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Weight loss frees woman from mind-numbing drugs

Mon, 05/04/2020 - 8:42am

By Jeanne Phillips, ©United Features Syndicate

DEAR ABBY: I had weight-loss surgery a year ago. I’m now off all medications (high blood pressure, antidepressants, etc.) and take only one multivitamin daily. I feel like I’m 25 again. However, I have also changed mentally. After many years of being a zombie on antidepressants, I feel like I have finally “awakened.”
I come from a dysfunctional, abusive childhood. My father abused my mother. I was diagnosed with dysthymia years ago, and I feel the diagnosis was correct.
I now feel my dysthymia has turned more into anxiety than depression. I’m no longer afraid of speaking up and, after 20 years, I actually have opinions of my own.
Needless to say, my family (husband, grown children and in-laws) are not used to this side of me. I find myself feeling resentful, anxious and envious of certain immediate family and in-law family dynamics now. I don’t want to upset my family by being so vocal and opinionated, but I don’t want to get back on mind-altering prescriptions either.
I also have little faith that counseling will do much good. I’m afraid I’ll be pushed into taking meds again. I feel like I’m between a rock and a hard place right now. Any advice?
A TOUGH SPOT IN NORTH CAROLINA

DEAR TOUGH SPOT: Keeping in mind that no one can force you back on medications if you don’t want them, I do think you could benefit from talking with a licensed mental health professional about this.
You have made major changes in your life, and are no longer the person you were when you were prescribed the medications that made you feel like a zombie. A mental health professional can help you to sort out whether you have a problem or whether your family members do in dealing with the new you.

DEAR ABBY: In the future when I am able, I would like to travel with a mix of single and married ladies. I’m in a committed relationship, and when I discussed this with my partner, we had a difference of opinion.
She believes that happy individuals in committed relationships do not travel with other people. She believes happy couples should travel together and not independently. Is that controlling? I have traveled independently in prior committed relationships, and this has never been an issue.
Should I honor her request or deny it? She is pushing me to respect this rule and says it applies to her as well because she believes “females” let loose when they are away from their significant others.
I get the distinct feeling that if I travel independently, there will be an emotional price to pay, or she will do something in my absence that will change the dynamics of our relationship.
LOVE OR CONTROL

DEAR LOVE: There are already issues that will change the dynamics of your relationship — your partner’s insecurity and need to control, and your need for some freedom. Unless you are laying down “rules” for her to follow as she is trying to do to you, step back and take a second look at this relationship.
Healthy people who love each other want their partner to be happy and fulfilled whether they are together or apart. This takes trust, self-confidence and courage. Rather than the wind beneath your wings, it appears your partner may be more of an anchor.
***
To order “How to Write Letters for All Occasions,” send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 to: Dear Abby — Letter Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447.

Arthurine Savoie Harrell

Mon, 05/04/2020 - 8:24am

March 8, 1935 – May 1, 2020
Arthurine Savoie Harrell, a longtime resident of Franklin, was called home to her Lord and Savior at the age of 85 at Maison Teche Nursing Center in Jeanerette on Friday, May 1, 2020.
Arthurine was born on March 8, 1935 in Sunset, one of six children born to Adam and Bernadette Savoie. Many will remember her from her many years working as a seamstress and if you were fortunate to have been fed by her you would definitely remember her for her wonderful cooking. She was a faithful Christian and member of Myette Point Baptist Church and absolutely loved singing church hymns. Although she will be deeply missed, her family takes great comfort in knowing that she put her faith in the Lord and is now healed of the infirmities she suffered from in this earthly life.
Those she leaves to cherish her memory include her daughter, Francine H. Scelfo and her husband John “Bubba”; her son, Denny F. Harrell and his companion Mary; two grandchildren, Derek Harrell and Adriana Williams and her husband Byron; one great grandson, Malachi Williams; her brother, Norwood “Joe” Savoie; her sister, Relita S. Breland; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Forrest “FD” Harrell Jr.; her parents, Adam Savoie and Bernadette Prejean Savoie; two brothers, Ackel and Tommy Savoie; and one sister, Katrina Lecompte.
Due to the current health concerns and mandated restrictions in accordance with limited gatherings, visitation and funeral services for Arthurine will be held privately with the family in Perpetual Park Cemetery. Her pastor, Rev. Joseph Sauce, will conduct the services.
The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the staff of Maison Teche Nursing Center and Hospice of Acadiana for their loving care given. In lieu of flowers the family asks that contributions be made to either Myette Point Baptist Church, Maison Teche Nursing Center, of Hospice of Acadiana.
Family and friends may view the obituary online by visiting www.iberts.com and are encouraged to share their condolences, love, prayers, and support for the family as well as cherished memories of Arthurine.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Ibert's Mortuary, Inc., 1007 Main Street, Franklin, LA 70538, (337) 828-5426.

9 new COVID-19 cases in 3 parishes, two deaths in St. Mary

Sun, 05/03/2020 - 12:00pm

Nine new COVID-19 cases in St. Mary, St. Martin and Assumption were reported between noon Saturday and noon Sunday by the Louisiana Office of Public Health, and two new deaths were reported in St. Mary.

According to the OPH:

--Six new COVID-19 cases were reported in St. Mary for a total of 205 after 1,129 tests. Two more St. Mary deaths made their way into the OPH statistics after Coroner Eric Melancon reported them locally Friday. The death toll is now 25.

--No new positives were reported in St. Martin, where 244 cases have been recorded after 1,904 tests. The death toll remains at 18.

--In Assumption, three new positives brought the total to 197 after 836 tests. The death toll remains at six.

Statewide:

--200 new COVID-19 positives bring the total to 29,340 after nearly 170,000 tests.

--19 deaths were reported Sunday, raising the death toll to 1,969.

--The number of COVID-19 patients in Louisiana hospitals fell by 15 to 1,530.

--Five more people went on ventilators and raised the total to 213.

14 new COVID-19 cases, one death in three parishes

Sat, 05/02/2020 - 11:50am

Here are the noon Friday-to-noon Saturday COVID-19 statistics from the Louisiana Office of Public Health:

--In St. Mary, six new cases bring the total to 199 after 1,148 tests. The official death toll is 23, although Coroner Eric Melancon quotes a total of 25.

--In St. Martin, three new cases raised the total to 244 after 1,891 tests. Another death was reported, bringing the total to 18.

--In Assumption, five new cases bring the total to 194 after 803 tests. Six deaths have been reported in Assumption.

Statewide:

--429 new cases raised the total to 29,140 infected people, of whom 17,303 are believed to have recovered.

--23 new deaths were reported, so 1,950 people have died of COVID-19-related illness.

--Hospitalizations were down 62 to 1,545.

--Ventilator usage dropped by 22 to 208.

COVID-19 death toll at Legacy of Franklin now at 13

Sat, 05/02/2020 - 11:07am

The number of COVID-19 deaths at Legacy of Franklin has risen to 13, pushing the parishwide toll to 25, St. Mary Coroner Eric Melancon said.

A total of 46 of the parish's 193 COVID-19 cases have been among residents of the Franklin nursing home.

All those cases have occurred since April 8, when a Legacy resident who had been taken to a hospital for an unrelated illness tested positive for COVID-19 and died.

The nursing home had 106 residents when the pandemic reached Louisiana and 100 staff members. At least 13 staff members have also tested positive for COVID-19 and were sent home, leaving the facility in need of personnel to care for the residents. Legacy has also experienced a shortage of personal protective equipment.

Nursing homes have been sources of concern for public health officials fighting the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Senior citizens are especially vulnerable to the disease, which can spread faster when people are in close quarters.

The Lambeth House retirement community in New Orleans was an early COVID-19 hot spot. By April 1, at least 11 Lambeth House residents had died, and there would be more, including legendary Saints placekicker Tom Dempsey.

The New York Post reported Saturday that 46 residents of the Isabella Geriatric Center in Manhattan had died from COVID-19. Another 52 deaths among residents are suspected of being caused by the coronavirus.

Central Catholic graduation set for June 26

Fri, 05/01/2020 - 4:09pm

Central Catholic High School's 2020 commencement will be June 26, the Diocese of Thibodaux announced Friday.

Here's the text of a statement from the diocese:

In light of the governor’s latest proclamation and his plans for the upcoming implementation of gradual phases of changes to the Stay at Home order, our high school leaders have been working diligently behind the scenes with the Catholic Schools Office and diocesan officials to offer the most meaningful and traditional baccalaureate celebrations possible and have prayerfully determined the rescheduling of our Catholic high school graduations. Today, Bishop Shelton Fabre and Superintendent Suzanne Troxclair announce the following graduation dates for our high schools in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux:

Central Catholic School: Friday, June 26, 2020
Vandebilt Catholic High School: Saturday, June 27, 2020
Edward Douglas White Catholic High School: Saturday, June 27, 2020

While the specific details regarding the format of the graduation ceremonies are subject to the directives of our state and local government and health care officials, we are committed to meaningful and spiritual celebrations of our high school graduates and their diligent work throughout their Catholic school formation. Specific details will be released by individual schools as they are confirmed. In thanksgiving, we continue to reflect on the blessings we have received from having had the privilege of educating our graduating seniors in our Catholic school ministry.

Barbers, beauticians wait for the day their shops can open

Fri, 05/01/2020 - 1:19pm

GEOFF STOUTE

gstoute@daily-review.com

Morgan City hairstylist Bobbie Jo Scully said she never pictured the day when she wouldn’t be allowed to work.
“I’ve always been a worker,” said Scully, who owns A Cheveux Salon in Morgan City.
As of right now, she and other beauticians and barbers statewide have been sidelined for over a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are hoping to return to work soon.
Isiah Skinner Jr., owner of Skinner’s Barbershop in Morgan City, agreed that the time off has been miserable and a period of worrying.
Amelia Benavides, owner of Amelia’s for Hair in Bayou Vista, also offers nail services, and has had that part of her business closed, too.
“I got a lot of things accomplished that I needed to do, but that doesn’t bring in any money,” she said.
As of now, Scully said she has been ordering supplies in preparation for when hair salons and barber shops are allowed to reopen.
“It’s going to be crazy in the beginning,” she said of the rush for supplies.
She and Skinner said they haven’t received any guidance yet from industry governing bodies about what things will be like when they reopen, but Skinner has ordered a thermometer and Scully is ordering disposable capes for customers and making changes to her attire in anticipation for the changes.
Skinner said he has been watching the news and basing things off what he hears from others in the hair industry being interviewed.
“It’s hard to picture, but I believe it’s going to be difficult on us,” Scully said of what things will be like when they reopen. “I hear a lot of speculations on how we’re going to have to change up things. "
While he is hopeful his customers will wear a mask, Skinner said, “It’s going to be hard to cut someone’s hair with a mask on their face.”
Benavides said a customer couldn’t wear a mask if hair had to be dyed.
Local hair industry personnel also addressed expected scenarios of limiting clients, something that Scully said would mean less money brought in.
“It’s going to be pretty difficult and a lot of getting used to, but unfortunately, it is what it is,” she said of life after reopening.

Governor hits back on emergency petition

Fri, 05/01/2020 - 1:14pm

Staff Report

Gov. John Bel Edwards on Thursday criticized a petition seeking to void the governor’s public emergency declaration as a way to block COVID-19 restrictions to unshackle the state economy.
“Silly is not the word,” Edwards said at his daily press conference Thursday.
Edwards on Thursday formally extended the statewide stay at home order until May 15. He announced that he would take that action earlier this week, citing regional hot spots with stubbornly high COVID-19 spread around the state.
Orders have been modified to allow nonemergency procedures at health care facilities, to allow outdoor restaurant seating without table service and to allow curbside service for mall stores that don’t have their own access from outdoors.
But Edwards has come under increasing pressure to ease economic restrictions further.
In St. Mary Parish alone, more than 4,000 people have filed initial claims for unemployment assistance since the week since the strictest economic measures were ordered. More than 438,000 people statewide have filed for benefits during the same period, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
The Louisiana Oil and Gas Association has called for a more rapid reopening of the economy. Energy companies have been hammered by a plunge in oil prices to below $20 a barrel, partly because of reduced consumption because of international COVID-19 restrictions.
Stephen Waguespack, the president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, makes a similar call in a column that appears on this issue’s Page 4.
The petition would use state law giving the Legislature power to strike down the public health emergency declaration on which the stay at home order and economic restrictions are based.
“That would be completely irresponsible and nonsensical,” Edwards said, “to be the only state in the nation without an emergency declaration in place for the public health emergency that is COVID-19 when we’re the sixth-highest state for cases per capita in the country.”
Eliminating the order would disqualify Louisiana for federal assistance under the Stafford Act, the governor said.
“Silly is not the word. It would be profoundly regrettable and unfortunate to a degree that I don’t think serious legislators would entertain the idea.”
Also Thursday, Edwards, who met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, said he was surprised at the attention federal public health officials had been watching the progress of the anti-COVID-19 fight in Louisiana.
Edwards said he based his decision to extend the stay at home order to May 15 on Trump administration guidance. The governor pointed to continuing problem areas, including Ouachita Parish, where the number of new cases was up 22% last week; East Baton Rouge, 14%; Caddo, 11%; and St. Tammany, 9.8%.
“You can see this is widespread across the state,” Edwards said.
Locally, 14 new positive tests for COVID-19 were reported at noon Thursday for St. Mary, St. Martin and Assumption parishes, according to the Louisiana Office of Public Health.
Another COVID-19-related death was reported in St. Martin between noon Wednesday and noon Thursday, bringing the three-parish death toll to 43.
—In St. Mary, another six COVID-19 positives brought the total to 191 after 1,064 tests. The death toll remained at 20.
—In St. Martin, four more positives raised the total to 232 after 1,788 tests. The death reported Thursday brings the parish total to 17.
—In Assumption, four more positives brought the total to 182 after 739 tests. The death toll remains at six.
Statewide:
—341 new positives bring the total to 28,001.
—60 deaths were reported Thursday, raising the state total to 1,862.
—Hospitalizations fell by 28 to 1,601.
—The number of patients on ventilators fell 13 to 231.

Keeping La. 70 high and dry

Fri, 05/01/2020 - 1:02pm

The Daily Review/Geoff Stoute
A truck heads south on La. 70 near Stephensville as it exits a sandbagged portion of the roadway Thursday afternoon with a sign at right warning drivers to slow down due to water on the road. Pumps were installed earlier Thursday by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development on this portion of the roadway to handle water that may accumulate.

More job losses predicted

Fri, 05/01/2020 - 1:00pm

By DAVID JACOBS, The Center Square

The academic economist who sits on Louisiana’s Revenue Estimating Conference said Thursday the state probably won’t stop shedding jobs any time soon.
“We likely still have not seen the bottom of this,” said Stephen Barnes, who directs the Kathleen Blanco Public Policy Center at UL-Lafayette.
More than 66,000 Louisiana residents made initial unemployment claims last week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. About 300,000 have begun receiving benefits since the pandemic began, Barnes said, and many more claims are pending.
According to data Barnes presented Thursday to a legislative task force focused on economic recovery, almost 45 percent of the accommodation and food services workforce has filed for unemployment, more than any other sector. In the mining sector, which includes the struggling oil and gas industry, claims have been surprisingly low at less than 10 percent, Barnes said, possibly because firms already were pretty lean.
The construction industry has been considered “essential” during the pandemic, said Louisiana Associated General Contractors CEO Ken Naquin, and about 75 percent of the projects planned pre-pandemic are ongoing. But much of that work will be completed by late summer or early fall, and there’s nothing else coming down the pipeline, he said.
State Sen. Bret Allain, who chairs the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee, said lawmakers are working to pare down the legislation they will consider when they reconvene their suspended session on Monday. Spending bills must be approved before the next fiscal year begins July 1.
Though the regular session must end June 1, a special session is expected to be held this summer. Allain said lawmakers may also meet again this fall in a “cleanup” special session.
This year’s regular session is non-fiscal, which limits the financial matters that can be considered, though a special session could have a broader agenda. The legislature is required to meet and hear public comments in person, Allain said, though measures will be taken to allow for social distancing such as holding only one committee meeting at a time.
Many of the ideas discussed Thursday that speakers said would help the state’s economy recover are the same as what business leaders were pushing before the pandemic. Examples include tort reform, eliminating the state’s franchise tax, and creating a single centralized sales tax collector.
Some said they wanted to make sure unfunded safety mandates were not imposed on businesses, adding that some business owners would like help acquire personal protective equipment for their workers. Multiple speakers said businesses that are making a good-faith effort to protect their employees’ health should have some protection from legal liability if their workers get sick. And several complained that enhanced unemployment benefits were making it difficult to attract or retain workers who can make more money not working.
U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, a Baton Rouge Republican, echoed many state-level Republ-icans in calling for a regional approach to reopening businesses currently shut down or limited by Gov. John Bel Edwards’ “stay at home” order.
“I think the governor has done a good job with coronavirus and managing the state through this,” Graves said. “I think that it is really important that we resume some degree of normalcy as quickly as possible.”