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New unemployment claims in Louisiana topped 100,000 last week as businesses nationwide remain closed or limit their operations in hopes of mitigating the spread of the new coronavirus.

The U.S. Department of Labor says 102,985 Louisiana workers made initial unemployment claims during the week that ended April 4, up 5,585 claims from 97,400 claims the previous week. Those numbers have not been adjusted to account for seasonal trends, as is often done with employment statistics.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said about 277,000 Louisiana residents applied for unemployment benefits between March 1 and April 4, compared to about 103,000 during all of 2019.

Starting next week, Louisiana will begin paying enhanced unemployment benefits using federal funds approved by Congress as part of a national relief and stimulus package. Unemployed workers will get an additional $600 on top of what they would normally receive, which in Louisiana is no more than $247.

Workers who normally don’t qualify for unemployment benefits, such as contractors and self-employed workers, are eligible. The federal payments end July 31.

Due to the high number of claimants, officials say the best time to file an unemployment claim is between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. at louisianaworks.net.

With Easter Sunday just days away, Tri-City area residents will celebrate the holiday as they have in the past, although in different circumstances due to COVID-19, which has limited the way worship services can be held.
Three area religious leaders offered their messages on both Easter Sunday and COVID-19.
The Rev. Brice Higginbotham of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Morgan City said the world will experience “the joy of Easter.” However, he said the world must experience “the humility of the pain of Good Friday” in order to really get the joy that Easter brings.
“May we, tomorrow, have the best Good Friday we’ve ever had — with prayer and penance and fasting,” Higginbotham said. “And may our hearts being torn open in Good Friday repentance lead us to shout our Easter ‘Alleluia!’ from the depths of our souls!”
The Rev. Mo Seneca of Lighthouse Community Church in Berwick said his Easter Sunday message to his congregation is “We Win.”
“Easter Sunday is kind of just a culmination of all the promises that God made and he kept through his son Jesus,” Seneca said. “When Jesus defeated death, that’s the biggest win ever.
“It was bigger than LSU stopping the losing streak against Bama this year. It was bigger than us winning the (college football) national championship. It was an undefeated foe when it came to death, because that was kind of always a period for mankind.”
However, he said Easter Sunday reminds people that by Jesus winning over death, the world wins, too.
The Rev. Steven Kelly of Bayou Vista Baptist Church said that he is focusing on the “personal nature of Easter” this year.
Kelly said that in the Easter story, Jesus encountered people on a one-on-one basis.
“At the grave, he encountered Mary Magdalene, and then … later on, he meets with the disciples,” Kelly said. “He encounters Peter personally. He encourages Thomas to touch his hands and to feel his side, and so ultimately, Easter’s for everybody.”
However, Kelly said the world must “encounter it personally.”
As for COVID-19, the religious leaders had messages explaining that this period will not endure forever, the need to have faith in God and how God can do good things even during a pandemic.
“This COVID-19 did not come as a surprise to God,” Seneca said. “I’m not saying he caused it, but what I am saying is he can use it for good. He can work things out in a way that we can grow, that we can get through this.”
Kelly noted that disease has existed throughout time, even back to the Old Testament.
“I kind of addressed how God doesn’t take away what troubles us,” Kelly said. “He provides us a solution on another level.”
Kelly also stressed that God gives the world faith to endure this time.
Higginbotham said that people should be grateful, be safe and keep in mind that this pandemic will not endure for eternity.
He said that people should be happy for what they have been blessed with, such as family, friends and the great weather. He also said the community should be safe by following government leaders’ advice.
“These things are an act of love for the sick, for our healthcare workers (and) for those others who otherwise keep us safe, fed and connected,” Higginbotham said of the means to stay safe.
When overwhelmed, he said the world needs to keep in mind that this pandemic will not endure forever.
“God will work in our lives,” Higginbotham said. “God is working in our lives — even (and perhaps especially) in this time of pandemic. May we receive His blessings, love our neighbors and come out stronger on the other side of these difficult times.”

March 26, 1937 — March 23, 2020
Virginia Dare Hayden Sharkey, 82, of Carencro, LA, formerly of Morgan City, LA, died peacefully in her sleep on March 23, 2020, at Evangeline Oaks Guest House in Carencro.
She was born in Hammond, LA, on March 26, 1937. She married Wilton M. Sharkey on June 3, 1956. She is predeceased by her parents, Virginia Dare Vernon Hayden and Cecil T. Hayden, two brothers, David Hayden and Pat Hayden, her husband of 49 years Wilton M. Sharkey, her daughter, Sharon Sharkey Mullally, and grandson Casey Sharkey.
Virginia is survived by two brothers, Robert F. Hayden and his wife, Brenda, of Atlanta, Georgia and Paul M. Hayden and his wife, Katherine Kemler, of Baton Rouge, LA. She is also survived by two sons, Shawn Sharkey and his significant other, Carrie Willett, of Carencro, LA, Shayne Sharkey and his wife, Rosa, of Bossier City, LA, and one daughter, Ginger Sharkey Johnson and her significant other, James Templet, of Grosse Tete, LA. She has 10 surviving grandchildren, Stephanie Sharkey of Woodbridge, VA, Erin Sharkey of Washington, LA, Jennifer Sellers of Youngsville, LA, Shannon DuBois of Morgan City, LA, Ryan Sellers and his wife, Krista of Bossier City, Matthew Sellers of Haughton, LA, Mason Johnson of Grosse Tete, LA, Harlan Templet of Houston, TX, Cullen Sharkey and Ava Sharkey of Bossier City. Mrs. Sharkey is also survived by her great-grandchildren, Xander Rankin, Hayden Guarisco, Grayson Sharkey and Matthew J. Sellers Jr.
Mrs. Sharkey attended Southeastern LA University and Nicholls State University. She was a fourth-grade teacher at Wyandotte Elementary School, Atkinson Memorial Presbyterian Kindergarten, and the St. Mary Adult Education Center. She was a member of the Morgan City Garden Club and served as President of the organization.
Due to the COVID-19 virus, a funeral could not be held. Hargrave Funeral home handled Mrs. Sharkey’s request for cremation, and entombment will be in the Morgan City Cemetery. A memorial service will be scheduled when people can safely gather to celebrate her life.

All eight members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation are asking the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to include crawfish in the $9.5 billion in assistance provided by Congress in the CARES Act.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham of Alto, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, and U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins of Lafayette, who represents a large number of crawfish farmers in Southwest Louisiana, led the charge to add crawfish to the list of agricultural products impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy joine Abraham, Higgins, and U.S. Reps. Garret Graves, Mike Johnson, Cedric Richmond and Minority Whip Steve Scalise in signing the letter dated April 8.
In the letter, the delegation writes, “The U.S. crawfish industry is largely seasonal and relies heavily on direct-to-consumer markets, such as restaurants, large social gatherings, caterers, festivals, and farmers markets. Government orders to close restaurants to dine-in customers and CDC limitations on social gatherings have directly impacted this industry. Many producers have seen prices plummet by more than $1per pound.”
The letter continues, “Taken together, this amounts to a roughly 60 percent loss in market value during the peak of crawfish season.”
Louisiana Rice Producers Group Chairman Jackie Loewer also penned a letter to Secretary Perdue. In it, Loewer echoed the concerns of Louisiana’s congressional delegation and added, “In South Louisiana where the majority of rice is planted in the state, virtually every rice farmer also farms crawfish. The crawfish industry and the symbiotic relationship it has with rice production has become a necessary enterprise in sustaining revenue to keep the region’s farmers viable.”
“We’d like to thank our congressional delegation and the farmers and ranchers of Louisiana for this show of solidarity behind the crawfish industry. It’s exactly what we need right now,” said Louisiana Farm Bureau Assistant to the President Kyle McCann. “Crawfish farmers and wild fishermen are losing money that they can’t get back and this loss of market could put some of them out of business.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is charged with writing the rules for assistance through the CARES Act.