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Public hearing held at library on a refuge use fee

Fri, 12/13/2019 - 9:35am

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials with the Southeast Louisiana National Wildlife Refuges Complex (SELA) held a public input session Wednesday at the Franklin Branch of the St. Mary Parish Library.
The meeting was in reference to a proposed fee program for use of the refuges, and a proposed alligator tag lottery.
It was a brainstorming session, of sorts.
SELA officials explained that they are in difficult financial straits these days, and within the last few years have had to cut their staff, discretionary spending, and maintenance and upkeep, significantly, and have a backlogged list of $6 million in deficiencies to be addressed at the refuges.
It was proposed that since 1997, the Service has had authority to collect fees under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, which was established to provide funding for recreation program improvements. They just haven’t used that authority, yet.
A fee analysis was reportedly conducted by SELA resulting in the proposed fees being based on rates which were similar to those requested on nearby public lands.
The fee rates proposed are as follows:
—$20 annual public use permit for Bayou Sauvage, Big Branch Marsh, Bogue Chitto and Delta National Wildlife Refuges. (Ages 18-59)
—$5 daily public use permit for Bayou Sauvage, Big Branch Marsh, Bogue Chitto and Delta National Wildlife Refuges.
—$20 annual public use permit for Bayou Teche, Cat Island and Mandalay National Wildlife Refuges. (Ages 18-59)
—$5 daily public use permit for Bayou Teche, Cat Island and Mandalay National Wildlife Refuges.
—Youth 17 years-of-age or younger use the refuges for free.
—$5 annual senior public use permit for all refuges. (60 years-of-age or older)
—$40 lottery alligator tags on Atchafalaya, Bayou Sauvage, Bayou Teche, Bogue Chitto, Delta and Mandalay National Wildlife Refuges.
Of the alligator lottery tags, SELA officials said, “The legal harvest of surplus alligators is a useful tool for managing these renewable wildlife resources. SELA is proposing a lottery alligator harvest program, very similar to the lottery alligator harvest program on public lakes and State Wildlife Management Areas.”
Shelley Stiaes, refuge manager, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Greater New Orleans Area, said of the proposed programs, “If we start doing this, these fees will help us to maintain public use facilities such as boat launches, parking areas, boardwalks; we will be able to expand our public use program, and depending on what is collected, we may be able to hire temporary staff, increase public use opportunities on additional lands, and further support wildlife habitat projects, like restoration projects.”
A rebuttal from Director of the St. Mary Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director David Naquin challenged that statement.
He asked how many people visited the Bayou Teche refuge each year, and was told the figure is 198. Naquin said, “If you see 200 people this year at Bayou Teche, let’s say you will collect $1,000 from Bayou Teche, what’s $1,000 going to get you? You can’t lay limestone, you can’t hire anybody. I understand what you are trying to do, but I don’t think you are going to collect enough money to do anything.”
Though he stated that he is not against the proposed fee collections, Naquin continued on to say he estimated that the collection of daily permits would probably outnumber the collection of annual permits, likely making the annual total of permits collections significantly lower than that of his thought experiment.
SELA officials nodded.
Stiaes said, “We are just proposing right now. We are just bouncing ideas off each other; because, we (SELA) think a certain way. We all look at it from this side. So, please comment and tell us.”
Naquin offered, “Do you want to make some money? Ya’ll ought to auction a bear hunt. Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries killed four bears last month. They each weighed 350 (lbs.) to 425 (lbs.). I’m telling you that I know what people pay to go to Canada and shoot a black bear. If you want to raise a lot of money, that’s what you do. And it’ll be more than $1,000 trying to sell a $5 fee to somebody.”
On a separate point, Donovan Garcia, with Friends of the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge group, said SELA’s proposed fee collections were doomed to failure due to the unwieldy amount of permits and licenses a refuge visitor would be required to keep track of, as well as that the competition it would create with enthusiasts such as himself, who already charge to bring guided tours through the refuges, tours which he urged are not for profit.
In the end, it was agreed that the meeting had given everyone much to think about, and both Garcia and Naquin grabbed a fistful of public comment cards to mail back to SELA to be sent on to their Atlanta office as official public record of the feedback process.
For more information on providing your own public comment concerning the SELA proposals, submit you written comments to:
Project Leader, Southeast Louisiana National Wildlife Refuges Complex, 61389 Hwy 434, Lacombe, LA 70445.
SELA reports that “all relevant comments and additional information will be reviewed and considered before a final decision is made on the implementation of the proposed fee structure and permit processing. All comments and recommendations, including names and addresses, will become part of the public administrative record.”

CARL ANDREW MINOR

Fri, 12/13/2019 - 9:34am

Carl Andrew Minor, a native and resident of Morgan City, La., passed away on Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 3:05 p.m. at the Maison Deville Nursing Home in Houma.
Memorial Services will be held on Saturday December 14, 2019 at 1 p.m. at Jones Funeral Home Chapel 715 Sixth Street Morgan City, La.
Memories of Carl will forever remain in the hearts of his children, Jenora Jenea Minor and Jasmine Renee Minor both of Morgan City, La.; his brothers, Don Minor and Ira Minor both of Morgan City, La., Wayne (Myoshi) Minor of Atlanta, GA and David Charles Minor of Oakland, CA; his sisters, Mrs. Donald Ray (Nettie Ruth) Valentine and Mrs. Evwin (Ethel) Butler and Gloria Minor all of Morgan City, La., Mrs. Mike (Elaine) Pariziale of Jasper, GA, Lana Augustine of New Orleans, La., Kelley Minor and Ingrid Minor both of Berwick, La., Dwelyn Minor of Dallas, TX and Lois Edwards of Lafayette, La.; three grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Carl was preceded in death by his parents, his seven aunts, and his two uncles.
Visit www.jones-funeral-home.com to send condolences to family.

What about the bears?

Fri, 12/13/2019 - 9:34am

Public officials and others briefed on the issue of nusiance Louisiana Black Bears in the parish

A meeting of public officials and law enforcement was held Tuesday in the St. Mary Parish Council meeting room to discuss bears.
Hosted by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, with attendance by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the session was informational for those involved in dealing with the Louisiana Black Bear, for which the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge was founded.
Maria Davidson, LDWF’s Large Carnivore Program manager, began, “I sent an email out after a flurries of emails and exchanges and social media posts and phone calls that made it pretty clear to me that even the local authorities and maybe at some point the state people did not have a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities. Human and bear conflict is something that is hugely insurmountable for any one entity.”
Davidson presented an understanding of what each involved agency does “and also to clear out some of the animosity that I know I’m feeling in my office from not only residents but also officials.”
She said state statute that authorizes LDWF to manage wildlife in Louisiana also allows local agencies “the ability to take management action against the bears. For instance, if the Sheriff’s Office or Patterson police feel the need to shoot a bear…you are in your right to do that. You have legislative authority to do that. We always assumed that the local authorities wanted Wildlife and Fisheries to handle these problems. Nope, you certainly don’t have to, you can take care of managing bears within your borders if that’s what you choose to do.”
Often Davidson is asked by residents, “When is Wildlife and Fisheries going to do something?”
“We, as management authority, all I have authority over is management of those animals,” Davidson said. “That’s all I can do. I have no authority over or responsibility over garbage in St. Mary Parish, Patterson, Berwick or Franklin. None whatsoever.”
St. Mary Parish was granted funds, apart from any other parish in the state, to address garbage issues from bears in the amount of nearly $1 million. Also, the same amount was funded along the coastal habitat for a full-time biologist that addresses human and bear conflicts.
The biologist follows the state bear management plan in handling conflicts, ranging from advice to assistance, and may also set traps.
Eighty-five bears have been caught in St. Mary Parish alone, roughly half the estimated population locally. Many were relocated northward and elsewhere, in hopes they would rehome there, but they often return to the parish. Of the 85, 17 were killed.
St. Mary Parish Government, Patterson and Berwick have enacted ordinances defining ways to keep nuisance bears out of, particularly, garbage.
Patterson Mayor Rodney Grogan said the city adopted an ordinance addressing bear-human contact issues and prevention that is working well, particularly since bears are moving farther northward and across the railroad track and US 90. He said warnings have been given, and some citations.
Homeowners who aren’t cooperating with the law can be reported by the biologist to Patterson officials. Grogan said “more and more” videos of bears in the town are appearing. He added that he worries about the safety of children.
St. Mary Parish Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange, noting the authority of law enforcement to deal with bear problems, told Davidson, “You said you came in to assist us because we starting having a garbage problem. I look at it the other way around: The bears were on the (threatened) list and protected. So how can law enforcement go shoot a bear? The second thing was, because you were managing the bear population through all of those processes, that’s why Wildlife and Fisheries was called when we first started having these issues, people were complaining that bears were coming into residential areas…that’s how it got started. I don’t think it got started that we said hey, we have a garbage problem, we need your help. It was because of the bears, you’re in charge of managing (them.)”
LaGrange noted that LDWF provided a grant to the parish to hire its bear conflict officer, Catherine Siracusa.
“The next thing we did was work with you on bear-resistant carts for the garbage,” he continued. “We started working on getting that done with our solid waste haulers…in 2015 when we put out a (request for proposals) for a new contract, we worked with your office and designated areas south of US 90 from Patterson west, and we specified bear-resistant carts would be provided. I want to make sure we understood that…we came to the table because we wanted to help our citizens, but it also helped you because you’re in charge of managing the bears.”
Davidson agreed. “It became very evident to me that in order to resolve these problems there needed to be a change in garbage management, and that’s when I went to Bo and said let us help you,” she said.
Sheriff Blaise Smith said that while bear getting into garbage is a problem, the number of the animals being killed on US 90 is also severe. “Last two weeks, we’ve had three of them,” he said. “We were told don’t touch it, somebody will come pick it up and did almost that same day. The last couple laid out there three days, and we had people stopping and cutting (other) cars off.”
People were reportedly taking photos of or with the dead bears.
Davidson said the department needs data such as location and samples from the animal before disposal. Anyone taking parts from a dead bear, such as the paws, are in violation of law. A removal person usually comes out of Lafayette.
Sheriff’s Office Captain Jeremy Greene said deputies could move a bear body out of view to motorists, or bring it to the sheriff’s motor pool. He was asked to document the location it was killed before moved.
“We’re going to start taking a harder line in terms of the decision for individual bears,” Davidson said. “As the parish and the towns step up their efforts, I want to skim off the top of those bears that are so seriously habituated and food-conditioned that it doesn’t matter what we do they’re going to continue…we may not be able to correct it quickly, but if I remove those bears, and the residents’ do their part, and we don’t habituate future bears, then we’re stepping in the right direction. They just need to call us, and we can trap it, but when we trap them, we’re going to kill them.”
Davidson emphasized strongly that relocation for a bear “is a losing proposition for everyone involved. They’re going to do their very best to come home. They don’t always succeed…but they’ll do their level best to come home. They end up in stupid places…they end up in downtown Baton Rouge, downtown Lafayette. If they do manage to get back, then we’re dealing with the same bear with the same behaviors, but now we’ve taught him what a trap is.”
Younger bears have a better chance of rehoming away from the area, she said.
“Homeowners can do just about anything short of shooting the bear with actual ammunition,” Davidson said, such as chasing it off with vehicles, fireworks where legal and other non-lethal measures.
A bear that stays in the neighborhood does so because it “has never received any negative experience there,” Davidson said. Neighborhoods could start a sort of “bear watch” to run off nuisance bears, she said.
St. Mary Parish has the highest density bear population in Louisiana. The issue of garbage is being addressed, with St. Mary Parish Government and Pelican Waste in the process of providing bear-proof cans in key areas from Patterson to the Charenton Navigation and Drainage Canal.
In instances where a bear is in proximity of a school or some other place where people are gathered, law enforcement can shoot a bear if they feel it necessary for public safety.
Davidson added that the majority of nuisance bears are male, which is not the norm in other parts of Louisiana.
Deterrents such as electrical cages and mats, as well as rubber shotgun bullets used for “hazing” the animal, can be effective.
It was made clear that an actual aggressive bear threatening a person can be killed by a citizen.
St. Mary Office of Emergency Preparedness Director David Naquin said the rubber bullets were effective when the refuge was created.
“We have the ability to hunt (bears) in our management plan, and we want to see hunting opportunities offered for bears,” Davidson said, but that there is a lawsuit that must be settled first. She did not specify its intent.
Grogan said, “If the state can give us one person for each municipality, or for the east, west and so forth, that can go around and monitor (the problem areas.)”
The Sheriff’s Office dispatches to complaint calls, and wildlife agents will instruct residents to remove food sources such as bird or squirrel feeders, dog food and similar items. If unattended, further action can be taken.
Berwick Mayor Duval Arthur said efforts have been made to educate residents on how to avoid nuisance bears, but “they’re never going to go away.”

Hanagriff: 'This is something that was thrown on us'

Fri, 12/13/2019 - 9:33am

Parish President David Hanagriff addressed the “problem” of bears in St. Mary Parish.
There was a meeting Tuesday with representatives of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries as well as U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, organized to share information between those agencies and local entities, especially law enforcement.
Hanagriff aired a contention with some of the comments during that meeting. He said that the beginning was the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge creation, when the Louisiana Black Bear was listed as threatened.
A state management program is in place to deal with bear and human conflicts. “Our conflict officer, Catherine Siracusa, is a parish employee, but her salary is funded through a grant through this program and the federal program,” He said. “They did that because they wanted to put someone in place to have a bridge to help the public deal with issues with the bears” as are being experienced currently, with some animals habituated to garbage in residential areas.
“She is probably the most abused parish employee out there,” Hanagriff said. “She gets everything, and people are confused by the fact that she is a parish employee, therefore it’s the parish that’s doing this.
“It’s not the parish,” he continued. “She is a parish employee and paid for by a grant.”
The parish president noted that US Fish & Wildlife created the refuge and its efforts to resurrect the bear population and “they basically put it in the lap of the State of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and they put it in our lap, and everyone else’s lap, and the sheriff’s department’s lap.”
He said parish government is doing “everything we can, but we are limited.”
For instance, the parish has negotiated their waste collection contract with Pelican Waste that resulted in the acquisition of bear-proof residential trash containers from Patterson to the Charenton Navigation and Drainage Canal.
“This is something that was thrown on us, and we’re doing the best that we can, and I ask everyone to have patience and to understand,” he said.
Councilman Craig Mathews mentioned that there have been bear sightings beyond the canal, and asked if bear proof cans are possible in that area. Mathews said citizens should understand that if they make a call “we’re not going to go get the bear…they want us to go in their yard and get the bear!”
Hanagriff said he gets more calls about bears than he does potholes.
“If people feel threatened, that their life is threatened, call the sheriff’s office,” he said. “They can shoot a bear…I’m not going to tell anyone to shoot a bear, but if your life is threatened, you do what you have to do, clearly,” Hanagriff said.
He added, “I’ve even been told this: If a kid gets hurt or gets mauled, that the blood is on my hands. That’s a pretty tough statement to make especially when I have no control over it. But I accept it, I take it, and I relay to message to wildlife and fisheries.”
Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange said when calls are received and transferred to Wildlife and Fisheries “they do come down to assess those problem areas…make determinations if they feel a trap needs to be set, and they encourage citizens with information to help keep the bears from intruding in their yards and around their houses and garbage.”
In other business:
—The revenue budget and capital outlay budgets were adopted; an ordinance declaring surplus property, rezoning amendments, reimbursement of council members expenses, and regulating posting and removal of political signs where approved.
—A resolution in respect of Edgar G. Barrilleaux was approved; a resolution requesting St. Mary be a Certified Retirement Community” from the Encore Louisiana Commission was approved; and a resolution approved the Industrial Tax Exemption Program was approved for Bollinger Amelia Operations LLC.

3/10ths sales tax use explained

Fri, 12/13/2019 - 9:31am

Use of the 3/10ths sales tax fund in the parish has been under scrutiny.
After questions arose in an earlier meeting of the St. Mary Parish Council regarding the appropriate uses of the tax funds, legal counsel Eric Duplantis researched the details of the calls for the tax measures and delivered his legal opinion Wednesday.
There are two 3/10ths taxing districts: Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 10 in west St. Mary, and in east St. Mary, Wards 5 and 8.
In Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10 in west St. Mary, the parish’s use is limited to street lights, roads, highways, alleys and public places, improving and maintain public works or capital improvements such as sewerage collection and disposal, waterworks, drainage, water and flood control, fire protection, public safety and public health facilities, streets, roads, sidewalks and bridges.
The Wards 5 and 8 funds are virtually the same.
Duplantis pinpointed several items on the agenda to illustrate the proper and improper use of the fund.
Under the “old business” section of the agenda, there were three requests for funding: $10,000 to the Heritage Museum and Archive Center; another to the Council on Aging Meals on Wheels Program, from totaling $10,000; and $16,258 for the Save Our Children Mentoring Program. Councilman Dale Rogers asked that the Council on Aging be funded through the general fund.
There was another request from the Fit, Fun and Fabulous group for $1,000 that was rescinded by its sponsor.
Also, under “new business” Duplantis said proper allocations of the tax proceeds included items for $2,500 for bleachers for the St. Mary Fair Association; $3,000 for fire hydrants in Four Corners, which was withdrawn; and $20,000 for picnic tables and electrical upgrade for the bath house at Burns Point Campground.
Parish President David Hangriff spoke in favor of the Heritage Museum and hinted that it should be funted.
Councilman-elect Scott Ramsey addressed the council and said that if the council funds the museum, “we’ll have no choice but to file a friendly suit.”
He said that would be a waste of time, and the courts would likely side with Duplantis’ research.

Dr. Brent Allain retiring from practice after 40 years

Fri, 12/13/2019 - 9:30am

By CASEY COLLIER

Dr. Brent W. Allain has practiced medicine in Franklin for 40 years, and at the end of this year, he is retiring from public life.
“We (Allain and Dr.’s Horton and McCormick) came back to Franklin in August of 1979, and we didn’t have an office at the time. So, we practiced at the hospital (Franklin Foundation Hospital) where the ICU is now, at the old hospital. We stayed there about eight months until we built this office.”
Allain said that for the first 19-and-a-half years of the three doctors’ practice, they did obstetrics.
“So,” he said, “we delivered babies all the way from St. Mary Parish to St. Martin Parish to Iberia Parish. But, Terrebone Parish, they came to Franklin, and we had 350 deliveries-a-year for 10 to 15 years. That’s a lot of babies that often grew into adults and became patients of our practice.”
He exhibited his account by pointing to one of the nurses on his staff, who he delivered.
He said that what he will miss most will be the patients he sees.
“I’ve had a nice run as a physician,” he said. “The patients have been great. The community has been great.”
As for Allain’s practice, his replacement will be Dr. Claude Meeks, from Abbeville.
Meeks has bought Allain’s practice, and according to Allain, he is well-liked and is expected to do well.
Allain said he has not ruled out participating in missionary work in Nicaragua sometime in the next year, as his license is still good for that amount of time.
He said lastly, that he will miss working in family medicine, as he has found it most rewarding.

Dr. Chua receives award

Fri, 12/13/2019 - 9:28am

Dr. Jesus Chua, MD, a family physician in Franklin, was recently awarded the Physician Summit Award from Louisiana Healthcare Connections for demonstrating a commitment to high quality, accessible care. The award is given annually to the primary care provider who achieves the highest scores in key Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality measures across the health plan’s provider network. Dr. Chua scored the highest among Louisiana Healthcare Connections’ 25,000+ healthcare provider network in measures like Comprehensive Diabetes Care, Adolescent Well Care and Adult Access to Preventive Care. Pictured left are Joseph Tidwell, vice President of Network Development for Louisiana Healthcare Connections; Bethene Newland, Louisiana Healthcare Connections Provider Network Specialist II; Stewart Gordon, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Louisiana Healthcare Connections; Jesus Chua, MD; and Marlette Chua, Office Manager.

Reese Witherspoon honored at Women in Entertainment gala

Fri, 12/13/2019 - 8:59am

By JONATHAN LANDRUM JR., AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Reese Witherspoon remembered when she met with several film production studios in 2011 to ask them how many movies were being developed for women.
The studios’ responses nearly floored her.
“Of all the major seven studios, the answer was one,” Witherspoon said after she received the prestigious Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment breakfast gala Wednesday in Los Angeles. The Oscar and Emmy-winning actress was handed the award by her friend actress Kerry Washington for excelling in film and her philanthropic efforts.
Witherspoon said she was grateful to receive the award named after Lansing, the former Paramount Pictures CEO who was the first woman to head a Hollywood studio. While she called Lansing a “trailblazer,” the actress hearkened back to her meeting with studios that felt “grim.”
“One movie was being made with a female lead out of 140 movies,” she continued. “As I was told by a studio head at the time, ‘Well, we already have one female star this year. We can’t make two.’ Can you guess which year this was? 2011. Not 1911. ... 2011.”
Witherspoon said the moment helped empower her to start her own production company, Hello Sunshine, which has produced Oscar-nominated films “Gone Girl,” “Wild,” and the HBO drama series “Big Little Lies” with an all-female leading cast.
The actress, who starred in films including “Legally Blonde” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” told the packed room of about 600 people, mostly women, that “this is our time.”
The star-studded event included Charlize Theron, John Legend and Mindy Kaling. It also had about 40 young women who are taking part in THR’s Women in Entertainment mentorship program, established a decade ago.
“A lot of people can recognize a problem, look at it and complain about it,” said Witherspoon, who is also a member of the Time’s Up movement, an initiative for anti-harassment and gender equality. “But not everybody is going to do something about it. Leaders are really doers. Even though you don’t think of yourself as a leader, or you’re hesitant or you’re hypnotized by words saying ‘You can’t.’ Too bad. Do it anyway.”
Around $1.5 million in university scholarships were presented to high school seniors from under-served communities in south and east Los Angeles. All of the seniors have taken part in the program.
Often shedding tears onstage, Theron said the gala “fed my soul.”
Actress Olivia Wilde, a guest editor of THR’s Women in Entertainment issue that was released Wednesday, said women should explore their feminine strength.
Ronan Farrow received the Equity in Entertainment award for his journalistic work against gender-based discrimination.
Political activist Stacey Abrams spoke during her keynote speech about storytelling holding an extraordinary power. She said she’s witnessed moments when women and others who “look like me are often footnotes not chapters in stories.”
Abrams, who is African American and once served in the Georgia House of Representatives, encouraged those in the room to make a difference. She also acknowledged that when she ran for Georgia governor in 2018, she went against the advice of those who told her she needed to “change my look and use smaller words.”
Abrams encouraged attendees not to allow anyone to stifle them.
“This is power you all possess as leaders in Hollywood: With a word, with a scene, with a script, you become advocates for the voiceless,” Abrams said. “You become the cyphers who tell the whole truth of who we are in society. As women, you can leverage to highlight our complexities, our strength and our capacity for redemption.”

Daughter senses mom is hurt by her relationship with dad

Fri, 12/13/2019 - 8:56am

DEAR ABBY: I am a 49-year-old woman whose mother tries to make me feel guilty for having a good relationship with my father. I have an excellent relationship with her, but lately it feels strained because she gets mad if Dad and I do things together or even just talk on the phone. My goal is not to hurt her, but I refuse not to have a relationship with my dad just to appease her. Have you ever heard of a mother being jealous of her daughter’s relationship with her father? CONFLICTED IN NEW JERSEY DEAR CONFLICTED: Yes, I have. But you ...

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Cheer team collects coats for kids

Thu, 12/12/2019 - 12:15pm

Submitted Photo
Coach Maggie Bennett and Coach Robin Carline along with the Immanuel Christian School Cheer Team collected coats for kids in need. All the coats and a check were donated to St. Mary Outreach to help our community.