RSS Feed

DAVID BUSINELLE

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 11:48am

November 27, 1942 — January 31, 2020
David Businelle, 77, a resident of Gulfport, Mississippi and former resident of Bayou L’Ourse, passed away Friday, January 31, 2020, at Slidell Memorial Hospital.
David was born on November 27, 1942, in Morgan City, the son of Peter Norman Businelle Sr. and Ella Louise Scadlock Businelle.
In his younger years, David enjoyed hunting, fishing, and shrimping. His love of the outdoors and the water lead him to a long and successful career as boat captain, where he earned the nickname “Captain Handsome.” David cherished the time that he was able to spend with his family, especially his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He also enjoyed and looked forward to the almost daily phone calls between him and his brother Pete. David was such a loving and caring person that he would give the shirt off of his back to anyone who was in need. When he wasn’t working and providing for his family he enjoyed to sit and watch his western movies.
He will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by two children, Angela Fletcher and husband John of Gulfport, Mississippi and William “Billy” Businelle of Biloxi, Mississippi; five grandchildren, Alyssa Capuano and husband Paul, Kristen Dubuisson and husband Nick, Brandon Businelle and wife Jasmine, Hannah Fletcher and Kyle Businelle; six great-grandchildren, Darcy Capuano, Audrey Capuano, Gracie Capuano, Paul Ellis Capuano, Paxton Businelle and Penny Jane Dubuisson; two brothers, Peter Businelle Jr. and Dudley Businelle; and two sisters, Deborah Gaspar and Rose Hoffman.
David was preceded in death by his parents, Peter Sr. and Ella Scadlock Businelle; two brothers, Bobby Businelle and Donald Businelle; and five sisters, Sarah Mae Duval, Mary Louise Guilliot, Ruby Anslem, Judy Businelle and Kathy Businelle.
Funeral services will be held at noon on Thursday, February 6, 2020, at Twin City Funeral Home with Pastor Caleb Silvertooth officiating. A visitation will be held from 10:30 a.m. until the time of the service at noon. Following the service David will be laid to rest in the Morgan City Cemetery.

District is closing Walnut Street barge

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 11:46am

Staff Report

St. Mary Consolidated Gravity Drainage District No. 2 was set Wednesday morning to close the Walnut Street barge, a flood protection measure for Lakeside Subdivision.
The district expected the work to be complete by noon Wednesday.
The district had issued a public notice that it was watching the Lake Palourde level and would make a decision on Monday.
The level was above the point at which the district likes to close the barge, but it was falling, said district Director Julana Senette.
The barge closure offers protection to homes in the subdivision’s interior. Drains there have a hard time keeping up with high water, Senette said.
The National Weather Service said at 4 p.m. Tuesday that the lake was at 4.49 feet. The lake has stayed with 0.04 feet of that level since Wednesday morning.
The service says 4.0 is the “action” level at Lake Palourde. Minor flooding begins at 5 feet, and major flooding is a threat at 6 feet.
The drainage district usually closes the barge when the lake reaches 1.7 on the district’s own, different scale. And Monday, the advertised decision day, the lake was at 1.9.
“There’s a cost to [closing the barge],” Senette said, “especially if it’s like last year.”
The district was still monitoring the lake level Tuesday afternoon. Then came Wednesday and the decision to close the barge.
The National Weather Service said the lake was up to 4.51 feet at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Other officials around St. Mary Parish are keeping an eye on the gauges, too, hoping the early high water won’t translate into a another spring like last year’s, when both river and flash flooding threatened homes.
At 4 p.m. Tuesday, the Atchafalaya River at Morgan City was at 6.61 feet, up slightly from the morning. The minor flood stage is 6 feet.
The river is expected to drop slightly but stay above 6.0 feet into Sunday.
The Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, who rose to just short of the 40-foot major flood level last week, dipped to 39.08 feet at 5 p.m. Tuesday. It’s expected to fall to near 35 feet by Saturday.

Wheel House for Feb. 5

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 11:40am

NEW PASTOR
Little Zion Baptist Church installing its newly elected pastor, the Rev. Ronald McCoy, at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7, in the church sanctuary. Public invited.

HOMEMADE CHILI
Sold by St. John Baptist Church, 508 Utah St., Berwick, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 21. Menu: 16-ounce chili, crackers and drink. Cost $7. Advance orders call 985-518-1183 and day of call 985-385-0673.

CCHS
Central Catholic High School new student registration for grades 6-12 is March 2-13. For info call 985-385-5372.

A piece of history returns to Berwick

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 11:37am

Submitted Photo
Berwick native Lionel Landry Jr. poses with the cypress dugout he donated to the Berwick Heritage Museum. The dugout was purchased from the Houmas Indians about 100 years ago by his father, Lionel Landry Sr. The younger Landry lives in Maple Valley, Washington. He refurbished the dugout and wanted it back home in South Louisiana, where he felt it belonged. After contacting the Berwick Historical Society, he crated it, purchased a small trailer and drove it 2,500 miles to the home of his nephew, Clay Briehn. Briehn then built the stand it rests on. The dugout, along with many more displays, can be seen at The Brown House (Berwick’s Heritage Museum) at 3326 Third St. The Brown House is open 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. on Mondays.

LMR Travel, new Chamber member

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 11:34am

Submitted Photo
The St. Mary Chamber's newest member is LMR Travel LLC, a full-service travel agency in Berwick. Owner Lisa Russo can help with travel plans, specializing in honeymoons, cruises, family vacations, group travel, Disney vacations and international travel. Contact Russo, left, at 985-519-2720. LMR Travel is on Facebook and at www.lmrtravel.com. Russo is shown with Chamber President Donna Meyer.

Speaking at SMIG

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 11:32am

The Daily Review/Bill Decker
Parish President David Hanagriff, center, talked to the St. Mary Industrial Group on Monday about his plans for consolidating drainage districts. He's shown with SMIG members Red Adams, left, and Greg Roussel.

Walmart gets win in online sales tax case

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 11:29am

By DAVID JACOBS, The Center Square

Companies that maintain online marketplaces don’t have to collect state sales taxes on third-party purchases, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in a split decision.
In a case pitting Walmart against Jefferson Parish, the high court said the retail giant’s marketplace website, where consumers can buy products directly from Walmart or other parties, is not a “dealer” under state law. Therefore, the company does not assume the legal obligations of the other sellers that use the platform.
Jefferson Parish officials sued Walmart for almost $1.9 million in unpaid sales tax, interest, penalties, audit fees and attorney fees, alleging Walmart was required to remit taxes for third-party transactions. The trial court and appellate court both sided with the parish.
In a 4-3 vote, the state Supreme Cort disagreed.
“Clearly, an online marketplace is not a party to the underlying sales transaction between the third party retailers and their customers, but rather a facilitator of the sale,” the Supreme Court majority said in reversing those decisions.
In her dissent, Chief Justice Bernette Johnson wrote that a “dealer” is not the same thing as a “seller.” Lawmakers deliberately defined “dealer” broadly to account for changing business practices beyond traditional brick-and-mortar stores, such as online sales, she said.
Under Walmart’s rules, it is the only party with the ability to collect sales taxes on all transactions made through its website, Johnson said. She said the company “should not be allowed to refuse to perform the collection duties of a dealer under [state law] by nominally placing that duty on the third party retailer yet eliminating their ability to do so.”
“It is also troubling to me that the Marketplace Retailer Agreement – created by Wal-Mart.com – operates to promote and facilitate avoidance of tax payments by consumers, all to the detriment of Jefferson Parish,” she wrote.
This case is likely to have far-reaching implications in Louisiana and beyond, according to an analysis by Matt Mantle and Cami Fergus of the Jones Walker law firm.
“Other sales tax administrators in Louisiana would have undoubtedly attempted to rely on the decision to pursue sales tax collections from marketplaces, and perhaps on a retroactive basis,” they wrote. “Such action from other local collectors is now unlikely, given today’s decision from the Court.”
And though the court’s decision is not binding outside of Louisiana, other states with similar statutes may be persuaded to follow suit when addressing the scope of collection requirements on marketplaces under their own laws, they said.

Weather can make cane vulnerable to disease

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 11:26am

By BRUCE SCHULTZ, LSU AgCenter

JEANERETTE — This winter’s mild weather could be setting up the next sugar cane crop for diseases, an LSU AgCenter plant pathologist warned at a meeting on Jan. 30 for cane growers in Iberia, St. Mary and Vermilion parishes.
Jeff Hoy, also resident coordinator of the AgCenter Sugar Research Station at St. Gabriel, said the freeze in November probably was not severe enough to control brown rust disease. “We’re probably tracking to another rust year,” he said.
The variety HoCP 96-540 is susceptible, but not as much as the variety L01-283, which is “the favorite of rust right now,” he said.
The fungicides Priaxor and Quilt XL can control brown rust.
Hoy said he is more concerned with brown stripe disease. The varieties most affected by brown stripe are L01-299, HoCP09-804 and HoCP04-838.
The disease thrives after mild winters in cane with low fertility. “Brown stripe likes stressed cane,” Hoy said.
No known control exists for brown stripe. “We’re kind of stumped on this,” he said.
He said it’s possible that using a starter fertilizer could control the disease.
Smut disease will continue to be a problem. The variety L01-299 is susceptible to the disease, but using healthy seed cane will prevent it from becoming a serious problem.
AgCenter sugar cane specialist Kenneth Gravois said the past sugarcane crop resulted in decreased tonnage, but sugar production per ton was similar to last year.
Conditions for planting and harvest were generally good, which should result in a better harvest next year, he said.
Jim Simon, general manager of the American Sugar Cane League, said efforts underway for tort reform in the state legislature could result in lower insurance premiums for cane trucks. He said the league is working with Louisiana Farm Bureau and the Louisiana Association for Business and Industry on that effort.
The league also is working with federal labor officials to make sure the sugarcane industry is able to get its H2A workers into the U.S. on time for the start of the 2020 harvest, Simon said.
AgCenter economist Mike Deliberto said it’s likely that foreign sugar will be allowed into the U.S. with an expected shortage this year. He said beet sugar production is down 11%, and sugar production from sugar cane has dropped by 10%.
The AgCenter has developed models to help farmers calculate a break-even analysis on their operations, he said.
AgCenter entomologist Blake Wilson said the spread of the Mexican rice borer has slowed. “I did see some fields in Vermilion Parish that were heavily infested,” he said.
The pest can be managed as effectively as the sugar cane borer. “I don’t think it’s going to be widespread like they see in the Rio Grande Valley,” he said.
The West Indian cane fly was a problem last year, but farmers addressed it early. “We did a better job of managing it than we did in previous outbreaks,” Wilson said.
Rich Johnson, an agronomist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said sugarcane is showing a positive response to adding sulphur to the soil. Often, he said, sulphur levels in the soil are low even if the nutrient has been added.
Sugar cane also is showing a positive response to adding boron to the soil. A 20-pound increase in sugar can be obtained from a ton of sugar cane when 1 to 1.5 pounds of boron per acre are added to the soil, he said.
Justin McNeal, of the Farm Service Agency, said Pointe Coupee Parish became the No. 1 sugar cane producing parish in Louisiana. “That was the first time that has actually happened,” he said.

Jeremy Alford: Lawmakers get ready for 'make an impression' session

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 11:19am

By JEREMY ALFORD

Lately it seems as if everyone in Capitoland will have something to prove when the Louisiana Legislature convenes its first regular session of the term on March 9. Then again, folks who spend or make money on the mechanics of Baton Rouge’s tallest-in-the-nation Capitol building almost always have something to prove. So there’s nothing new there.
This term-opening session, however, will stand apart from others for just how broadly that make-an-impression strategy could be applied across political demographics. From reporters and lobbyists to lawmakers and the administration, hustlers and heavies will he huddled in nearly every corner of the building clamoring for attention and footing.
To label this term (not yet a month old) as one of great change would be cliche at worst and instructional at best. Revamped news organizations have added feet to the beat and a huge wave of freshman legislators has hit the shores on both sides of Memorial Hall. A second-term governor who’s serious about policy (and his own place in history books) is on the hunt for wins and newly-formed government relations firms are on the prowl to help, hinder or stay the heck out of the way.
The regular session that kicks off in roughly a month will be the first covered gavel-to-gavel by reporters since The Advocate purchased The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com. The merger of banners has infused The Advocate’s Capitol bureau with extra resources, which contrasts starkly against the backdrop of other newsrooms suffering from cutbacks.
Fresh competition has surfaced as well in the form of free wire services from the likes of the Manship School News Service and The Center Square. For any reporter whose byline appears in more than one paper (this scribe included), and whose pay is connected indirectly or directly to volume or syndication, this is a trend worth tracking, especially if it leads to a consolidation of state government news.
From the perspective of the lobbying corps, some government relations pros have splintered from larger teams to create smaller, boutique shops to wield influence at the Capitol. For example, lobbyists Chris Coulon, Alisha Duhon and Robert Lancon recently left Adams & Reese to form Pivotal GR Solutions. Additionally, after nearly 15 years of representing PhRMA, lobbyists Pete Martinez has taken his trade to Martinez Strategic Alliances, a venture with his wife, Ginny Hammett Martinez.
Term limits in the Legislature and a rise in state-level activism have created a need for enhanced or even additional representation at the Capitol for corporations and special interests. Lobbyists will be in a rush to understand how the new makeup of the House and Senate could swing key votes or shape issues, so more than a bit of flexing should be expected.
Speaking of term limits, there are dozens of new legislators in both chambers, serving on committees for the first time, trying to find out where the bathrooms are located and generally assimilating to an environment that doesn’t stand still. Few envy the world new lawmakers are entering — the party apparatuses aren’t what they used to be; other elected officials and special interests are playing hardball like never before, presenting competition for the parties and confusion for everyone else; and leadership votes have created dividing lines that will likely last the term.
Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration, beginning its second term now, will be eager to set the right tone, too. While it has the ability to stand on precedent from its first term, this go around Memorial Hall represents a fresh start.
It’ll be interest to see if Edwards, a Democrat, chooses to govern differently with a supermajority of Republicans in the Senate and a near supermajority in the House.
So, yes, a lot of folks will certainly have something to prove when the regular session begins in roughly a month.
The policymaking gathering, as noteworthy as it will be, may have snuck up on a few of us, what with LSU’s national championship win and the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump and the start of crawfish season (they’re small but delicious).
It was all too easy to be blinded by the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras and the State of Union.
But now it’s time to pay attention. If nothing else, the pomp and pageantry and politics will be worth your time and effort.
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow

2019 Galatea royalty bids farewell Feb. 8

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 11:11am

The women’s mystic Krewe of Galatea will hold its 51st ball at 8 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium. Viewing is by invitation only. Queen and King of Galatea L Mrs. Drake Stansbury and Charles “Jay” LeBlanc will be making a farewell appearance. Galatea will present its annual parade at 2 p.m. Feb. 23 in Morgan City.