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Hunter Bella of Boy Scout Troop 4a9 in Morgan City recently completed an Eagle Scout project.
A project is the culmination of many years of hard work earning merit badges.
Hunter’s project was to spruce up the Morgan City Library area. The project included weeding the flower bed and raking leaves around trees; pressure-washing the cement and parking area; sanding and repainting the handrails; painting window frames and the door frame; painting the parking area, including the handicap space; and cleaning the gutter.
The leaders attending were Jory Champagne, Scoutmaster; Chantelle Perez; Jeff Price; and Dan Duplantis.

I cast my first presidential vote in 1952. It may have been illegal since I was only 7 years old at the time, but the statute of limitations has probably run out by now. Besides, I didn’t actually mark the X on the paper ballot; I just dropped the folded slip through the slot in the collection box.
That was at the old Fourth Ward School on the corner of Foster and South Ryan streets in Lake Charles, which was our neighborhood polling place. My grandfather took me with him that election day (and others) as a civics lesson of sorts. He considered voting a moral obligation right up there with going to church on Sunday, and wanted his grandkids to do the same.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican) and Adlai Stevenson (Democrat) were the presidential contenders that year, and I am all but certain that Stevenson was my grandfather’s choice. He was a Democrat to the core and surely would have never admitted it publicly if he did vote for a Republican. In fact, he hardly spoke to his brother-in-law, Stewart Thomson, for years after he ran for governor as a Republican in 1920. It didn’t make any difference that Stewart lived in the next block and they bumped into each other regularly, or even that Stewart was trounced by Democrat John M. Parker by more than 50,000 votes.
Eisenhower won the 1952 election handily, but Stevenson carried Louisiana and the so-called “solid South.” Like most southern states, Louisiana voted Democratic from the 1860s through World War II. The state favored Franklin D. Roosevelt over Wendell Wilkie in 1940 and over Thomas Dewey in 1944, but broke ranks in 1948 to vote for the States’ Rights candidate Strom Thurmond over Harry Truman.
Louisiana returned to the Democratic fold with the vote for Stevenson in 1952, but supported a second term for Eisenhower in 1956. John Kennedy carried the state in 1960, but since then Louisiana has voted Democratic only three times. In each of those instances it was for a Southern governor _ Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996.
Third-party candidate George Wallace won Louisiana’s electoral votes in 1968 when Richard Nixon won his first term, but otherwise Louisiana has been solidly in the Republican column, voting for Barry Goldwater (1964), Nixon (1972), Ronald Reagan (1980, 1984), George Bush (2004), John McCain (2008), Mitt Romney (2012) and Donald Trump (2016).
With only one exception, the Republican candidate has carried every south Louisiana parish west of the Atchafalaya for the last five presidential elections, usually by substantial margins. The exception is St. Landry Parish. Al Gore carried the parish in 2000; Republicans have held a majority in the last four elections, though not as big as in some other places.
I don’t know how my grandfather would vote today, but I do know that he would vote. I also know that his civics lessons stuck with me. I haven’t missed a major election since I became old enough to cast a vote of my own, and not many of the lesser ones.
That appears to put me in the minority these days. It seems that a lot of people have become too busy, too cynical, or just plain too lazy to vote. Some think their vote doesn’t count, and that’s a shame.
When I hear that argument, I’m reminded of how the narrow Bush-Gore election hung for a time on “hanging chads” — the little dots of paper that were supposed to have been punched cleanly through a ballot — and whether the ones that they still clung to the paper should be counted. I also think of the 1960 election in which Kennedy’s popular vote margin over Nixon amounted to just one vote per precinct. (Of course, he won some with more than that and lost some by bigger margins, but that was what it averaged when you counted the vote and the number of voting places nationwide.)
And I am also particularly reminded of an old adage that was often quoted by my dad: “If you don’t vote you have no right to gripe afterwards.” He voted in every election, too —and then took full advantage of his right to gripe and grumble about issues big and small.
That appears to be another of the political legacies that has been handed down to me.
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.

DEAR ABBY: I’m part of a large, close-knit family. My mother and her sisters have condominiums in the same complex. One dear aunt is having a great deal of trouble with her memory and word retrieval. She recently stopped recognizing her daughter and no longer calls any of us by name.
The problem is, some of this aunt’s children are in denial. They refuse to believe there’s anything wrong with their mom and insist that she is showing signs of normal aging. They have stated this so strongly that the other siblings are afraid to raise the issue of an assessment for fear of angering them further. It is a very difficult family dynamic.
Normally, we wouldn’t comment on or intervene in such a private matter. However, seeing my aunt deprived of a medical diagnosis and associated care that might alleviate her suffering, it is very hard to stay quiet. It may or may not be possible to reduce her symptoms, but it seems like it is elder abuse to rob her of the chance to try. Please advise.
CONCERNED FOR AUNTIE

DEAR CONCERNED: Close family members are typically the first to notice memory issues or cognitive problems, but often they are hesitant to say something even when they know something is wrong. A recent Alzheimer’s Association survey found that nearly 3 out of 4 Americans say talking to a close family member about memory loss, thinking problems or other signs of cognitive decline would be challenging.
Initiating these challenging conversations is important. Discussion can enable early diagnosis, which has important benefits, including better disease management, more time for critical care planning and providing diagnosed individuals a voice in their future care.
It also provides an opportunity to address concerns before a crisis situation arises.
While our cognitive abilities decrease with age, your aunt’s inability to recognize her own daughter is NOT a sign of normal aging.
Helping relatives understand the seriousness of the situation as well as the important health benefits of receiving a proper diagnosis may convince them. If your aunt’s children find it too difficult to have the conversation, another close relative, a friend perhaps, or her doctor can take the lead.
To encourage families to have these conversations, the Alzheimer’s Association has partnered with the Ad Council in creating “Our Stories” (alz.org/ourstories).
It features real stories of people who noticed changes in their loved ones and took the difficult step of having a conversation. It also offers customizable conversation starters, a list of early signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s, benefits of early diagnosis and a downloadable discussion help guide.
In addition, the Alzheimer’s Association’s free 24/7 Helpline (800-272-3900) is available for families addressing these important conversations and other caregiving concerns.
***
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.

Even Louisiana workers receiving less than $100 in weekly unemployment pay will be eligible for President Donald Trump's jobless pay enhancement, Gov. John Bel Edwards said.

But the governor talked at his Thursday COVID-19 press conference about tough choices that remain.

The president signed an executive order Saturday calling for a $400 weekly boost in unemployment benefits on top of the conventional jobless pay administered by individual states. The enhancement would replace the $600 weekly boost approved by Congress. That enhancement expired July 31.

Trump's extension not only calls for a smaller enhancement, but it requires states to put up $100 per eligible recipient to be matched by $300 from the federal Disaster Relief Fund. Edward said Louisiana's unemployment insurance trust fund has already shrunk from $1.05 billion March 1 to about $230 million as of Thursday.

The other option offered by the Trump administration is to count the weekly benefit already received by unemployed workers, a maximum of $247, as the state's match. That left 200,000 idled Louisiana workers who receive less than $100 a week in bureaucratic limbo.

But Wednesday night, Edwards said, the administration offered new guidance: If the average state benefit for all unemployed workers is at least $100 -- and it is in Louisiana, the governor said -- all unemployment benefit recipients would be eligible for the $300 federal enhancement. The added benefits would be retroactive to Aug. 1.

Edwards said he heard Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin say the administration plans to begin making money for the enhancement available in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, the state government is updating computer software that would make it possible for those receiving less than $100 a week in benefits to receive the enhancement..

Based on recent experience, Edwards said, the Disaster Relief Fund has only enough money for five or six weeks of enhanced pay. That would cost about $44 billion before the fund is reduced to the $25 billion the administration believes should be kept in reserve to deal with hurricanes or other disasters.

"The good news is I think it gives Congress more time to deliver the comprehensive assistance we need at least through the end of this year," Edwards said.

Congressional leaders are negotiating over the size of a benefit enhancement of its own as well as aid to state and local governments, a possible second stimulus payment and other issues.

Louisiana would still have to cope with the erosion of its unemployment trust fund. When the fund is reduced to $100 million, it would be necessary to borrow money to replenish it, Edwards said. And that would mean a surcharge on employers to pay off the loan.

"Nobody thinks, and I certainly don't think, that now is a good time to be adding a surcharge on employers across Louisiana," Edwards said.