RSS Feed

The St. Mary Aces, a select 9U AAA travel baseball team with players from Jeanerette to Patterson, recently placed 3rd out of 28 teams in the USSSA 9U AAA state tournament. They were awarded individual medals and a team souvenir bat. Team members are, kneeling from left, Luke Domingue, Eli Crochet, Cooper Vaccarella, Dewantre Edmond, Trey Rochel III, Jude Robin and Kohen Bonin. On the second row are Austin Pellerin, Caleb Madison, Traye Richardson and Peyton Doucet. On the back row are coaches Jerry Crochet and Jamon Vaccarella.

A Lafayette man was caught with methamphetamine and over $16,000 in counterfeit money after a traffic stop in Bayou Vista, St. Mary Parish Sheriff Blaise Smith said in a news release.

—Joshua Barr, 36, of Ambassador Caffery Parkway in Lafayette, was arrested at 7:55 p.m. Tuesday on charges of improper lane usage, driving under suspension, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and monetary instrument abuse ($16,135).

On Tuesday, narcotics section detectives were conducting proactive criminal patrol on U.S. 90 in the Bayou Vista area. While patrolling, they observed a vehicle cross over the solid white line of the J-turn near Phoenix International. They conducted a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, Barr, and a passenger.

During the stop, Morgan City Police Department K9 “Lady” was called to the scene and was deployed. After showing an odor response to the vehicle, the detectives found about 64 grams of methamphetamine and counterfeit currency, Smith said.

The detectives learned that Barr’s driver’s license was suspended and the meth was destined for the Morgan City area, the sheriff said. Barr was jailed with no bail set.

Smith reported that deputies responded to 34 complaints in the parish and reported the following arrests relating to east St. Mary Parish:

—Frankie Gerard Clark, 35, of Friendship Lane in Amelia, was arrested at 10:31 a.m. Tuesday on charges of possession of schedule II drugs, possession of schedule I drugs, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and a warrant from the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office charging him with simple burglary.

Deputies were called to Amelia to assist the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office in reference to an investigation involving a burglary. Upon arrival, deputies made contact with Clark. After further investigation, drugs were located inside his vehicle, Smith said. Clark was jailed with no bail set.

—Leonard Allen Yarborough, 57, of Cane Road in Bayou Vista, was arrested at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday on charges of theft and criminal trespass.

—Daniel Michael Elliot, 20, of Cane Road in Bayou Vista, was arrested at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday on charges of theft and criminal trespass.

Deputies were called to a business in Bayou Vista in reference to a theft. During the investigation, authorities learned Yarborough and Elliot were observed committing a theft, Smith said.

Deputies spoke with business personnel who stated that both were barred from the property. Yarborough and Elliot were booked into parish jail. Bail on Yarborough was set at $5,000. Bail on Elliot was set at $3,500.

—Rogena Sons Hartley, 46, of River Road in Berwick, was arrested at 7:34 p.m. Tuesday on charges of expired license plate and driving under suspension.

A deputy was patrolling the area of Adams and Third streets in Franklin when he observed a vehicle with an expired license plate. The deputy conducted a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, identified as Hartley. Through the stop, the deputy learned that she was driving with a suspended license, Smith said. Hartley was released on a summons to appear in court Sept. 26.

Morgan City Police Chief James Blair reported that officers responded to 39 calls and reported the following arrests:

—Edwin Maldonado-Castillo, 27, of Fifth Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 9:31 p.m. Wednesday on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated first offense, no driver’s license, no headlights and red light violation.

On Tuesday, an officer saw a vehicle on Fifth Street with no headlights. As the officer attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver failed to stop at a traffic light on Brashear Avenue, Blair said.

The officer was able to then stop the vehicle and spoke with the driver, identified as Maldonado-Castillo. The officer suspected that Maldonado-Castillo had been drinking. Maldonado-Castillo could not produce a driver’s license and admitted that he did not have one, Blair said. Maldonado-Castillo failed a field sobriety test and later registered 0.161 grams-percent blood alcohol content on a chemical test, Blair said. He was jailed.

—Jonathan Franklin Sr., 31, of Garber Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 1:25 p.m. Tuesday on a 16th Judicial District Court warrant charging him with failure to appear for criminal neglect of family.

Officers located Franklin at a Garber Street home and knew he had an outstanding warrant for 16th Judicial District Court. Franklin was jailed.

—Darell Gash, 38, of Willard Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 7:49 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant charging him with criminal trespassing.

Officers saw Gash walking on La. 182 and knew he had an outstanding warrant. The officer spoke with Gash and advised him of the warrant. Gash was jailed.

Berwick Police Chief David Leonard Sr. reported no arrests.

Patterson Police Chief Garrett Grogan reported no arrests.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — This is a bad year for people who make their living from seafood in Louisiana and Mississippi. Floods from the Midwest are killing oysters, and driving crabs, shrimp and finfish out of bays and marshes, into saltier water where they can survive.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, we are 9-and-a-half destroyed,” said Brad Robin, whose family controls about 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) of oyster leases in Louisiana waters.
“The light at the end of the tunnel right now is about out,” he said.
Many species that depend on a brackish mix of fresh and saltwater in coastal estuaries are decamping as this year’s huge floods flush in fresh water, laden with pollution from farms and cities in the Mississippi River basin.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant asked the federal government on May 31 for a fisheries disaster declaration to make federal grants, loans and other aid available to affected people. Gov. John Bel Edwards has prepared to follow suit, asking for details to support a request for Louisiana, state fisheries officials said Thursday.
The situation is grim: Louisiana’s oyster harvest is 80% below average for this time of year and more oysters are expected to die as temperatures rise, according to a preliminary report on the department’s website. Shrimp landings were down 63% and blue crab landings down 45% in April from the five-year average. There’s been a drop in the fish catch, but it hasn’t reached the statewide average of 35% needed for a federal fisheries disaster declaration, the report says.
“We’ve been dealing with the river since October,” said Acy J. Cooper Jr., president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association “That’s a long time it’s been high.”
The die-offs are as bad in Mississippi. Joe Spraggins, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, said fresh water has killed 80% or more of the state’s oysters. He said crabs are down about 40% and brown shrimp landings are down more than 70% from a five-year average.
Marine animals require certain amounts of salt in their water. Oysters can tolerate a wide range of salinity, but a long spell of fresh water coupled with high temperatures can be lethal. Shrimp, crabs and fish simply swim to saltier areas.
Shrimp are now in places only larger boats can reach, said Cooper.
“Some of the big ones are catching a few,” he said. “The smaller boats are just catching hell.”
In addition, nutrients in river water nourish algae blooms so intense that their decomposition on the sea floor consumes oxygen, creating a dead zone every summer for thousands of square miles off the coast. This year’s floods could bring a near-record dead zone, scientists have said.
The Mississippi River watershed drains 41% of the continental United States, and the middle of North America has had an awfully wet year.
The prolonged flooding has raised the Mississippi so high for so long that for the first time ever, the Army Corps of Engineers opened a major spillway twice this year, displacing Lake Pontchartrain’s usually brackish water and flushing out the Mississippi Sound. The water is also high to the west, where the Atchafalaya River distributes Mississippi River water through Cajun Country swamps.
The floodwaters have killed many of the adult oysters grown at Mississippi’s experimental oyster farm on Deer Island, oyster expansion agent Jason Rider said. That island is just off Biloxi, but the spillway’s water has reached it via Lake Pontchartrain, about 55 miles (90 km) west. Rider trained 13 people to grow oysters in raised cages on private farms there. They lost market-sized oysters, but were able to move seed oysters to more hospitable waters in Alabama, said Doug Ankersen of Theodore, Alabama, who sold them the fingernail-sized seed oysters.
A disaster declaration would open the way for Congress to appropriate money to help fishermen and businesses that rely on them. For instance, $200 million was provided last June to help fishing communities recover from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists said Friday that they’re investigating whether the floodwater and lingering effects of the BP oil spill contributed to the deaths of at least 279 bottlenose dolphins from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, triple the usual number for this time of year.
The high water may last “well through the summer,” said Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Assistant Secretary Patrick Banks.
“The difficulty is,” he said, “when will this even be over?”