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Roselynn Marie Fournier, best known as Rosie, a native of Lafayette and resident of Morgan City, unexpectedly passed away on Saturday, May 4, 2019, at the age of 70 while surrounded by her loved ones.
A dedicated teacher, phenomenal band and choir director, competitive bowler, and great friend to all who knew her, Rosie was a proud graduate of Northside High School in Lafayette and McNeese State University. Always a lover of music, Rosie pursued her degree in music education which enabled her to touch the lives of so many students, colleagues, and members of her community. Rosie was a unique individual with a passion for Christ and a sincere ability to lead others in their faith. She profoundly changed the lives of an infinite number of individuals. She will be deeply missed by all who were blessed to know her.
Those left to cherish Rosie’s beautiful memory are her longtime and loving companion, Judith C. Blood of Morgan City and her children, Jeremy C. Blood of Houma, Jennifer Blood Johns of Mandeville, and Lauren Blood Michel of Morgan City; her fur babies, Abby, Maggie, Holly and Chloe; a niece, Laura Neylon and her husband, Paul, and their son, Christopher; a nephew, Darrin Duhe; a brother-in-law, Gennaro Duhe; cousins, Dr. Cindy Peel and Ronald Judice; and a multitude of family, friends and students.
She was received in Heaven by her parents, James and Lula Fournier; a sister, Catherine Duhe; and a brother, James Fournier.
Pallbearers will be Matthew Peel, Christopher Neylon, Jeremy Blood, Lloyd Johns III, Stephen Hebert and Mark Hebert. Honorary pallbearers are Gennaro Duhe and Ronald Judice.
The family requests that a time of visitation and remembrance be observed on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Hargrave Funeral Home. Visitation will resume on Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 9 a.m. until time of services at 11 a.m. at Pharr Chapel United Methodist Church with a celebration of life meal following the services. Rosie will be laid to rest on Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 3 p.m. in the Calvary Cemetery on 355 Teurlings Dr. in Lafayette, Louisiana.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It’s a media shake-up that will leave New Orleans with one major newspaper, instead of two, for the first time in nearly seven years.
Yet, in a way, this week’s announcement that the owners of The New Orleans Advocate have purchased The Times-Picayune shows the resiliency of print — at least in tradition-bound New Orleans — despite the loss of newspapers in more than 1,400 U.S. cities and towns over the past 15 years.
“I don’t think we’re a market that can support multiple print publications,” Vicki Mayer, professor in the Department of Communication at Tulane University, said Friday. “But the kind of market you have in New Orleans is one that expects a seven-day-a-week newspaper.”
Indeed, it was the announcement nearly seven years ago that Advance Publications was cutting The Times-Picayune back to publishing three days a week — and laying off some 200 workers — that unexpectedly opened the door for a competitor. Based more than 70 miles away in Baton Rouge, The Advocate put staff in New Orleans and began pushing a New Orleans edition of the paper. That sparked a rivalry that intensified after Dathel and John Georges of New Orleans purchased The Advocate from Baton Rouge’s Manship family and hired key personnel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Times-Picayune, keeping the daily newspaper tradition alive.
The Georges announced Thursday that they were purchasing The Times-Picayune from Advance Local Media. The two papers’ digital operations will combine under the nola.com logo now used by The Times-Picayune.
And the newspapers will combine into a single daily publication that will carry The New Orleans Advocate and The Times-Picayune names.
“Advance Local produced cutting-edge digital media,” John Georges said Friday in an interview. “The challenge is getting the proper mix.”
The move means a return of a venerable newspaper name to the daily, doorstep news tradition but it won’t come without some pain. The nola.com website lists about 60 journalists on staff for the paper and website whose futures were put in doubt by the move. Another concern was voiced by Christopher Williams, a politically active lifelong New Orleans resident. “I think it’s a sad day when so much of our news is in the hands of one man,” he told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Georges, Advocate publisher Dan Shea and editor Peter Kovacs reject the idea that the combination of newspapers under one owner means a diminution of voices.
“There are too many opportunities for other voices to be heard these days,” Kovacs said.
Tulane’s Mayer echoed that notion, pointing to existing online news services in New Orleans, such as The Lens. “I’m not worried that there’s one print newspaper,” she said. “I hope there will be support for other online sources of good journalism.”
Georges pointed to diverse voices already on The Advocate’s editorial and op-ed pages. “It’s not a newspaper with one person’s voice,” he said. “It’s a newspaper with a cache of respected journalists.”
As for the Times-Picayune employees, Shea said some, in the newsroom and in other departments, are likely to be hired at The Advocate. He said it will be “a substantial number,” but it’s too soon after the purchase to know for sure. “Now, we have a chance to get in and understand its full financial and operational potential,” Shea said.
Penelope Muse Abernathy, a University of North Carolina professor who studies news industry trends, said The Advocate appears to be doing what newspapers have to do to survive amid ongoing internet disruption — including amassing a talented staff that knows the community.
Georges said he’s happy to be fulfilling a community need but also stressed that his newspaper venture isn’t a charity.
“I’ve never lost money in seven years,” he said. He acknowledged that newspaper profits aren’t what they used to be but added, “I come from a very thin-margined industry,” a reference to his family’s wholesale grocery business.
“This acquisition allows me to remove the duplication in coverage and redeploy those revenues,” Georges said.

October 12, 1954 – May 4, 2019
Wayne C. Doucet, a 21 year resident of Pierre Part, passed away at the age of 64 at Teche Regional Medical Center in Morgan City in the early morning hours of Saturday, May 4, 2019, following a two year battle with cancer. He was a native and former longtime resident of Franklin who was born on Tuesday, October 12, 1954, the oldest of four children born to the late Peter “Pete” Doucet Jr. and Molly LeBlanc Billiot.
Wayne enjoyed hunting, fishing, and the outdoors which eventually led him to a 24 year career on the water as a push boat captain. This time earned him a great deal of gratitude and respect throughout the industry. His journey through the waterways was eventually put on hold as he began his true journey home to be with the Lord. Wayne was a kind and giving man of great faith who never met a stranger and was always willing to go above and beyond to help his family. He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.
Those he leaves to cherish his memory include his son, Dirk Doucet and his wife Fonda; his mother, Molly LeBlanc Billiot; three grandchildren, Carson, Peyton, and Ambree Doucet; three siblings, Peggy Doucet Dugas and her fiancé Mike Boudreaux, Kirk Doucet and his fiancée Pamela Horton, and Daisy Doucet and her companion Brian Landry; his faithful dog, Sudee; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, family members, and friends.
He was preceded in death by his father, Peter “Pete” Doucet Jr.; and his step-father, Elton Billiot.
Memorial services will be held Wednesday, May 8, 2019, at 7 p.m. at Ibert’s Mortuary in Franklin, with a gathering of family and friends beginning at 4:30 p.m. and the Holy Rosary being prayed at 6:45 p.m. Father Peter Emusa will conduct the services.
Family and friends may view the obituary and express their condolences online by visiting www.iberts.com.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Ibert’s Mortuary, Inc., 1007 Main Street, Franklin, La. 70538, (337) 828-5426.
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Jennifer McMahon again proves that the modern ghost story is more than things that go bump in the night. It hinges on reality, slowly building to a terror that seems real and sometimes personal, as it does in McMahon’s highly entertaining “The Invited: a Novel” (Doubleday).
McMahon’s powerful novel supplies a plethora of frights that emerge from believable characters trying to navigate normal lives.
Helen and Nate Wetherell have good jobs at an elite private school in Connecticut. He teaches science, she teaches history. They live in a nice condo and try not to live outside their means. But Helen’s ennui is palatable — vanishing only when she volunteers in a “living museum” that recreates life in the mid-1800s for visitors. While happily married, the couple’s life seems set in stone until Helen inherits a large sum of money when her father dies.
The opportunity to change their lives is irresistible. They buy 44 heavily wooded acres just outside the small rural village in Vermont on which the avid do-it-yourselfers plan to build their dream home. That the land is believed to be haunted by Hattie Breckenridge who was hanged as a witch on the property in 1924 is a kind of a bonus, especially appealing to the historian in Helen. She doesn’t believe in ghosts, but she does believe in history.
Helen may have to rethink her views when strange things happen at the dilapidated trailer on the land where they are staying. Eerie packages are left on the doorstep; items such as cellphones, wallets and money disappear, and what looks like Hattie’s ghost hovers over the land’s bog. These supposedly supernatural happenings may be a way of scaring away the couple because legend has it that Hattie buried treasure on the land. One of the locals who most wants the couple gone is their 14-year-old neighbor, Olive Kissner, whose mother promised to find the treasure before the woman supposedly ran away.
McMahon keeps “The Invited” grounded in reality, even when spirits supposedly hover over the land. The Wetherells’ relationship is well designed with the building of their house serving as a metaphor for their marriage — with some construction going smoothly, collapsing at other times. Helen’s embracing their new home’s myths is nicely balanced by Nate’s skepticism. And McMahon doesn’t forget the little details of life. A ghost spotting pales when planning a household budget, especially when you’ve quit your job.