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City fire department warns of scammer

Franklin Fire Department Chief Chuck Bourgeois is warning of a possible scam in the area.
A Franklin woman reported that she received a call from the FFD fax line number. An individual identified himself as a member of the department and tried high-pressure tactics to try to sell her back and knee braces.
The woman said that she knew the Franklin Fire Department would never do something like that and hung up on him.
She was referred to the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s office who filed a report.
Bourgeois said the department would never call a resident attempting to sell them a product or service.

Bicylist killed in accident

Franklin Police Chief Tina Thibodeaux reported that cyclist Zaria Welcome was killed Wednesday in a collision with an automobile on Frontage Road of US 90.
Wenesday, at approximately 9:18 p.m., the Franklin Police Department received a report of an accident involving a bicycle on US 90 East Bound Frontage Road near La. 3211.
According to Thibodeaux, upon arrival, it was learned that a vehicle collided with a bicycle.
The female bicycle rider, 23-year-old Zaria Welcome, sustained fatal injuries from the accident.
Thibodeaux reports the accident as still under investigation at this time.

'Jeepers for the Creatures' to raise funds for animal rescue group

Animal Advocates of St. Mary will host its fourth annual Jeepers for the Creatures fundraiser 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Lawrence Park in Morgan City.

The event will have music, food and a pet costume contest. All proceeds will benefit the Animal Advocates of St. Mary rescue group and all of the surrounding rescues that the group works with to save animal lives.

Included in the event will be a Jeep Show-n-Shine with the winner receiving a $200 gift certificate from Spectrum Window Tint and Accessories and a trophy from XLR8ED Manufacturing. The entry fee for the Show-n-Shine is $10. Voting will be based on the crowd favorite. A Ramp Travel Index contest will also be put on by Ratchet Garage LLC. The ramp is free to use, and the best recorded score will receive a $300 gift certificate.

Radio logs for Oct. 11

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the police department at 985-380-4605.

Wednesday, Oct. 10

7:14 a.m. Brashear Avenue and Sixth Street; Complaint.

8:41 a.m. 1000 block of Cottonwood Street; Complaint.

8:57 a.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Alarm.

9:01 a.m. 400 block of Freret Street; Complaint.

9:14 a.m. 700 block of Justa Street; Medical.

9:37 a.m. Railroad Avenue; Arrest.

9:45 a.m. 700 block of Hilda Street; Theft.

10:32 a.m. 800 block of Brashear Avenue; Hit and run.

10:32 a.m. 800 block of Victor II Boulevard; 911 hang up.

11 a.m. 700 block of Fifth Street; Arrest.

11:04 a.m. U.S. 90 West; Assistance.

11:14 a.m. 1000 block of La. 70; Animal complaint.

11:19 a.m. 1200 block of Victor II Boulevard; Complaint.

12:14 p.m. U.S. 90 and La. 70; Traffic incident.

1:02 p.m. 900 block of Cherry Street; Disturbance.

2:09 p.m. 500 block of Orange Street; Medical.

2:46 p.m. Hickory Street; Disturbance.

4:06 p.m. 900 block of Cherry Street; Disturbance.

4:11 p.m. 1200 block of Walnut Drive; Removal of subject.

7:14 a.m. Brashear Avenue and Sixth Street; Complaint.

8:41 a.m. 1000 block of Cottonwood Street; Complaint.

8:57 a.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Alarm.

9:01 a.m. 400 block of Freret Street; Complaint.

9:14 a.m. 700 block of Justa Street; Medical.

9:37 a.m. Railroad Avenue; Arrest.

9:45 a.m. 700 block of Hilda Street; Theft.

10:32 a.m. 800 block of Brashear Avenue; Hit and run

10:32 a.m. 800 block of Victor II Boulevard; 911 hang up.

11 a.m. 700 block of Fifth Street; Arrest.

11:04 a.m. U.S. 90 West; Assistance.

11:14 a.m. 1000 block of La. 70; Animal complaint.

11:19 a.m. 1200 block of Victor II Boulevard; Complaint.

12:14 p.m. U.S. 90 and La. 70; Traffic incident.

1:02 p.m. 900 block of Cherry Street; Disturbance.

2:09 p.m. 500 block of Orange Street; Medical.

2:46 p.m. Hickory Street; Disturbance.

4:06 p.m. 900 block of Cherry Street; Disturbance.

4:11 p.m. 1200 block of Walnut Drive; Removal of subject.

Downtown Patterson festival is Saturday

The city of Patterson’s third annual Main Street Festival and Historic Walking Tour will take place Saturday in and around downtown Morey Park.

Proceeds from the event will go toward the project to renovate the park.

Though the recent rainy weather has caused the park to not be in an ideal condition, as of Wednesday, city officials still planned to hold activities in the park as scheduled.

“We are definitely fighting the weather to get the park 100 percent dry, but we do plan on hosting everything out there like we have in the past,” said Ryan Aucoin, the city’s community affairs and development director.

Activities will take place in Morey Park and also on Main Street itself as officials will block traffic on Main Street from Church to Catherine streets.

Activities will kick off at 8 a.m. with the Mt. Pisgah 5k Run/Walk followed by Prayer in the Park at 9:45 a.m. The walking tour and Capt. Caviar boat tour cost $10 each per person and will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Each boat tour will last about 30 minutes. Only a limited amount of tickets will be sold for the boat tour.

Visitors can purchase walking tour and boat tour tickets Saturday at the entrance to the festival on Main Street. The walking tour comprises 11 different sites, including homes, the old and new water plants, scout hut and new Patterson Junior High School.

A Kids Korner and silent auction will be from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Also, a bungee jump station for kids will take place from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Organizers will hold a Cochon de Lait Cook-Off from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. with judging to start at 3 p.m.

The festival will also have live music with Gone Pecans taking the stage first from noon-4 p.m. followed by Deja Vu from 4-7 p.m. Kyle Daigle will conclude the music lineup from 7-9 p.m.

Officials are about 90 percent finished with the first phase of renovations to Morey Park, which added playground equipment, a kayak launch, part of a walking trail and small pavilion, Aucoin said. Other phases of the project will entail finishing the walking trail, completing the park’s entrance and constructing a large pavilion with restrooms.

TONIA LARUE MATTHEWS

Tonia LaRue Matthews, native of Denham Springs, LA was a Living testimony of Bible second greatest commandment, “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.” Toni was the second oldest of six children. Tonia; known by all who ever knew her as Toni and by few as Tiger, was born in Saginaw, MI but spent most of her childhood growing up in Zwolle, LA. She attended Many High School. After graduating high school, Toni attended Louisiana Technical College - Sabine Valley Campus where she pursued a career as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Toni spent nearly 30 years working as a nurse in multiple specialties,

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Shannon is next AGU series artist beginning Oct. 18

Artists Guild Unlimited Everett Street Gallery is hosting Colleen Shannon of New Orleans for its next “Welcome Back Home” series artist.
Shannon was reared in Morgan City, lived in Texas and Pennsylvania, then later returned to Morgan City to practice her art in her studio on Front Street before moving on again to New Orleans.
She is an abstract expressionist who has been influenced by Dekooning, Matisse, Picasso and Warhol. Since her relocation to New Orleans, she has been featured in a couple of New Orleans galleries and she sells her art in the French Quarter on St. Ann Street.
Shannon’s Welcome Back Home show will feature a variety of media including prints, watercolor, oils and more. A show-opening reception is 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 18 and the public is invited to attend.
The show will hang from Oct. 18 to Nov. 28 at the AGU Everett Street Gallery located at 201 Everett St. in Morgan City. Gallery hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
The downtown gallery is a public showplace and an art education venue.

Facebook wants people to invite its cameras into their homes

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook is launching the first electronic device to bear its brand, a screen and camera-equipped gadget intended to make video calls easier and more intuitive.
But it’s unclear if people will open their homes to an internet-connected camera sold by a company with a questionable track record on protecting user privacy.
Facebook is marketing the device, called Portal, as a way for its more than 2 billion users to chat with one another without having to fuss with positioning and other controls. The device features a camera that uses artificial intelligence to automatically zoom as people move around during calls.
Since Echo’s release nearly four years ago, both Google and Apple have followed Amazon in releasing smart speakers designed for use with their other digital services — some of them, at least. These speakers can serve as hub-like controllers for “smart” homes as people install appliances, lighting and security systems that can be controlled over the internet.
Portal represents Facebook’s entry into that fray. But pointing an artificially intelligent camera into peoples’ homes could well raise other privacy questions.
“The first thing consumers are going to wonder is ‘how much sensitive data is this collecting about me?’” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy of telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group that has received donations from Facebook and other tech companies.
On Monday, Twitter users were quick to point to Facebook’s privacy fallacies and what they saw as the company’s impudence in asking people to trust it with a camera called Portal inside their homes. Some compared it to the always-on, always-watching telescreens in George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984.” Others saw the gadget’s appeal — but not if it comes from Facebook.
It’s a particularly trying time for Facebook to release a home camera. Earlier this year, the company had to acknowledge that as many as 87 million people may have had their data accessed by Cambridge Analytica, a data mining firm that worked for the Trump campaign and aimed to use the data to influence elections. More recently, Facebook revealed that hackers managed to pierce its security to break into 50 million accounts.
Facebook says it won’t “listen to, view or keep the contents” of video calls, adding that the Portal camera won’t use facial recognition or identify people in the video calls.
The device will allow users to disable the camera and microphone with a single tap and to lock it with a numerical passcode. There’s also a physical camera cover to prevent recording.
Portal will not display Facebook ads “at this time,” the company said, although it noted that third-party services such as music streaming might embed their own ads the same way they do on other devices.
The company says Facebook’s privacy policy applies to Portal, since it uses Messenger for voice and video calls. Facebook executives have repeatedly said that the company does not use the contents of messages or calls for advertising purposes and will not do so in the future. Still, there are other, less direct possibilities for the future.
“This is going to gain (Facebook) not only a place in the smart home, but also data they may not have been able to collect before or understand before,” said ABI Research analyst Jonathan Collins. This includes people’s location, activities and interests — “all the reasons companies want to get into the home.”
That said, Facebook says Portal does not collect any information about people’s home, listening only for voice commands. The camera, when enabled, detects people as they walk into the room but does not identify specific people or record anything about people’s homes, according to Facebook.
Facebook will offer Portal in two sizes — a $199 model with a 10-inch horizontal screen and a $349 “Plus” version with a 15.6-inch screen that can switch between vertical or horizontal orientations.
Both models also include an internet-connected speaker that features Amazon’s voice-activated digital assistant, Alexa. Portal connects calls through Messenger, meaning that it can reach people who don’t have a Portal themselves. And since Messenger can be used without a Facebook account, Portal users won’t need a Facebook account to use it — only Messenger.

Man learns he may have a son he never knew about

DEAR ABBY: I have been married for 27 years and have three wonderful kids. The youngest is 16. I recently found out I may have another son from a relationship prior to my marriage. The woman never notified me or asked for child support. I found out through someone else a couple of months ago and, thanks to social media, was able to find him and look at his picture. He looks exactly like I did 25 years ago. The problem is, when I mentioned it to my wife, she did not want to discuss the possibility. She acts like ...

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Police: Two men fought each other with metal objects

Two Morgan City men were charged with battery after fighting each other with metal objects, and one man required medical treatment, Morgan City Police Chief James Blair said in a news release.

—Robert Folse, 23, of Brashear Avenue in Morgan City, was arrested at 3:25 a.m. Wednesday on a charge of second-degree battery.

—Deshawn Smith, 35, of Brashear Avenue in Morgan City, was arrested at 3:25 a.m. Wednesday on charges of aggravated battery, resisting an officer and disturbing the peace intoxicated.

Officers responded to a motel on Brashear Avenue in regard to a disturbance. Officers arrived, spoke with motel management and learned that Folse and Smith had gotten into a verbal altercation that later turned physical, Blair said. Both Folse and Smith began fighting each other with metal objects. Smith required medical treatment for his injuries. Both Folse and Smith were jailed.

Blair reported that officers responded to 44 calls and reported the following arrests:

—Christoph Govaert, 48, of Zezate, Belgium, was arrested at 2:38 a.m. Wednesday on charges of DWI first offense and improper lane usage.

An officer on La. 182 observed a vehicle stopped in the middle of the roadway. A traffic stop was conducted, and the driver, Govaert, appeared intoxicated and performed poorly on a field sobriety test, Blair said. Govaert registered 0.125 grams-percent blood alcohol content on a chemical test. Govaert was jailed.

—Wesley R. Bass, 21, of River Road in Berwick, was arrested at 1:53 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant charging him with three counts of failure to pay fines. Bass was located on Federal Avenue and arrested on a city court warrant. Bass was jailed.

—Heather M. Rentrop, 29, of La. 182 in Morgan City, was arrested at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday on charges of possession of marijuana, no tail lights and possession of lamotrigine.

An officer on U.S. 90 observed a vehicle with improper lighting. A traffic stop was conducted and the driver identified as Rentrop. Police found suspected marijuana and a pill identified as lamotrigine inside Rentrop’s vehicle, Blair said. Rentrop was jailed.

—Heather A. Spencer, 37, of La. 182 in Morgan City, was arrested at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant charging her with two counts of failure to appear for trial. Spencer was located on La. 182 near David Drive and arrested on a city court warrant. Spencer was jailed.

—Linda S. Campbell, 57, of Second Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 3:55 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant charging her with failure to appear in court. Campbell was located on Brashear Avenue and arrested on a warrant for 16th Judicial District Court. Campbell was jailed.

—Chad M. Hebert, 41, of South Bay Road in Pierre Part, was arrested at 3:22 p.m. Tuesday on warrants charging him with illuminating devices required and driving under suspension. Hebert was located on Victor II Boulevard and arrested on warrants. Hebert was jailed.

—Chris J. Boudreaux, 51, of McDermott Drive in Morgan City, was arrested at 9:21 p.m. Tuesday on charges of disturbing the peace by using offensive language and resisting an officer.

Boudreaux was a passenger in a vehicle involved in a traffic stop. Boudreaux began yelling profanities and causing a disturbance, Blair said. Boudreaux was asked to calm down several times but continued. Boudreaux was jailed.

—David Brown Jr., 30, of Federal Avenue in Morgan City, was arrested at 9:17 p.m. Tuesday on charges of disturbing the peace intoxicated and remaining after being forbidden.

Officers responded to a home on Federal Avenue in regard to a disturbance. Officers arrived and Brown was identified by witnesses as causing the disturbance. Brown appeared intoxicated and had also been told not to return to the home, Blair said. Brown was jailed.

—Anthony Richardson, 57, of Lafayette, was arrested at 11:51 p.m. Tuesday on charges of DWI first offense and improper lane usage.

An officer observed a vehicle on La. 182 swerving in and out of the lane of travel. A traffic stop was conducted and the driver, Richardson, appeared intoxicated and performed poorly on a field sobriety test, Blair said. Richardson registered 0.163 grams-percent blood alcohol content on a chemical test. Richardson was jailed.

St. Mary Parish Sheriff Scott Anslum reported that deputies responded to 31 complaints in the parish and reported the following arrest relating to east St. Mary Parish:

—Dustin Burch, 24, of Hendricks Street in Patterson, was arrested at 1:16 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant for failure to appear on charges of no seat belt and operating a vehicle while license is suspended.

A corrections deputy at the St. Mary Parish jail made contact with Burch when he turned himself in on an active warrant for his arrest. Burch was booked into jail and then released on $1,500 bail.

Berwick Police Chief James Richard reported the following arrest:

—George Cain Jr., 58, of Pecan Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 7:20 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of possession of methamphetamine. Cain posted $1,500 bail.

Patterson Police Chief Janis Merritt reported the following arrest:

—Christopher Adams, 37, of Main Street in Patterson, was arrested at 6:19 a.m. Wednesday on a warrant charging him with simple battery. Adams was jailed on $352 bail.

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ST. MARY NOW

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