carter Peterson, have already declared their candidacies, while another, Jimmy Harris, announced this week he is out of the running. The exit by Harris, who formerly worked for Richmond, is noteworthy because it keeps the congressman’s endorsement in play.
Pondering his own entry is former state Sen. Derrick Shepherd, who a decade ago was sentenced to 37 months in prison for money laundering. “I am looking at the race,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd ran for the post in 2006 and said it was “my dream” job.
He lost that race, however, but he said he was pleased that his seat mate in the Louisiana Legislature, Richmond, won the prize.
Why run now, though? Shepherd said he sees an opportunity to talk about lessons learned, obstacles overcome and public policy roadblocks that shouldn’t exist. “Enfranchisement and representation matters,” he said.
“I’m looking at running because I know what it’s like to be counted out. Too many people in this district know that feeling. I’m not sure the people who say they will run get it like I do.” 
There are also other quasi-candidates who have not yet made final decisions, including New Orleans Councilwoman Helena Moreno and state Sen. Cleo Fields, who formerly served in Congress. They’re both expected to make a move one way or another in the New Year.
Fields, the race’s official wild card, is said to be leaning against running.
Yet if he does wade into the muddy waters, Fields’ close relationship with Richmond will prove beneficial.
Not nearly as helpful would be his home base of Baton Rouge, which resides in the northern end of a winding congressional district where Jefferson and Orleans parishes make up 70%.
(Meanwhile, 20% of voters from the 2nd Congressional District live in the River Parishes and just 12% are in Baton Rouge.)
Should Fields stay away, as expected, Baton Rouge could still become a small factor depending what role is played by recently re-elected Mayor Sharon Weston Broome. Additionally, activist Gary Chambers is looking at the contest and could become a candidate.
A Fields-free race would likewise keep Richmond’s support up for grabs. Carter, the Senate Labor chairman, seems best positioned for the nod.
Carter has been present at Richmond’s latest public appearances back home and the two share a long and positive working history.
Moreno will probably jump into the ring sooner or later — and she will be a formidable candidate. Most importantly, Moreno should be able to tap into into national political action committee, or PAC, money that’s sitting still during an off-election year. But that will also be a strength for Peterson, the former chairwoman of the Louisiana Democratic Party.
If both women make the race, they’ll be carving up some of the same pots of national money, particularly those sources dedicated to electing more women to office.
There is growing interest over what position might be taken by Councilman Jason Williams, who was elected last week as Orleans Parish district attorney.
To be certain, Moreno has appeared in his corner more than anyone else in the developing field for Congress.
Several other politicos have been tiptoeing around the race — too many to mention — but three to continue watching are state Reps. Randal Gaines, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Kyle Green as well as former St. John the Baptist Parish President Natalie Robottom.
No matter who enters the race, it’s going to turn ugly in short order. New Orleans, for starters, is not know for warm and fuzzy elections.
Moreover, this is a congressional seat that rarely becomes open, and when it does the victor historically has a decent shot of moving up the leadership ladder due to the importance of the district.
No one is going to go easy.
For more Louisiana political news, visit www. LaPolitics. com or follow Alford on Twitter@ LaPoliticsNow.

The 73 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported for three local parishes at midday Tuesday included 56 in St. Martin Parish, where three coronavirus fatalities were also reported by the Louisiana Office of Public Health.

Louisiana also saw a significant increase in hospitalizations statewide.

The cases reported for St. Martin in the last 24 hours raise the total since the pandemic began to 3,093. Those positives resulted from molecular tests and are considered to be confirmed. Another 150 cases were detected by the less sensitive antigen tests and are categorized as probables. The three deaths reported Tuesday raise the parish's toll to 73 with five deaths probably related to COVID.

St. Mary had one new confirmed case for a total of 2,494 plus 153 probables.

Assumption had 16 new confirmed cases, raising its total to 1,048 with 124 probables.

The death tolls remain at 92 confirmed with six probables in St. Mary and 25 with one probable in Assumption.

Statewide:

--2,617 new cases raise the confirmed case count to 252,459 with 19,817 probables.

--50 new fatalities were reported for a total of 6,577 confirmed COVID-related deaths and 318 probables.

--The number of COVID-people in hospitals grew by 70 to 1,597.

--5 more people are on ventilators for a total of 152.

Toy drives in St. Mary Parish are nearing completion with Christmas Day just a little more than a week away.
The Marine Corps League, St. Mary Detachment, Toys for Tots drive will distribute toys Saturday to approved area families at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Morgan City. The local Marine Corps League drive benefits more than just Tri-City area children as those across St. Mary as well as Lower St. Martin Parish children receive toys.
Meanwhile, in Berwick, the Police Department as well as the town’s Dollar General have partnered in a toy drive to benefit the town’s children.
In both drives, donors are asked to give a new, unwrapped toy.
While gift cards are accepted in the Berwick drive, they are not accepted in the Toys for Tots campaign. However, checks can be made out to Toys for Tots and delivered to Quality Cleaners in Morgan City to make sure they remain in the area.
Cash is not accepted in the Berwick drive.
COVID-19 and its economic impacts haven’t impacted the drive much.
In the local Toys for Tots drive, the number of recipients actually is down from a normal year of 1,300 to 1,500 to about 1,000 youngsters this year, local Toys for Tots coordinator Bill Goessl said.
“So I do believe a lot of families have moved out,” he said of the drive, which serves children from infants to 12 years old.
In Berwick, about 250 families were served last year, with just a few more added this year, which co-coordinator and Berwick Police Department Animal Warden Brigitte Exnicious attributed to a few families moving into town.
The drive began four years ago when André Parent, store manager of Berwick’s Dollar General, approached the Police Department about holding a toy drive to benefit the town’s youth. Nationally, Dollar General participates in a toy drive, he said.
“I take pride to know that my store is part of a bigger community with 17,000 stores, but I’m proud to know that my store in Berwick is serving the community in Berwick,” Parent said. “So I want to give back to the community in Berwick, just keeping it in town.”
Toys can be brought to the Berwick Police Department or Dollar General. The drive is for youth ages one month to 17 years old.
Exnicious wraps the gifts, and they are delivered by officers to the youngsters. While a deadline of Friday has been set to try to get everything out in time for Christmas, items will be taken after the fact and delivered.
“We’ve given them out all the way up until Christmas morning,” Berwick Police Chief David Leonard said.
“We just try to encourage a date to have everything managed. Everything lined up. Everything delivered to the kids that way for Christmas they will have something that morning to open up.”
While the big distribution event is Saturday for area youth, the Toys for Tots drive will continue until Christmas Eve.
Penny Galloway, who has been working with the program for 20 years, has a personal connection to projects like this one.
“Because I was basically one of those children that didn’t get much at Christmas time,” she said Monday afternoon in a room filled with toys to be distributed.
“We had five in our family, and we had to stretch it, or we didn’t have the money.”
She said it’s a good deed when a child has something to open on Christmas morning.
“It may not be exactly what they want but at least they’re getting something for Christ-mas,” Galloway said.
Connie Shepherd, who began working with the program in 2005 when her grandson, Dustin Kennedy, joined the Marines, said that it brings happiness to do this work.
“You know when they open the gifts, like Penny said, they’re happy,” she said.
“I was lucky. We got Christmas gifts (as children), but the joy of what the Marine Corps does for the kids is what puts the blessing on this."
Galloway credited the Marine Corps for making Christmas meaningful for many youngsters nationwide.
“They have a lot in their heart to give, and they’re not going to let a child go without,” she said.