RSS Feed

Morgan City PD will wear masks, but won't enforce mask mandate with citations

Sun, 07/12/2020 - 12:59pm

A statement from Morgan City's police encourages people to wear face covering in public and says officers will continue to use PPE. But the department won't enforce mask requirements with citations, according to a statement on the Police Department Facebook page.

Here is the text of the statement.

The Morgan City Police Department encourages everyone to utilize personal protection equipment such as masks, gloves, hand sanitizer or face shields to protect not only themselves but those around them from exposure to COVID-19. Although we highly recommend the use of PPE and social distancing, the Morgan City Police Department does not take the position of enforcing mandates through the issuance of citations or other means. Those decisions, choices and consequences are the burden of the individual.

As we have individual choices to make, the business owners have to determine what is in the best interest of their customers and employees to ensure their safety. They are bound by various regulatory requirements. Please honor and comply with their choices. Our officers will continue to do their part by wearing masks and PPE when applicable to not only ensure their health and well-being but the public as well regardless of each individual’s concerns regarding the use of masks. As front-line workers, we have to “Hold the Line” to ensure that this community has no disruption in service and the protection that is required.

I encourage everyone to examine their individual situations, consider those loved ones, co-workers and others around you that may be vulnerable. I “choose” and try to wear a mask when I am unable to maintain social distance or am near my loved ones that may be vulnerable, however that is a choice that I have personally made. When you make your choice, please choose wisely. Together we will overcome. Stay Safe!

Chief James F. Blair
Morgan City Police Department

Another 52 COVID-19 positives in three local parishes; state hospitalizations jump

Sun, 07/12/2020 - 12:46pm

Another 52 positive tests for COVID-19 were reported in St. Mary, St. Martin and Assumption for the 24 hours ending at midday Sunday. Statewide, the number of people in hospitals for COVID treatment was up by 61 Sunday.

In St. Mary, 21 new cases brought the total number of positives recorded since the pandemic began to 762.

Twenty-two new St. Martin cases brought that parish's total to 1,021.

Nine new cases in Assumption brought the parish total to 424.

No new deaths were reported, so the toll remains at 39 in St. Mary, 27 in St. Martin and 16 in Assumption.

Statewide:

--1,319 new cases make the pandemic total 78,122.

--13 new deaths make the total 3,308.

--The number of people hospitalized for COVID treatment went up 61 to 1,243.

--The number of people on ventilators rose by 13 to 134.

In Louisiana Department of Health Region 3, which includes St. Mary and Assumption, 52 of a total of 94 ICU beds were in use Sunday.

In Region 4, which includes St. Martin, 145 of 188 ICU beds were in use.

St. Mary adds its support to Trump, Biden in Saturday primary

Sun, 07/12/2020 - 9:57am

About 18% of St. Mary voters added their votes Saturday to the races for major party presidential nominations and elected a couple of state Democratic officials.

Ninety-eight percent of St. Mary Republicans voted to give incumbent President Donald J. Trump the Republican presidential nomination. Trump received 1,796 of 1,834 Republican votes. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld got 13 votes, and Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente, a Florida businessman who had run a failed campaign for Florida Senate Democratic nomination, received 10 votes.

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden got 80% of the vote from St. Mary Democrats. Biden got 2,065 of the 2,471 Democratic votes cast in St. Mary, In a field of 14 candidates, most of whom had long since withdrawn from the nomination race, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was the only other candidate who got more than 1% of the vote. Sanders got 102 votes, or 4%.

In the race for Democratic State Central Committee from state House District 50, Alfreida B. Edwards got 1,687 votes to 249 for Leslie R. Kiyanfar. In House District 51, Howard Castay got 187 votes to 63 for Clarence Williams.

The election was a rarity for Louisiana voters in recent decades, a closed primary in which only Republicans could vote in the Republican primary and only Democrats could vote in the Democratic primary.

Statewide, Trump got 96% of Republican votes, and Biden received 80% on the Democratic side.

Here are the St. Mary results in the presidential primaries:

DEMOCRATS
74 Michael Bennet (DEM) 3%
2,065 Joseph R. Biden (DEM) 84%
33 Michael R. Bloomberg (DEM) 1%
18 Steve Burke (DEM) 1%
25 "Pete" Buttigieg (DEM) 1%
19 John K. Delaney (DEM) 1%
9 Tulsi Gabbard (DEM) 0%
25 Amy Klobuchar (DEM) 1%
6 Deval Patrick (DEM) 0%
102 Bernard "Bernie" Sanders (DEM) 4%
9 "Tom" Steyer (DEM) 0%
37 Elizabeth Warren (DEM) 1%
13 "Robby" Wells (DEM) 1%
36 Andrew Yang (DEM) 1%
Total: 2,471
Unofficial Turnout: 18.1%

REPUBLICANS
10 Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente (REP) 1%
8 "Bob" Ely (REP) 0%
7 Matthew John Matern (REP) 0%
1,796 Donald J. Trump (REP) 98%
13 Bill Weld (REP) 1%
Total: 1,834
Unofficial Turnout: 18.7%

UPDATED: Governor imposes mask requirement, orders most bars closed

Sat, 07/11/2020 - 2:42pm

Staff Report
Face covering in public became mandatory, bars were closed and many gatherings were limited to 50 people Monday, when new proclamations by Gov. John Bel Edwards took effect with the hope of slowing the spread of COVID-19.
Edwards announced the new restrictions at a Saturday press conference in response to the recent surge in COVID cases. Saturday was the second straight day that Louisiana reported at least 2,000 new COVID-19 positives.
Hospitalizations for COVID treatment jumped by 130 in just two days.
All that occurs against a backdrop of increased COVID presence across the Sun Belt. Hospitals are nearing capacity in Houston, 26 Mississippi legislators have tested positive and Florida reported more than 15,000 new COVID cases in a single day.
“We have no reason to believe that the numbers we’ve been seeing in the past few weeks will get any better,” Edwards said. “It’s likely to get worse.”
Reaction on social media ranged from relief that a mask mandate is finally in place to outrage over what posters feel is an unconstitutional overreach by the governor.
Morgan City Police Chief James F. Blair said on Facebook that the department’s officers will continue to wear masks and urge residents to wear them, too. But “the Morgan City Police Department does not take the position of enforcing mandates through the issuance of citations or other means. Those decisions, choices and consequences are the burden of the individual.”
That’s in keeping with the language in the governor’s proclamation. Only businesses and organizations — but not churches — that fail to enforce the requirement are subject to citation, the proclamation says. Those businesses and organizations are free to decide whether to accept a customer’s word that he or she is exempt from the mask requirement. If customers don’t comply with the rules, the proclamation said, businesses are free to contact authorities with a trespassing complaint.
The new requirements are:
—People 8 and over in a public space, indoor or outdoor, where they’re likely to come into contact with people outside their immediate household, must wear face covering.
There are exemptions for people with health conditions that make wearing a mask difficult; people who won’t come into contact with others or will be able to maintain social distancing of 6 feet; people who are eating or drinking; people making speeches or speaking for broadcast; people who are speaking to someone who is hard of hearing; or people removing a mask temporarily for identification.
Grant, Red River and West Feliciana parishes may opt out of the mask requirement because they’ve had fewer than 100 COVID infections per 100,000 people in the past two weeks. Other parishes that meet that standard later may also opt out.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance encourages the use of masks, saying they can prevent the wearer from spreading the disease.
—Bars must close, whether or not they have food permits. Bars can continue to offer drinks to go. Bars have been identified as a major source of COVID-19 outbreaks in Louisiana.
—Crowds in many indoor spaces and outdoor spaces where social distancing can’t be maintained are limited to 50 people. The limit doesn’t apply to businesses deemed essential and businesses and churches already observing 50% capacity limits.
Edwards said Louisiana will remain in Phase Two of the Trump administration’s reopening guidelines until at least July 24.
Dr. Joseph Kanter, assistant state health officer, told reporters Saturday that between June 22 and July 5, 15.3% of Louisiana COVID tests were positive. Federal guidance says that to slow the spread of COVID, the positivity rate should be below 10%.
“That’s a highly concerning number,” Kanter said. “A lot of those people who tested positive are asymptomatic.”
People who are infected but aren’t showing symptoms can spread the disease without knowing it.
“At the end of the day, this is about the preservation of human life,” Kanter said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Reporters also heard an impassioned plea for compliance from Dr. Catherine O’Neal of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, one of three U.S. cities singled out by federal authorities for surge testing in response to COVID hot spots.
Hospitals were prepared for more cases when the state began easing restrictions, O’Neal said. But they weren’t prepared to see the numbers that developed beginning in mid-June.
The Louisiana Office of Public Health numbers indicate that hospitalizations for COVID has more than doubled to 1,243 in a month.
“And now we are overwhelmed,” O’Neal said. “We have too many people in the hospitals. Our hospitals are full.
“When our hospitals get full, just like we talked about before, it is incredibly hard to provide for everybody.”
O’Neal said that in one recent case, a patient had to put off cancer surgery in February, March and April. By the time surgery was available, the cancer had advanced too far to treat.
“We can’t allow this in the community anymore,” O’Neal said. “We have to be better stewards so that the whole community is healthier from all of their illnesses, and not just COVID-19. But to do that we have to do things like masking, and we all have to wear a mask.”

78 new COVID cases in three parishes; governor calls press conference

Sat, 07/11/2020 - 12:55pm

The number of new COVID-19 cases in St. Mary, St. Martin and Assumption was up sharply again in Saturday's midday report covering the previous 24 hours.

Statewide, the number of positives and the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 jumped sharply again. Gov. John Bel Edwards scheduled a 2:30 p.m. Saturday press conference, a departure from his usual once-a-week meetings with reporters on Wednesdays.

The big question is likely to be whether Edwards will order mandatory mask usage statewide and, if he does, how it will be enforced.

Mask requirements have become a hot topic in the last couple of days. East Baton Rouge, Orleans and Jefferson have made masks mandatory in public. Shreveport officials issued an order of their own.

But a district court judge stayed the Shreveport mask order. U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Shreveport, accused the city's mayor, Adrian Perkins, of "overreach" and said the mask requirement is an infringement on constitutional liberties.

As the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education prepares to meet next week to discuss the safe reopening of schools, Attorney General Jeff Landry wrote a letter to BESE to say school mask requirements threaten to turn educators into "mask police."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend masks. "To reduce the spread of COVID-19, CDC recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings when around people outside of their household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain," according to the CDC website.

In Saturday's report, 37 new positives in St.Mary raised the total since the pandemic began to 741.

St. Martin has 36 new positives for a total of 999.

Assumption has five new positives for a total of 415.

No new deaths were reported in the three parishes, so the death toll remains 39 in St. Mary, 27 in St. Martin and 16 in Assumption.

Statewide:

--2,167 new positives raise the pandemic total to 78,803.

--23 new deaths raise the toll to 3,295.

--The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment rose by 65 to 1,182. The number of hospitalizations has doubled in a month.

--The number of people on ventilators fell by one to 121.

UPDATE: Missing person is safe

Fri, 07/10/2020 - 6:50pm

UPDATE:

Sheriff Blaise Smith's Office said Saturday that Jessica Rowe has been in contact with authorities and "is fine and not in need of any assistance."

Original story:

Sheriff Blaise Smith and the deputies of the SMPSO are asking the public's assistance in locating Jessica Marie Rowe. She was seen late Thursday in Baldwin near Franklin.
.
If you have seen Jessica Rowe or have any information on her location, please call the SMPSO at 337-828-1960 or send a message anonymously via www.stmaryso.com or on the

Getting fired up

Fri, 07/10/2020 - 6:41pm

Barbecue chefs began to gather Friday afternoon for the Bayou BBQ Bash under the new bridge in Morgan City. Organizers were expecting at least 41 cooks or teams to compete in the Barbecue Competitors Alliance-sanctioned event, which has been scaled back with no live music and no beer as a precaution against COVID-19. But the competition will go on with judging Saturday afternoon, and food will be available from vendors.

The Daily Review/Bill Decker

Seventy new COVID cases, no deaths in three local parishes Friday

Fri, 07/10/2020 - 12:06pm

Seventy new COVID-19 positives, including 40 in St. Mary, were reported in three local parishes Friday by the Louisiana Office of Public Health.

Statewide, 2,642 new cases were reported as hospitalizations and ventilator usage continued to increase.

The 40 new positives in St. Mary raised the since the pandemic began to 704 after about 7,300 tests.

St. Mary is now one of 15 parishes in which the one-week incidence rate of positive tests exceeds 200 per 100,000 people.

St. Martin has 24 new COVID-19 positives for a total of 963 after about 12,100 tests.

Assumption has six new cases for a total of 410 after 3,800 tests.

No new local deaths were reported Friday, so the toll remains 39 in St. Mary, 27 in St. Martin and 16 Assumption.

Statewide:

--The pandemic total of positives is 74,636.

--25 new deaths make that total 3,272.

--75 more people are in hospitals for COVID treatment for a total of 1,117.

--The number of people on ventilators rose by 12 to 122.

Reopening plan: Masks, two-day schedule for older St. Mary students

Fri, 07/10/2020 - 11:20am
GEOFF STOUTE
gstoute@daily-review.com

St. Mary Parish public school students in sixth through 12th grades will attend schools — wearing facemasks — two days a week with only half the school population in attendance at one time to meet the requirements of reopening school in what the district anticipates still will be Phase Two of the state’s COVID 19 response.
The remaining days of the school week, the students in these grades will continue learning online.
Students in grades kindergarten through fifth will attend school daily. Those in grades third through fifth will be required to wear facemasks, while it is not recommended those in grades lower than third grade wear masks, St. Mary Parish Assistant Superintendent Joe Stadalis told board members Thursday during their monthly meeting.
“First and foremost, we want to take every step to provide students with a safe and healthy learning environment when they return in August,” Stadalis said.
While not all students will be required to wear masks, teachers and staff will be.
The school year will begin Aug. 7 for all grades, and students will have their temperatures taken upon arriving at schools. Social distancing and frequent handwashing also will take place.
The district’s plan addresses all three phases of reopening.
“As we begin, parents will have the opportunity to complete a survey, declaring the school option for their full return or possibly enrolling in the St. Mary Parish virtual program,” Stadalis said.
If the state would take a step back to a Phase One reopening, then the district will switch to strictly online learning, while if it would move to Phase Three reopening, every student will attend school daily.
The district also will be sending out a survey through JText to get parents’ feedback, while those with more than one student are asked to fill out the survey for each child.
“That will give us better data where we can make better decisions, and we do look forward to reading the concerns, which is one of the last questions at the bottom,” Stadalis said.
Each week, beginning next Wednesday, the district will host a Facebook live forum at 5:30 p.m. with KQKI where the plan will be explained in more detail, focusing on key points for families and to get feedback. The forum will be held each week until school begins.
For those who may not have internet access, plans are being determined to meet those needs as they arise, such as school system partnerships with public entities for external internet access points, or even the possibility would be available of placing a school bus with a cellular receiver in an area to serve multiple families.
Internet access at schools also is planned for those who need it on their days off.
“It was discussed that students who have difficulties with access would be able to come to school more often, so if they needed to come to school on a more frequent basis, they could,” district Supervisor of Secondary Instruction Buffy Fegenbush said. “They would just let the school staff know, and we would have labs and other areas set up for those students where they could go that would be monitored, so they could receive access to the internet.”
While data is still being gathered for bus routes, factoring in locations and how many siblings ride the bus, Stadalis said the goal is 50% capacity in buses with only every other seat occupied.
“If you have three in the same family, they may sit in the same seat if they’re small,” Stadalis said.
While routes may have to be doubled, bus drivers have said they could accommodate the changes. On the junior high and high school level, the district only will have half the students attending at one time, too, so bus occupancy will be reduced.
In other action Thursday, the board:
—Learned from Chief Financial Officer Alton Perry that not counting audits, the board met its budget. He said work is being done on the school system’s new budget. The school board will hold its budget workshop on July 23.
—Adopted its tax millage rates for the 2020 year. The general fund millage is 8.83 mills for constitutional school tax and 11.82 mills for Consolidated School District No. 5. Special Funds mills are 12.42 for Consolidated School District No. 3 Maintenance Tax, 12.73 for Consolidated School District No. 2 Maintenance Tax and 12.53 for Sixth Ward School District No. 3 Maintenance Tax. Bond Retirement Funds are 16 mills for Consolidated School District No. 1, 8 mills for Special School District No. 4 and 20 mills for Fifth Ward Special School District No. 1.
—Approved Community Eligibility Provision Participation for the 2020-21 school year, which allows the school system to be reimbursed for free breakfast and lunches. The school board will be reimbursed 99.66% of the costs by the federal government for students who qualify for the free breakfast and lunches. Of the district’s 8,402 students, 5,234 or 62.29% qualify for the program. These students come from all 21 elementary, junior high and high schools in St. Mary Parish.
—Approved an additional $40,000 in District II Maintenance Committee funds for the Berwick Junior High front door security project. Originally, $60,000 was the estimated cost.
—Awarded a bid to Freddie Triche of LAPCO MFG in Morgan City for $112,000 for the sale of unused school property at Wyandotte Elementary in Morgan City and instructed the funds from the sale be used at Wyandotte Elementary.

Authorities make arrest in Terrebonne St. house fire

Fri, 07/10/2020 - 11:14am
Staff Report

A Morgan City man has been arrested on an arson charge after telling authorities he set his family’s home on fire and then sat in the backyard to watch it burn, a fire marshal spokesperson said.
Jeramie James Toups, 39, of Terrebonne Street, was detained by the Morgan City Police Department and booked by the State Fire Marshal’s Office on one count of simple arson of an inhabited dwelling, said Ashley Rodrigue, public affairs director for the fire marshal.
Toups was taken to the St. Mary Parish jail. No bond has been set.
Morgan City firefighters and police officers were called to the home in the 100 block of Terrebonne at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday. They arrived to find half the small home and a pickup truck engulfed in flames.
They were met by Toups, Rodrigue said. He told officers that he was irritated with his family after an argument and decided to burn down the house.
Rodrigue said Toups used some form of accelerant to start the fire.
After setting the fire, Toups put a chair in the backyard and sat down to watch the blaze, Rodrigue said.
Toups was arrested by Morgan City officers and then interviewed by fire marshal investigators before being charged with arson.
No one was injured in the fire.
Simple arson carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

This story has been edited to correct the spelling of Jeramie Toup's name.

Pages

ST. MARY NOW

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

St Mary Now Copyright  © 2026