Hugh Hamer was crowned Central Catholic High School’s homecoming king in a ceremony held Oct. 21 after the homecoming parade and senior slideshow in the Yvonne Ann Adams Life Center. He is the son of Greg and Shannon Hamer.
BATON ROUGE, La. — This is national lead poisoning prevention week. You likely already know that lead is toxic, especially for young children, but it’s incredibly important to learn more. The theme of lead week is Get the Facts, Get Your Home Tested and Get Your Child Tested.
Get the Facts
The bad news: There is no safe blood lead level in children. When it enters the body, lead can result in damage to the brain and nervous system, learning and behavior problems, slow growth and development, and hearing and speech problems. Heavy exposure can also damage adults and raise blood pressure.
The good news: Lead poisoning is preventable. The key to prevention is awareness of sources and how to avoid exposure.
The most common source of exposure is from lead-based paint, which was used in many homes built before 1978. Children are typically exposed by swallowing or breathing in lead dust created by old paint that has chipped or eroded into fine dust that floats in the air and settles in food, on food preparation surfaces, floors, window sills and other places.
Home improvement projects that disturb lead paint can create a major lead poisoning hazard for everyone in the household. This is especially concerning now because there has been a large increase in home renovation and repair projects during the pandemic. Many people have spent much more time than usual at home, breathing and ingesting residual lead-contaminated dust.
Be sure to hire only EPA Lead-safe Certified firms to work on a pre-1978 home or child care facility. Certified firms are listed on the www.epa.gov/lead website, and certified contractors have official EPA certificates with their photo on it. If doing repair work yourself, learn about and use lead-safe work practices at the same EPA website.
Lead is also found in soil (from past leaded gasoline) and in drinking water. The most common sources of lead in drinking water are lead pipes, faucets and fixtures. Other examples of possible sources of lead include some metal toys and jewelry, toys and furniture painted with lead-based paint, some imported items (such as health remedies, foods and candies, cosmetics, powders or makeup used in religious ceremonies), and lead-glazed pottery and porcelain.
Some simple steps to protect your family from lead are include cleaning regularly with a damp wipe or HEPA vacuum, washing children’s hands and toys often and wiping or removing shoes before entering the home.
Get your home tested
If your home was built before 1978, it’s a good idea to hire a certified inspector or risk assessor who can check your home for lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards. In general, the older the home, the greater the lead hazard present.
Get your child tested
A simple blood test can detect lead, so act early to get your child tested. Children’s blood lead levels tend to increase from 6 to 12 months of age and tend to peak at 18 to 24 months of age. Louisiana has mandated that all young children be screened for lead, but many parents are not aware and don’t get the test if they don’t think the child is at risk of high exposure. Yet, because lead is common in and outside homes, and even a tiny amount of lead can cause lifelong harm, be sure to get your child tested. Adults who may have been exposed to high lead levels should also get tested.
To learn more about healthy, resilient and energy-efficient home improvements and home building, explore the wealth of research-based, non-commercial information on the LSU AgCenter LaHouse Resource Center website at www.lsuagcenter.com/LaHouse and in the video collection at www.youtube.com/mylahouse.
DEAR ABBY: My brother “Brian” and his wife, “Laurel,” have an adult son, “Dick,” who dated a girl I’ll call “Crystal” for 10 years before they got married. Everyone got along fine, until Crystal gave birth.
After their first child was born, Crystal started withholding visits from my brother and his wife. Crystal and Dick had two more children. The oldest is now 6. The only way Brian and Laurel see their grandchildren is if there’s a family reunion, wedding, etc. Crystal allows her parents to see the kids and spend time with them whenever.
Brian and Laurel are flabbergasted by what has happened. They have no idea why all of a sudden after giving birth, their daughter-in-law has not allowed them to visit the grandkids, babysit or anything. My brother and his wife are great people. They don’t drink to excess or use drugs and would be wonderful grandparents for these children. Would it be appropriate as a family member (aunt) to write a letter to Crystal and, in a kind, nonaccusatory way, explain the hurt this has caused and how much their children are missing out from not being around these two great individuals?
MISSING OUT IN OREGON
DEAR MISSING OUT: While it isn’t unheard of for the wife’s parents to take precedence over the husband’s, Crystal’s behavior does appear to be extreme. It also appears the way she’s acting is retaliatory, but the people who must get to the bottom of it are your brother and his wife.
I don’t think there is anything to be gained by involving yourself in this sad mess, because if you do, Crystal and her husband will resent it. Sympathize, but stay out of it.
DEAR ABBY: Five years ago, my daughter, “Angie,” and her two children moved in with me after she and her husband separated. I hoped she would get her finances and life together and be able to get a place of her own.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that Angie had started a relationship and had fallen in love with a man she met online. Her daughter was very upset about it. Angie was in a custody dispute over her youngest child, and we disagreed more than once about issues concerning the children.
After a couple of years, she moved into her own place. She’s still involved with this individual. I haven’t met him and have no desire to. She’s upset with me because of it. I don’t want to see him with her because he has been married several times and is involved with drugs. I realize who Angie is involved with is her business and not mine, but I want nothing to do with him. How can I avoid a rift with her over this?
SOURED IN SOUTH CAROLINA
DEAR SOURED: No law says you HAVE to meet this person, and it is your privilege to avoid him if you wish. I’m not sure what your daughter expects from you. Does she want you to entertain him? Common sense would dictate that you do not want anyone who is involved with illegal substances in your home. However, I do think you should agree to meet him once.
If Angie’s relationship with you is predicated on the idea that you will welcome this individual into your life with open arms because she has, you will then have to figure out how to navigate this. That she would allow someone like him to interact with her children shows very poor judgment.
***
What teens need to know about sex, drugs, AIDS and getting along with peers and parents is in “What Every Teen Should Know.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 to: Dear Abby, Teen Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447.
Fifteen new COVID-19 cases and one death were reported at midday Wednesday for St. Martin Parish by the Louisiana Office of Public Health.
The new cases raise St. Martin's total since the pandemic began to 2,230. The death reported Wednesday was the parish's 64th.
No new cases were reported for St. Mary, where the pandemic case count remains at 2,021. The death toll here stays at 86.
Assumption had two new cases Wednesday for a total of 801. Twenty-four COVID-related deaths have occurred in Assumption.
Statewide:
--503 new cases raised the pandemic total to 181,443.
--10 new deaths raised the toll to 5,676.
--13 more COVID-positive people were hospitalized for a total of 613.
--11 fewer people were on ventilators for a total of 80.
The Tropical Storm watch including Morgan City has been canceled, and wind speed projections for St. Mary and Lower St. Martin parishes also have been lowered as Hurricane Zeta heads towards southeast Louisiana.
The watch had been issued from Intracoastal City to Morgan City.
“There will be some fairly windy conditions, primarily across St. Mary, Lower St. Martin and maybe Iberia parishes this afternoon as Zeta begins to approach southeast Louisiana,” Andy Patrick, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service’s Lake Charles office, said during the 10 a.m. briefing. “Otherwise, we don’t think there’s going to be widespread tropical storm force winds affecting those areas between the break points of Intracoastal City and Morgan City.”
St. Mary Parish President David Hanagriff said no mandatory or voluntary evacuations will be issued in St. Mary Parish.
St. Mary Parish Levee District Operations Manager Mike Brocato said the levee district will continue to monitor conditions.
“Water levels are down throughout the district, so we’re just going to keep an eye on things, and if something comes up, we will react to it,” he said.
A coastal flood advisory in St. Mary Parish is effective through 7 p.m. Wednesday, with storm tides of 1-2 feet possible at high tide. It’s possible tides could be below average after Zeta moves onshore, particularly if during the night, winds pick up offshore.
“There is a potential we might be issuing low water advisories sometime during the night or tomorrow morning,” Patrick said.
Rainfall projections are for 2 inches in St. Mary Parish.
“Most of the heavier rain will likely stay east, and keep in mind this system’s moving fairly quickly,” Patrick said.
With the region on the west side of the storm, it’s typically the drier of the two sides, Patrick said.
As for wind speeds, St. Mary Parish is expected to experience north winds from 20-30 mph with wind gusts up to 45 mph, which could begin through 1 p.m. and end between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesday. Around the coast, the weather service said wind speeds could reach closer to 50 mph.
In Lower St. Martin, north winds reaching 20-30 mph with gusts to 40 mph could begin through 2 p.m. and end from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Zeta reemerged as a hurricane during the night and has intensified to 90 mph. It is quickly moving north into the central Gulf at 18 mph and is expected to make its northeast turn probably in a few hours, Patrick said.
“It may not weaken as much,” he said. “Normally, it’s coming into a bad environment, but it’s moving fairly quickly as well. So it may not have time to weaken a whole lot.”
Patrick said the New Orleans area and the Mississippi Gulf Coast will be affected, and then the hurricane, which is expected to lose strength and become a tropical storm by Wednesday night, will quickly move inland and impact Alabama and the Appalachian area.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday to refurbish and rename a local basketball court in honor of a longtime Morgan City Recreation Department volunteer who died recently.
The basketball court under the U.S. 90 bridge overpass at Fourth and Greenwood streets will be named Jimmy Johnson Memorial Park in honor of Coach Jimmy Johnson, who passed away nearly two months ago.
Johnson was a long-time volunteer in the Morgan City Recreation Department in football, basketball and baseball and also coached black youth in the same sports prior to integration.
The refurbishment was done in partnership of the City of Morgan City and Hoodstock, a local community organization.
Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said that Hoodstock founder Courtney “Schola” Long approached him when he first became mayor about remodeling the basketball court, which Grizzaffi said is the most used in the city.
However, Grizzaffi said that at the time, he had a lot on his plate with just taking over as mayor and working on many projects for the city.
“It was a great idea,” Grizzaffi said at Tuesday’s groundbreaking. “We kind of kept pushing it back, pushing it back, and then there’s a big community push to do something for Mr. Jimmy Johnson. Had many ideas in play, and then here comes Courtney again and he says, ‘remember that idea I had when you first became mayor? We’d like to try it again, but this time name it after Coach Jimmy.’”
After securing funding and getting approval from Johnson’s wife, Deloris Johnson, the project will go forward.
“It’s an opportunity to make it a first-class venue, and that’s what we plan on doing here today,” Grizzaffi said.
Grizzaffi said the court has been ordered and work was to begin Wednesday on the renovations. He said they will take about a month to complete. The facility will have two sets of bleachers as well as be encircled by a black fence. The court will have Johnson’s face emblazoned in the center with the court’s name, Jimmy Johnson Memorial Park, surrounding it.
Although it has taken some time to get the court remodeled, Long said Tuesday there was a reason why things worked out like they did.
“With the unfortunate passing of Mr. Jimmy, it was a perfect opportunity and well deserved for him to be honored in this manner, because I feel like being that this court is highly utilized, there will be kids from years to come that’ll come out there and see Mr. Jimmy’s face in the middle of the court and ask those questions: ‘who is Mr. Jimmy?’ So it gives an opportunity for his legacy to continue even beyond the generations that actually got a chance to know him,” Long said.
Long said he has plans to have a tournament at the court.
He also said the park will be a complex with future plans of expanding it beyond one court. Long said it "offers an opportunity to promote another tourist attraction to the city and spread Mr. Jimmy's story and legacy beyond Morgan City as visitors come in to the city."
Johnson’s family was honored to have the court named for him.
“To have this happen for my dad, it’s awe-some,” Jimmy Johnson Jr. said.
Obstacles are bound to challenge students at some point in their academic careers. Students can sometimes overcome obstacles by recommitting themselves to their studies, while other obstacles, including dyslexia, require help from parents and educators.
According to LD Online, an online resource that seeks to help children and adults with up-to-date information about learning disabilities and ADHD, as many as 43.5 million Americans from all economic and ethnic backgrounds have dyslexia. Dyslexia is also prevalent in Canada, where the learning disability resource The Reading Clinic estimates as much as 20 percent of the population has dyslexia.
Learning disabilities can be challenging at any time, but they may be especially so when in-person access to educators and academic resources is limited or unavailable. Such was the case for many students during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, when schools abruptly switched from in-person learning to remote learning in an effort to curb the spread of the potentially deadly virus.
During the pandemic, millions of parents of school-aged children found themselves taking on the role of educators. That can be challenging for any parent, but especially so for parents of children with undiagnosed learning disabilities. Dyslexia is a complex learning disability, but one that may produce noticeable symptoms, which can vary depending on a child’s age.
What is dyslexia?
The Reading Clinic notes that dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin and characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition.
What are some warning signs for dyslexia?
LD Online notes that it’s a myth that people with dyslexia read backwards. Students may have difficulty remembering letter symbols for sounds or forming memories for words, but they do not read backwards.
In addition, LD Online notes that individuals with dyslexia may experience difficulty with:
—Learning to speak.
—Learning letters and their sounds.
—Organizing written and spoken language.
—Memorizing number facts.
—Reading quickly enough to comprehend.
—Persisting with and comprehending longer reading assignments.
—Spelling.
—Learning a foreign language.
—Correctly doing math operations.
Parents, especially those homeschooling their children during the COVID-19 outbreak, who notice any of these symptoms should report them to their children’s teachers immediately.
Dyslexia is more common than many people may think. While dyslexia is a lifelong condition, LD Online notes that, with treatment, many people learn to read and write well.
For more information about dyslexia is available at www.ldonline.org and www.thereadingclinic.ca.
NEW ORLEANS — Girl Scouts Louisiana East hosted Power Our Promise, its virtual fundraising event on Oct. 13 which honored one company and eight individuals who support the Girl Scout Experience in southeast Louisiana.
After careful consideration and monitoring of Covid-19, Girl Scouts Louisiana East made the decision to combine its two in-person signature fundraising events — the Juliette Gordon Low Leadership Luncheon and the Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon — to create one virtual celebration of Girl Scouting.
Women of Distinction are women with impressive accomplishments and a dedication to excellence who set a positive example for girls and other women in their communities, the Girl Scouts Louisiana East news release said. This year’s honorees are Carolyn Breaux, 50-year Girl Scout volunteer; Dr. Sally Clausen, former Louisiana commissioner of higher education; Leslie Pichon, Secret Service special agent in charge of New Orleans office; and Jan Ross, Wilson Foundation executive vice president for philanthropy.
Dr. Mari Ann Callais, educational speaker and consultant, and Ava Dejoie, Louisiana Workforce Commission executive director, received the Four Pillars Award which recognizes women in the community who may not have been Girl Scouts themselves, but who exemplify the characteristics of Girl Scouting. The “Four Pillars” refers to the four pillars of Girl Scouting: STEM, Entrepreneurship, Leadership Skills and the Outdoors.
GSLE also honored New Orleans City Park as its Outstanding Organization; Artis Williams, executive director of St. John United Way, as Outstanding Man; and Dr. Jennifer Avegno, New Orleans Health Department director, as Outstanding Woman. As a special tribute, GSLE CEO Dr. Rebecca Pennington was presented the Above and Beyond Award by the GSLE Board of Directors for her exemplary leadership throughout the pandemic.
GSLE plans to return to an in-person luncheon format in 2021. Women of Distinction is scheduled for Wednesday, May 12, in Baton Rouge, and the Juliette Gordon Low Leadership Luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 21, in New Orleans.
Want to help make a difference in girls’ lives? Donate at www.gsle.org/give.
Editor's Note: The National Hurricane Center and The Associated Press reported that Hurricane Zeta came ashore in southeastern Louisiana 3:45 p.m.-4 p.m. The AP says the center of the storm landed near Cocodrie. In the half-hour before landfall, sustained winds were measured at 110 mph.
While St. Mary and Lower St. Martin parishes still are under a tropical storm watch, a storm surge warning has been downgraded to a coastal flood advisory in St. Mary Parish as Zeta heads towards the southeast Louisiana coast.
Although Zeta’s track has remained the same, it has reemerged as a hurricane during the night and has intensified to 90 mph. It is expected to be a Category 2 storm upon landfall in southeast Louisiana late Wednesday afternoon.
The change from a storm surge warning to a coastal flood advisory was made because Zeta’s track should remain far enough east of the area to alleviate any major storm surge, while the cold front headed for southwest Louisiana also played a role, too, said Andy Patrick, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service’s Lake Charles office.
However, the weather service does expect tides reaching 1-2 feet above ground level.
The coastal flood advisory is effective until 7 p.m. Wednesday.
With the updated predictions, the St. Mary Parish Levee District will monitor conditions but not order gates at the Franklin, Hanson or Yellow Bayou canals closed.
“Most of those gates can be closed last minute, if necessary,” Levee District Operations Manager Mike Brocato said at the 4 p.m. Tuesday briefing. “Otherwise, it’s better just to let the rainfall leave by gravity instead of having to pump it.”
While public and parochial schools have cancelled classes Wednesday, no evacuations were deemed necessary by St. Mary Parish President David Hanagriff.
With Zeta approaching Louisiana, a tropical storm watch is in effect from Intracoastal City to Morgan City.
St. Mary Parish could receive northeast winds ranging from 30-40 mph with gusts reaching 50 mph. These can begin anywhere from 9 a.m. to noon and end from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., the National Weather Service said.
“The highest wind gusts are expected over southeast St. Mary Parish,” Patrick said in a Wednesday morning update. “Winds over these areas should diminish quickly this evening.”
In Lower St. Martin Parish, northeast winds from 25 mph to 35 mph with gusts reaching 45 mph are expected. These are expected to begin around 10 a.m. to noon and end between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen all the time, and in fact, it’s probably likely it’s just going to be a brief duration, but these are going to be the potential wind speeds we think that could occur once Zeta begins to move closer to land,” Patrick said.
Locally, the National Weather Service has downgraded the amount of rain expected in St. Mary and Lower St. Martin parishes from 2-4 inches to 1-2 inches.
DEAR ABBY: Our 19-year-old daughter is wonderful in many ways. She’s smart, attends a university on academic scholarships and earns excellent grades. The problem is the way she dresses. Her shorts are so short they show some cheek, the bathing suits she wears in our backyard pool are almost thongs, she runs at the track in spandex and a sports bra and gets catcalls.
I understand the outfit would be OK for a formal race, but at the track? Why not throw on a T-shirt? The most recent example was a Sunday afternoon, ladies-only baby shower, to which she wore a pale pink (it looked nude) clingy dress that barely covered her butt. No one else was dressed like that. I was embarrassed. She wasn’t raised like this.
I understand there are times when a young woman wants to look alluring. I have tried to talk to her about classy/sexy versus trampy, but she gets defensive.
Any advice?
EMBARRASSED MOM IN WEST VIRGINIA
DEAR MOM: Many young women dress the way your daughter does in an attempt to emulate current social media personalities. Others do it to get attention because they are not sure they have anything more to offer.
Because lecturing your daughter has fallen on deaf ears, let her learn these lessons on her own. And in the meantime, concentrate on helping her to appreciate more of the important qualities she has to offer in addition to what I am assuming is a killer figure.
DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been together for 15 years. We seem to have a lot of issues every year around fall. It has been this way for the last five years.
While my husband and I were separated, he was intimate for a month with a younger woman. He decided to stop seeing her and returned home to work on our marriage, but before he approached me about working things out, he apologized to her first.
I don’t understand why he owed her an apology. It still bothers me that he felt the need to apologize to her first and not me. What should I do?
HURT IN THE MIDWEST
DEAR HURT: Your husband may not have been entirely honest with the younger woman about his marital status, or he may have felt guilty for leading her on. Who knows?
In the interest of saving your marriage, I suggest you focus your attention on the fact that you have your husband back and let this go.
DEAR ABBY: I’m a dad with four kids, three of them grown.
When we celebrate my birthday or my wife’s, or Father’s Day or Mother’s Day, I’m the one who always pays. For the most recent Father’s Day dinner, the check was $240. My wife and I are still paycheck-to-paycheck people, and at least one of my kids makes five times as much as we do between her and her boyfriend. Am I getting this wrong?
NOT MADE OF MONEY
DEAR NOT MADE: No, you are not. In some families, the parent, “the head of the family,” picks up the check for celebrations. However, once the children become adults, they usually step forward on occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and treat their parents.
Because your children don’t seem to have noticed that they are now adults, you should point it out to them. Because of the disparity in your incomes, they should at LEAST offer to treat you and your wife on special occasions.
***
To receive a collection of Abby’s most memorable — and most frequently requested — poems and essays, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 to: Dear Abby — Keepers Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447.
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