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Harris Bienn of the Water Institute of the Gulf speaks to an audience including local officials and students from local high schools Monday at a Community Resilience Workshop put together by St. Mary Excel in Morgan City. The institute's goal is "to increase understanding of natural and human aspects of deltaic, coastal, and water systems; to develop tools that apply knowledge to restore coasts and ecosystems; and to reduce risk for people and infrastructure." Making the local communities resilient means preparing them to stand up to natural and economic risks.
The Daily Review/Bill Decker
The Morgan City Lady Tigers staged a huge second-half scoring output to turn a halftime deficit into a 70-46 rout of the Berwick Lady Panthers in the inaugural “Battle of the Cats” in Morgan City Saturday.
While Berwick led 30-21 at halftime, Morgan City outscored the visitor 49-16 in the second half.
Morgan City had a 24-8 scoring advantage in the third period for a 45-38 lead after three quarters before extending its lead to the final margin in the fourth quarter after a 25-8 scoring margin.
Early on, Berwick led 22-9 after a quarter while Morgan City held a 12-8 second-quarter scoring advantage in the second period to cut its halftime deficit to 30-21.
Haylie Crappell led Morgan City with 26 points. Other Morgan City scorers were as follows: Nikeisha Paddio, 16; Nari Clark, nine; Iesha Huntley, seven; Ta’Lea Smith, four; and Wynesha Webb, two.
Lay Bertrand led Berwick with 28 points. Other Berwick scorers were as follows: Bronwyn Colbert, seven; Emily Lousteau, six; and Arianna Jones, five.
Prior to the contest, the teams battled in a three-point contest.
The “Battle of the Cats” series, Morgan City coach Duriel Singleton said, was developed to promote girls basketball. He said that the event will be held in Berwick next year.
Crappell and Bertrand were named the Most Valuable Players from each team.
Thursday, South Lafourche defeated Morgan City 62-23 in the Lady Tigers’ District 8-4A finale in Morgan City.
Crappell led Morgan City with eight points, while Clark scored seven to lead Morgan City.
CCHS splits games
The Central Catholic Lady Eagles split their games last week as the squad routed Covenant Christian Academy in its regular-season finale on the road Friday after being upset Tuesday by Hanson Memorial.
Friday, Central Catholic won the District 8-1A contest 59-13 at Covenant Christian.
Central Catholic took a 25-2 lead after a quarter, led 35-7 at halftime and took a 53-13 lead after three periods of play.
Laurielle Bias led three Lady Eagles in double figures with 15 points. Other Central Catholic scorers were as follows: Jade Oliney, 12; Yani Johnson, 11; Lexi Landry, nine; Kamille Lightfoot, eight; and Gweneth Dohmann and Caitlyn Picou, two each.
Tuesday, Central Catholic fell at Hanson Memorial 51-46 in District 8-1A action in Franklin.
While Hanson led after the first two quarters, taking a 26-17 lead into halftime, Central Catholic outscored the home squad 20-6 in the third period to take a 37-32 lead into the final period.
However, Hanson responded with a 19-9 fourth-quarter scoring advantage for the victory.
Johnson led three Lady Eagles in double figures with 15 points. Other Central Catholic scorers were as follows: Lightfoot and Landry, 10 each; Oliney, six; Brie Johnson, four; and Bias, one
Central Catholic now will await its postseason seed and opponent, which will be announced Monday.
Staff Report
BATON ROUGE — No. 11 LSU and Indiana split a doubleheader Saturday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
The Tigers posted a 7-4 victory in the first game to claim the series win, and Indiana prevailed in the second game 7-2 to avoid the sweep.
The Tigers (2-1) return to action Tuesday against Southern in Alex Box Stadium in a 5 p.m. contest. The game will be available on SEC Network+ and on 100.7 FM in Baton Rouge.
“Indiana’s got a really good club,” LSU Coach Paul Mainieri said in a news release. “They’re the defending Big Ten champions, and they ran out a lot of really good arms against us. Overall for the weekend, we won two games, we pitched 15 different guys over the course of the series, and we learned a lot about our team. That’s what you do at this time of the year; sometimes you have to suffer setbacks in order to learn which guys you can count on.
“Our kids played very hard, we won two out of three, and we’ve got a big week coming up beginning on Tuesday with Southern,” Mainieri added.
Indiana 7, LSU 2
Indiana plated the game‘s first run in the top of the third inning on centerfielder Grant Richardson’s sacrifice fly to deep center for a 1-0 lead.
The Hoosiers added two more runs in the fifth via a sacrifice fly by catcher Drew Ashley to left and a run-scoring double by Richardson to left-center to give Indiana a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers responded in the bottom of the sixth with one run on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Cade Doughty to left to cut Indiana’s lead to 3-1.
The Hoosiers added another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Collin Hopkins.
In the ninth, Indiana added three more runs on a two-run homer to right field by Richardson and an RBI single by first baseman Jordan Fucci to take a 7-1 lead.
LSU third baseman Zack Mathis connected on a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth over the right field wall for the final margin.
Eight pitchers worked in the nightcap for LSU. AJ Labas (0-1) got the start and worked 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits. He collected four strikeouts.
Indiana starter Braydon Tucker (1-0) earned the win with six innings on the mound. He allowed one run on four hits and fired one strikeout.
LSU 7, Indiana 4
Indiana (1-2) took the early lead as the Hoosiers scored a run in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Cole Barr.
The Tigers would not trail for long as first baseman Cade Beloso hit an RBI single to left.
LSU added two runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead as left fielder Drew Bianco scored an unearned run and shortstop Hal Hughes brought home another run on a sacrifice fly to center for a 3-1 LSU lead.
The Tigers scored two more runs in the fourth on a ground ball by Alex Milazzo before Hughes followed with an RBI single to right that gave LSU a 5-1 advantage.
Indiana responded in the top of the fifth with a two-run homer by Barr.
The Hoosiers added another run in the eighth on an RBI single from second baseman Drew Ashley.
LSU added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to seal the win as Milazzo doubled to left-center to score Cade Beloso and Berwick High alum and LSU pinch runner Mitchell Sanford, extending LSU’s lead to 7-4.
Trent Vietmeier (1-0) earned the win as he worked 1.2 innings and recorded two strikeouts. Devin Fontenot was awarded the save as he fired two innings, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts.
Landon Marceaux started the game and tossed 4.1 innings, picking up two strikeouts while allowing three runs on six hits.
Indiana’s Gabe Bierman (0-1) suffered the loss as he worked five innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. He recorded two strikeouts and walked two batters.
LSU 8, Indiana 1
Second baseman Cade Doughty and catcher Saul Garza each launched homers Friday night, and Cole Henry pitched four shutout innings as No. 11 LSU earned an 8-1 win in its 2020 season opener versus Indiana in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
The Tigers didn’t waste any time as the offense produced two runs in the bottom of the first inning on Doughty’s two-run home run over the left field wall. Doughty became the first LSU player to hit a home run in his first career at-bat since Beau Didier accomplished the feat against Villanova on Feb. 21, 2009, at The Box.
LSU struck again in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 5-0 as Garza launched a three-run blast to left field.
Indiana scored in the top of the fifth on Richardson’s grounder to second.
The Tigers responded with two runs in the sixth inning as Bianco scored on a throwing error and Mathis drove home Hughes with a sacrifice fly to extend LSU’s lead to 7-1.
LSU added another run in the eighth on an RBI single from Mathis, who base hit to left scored Sanford.
Four pitchers combined in the effort, as Henry (1-0) worked the first four innings and recorded eight strikeouts with no walks and just three hits allowed.
Indiana starter Tommy Sommer (0-1) suffered the loss, as he surrendered five runs on five hits in four innings with three walks and five strikeouts.
The Feb. 4 Patterson City Council meeting focused for a time on allegations that a member of the department, later identified as former volunteer chief Scott Domingue, used a department card for more than $14,000 in personal purchases and cash withdrawals between 2016 and 2019
A legislative auditor’s report containing the allegations had been released the day before. Media reports said the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office was investigating, but the case had landed on the desk of Patterson Police Chief Garrett Grogan.
Council members had some questions, spoken or implied: Was the DA’s Office foisting its work off on the Patterson PD? Should the investigation be handled by another agency, maybe one with more resources? And without a city government connection to create a possible conflict of interest?
But Grogan told the council what he told his contact from the DA’s Office:
“I told him point blank that it happened in Patterson and it will be handled in Patterson,” Grogan said.
One thing is clear: Any worry about whether the Police Department would slow-walk the investigation didn’t last long. Neither did the investigation.
Just before 5 p.m. Friday, within 72 hours of the council meeting, Domingue was in the PD’s headquarters. He’d been named in a warrant and booked on malfeasance and theft charges. He was released on bond.
This wasn’t a case that seemed likely to drag on anyway. An auditor working for the city government and the legislative auditor had already looked into the books and spotted the problems.
But Patterson police gathered the evidence from the local auditor, the legislative auditor and the current fire department leadership. They were able to link another $11,000 in misspent funds to Domingue.
It’s important to note that Domingue has denied intentionally misusing fire department funds, although he acknowledged that mistakes may have been made.
He deserves the presumption of innocence that extends beyond arrest to a grand jury or bill of information, all the way to a trial if that’s how the case plays out.
But if justice delayed turns out to be justice denied in the matter of the missing fire department money, it won’t be because the Patterson Police Department messed around.
***
Also at the Feb. 4 meeting, the council moved the time for its regular first Tuesday meetings to 6 p.m. The meeting time had been 6:30 p.m.
Now Patterson has the same meeting time as the Morgan City and Berwick councils and the St. Mary Parish Levee District.
The Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District and the St. Mary Parish School Board meet at 5 p.m.
***
At the same Patterson council meeting, the puns were flying, intentionally or otherwise.
Mayor Rodney Grogan paused at one point to mention that people were calling City Hall to get bear-proof trash cans, hoping to get some relief from scattered garbage. But City Hall doesn’t have them, Grogan said. You must go to Pelican Waste Inc. for them.
And the supply is short because more and more residents are having their trash cans upended by hungry nighttime visitors.
“I’ll have to ask you to bear with us,” Grogan said.
That drew a combination of laughter and groans from the audience.
Later, the council members talked again about the possibility of creating a new city cemetery, and another play on words flew under the radar.
One tract at the corner of Williams and O streets contains a small graveyard that hasn’t been maintained. The city owns three lots. Farther down O street there are more graves placed there by churches and benevolent societies.
City Attorney Russel Cremaldi stepped in with some cautions.
Running a cemetery is a long-term commitment, he warned. The city would have to see to street access and access to graves for mourners. Drainage would have to be accommodated. Someone would have to make sure that graves are placed where they’re supposed to be. There will be business and marketing demands.
It can be done, Cremaldi told the council, “but it’s a big undertaking.”
Bill Decker is managing editor of The Daily Review.
Miguez Photography
Krewe of Dionysus King and Queen XLI Steve Kennedy and Laura Kennedy represented Captain Hook and Maleficent in keeping with the krewe’s ball theme, “Welcome to the Dark Side,” on Saturday at the Berwick Civic Complex. Dionysus will present its annual Mardi Gras parade at 2 p.m. Feb. 22 in Berwick. Parading at the end of the procession will be members of the Krewe of Hannibal.
Marlon Harvey Photography
King Hannibal XL Cornelius “C.C.” Stewart Jr. and Queen Cleopatra Thetis Dural represented “Phantom of the Opera” during the Krewe of Hannibal’s 40th anniversary celebration Saturday at the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium. Theme for the evening was “An Evening on Broadway.” Members of the krewe will parade at 2 p.m. Feb. 22 behind the Krewe of Dionysus parade in Berwick.
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A Gibson woman was stopped for a traffic violation, and K9 Buddy alerted officers to the presence of illegal narcotics, Morgan City Police Chief James F. Blair said in a news release.
—Mary Griffin Wheat, 48, of Bayou Black Drive in Gibson, was arrested at 2:10 a.m. Friday on charges of improper lane usage and possession of a Schedule I controlled dangerous substance (THC).
An officer observed a traffic violation on U.S. 90 in Morgan City.
The officer conducted a traffic stop and the driver was identified as Wheat.
St. Mary Sheriff’s Office K-9 Buddy and his handler arrived on the scene to assist and K-9 Buddy was deployed on the exterior of the vehicle.
K-9 Buddy indicated the presence of illegal narcotics.
The officer observed Wheat attempt to conceal an item. The item was recovered from Wheat and discovered to be a container of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) edibles.
THC products are illegal to possess in the State of Louisiana. She was jailed.
Blair also reported that the Morgan City Police Department responded to 39 calls of service and the following arrest was made:
—Crystal Bailey Duhn 47, of La. 182 in Morgan City, was arrested at 3:07 p.m. Thursday on a warrant for three counts of failure to appear. Duhn was located at the Patterson Police Department and placed under arrest on active warrants held by the City Court of Morgan City.
She was transported to the Morgan City Police Department and jailed.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff Blaise Smith advised that the Sheriff’s Office responded to 37 complaints and the following arrests were made:
—Gregory Paul Bell, 46, of Catherine Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 10:44 a.m. Thursday on a warrant for the charge of battery of a dating partner.
He was jailed and later released on a $3,000 bond.
—Jevon Ray Lively Sr., 28, of Church Street in Jeanerette, was arrested at 4:09 p.m. Thursday on a warrant for failure to appear on the charges of operating a vehicle while license is suspended/revoked/canceled and operating a vehicle with an unlit license plate. He was jailed with bail set at $2,500.
—Kaleb Shane Calloway, 23, of Hawkins Street in Franklin, was arrested at 4:09 p.m. Thursday on a Patterson Police Department warrant on the charges of theft, home invasion, criminal damage to property and aggravated battery. He was jailed and is being held for another agency.
—Phillip Andrew Randolph, 28, of Dottie Lane in Franklin, was arrested at 5:48 a.m. Friday on a charge of possession of marijuana. He was released on a summons to appear on May 18.
Patterson Police Chief Garrett Grogan reported the following arrests:
—Maria Hill, 36, of Fallon Drive in Houma, was arrested at 8:07 p.m. Thursday on charges of driver must be license, no tail lights, and no insurance.
She was jailed with bond set at $731.
—Kellie S. Pyle Boudreaux, 37, of Willow Bend Lane in Patterson, was arrested at 5:14 a.m. Friday on charges of switched license plate, driving under suspension and no insurance. Boudreaux was jailed with bond set at $904.
Berwick Police Chief David Leonard Sr. reported there were no arrests.
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