RSS Feed

BATON ROUGE (AP) — The two main Republican challengers to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Thursday started drawing distinctions between their campaigns, with differing opinions on how to achieve the tax and spending changes they both say they want to enact.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, a doctor and third-term congressman from rural northeast Louisiana, said if elected, he’d immediately call a special session to rewrite Louisiana’s tax laws and address infrastructure needs.
Businessman Eddie Rispone, a first-time candidate from Baton Rouge and regular donor to conservative politicians, said his priority would be an overhaul of the state constitution, including provisions on taxes, spending, state employee protections and education. He said too many provisions that should be in law instead were locked into the constitution, making them difficult to undo.
“We have to fix it once and for all, start over,” Rispone said.
The proposals from both men were in broad strokes.
They criticized the growth in government spending under Edwards. They objected to tax hikes passed by the Democratic governor and the majority-Republican Legislature and pledged to decrease taxes. But neither specifically described where they’d shrink spending, instead talking about cutting waste and creating efficiencies in government agencies.
“We are not using money efficiently. We are not using money wisely. I’ve looked at the budget. Woah, there is a lot of waste, fraud and abuse,” Abraham said.
Each GOP candidate is trying to position himself as the most viable contender in the Oct. 12 election to defeat Edwards. But they have struggled to spell out sharp areas of policy difference, a situation they sought to remedy at the evening forum held by a regional Republican women’s organization.
Abraham noted that he supports the death penalty; Rispone opposes capital punishment, citing his Catholic faith. Rispone supported business-backed changes to criminal sentencing laws that Edwards also championed, but Rispone said they need to be tweaked. Abraham suggested he wanted to reverse some of those changes entirely, saying those convicted of violent crimes are “not going to get out early under my administration.”
Rispone focused on his experience building his business and creating jobs, fashioning himself as “an outsider” and businessman similar to President Donald Trump.
“It’s time to do something different,” Rispone said. “The best way to start that is (to) elect a different kind of governor.”
Earlier Thursday, Abraham stood outside the state health department building to pan Edwards’ expansion of Louisiana’s Medicaid program, which added nearly a half-million people to the taxpayer-financed health insurance program.
Edwards has touted the program as the signature achievement of his term in office, saying it has improved health care for thousands of people.
Abraham said the Edwards administration has mismanaged the expansion, doing too little to make sure the people getting the coverage are eligible for it. He called the health department “one of the most ineffective and poorly run government agencies in Louisiana.”
Rispone offered similar criticism Thursday night, but neither Republican candidate is proposing to roll back the Medicaid expansion. Abraham said he’d bring in more auditors and use more tax data to double-check eligibility. Rispone said he’d “freeze” enrollment at current levels until he could assure wasteful spending is eliminated. Edwards has argued Medicaid computer system upgrades and quarterly wage checks have addressed Republican criticisms.

Tina Marie Singleton, 53, a native and resident of Morgan City, died Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019, in Brookhaven, Mississippi.
Visitation will be Saturday from 9 a.m. until services at 11 a.m. at Siracusaville Recreation Center. Burial will follow in Morgan City Cemetery.
She is survived by two brothers, Keith Singleton and Kevin Singleton, both of Morgan City; and a host of other relatives.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
Jones Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Despite the impression given by John Wayne and his compadres in scores of Western movies, there is justification for saying that the American cattle industry was born in south Louisiana, or at least substantially nurtured here.
Cattle were running wild on the prairies of southwest Louisiana by the time the Acadians arrived in 1765. The Avoyelles Indians introduced longhorn cattle onto the Louisiana prairies early on. Some of the first European settlers brought in other cattle purchased from the Comanches to the west.
So even before their more famous brethren in Texas and farther west began making storied cattle drives, cowboys were regularly moving herds from the prairies and marshlands of south Louisiana to market in New Orleans.
At first, only a handful of men worked these mostly wild cattle, but that was enough for Louisiana’s governors to notice—and was a good part of the reason that the Acadians were sent to the Poste des Attakapas, St. Martinville today.
Charles-Philippe Aubry, who was acting governor of Louisiana in 1765, when the Acadians got here, had already noticed that south Louisiana’s grass-filled prairies were a great place to raise cattle, at a time when beef was vitally needed to help feed New Orleans.
A good number of the Acadians who made their way to New Orleans about that time had lived in the Chignecto region of old Acadie, and had herded livestock in lands reclaimed from salt marshes there.
They knew about cattle and could fill a need for the colony. It was a perfect match.
The problem was how to get these penniless people started in the cattle business.
That was resolved on April 4, 1765, when eight Acadian leaders agreed essentially to sharecrop cattle for Antoine Bernard Dauterive, a retired French military officer who had come from the Mobile area and established large landholdings in the Teche region.
He agreed to furnish land, five cows with calves, and a bull to Acadian families for six consecutive years. If any of the cattle died during the first year, he would replace them.
After that, the Acadians were on their own. At the end of six years, the Acadians were to “return the same number of cows and calves, of the same age and kind that they had received initially” and “the remaining cattle and their increase surviving at the time” was to be divided equally between Dauterive and the Acadians.
After six years Dauterive would get back all of the cattle he had given the Acadians plus half of any increase to the herd. The Acadians kept the other half of the increased herd and that would be their breeding stock for the future.
The experiment worked. In 1773, Amand and Pierre Broussard, helped by eight or nine drovers, began moving small herds of cattle from the prairies to New Orleans. Following the Collet Trail along Bayou Teche and the natural levees of Black Bayou, the cowboys guided herds of 100 to 150 head to market. By 1781, the region was supplying 150 head of cattle to New Orleans each month. By the 1800s, cattle were big business.
Writer Henry Brackenridge reported in 1814: “The number of cattle composing the herds which some of the wealthier possess would in other parts of the United States be considered incredible; there are several who market from one to two thousand calves a year. The cattle driven to New Orleans for sale bring fifteen to twenty dollars a head.”
Geographer William Darby wrote of the prairies in the Opelousas district in 1816, “You behold those vast herds of cattle which afford subsistence to the natives, and the inhabitants of the city of New Orleans.
It is certainly one of the most agreeable views in nature, to behold from a point of elevation thousands of horses and cows, of all sizes, scattered over the interminable mead, intermingled in wild confusion.”
The industry continued to grow during the 1800s, so much so that in 1897, Aladin Vincent, who owned thousands of acres in Calcasieu Parish, reported that “the cattle business has been magnificent” and that at least 15,000 head of cattle were shipped that year alone from that parish alone.
The other misconception generated by John Wayne and his trail-driving kin is that all of the cowboys were white.
Today’s modern trail rides are just one reminder of the long and rich tradition of black cowboys on the southwest Louisiana prairies. In fact, south Louisiana’s long history of raising, herding, and driving cattle is also one of the primary drivers of the area’s widespread love for horses and horsemanship in all its forms.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, "Cajuns and Other Characters," is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

Narcotics detectives went to a Morgan City residence on a search warrant and found three people with drugs in the home, two of whom were charged with using drugs in the presence of a person under 17, Morgan City Chief James F. Blair said in a news release.
—James Alfred, 41, of La. 182 in Morgan City, was arrested at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday on charges of possession of a Schedule II controlled dangerous substance (methamphetamine), possession of drug paraphernalia, and violation of uniform controlled dangerous substance law drug-free zone.
—Tessie Toups, 29, of Terrebonne Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday on charges of possession of a Schedule II controlled dangerous substance (methamphetamine), first offense possession of marijuana, violation of uniform controlled dangerous substance law drug-free zone, and illegal use of a controlled dangerous substance in the presence of a person under 17.
—Todd Aucoin, 51, of Hilda Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, violation of uniform controlled dangerous substance law drug-free zone, transactions involving proceeds from drug sales, illegal use of a controlled dangerous substance in the presence of a person under 17, and possession with intent to distribute a Schedule I controlled dangerous substance (marijuana).
Narcotics detectives executed a search warrant at a Hilda Street residence. Detectives made contact with the homeowner, identified as Aucoin. Detectives also located Alfred and Toups at the residence. During a search of the residence officers located suspected methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, Blair said.
During the investigation, detectives suspected Aucoin to have been selling marijuana from the residence. Alfred and Toups were found to be in possession of suspected methamphetamine. Detectives found that one of the subjects at the residence was under the age of 17. Aucoin, Alfred and Toups were jailed.
Blair also reported that the Morgan City Police Department responded to 41 calls for service and the following arrest was made:
—Michael Richardson, 50, of Caldwell Road in Ponchatoula, was arrested at 4:03 p.m. Wednesday on charges of simple burglary, criminal damage to property less than $1,000, resisting an officer, and possession of burglary tools. Officers were called to a local hotel after employees noticed a subject breaking into a laundry machine.
As officers arrived they were told by employees that the suspect was exiting the building. After a short foot chase, officers were able to catch the subject, identified as Richardson. As officers were chasing Richardson they observed several items used to commit the burglary. He was jailed.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff Blaise Smith reported that the Sheriff’s Office responded to 42 complaints and the following arrests were made:
—Darnisha Erica Veal, 22, of Fourth Street in Berwick, was arrested at 4:17 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of driving under suspension. Deputies were dispatched to a local business in Bayou Vista in reference to a crash in the parking lot. Deputies spoke to both drivers of the vehicle, one identified as Veal. Deputies were advised by dispatch that Veal was driving under suspension. Veal was arrested and released on a summons to appear in court Dec. 2.
—Lance P. Dupuy, 27, of Shady Park in Raceland, was arrested at 5:57 p.m. Wednesday on a warrant for failure to appear on the charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of Suboxone, possession of alcoholic beverages in a motor vehicle, resisting an officer by providing false information, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Dupuy was transported to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center from Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex. He was jailed with no bail set.
—Anthony C. Watts, 43, of Rayne Court in Bayou L’Ourse, was arrested at 7:11 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of possession of Schedule I drugs (marijuana).
—Jaime B. Watts, 41, of Rayne Court in Bayou L’Ourse, was arrested at 7:11 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of possession of Schedule I drugs (marijuana).
Narcotics detectives were patrolling the area of Second and Belanger streets in Morgan City when they observed a vehicle cross the centerline. Narcotics detectives conducted a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, A. Watts, and the passenger, J. Watts. Drugs were located inside the vehicle, Blair said. A. Watts and J. Watts were arrested and released on a summons to appear in court Dec. 2.
—Jordon Avery Steele, 39, of Lake End Park in Morgan City, was arrested at 7:27 p.m. Wednesday on a warrant for charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, turning movement/ required signals, and violation of controlled dangerous substance law in a drug-free zone.
Narcotics detectives with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office assisted the Morgan City Police Department narcotic section in conducting a search warrant at a residence in Morgan City. Detectives made contact with Steele and were aware of an active warrant for his arrest. Steele was jailed with no bail set.
Patterson Police Chief Garrett Grogan reported the following arrest:
—Isaiah P. Laborde, 33, of Jewel Street in New Orleans, was arrested at 11:51 p.m. Wednesday on charges of suspended driver’s license, no tail lights, and speeding 69 mph in a posted 55 mph zone. He was jailed with bond set at $783.
Berwick Police Chief David Leonard Sr. reported that there were no arrests.