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No one was injured in a three-vehicle crash involving two big trucks Thursday on westbound U.S. 90 at Southeast Boulevard. At 11:20 a.m., a 2013 Freightliner from Houston, Texas, driven by Dyron Harris, 46, was driving in the right lane when he switched into the left lane, hitting a 1997 Peterbilt. This caused the second 18-wheeler’s trailer to shift into the turning lane, where it struck a 2004 Avalanche. Harris was cited for careless operation, according to Louisiana State Police Troop I. At least one lane of westbound U.S. 90 was closed until about 2 p.m.
The Daily Review/Bill Decker
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There are two benches secured to the wharf on the Morgan City side of the Atchafalaya River. They haven’t been sat in in months, because much of the year they’ve been submerged beneath the river’s flood water.
During my morning commutes to work, I have purposely driven in the right lane while passing over the E.J. “Lionel” Grizzaffi Bridge, where I could look below and catch a glimpse of the benches. Finally, this week, after months and months of fretting, the benches are completely out of the water.
I fretted because, like a lot of people, I have my favorite fishing locations. Moreover, maybe it’s my age, or maybe it’s my stubbornness, but I’m not one that likes too much change. Essentially, in the Atchafalaya Basin, there are places in Flat Lake, Bear Bayou and Big Bayou Jesse where my wife and I can sit on anchor and load the ice chest up with bream.
Below Berwick there are numerous canals within a 5 minute boat ride, where bluegills, chinquapins and goggle eyes bite throughout the spring and summer months. It’s the same out of Wilson’s Landing in Patterson, where there are more canals. And, south of Centerville, in the Quintana oil field canals as well.
Oh sure, I could have gone east these past few months and launched out of Bob’s Bayou Black Marina and fished for bream in the Copasaw and Bluebird canals, but that seemed like a whole lot more effort. What we have here in St. Mary Parish is simply easy pickings, when it comes to bream fishing.
During the month of August in years past, I have readied my boat the evening before and hustled home from work the next day for a quick midweek trip to one of my favorite locations. Usually, in that last hour before sunset, the bite turns on in a frenzy-like fashion. I have filled the ice chest with thick-sided chinquapins and big red-eyed goggle eyes in short order.
The problem with high water locally is it really spreads the fish out, which long term is not really a bad thing. When the water goes over the bank, spawning bream have less competition for laying beds and less predation.
Typically, what anglers experience is bumper numbers of fish in subsequent years post flood. It may mean having to cull a few small fish for every one you keep during those banner years, but that’s just good conservation. You should always leave enough for seed.
The trouble with subsequent years is it doesn’t take care of the immediate urge to be on the water, not to mention a hankering for a fish fry. But, now that the river is finally falling below 7 feet and into the 6 foot minor flooding stage, it appears it’s heading in the right direction where the possibility of cooking up a few bream is imminent before summer ends.
So, what to look for? In the basin, the sweet spot for me is the 5-foot depth, give or take an inch or two, which may not matter to you. There are some really good anglers out there that can find fish at any depth in an ocean. They’re simply great fishermen and have a gift.
Another thing I like is a little bit of moving water. Hard falling tides in the marsh seem to be a bit faster than in the basin. For bream in the marsh, I tend to set up near, but not on the drain, and cast to the edges where the water is a bit slower. If there is some sort of structure, all the better.
The fish are generally hungry, but still need cover to escape predators, plus they need a little something to reduce the current in order to burn less energy. Theirs’ is a dog eat dog world, where one mistake means life is over.
Up in the basin, more often than not, the water doesn’t fall so dramatically like it does in the marsh, where the tide drops a foot in just a couple hours sometimes. I still sit on anchor, but in the basin, I can toss a cork with a worm on it up current and by the time it slowly floats out of the drain, I’ve got a fish hooked in most cases.
I’ll also fish around cypress and tupelo trees in the basin as the water flows around them. On the back side of those trees are sure-fired locations to hook up with a chinquapin that measures half way up your wrist or even pick up a few sac-a-lait.
I have to admit, I’m a guy who prefers to fish with bait whether I’m in fresh or saltwater. That’s not to say I don’t chuck baits or bang the banks with them when I’m fishing — I do. But, I just like to watch a balsa wood float spring bobber, with a little split shot set 12-15 inches above a bait hook get pulled deep below the surface by a big, fat chinquapin. I can do that over and over again and never get tired of it.
I’m fairly confident that towards the latter part of August the river will be close to my 5 foot sweet spot. And, I’m sure over the next few weeks when I cross the bridge in the morning there’ll be people finally sitting on those benches again, too.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Flores is The Daily Review’s outdoor writer.
A look at what’s happening around the majors today:
NEW FACES AND PLACES
Following a flurry of deals just before Wednesday’s trade deadline, players all over the majors will be joining their new teams. Zack Greinke (Astros), Shane Greene (Braves) and Nicholas Castellanos (Cubs) were among the notable names who got moved on a dizzying day that featured two dozen trades. But perhaps most surprising was the fact the AL East-leading Yankees — and World Series champion Red Sox — didn’t make any additions to their major league rosters.
LONG WAIT
Cleveland starter Danny Salazar makes his first big league appearance since the 2017 playoffs when the Indians host Houston in the rubber match of a three-game series between AL pennant contenders. Salazar, an All-Star in 2016, missed last season because of arm trouble and had shoulder surgery. All-Star Gerrit Cole (12-5, 2.94 ERA) looks to continue his dominant stretch for the Astros. He’s 7-0 with a 1.88 ERA in 11 starts since June 1, piling up 100 strikeouts in 72 innings.
CENTRAL SHOWDOWN
After combining for all of five runs over the past two days, the Cubs and Cardinals decide their three-game set in St. Louis. The longtime rivals are tied for first place in the NL Central at 57-50 after Kyle Hendricks pitched Chicago to a 2-0 victory Wednesday night. Jon Lester (9-6, 3.63 ERA) starts the series finale for the Cubs against Jack Flaherty (4-6, 4.17), who has permitted two runs or less in each of his last four outings.
STAYING PUT
Still with the Mets, right-hander Zack Wheeler (7-6, 4.71 ERA) starts in Chicago as they try to extend their longest winning streak since April 2018 to seven games. Hoping this recent surge leads to a legitimate playoff push, New York held onto Wheeler and several other trade candidates at Wednesday’s deadline. Wheeler, who can become a free agent after the season, beat Pittsburgh last time out after returning from the injured list. Rookie right-hander Dylan Cease (1-3, 6.86) pitches for the White Sox in the series finale.
PUNISHMENT
The Pirates and Reds are waiting to hear about probable suspensions from Major League Baseball following Tuesday’s brawl between the teams. Cincinnati manager David Bell certainly faces discipline for coming back onto the field an inning after being ejected for arguing balls and strikes, and seven other players and coaches were thrown out of the game.
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Olympic champion Ryan Lochte made an emphatic return to competition Wednesday, swimming the fourth-fastest time by an American in the 200-meter individual medley during a time trial in the U.S. national championships at Stanford University.
“I’m back, woo!” Lochte proclaimed in his opening remarks on the pool deck at Avery Aquatic Center after qualifying for next year’s U.S. Olympic trials with the time of 1 minute, 57.88 seconds. “It’s been a long three years but it’s good to be back, get on those blocks and race again.”
Lochte is entered in the 100 butterfly, 100 and 200 backstroke and 200 and 400 IM this week, though he hasn’t decided which events he will focus on for the Tokyo Olympics
“I don’t do that much anymore,” he said. “I’ve been splotchy with my swimming. Family trumps everything. Swimming has been my second priority. Nationals, for me is a stepping stone to see where I’m at in the swimming world. It’s a long journey to next year to see what I can do.”
Michael Phelps has told his old rival and teammate that making another Olympics is going to be that much harder.
“You’re older. You’re different. Your body changes. Your mentality is different. You can’t do as much in the pool,” Phelps told The Associated Press recently. “The other things outside the pool take up your time. For him, if he truly wants to come back and be at that level, he does know what it takes to get there. He has to be willing to do the work. If not, it’s not going to be as good as he probably hoped.”
Lochte said he’s not the same man he was three years ago, when he partied hard during and following the 2016 Rio Olympics, in which he was involved in a fake police report. Last year, he was given a 14-month suspension for receiving an infusion of vitamin B-12 above the allowed limit.
The meet is his first event since the suspension ended last week. During that time, he checked himself into a rehab center for six weeks for alcohol abuse.
“There was a point in my life where I needed to change, so I checked myself in,” he said. “My wife was pregnant and I needed to help her. I did all the classes and got out. Since Caiden and my new daughter Liv, I have a new perspective on life.”
He said he has limited himself to a glass of wine to celebrate the birth of his daughter but that’s been the extent of his alcohol intake since going to rehab.
“There are bigger and better things in my life,” he said. “I’m glad I went to rehab. I needed help and I came out a better man.”
A chance to compete in his fifth Olympics motivates him in the pool. His family drives him to succeed.
“I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone,” Lochte said. “My big goal is 2020 and to reach the podium. I do it for me and my family. I’m having fun again. I haven’t had fun since the 2012 Olympics. My wife and kids have been my backbone. It’s awesome.”
Phelps said Lochte’s best chance to make another Olympics may be in the relays, particularly the 800 freestyle.
“It has to be in your heart. That’s the biggest thing to know,” Phelps said. “At this age, if deep down you don’t want to do it, it’s going to be that much harder.”
NEW YORK (AP) — For his latest TV show, famed chef Gordon Ramsay has definitely left the comforting familiarity of his kitchens.
On “Uncharted,” Ramsay visits global destinations to explore flavors far from routine. He eats guinea pig in Peru, fishes for eel with his bare hands to make a Maori dish in New Zealand and forages for hearts of palm in Morocco.
“It’s a million miles away from my high-end, three-star Michelin kitchen,” he says of the show airing on the National Geographic Channel. “It’s straight to the source.”
After spending a week learning about the ingredients, Ramsay ends each hour-long show with a cooking competition, pitting himself against a local chef. Think of it like Anthony Bourdain crossed with Bear Grylls and then add some “Top Chef.”
Ramsay, who is also a host on Fox’s “MasterChef,” told The Associated Press about being a fish out of water for once and how kitchens are changing.
AP: For the new show, you’re climbing trees, fishing for eels and rappelling down cliffs. Are you having fun?
Ramsay: I’m definitely having fun. It’s an extraordinary journey of discovery and peeling back those layers with cultures that in this ever-moving foodie world — of London, New York and Paris — (that) don’t tend to focus on what’s going on with Maori cuisine. So it’s traveling to great lengths to dig deep.
AP: A more humble side of you comes through. You aren’t often out of your element, are you?
Ramsay: I find joy in being vulnerable, in a way. It’s about gaining knowledge and that’s never left me in two and a half decades. There’s a lot of chefs with one Michelin star, or two stars or even three stars that want everything perfect everywhere they go and I’m the opposite. I want to go there and get stripped of those highfalutin accolades and become a local.
AP: What’s it like to get up close and personal with the ingredients?
Ramsay: For the last two decades, I’ve spent thousands of hours in kitchens with produce arriving at my fingertips. So, to do the opposite and get straight to the source, it’s actually been, to be honest, more of a therapeutic journey because I’m doing the opposite of what I’ve been doing for 20 years.
AP: You eat lovely things, like a mushroom pizza and mangos. But you also sample grubs and camel meat. Was that hard to do on camera?
Ramsay: I tend to forget the camera. I remember being 21 years of age and having a tiny studio flat in Paris. And underneath my flat was a horse’s butcher shop. And every weekend I used to save 30 or 40 francs to buy myself the most amazing fillet. It was all horse meat. It’s still pretty prevalent today in France, horse butcher shops. That’s no different to a camel in Morocco. It’s about what’s local.
AP: You’ve taken flak from some critics who accuse “Uncharted” of aping Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown.”
Ramsay: Yeah. It’s like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I’m not stepping in anyone’s shoes. I’ve been doing travelogues since 2004, studying Vietnam, Cambodia and India, coming back to my chefs and saying, “Look, in Vietnam, there’s no dairy. They don’t cook with dairy. They buy produce twice a day. Get out there. Here’s a couple of thousand dollars: Go spend a month there, travel and come back.”
AP: Do you recommend that every chef do what you’re doing and carve some time to explore?
Ramsay: I’d recommend to every chef in the world to put down their tools and disappear for a month on a sabbatical. The problem is that when you get good, automatically you stop training because you’re caught up in the rapture of success and you don’t get a chance to go back to that coal face.
AP: Speaking of rough places, do you think the brutality of life in kitchens is lessening?
Ramsay: It’s definitely changing and changing for the better. The kitchen environment today, with a far more greater female presence, has made things so much more relaxed in terms of temperaments. And so that’s been a blessing. So, yes, it’s definitely getting easier. And rightly so.
AP: As a chef, do you feel a responsibility to be environmentally conscious?
Ramsay: I don’t enter the world of politics, but what I do authorize is a very sustainable, seasonality approach to everything we cook. That is crucial. If we can stay within those boundaries, maintain a sort of 12- to 14-week seasonality aspect across menus, then we’re doing our job correctly. I’m a big fan of no waste and a clever utilization of the cheap cuts, off-cuts and unwanted vegetables is super important. That’s what makes or breaks businesses. It’s not about being flash and getting top marks in every food guide on the planet. It’s about your integrity as a chef on sustainability.
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BATON ROUGE (AP) — People must be at least 16 years old to marry in Louisiana, medical marijuana patients can inhale cannabis and women seeking medication abortions face new restrictions, as more than 260 new state laws take effect Thursday.
Parents who scuffle with referees at children’s sport events face up to 90 days in jail and mandatory counseling if convicted of the new crime of harassment of a school or recreation athletic contest official.
Animal shelters can’t take in stray or unwanted animals solely to euthanize them for research facilities or sell animals for research or experimentation.
Louisiana agencies can’t deny or revoke an occupational license when someone falls behind on student loan repayments.
Lawmakers passed the measures in the regular legislative session that ended in June. If legislators don’t specify a start date, new laws begin each August.
Marriage age
Until now, Louisiana had no minimum age for marrying, although people under 18 needed parental consent and those under 16 needed judicial permission. But lawmakers agreed in the final hour of the session to set an age floor, amid arguments that could help protect teenagers from sexual predators.
With the change, people under 16 cannot get married at all in Louisiana, and anyone 16 or 17 can’t marry someone three years or more older. Those 16- and 17-year-olds who want to marry will need permission from parents and a judge.
Abortion
Access to abortions done via medication is shrinking around the state. Medication abortions, administered through pills that induce miscarriage at early stages of pregnancy, must be performed at Louisiana’s three licensed abortion clinics in New Orleans, Shreveport and Baton Rouge, not in a gynecologist’s office.
The law is among several new abortion restrictions passed by lawmakers. Also starting Thursday, any abortion clinic employee who believes a woman seeking the procedure is a victim of human trafficking, rape or incest must report that to law enforcement immediately and must get annual training on human trafficking prevention.
Car seats
Louisiana has a toughened child safety seat law that requires children to stay in child restraint systems longer and includes more details about which children must be in car seats, booster seats and the vehicle’s back seat.
The restrictions are based on height, weight and age. The Louisiana State Police has released a Facebook video for parents, informing them about the new law’s requirements.
Hazing
Anti-hazing laws are toughening, in continuing response to the 2017 alcohol-related death of Louisiana State University fraternity pledge Maxwell Gruver in what officials described as a hazing ritual.
The latest provisions seek to force colleges that receive hazing allegations to report those claims quickly — and in detail with names of alleged participants — to law enforcement or face a fine of up to $10,000. College police officers get more power to respond to hazing allegations. And colleges have to document the actions taken after hazing allegations are reported.
Other laws
When medical marijuana becomes available in Louisiana, expected to be later this month , patients will be able to use an inhaler like asthma patients use, in addition to the oils, pills, liquids and topical applications already allowed.
Louisiana state employees can no longer reach taxpayer-financed settlements for sexual harassment claims that include nondisclosure clauses barring a victim from talking about the allegations.
State law authorizing judges to order chemical castration for certain convicted sex offenders now applies to sexual battery convictions when the victim is under 13 years old.
And certain information about alligator farming and breeding is newly exempt from public records law.
Old bridge will be closed Monday
The bridge on La. 182 in Morgan City will be closed to traffic on Monday to perform bridge maintenance.
The work is estimated to take place 8 a.m.-4 p.m., weather permitting.
The detour will consist of U.S. 90.
Tax cut means break on Cleco bills
Beginning Aug. 1, the average Cleco customer will see a bill credit of approximately $14 a month for the next 12 months. The benefit stems from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduces the company’s corporate tax rate and is being passed along to customers.
“Cleco has been accruing the TCJA savings and preparing to refund our customers,” said Shane Hilton, president of Cleco Power. “Last month, our plan to credit customers over $84 million gained approval from the Louisiana Public Service Commission.”
TCJA decreases the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, reducing the amount of federal income tax Cleco is required to pay. Cleco provided the Louisiana Public Service Commission with a plan as to how these tax-related benefits could be flowed through to the company’s Louisiana customers.
Shrimp origin enforcement to begin
BATON ROUGE — Louisiana’s health department will soon start enforcing a new law requiring restaurants to tell customers if they sell imported shrimp or crawfish.
The agency says it will check for compliance with the notification requirement beginning Sept. 1.
Restaurants have to post information about imported crawfish or shrimp on menus. If they don’t use menus, they have to post signs at their main entrances.
100 Black Men 5K will be Aug. 31
The 100 Black Men of St. Mary Parish 23rd Annual 5K Run/Walk will be Aug. 31.
Registration begins at 7 a.m. the day of the race.
All pre-registrations are due by 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, with a fee of $ 20..
For all registrations dated after Aug. 23, the registration fee is $ 25.
There is a senior citizen discount fee of $15 for runners/walkers. All senior citizens must be 62 years of age.
If mailing in registration fees please send to: 100 Black Men of St. Mary Parish, P. O. Box 43, Morgan City LA 70381.
T-shirts will not be given to late registrants.
—Staff and Wire Rbre
Franklin Banner-Tribune
P.O. Box 566, Franklin, LA 70538
Phone: 337-828-3706
Fax: 337-828-2874
Morgan City Review
1014 Front Street, Morgan City, LA 70380
Phone: 985-384-8370
Fax: 985-384-4255