RSS Feed

Castille wins Marcus Jones/100 Black Men of St. Mary Parish 5K Fun Run/Walk

Kevin Castille won the 2018 Marcus Jones/100 Black Men of St. Mary Parish 5K Fun Run/ Walk held Saturday in downtown Morgan City in conjunction with the 83rd annual Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival. Castille breezed by the competition, finishing the race with a time of 14:44, while Abbie Paradee was the top female finisher with a time of 22:10. Philip Guidry finished second among males with a time of 18:48, while Donnie Eisenmann was third at 20:16. Dana Matherne finished second among females with a time o f 2 7 : 2 1 , w h i l e Angela Martin placed third with a time of 29:04. Below are the topthree finishers in individual age categories: Male 14-24 --Taylor Blanchard, first; Male 25-34 --Rex New, first; and William Ramsay, second. Male 35-44 --Lance Ledet, first; Bryan Blanchard,

PLEASE LOG IN FOR PREMIUM CONTENT. Our website requires visitors to log in to view the best local news from St. Mary Now. Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe today!

Watchdog sees uptick in offshore energy

At least one energy market watchdog sees reason for optimism in the offshore drilling industry. Consistently higher oil prices and greater cost-efficiency in offshore projects are driving increased demand for offshore drilling rigs through 2020, particularly for deepwater projects, according to new analysis from IHS Markit. The drop in oil prices that began in 2014 created a deep economic dip for Louisiana and St. Mary Parish in particular. The price of West Texas intermediate crude was over $100 a barrel in June 2014 before plunging to below $30 by December 2015. The price has rebounded to about $70. But the industry’s focus ...

PLEASE LOG IN FOR PREMIUM CONTENT. Our website requires visitors to log in to view the best local news from St. Mary Now. Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe today!

Maureen McGovern kicks off Concert Association season

Broadway and hit singer Maureen McGovern is celebrating the 45th anniversary of her smash hit “The Morning After” in a special concert at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 at Morgan City Municipal Auditorium.
Five-concert season subscriptions are available at $45 per adult and $10 for students K-12. Single event tickets are available for $25 (adults) and $5 (students K-12). All tickets may be purchased at the door. For more information call 985-385-2307
McGovern’s career spans more than 45 years, and includes multiple Grammy, Emmy and Drama Desk Awards and Nominations for her work in the theater, film, and music industries. Her onstage career began in 1981 when Maureen made her Broadway debut as Mabel in “The Pirates of Penzance.”
She would then go on to appear in notable productions such as “Nine,” “3 Penny Opera,” “Little Women: The Musical,” and “The King and I.”
Her onscreen credentials include appearances in popular films like “Airplane!,” “Airplane II: The Sequel,” and “Joseph: King of Dreams.” As a singer, McGovern has recorded multiple chart-topping, award-winning film tracks including No. 1 Oscar-winning International Gold Record hit “The Morning After” from “The Poseidon Adventure.” Other hits include “Can You Read My Mind” (“Superman”), “We May Never Love Like This Again” (“The Towering Inferno”), and “Different Worlds” (from the TV series “Angie”).
The performance is part of the Community Concert Association of Morgan City’s 2018-19 series. The asssociation was formed in 1947. The association in partnership with the St. Mary Council on Aging offers free transportation to and from concerts for senior citizens 60 and over who live in St. Mary Parish. Please call at least 24 hours prior to concert to arrange.

From the Editor: This is off the record, but ...

You’ve seen it in the movies: The meeting late at night. The parking garage. The advice delivered in a cagey, gravelly voice: “Follow the money.
In real life, that was Deep Throat. He was an FBI big shot named Mark Felt, who helped unravel Watergate and became the most famous anonymous source in the checkered history of American journalism.
Anonymous sources are in the news again after Thursday’s publication of a New York Times op-ed purportedly from a senior Trump administration official. In the op-ed, the president comes off as an unstable un-genius.
My own thought about the piece was: How quaint.
In the small- and medium-sized towns where I’ve slogged away the last 40 years, papers stopped using anonymous sources years ago.
My first story with an AIDS victim was with a completely anonymous source who had moved back to Chaffee, Missouri, so his parents could take care of him. This was the 1980s, and his experience seemed likely to be important to readers who, by and large, didn’t know much about the disease. Revealing his identity to a small-town audience, especially his identity as a gay man, would have been downright cruel.
A lot of domestic abuse stories over the years have been based on anonymous interviews with women who were genuinely frightened for themselves and their children. People, especially women in the same situation, needed to hear their stories.
But you have to ask: How do people know I’m not another Jayson Blair, the New York Times reporter who ripped off and made up material for his stories? Or Janet Cooke, who won a Pulitzer Prize for the Washington Post with a story about an entirely fictitious heroin addict?
When those stories about AIDS and domestic abuse were written, we wrote the stories and withheld the names. Working as a reporter in three different states, I’ve never known a colleague or a competitor to fabricate a source. Not even a little bit, not even once.
But now we either publish the names or don’t write the stories.
So there’s one set of rules for Washington, D.C., where anonymous sources are a common technique, and another set for Ricohoc.
If you’re curious about those other rules, here’s The Associated Press version:
—On the record: The information can be used with no caveats, quoting the source by name.
—Off the record: The information cannot be used for publication.
—Background: The information can be published but only under conditions negotiated with the source. Generally, the sources do not want their names published but will agree to a description of their position.
—Deep background: The information can be used but without attribution. The source does not want to be identified in any way, even on condition of anonymity.
Now you know the rules. But what if you’re interviewing someone who doesn’t know the rules?
In my experience, when people who don’t deal much with reporters say “off the record,” they really mean something closer to what the AP calls “background.” In other words, “You can use this but don’t use my name.”
One more frequent hiccup: You’ll do a whole interview, and maybe you think, “Geez, this is great,” and then at the end the source will say, “That’s off the record.”
If the source is say, a congressman or senator, or even a state legislator, there isn’t a reporter alive who will put up with a retroactive “off the record.” Those guys know the rules.
If it’s a civilian who just saw an auto accident, it’s another question. So you ask: “What would be the problem with using your name?”
On the other side, there’s nothing wrong with sources asking up front if they’re going to be quoted by name and what kind of story is being written.
Usually, something can be worked out.
That’s where Ricohoc rules have it all over those Washington rules. Up there, nothing ever seems to get worked out.
Bill Decker is the managing editor of The Daily Review.

AUTRY ELMO GASPARD

March 3, 1938 - September 6, 2018
Autry Elmo Gaspard, 80, a resident of Morgan City, passed away Thursday, September 6, 2018, at his home.
Autry was born on March 3, 1938, in Berwick, the son of Gessler Gaspard and Corine Vining Gaspard.
Autry was a sports enthusiast who enjoyed watching sports but especially loved cheering on his LSU Tigers and New Orleans Saints to victory. He was a very loving and caring husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather who loved spending time with his family. He enjoyed his work as it allowed him to meet new people and show off his great sense of humor with a story or two. He was a parishioner of Holy Cross Catholic Church.
He will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by his wife, Jeannie Hymel Gaspard of Morgan City; four children, Rhonda Teachman and husband Vernon of Berwick, Janie Dewey of New Iberia, Kenny Gaspard of Morgan City, and David Gaspard and wife Pam of Fletcher, North Carolina; six grandchildren, Kristi Gaspard, Jena Teachman, Brandon Dewey, Kaylee Dewey, Amanda Gaspard and Carter Gaspard; one great-grandson, Dylan Barnett; and two sisters, Fay Beadle of Crowley and Sheila McAdams and husband Mike of Morgan City.
Autry was preceded in death by his parents, Gessler and Corine Vining Gaspard; and one brother-in-law, Gerald Beadle.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 8, 2018, at Holy Cross Catholic Church with Father Angelo Cremaldi celebrating Mass. A visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 8, 2018, at Twin City Funeral Home. Following Mass, Autry will be laid to rest in the Morgan City Cemetery Mausoleum.

RONALD BLAINE MYERS

A memorial service for Ronald Blaine Myers will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, at Higher Ground Family Church, 3369 La. 70 in Morgan City.
Ronald Myers passed away Aug. 29 in Baton Rouge. He was 87 years old. He was a native of Pointe Coupee Parish and a resident of Morgan City for 45 years. He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean Conflict. He owned Myers Enterprises in Morgan City.

Wheel House for Sept. 7

YARD SALE
Sponsored by Down South Hitters traveling baseball team from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, under the U.S. 90 bride at Federal Avenue in Morgan City.

UNITY PRAYER
Area pastors host Community/Unity Prayer Service at 6 p.m. Tuesdays. Sept. 11 meeting at Morning Glory Ministries, 1323 Railroad Ave., Morgan City. Public invited.

NEW MT. ESTHER
Baptist Church, 1211 James St., Siracusa, celebrating its 100-year anniversary throughout September. On Sept. 29, a community parade begins at noon followed by a musical service and community picnic. On Sept. 30, a memorial service is at 9 a.m. and the anniversary service is 5 p.m. The 100th anniversary celebration service guest speaker is Dr. Debra B. Morton, Greater St. Stephens Full Gospel Baptist Church, New Orleans. Public invited.

PUBLIC ROSARY
A Public Square Rosary set at noon Oct. 13 at Colonial Plaza Shopping Center, Morgan City, in front of M C Bank. Everyone invited.

A visit from the queen

Submitted Photos
The outgoing Shrimp & Petroleum Festival queen, Emma Thomas, visited Central Catholic Elementary School before this year's festival. Maggie Bagwell’s third-graders, top photo, create “shrimp boats” from orange juice cartons each year as they learn about their local festival. The first-grade class was invited to the queen’s presentation as her younger brother, Gabriel, is a member of Celine Laubach’s first-grade class, bottom photo.

Baptist Singing Ministers will perform in Bayou Vista

The Louisiana Baptist Singing Ministers are gearing up for a busy 2018-19 concert season that includes a stop at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.
With the first performance just a week away, this group of 55 music ministers and laymen are eager to hit the highways and bi-ways of the state and share God’s love through their variety of music that includes a cappella spirituals, hymn arrangements and contemporary Christian tunes.
Since they organized in 1974, the Louisiana Baptist Singing Ministers have presented concerts at churches, detention centers, intervention program facilities and prisons.
During each performance, the group collects an offering for needy students.
Money collected funds the Louisiana Baptist All State Choir and scholarships for two Louisiana College and two new Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary students preparing for music ministry. Several former scholarship recipients are now members of the group.
The concert schedule for 2018-19 is:
Sept. 20 – Bayou Vista Baptist Church, Morgan City
Oct. 18 – First Baptist Church, Minden
Nov. 15 – New Hope Baptist Church, DeQuincy
Jan. 17 – Airline Baptist Church, Bossier City
Feb. 21 – Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola (not open to the public)
March 21 – Salem Baptist Church, Stonewall
April 11 – Temple Baptist Church, Ruston+
May 16 – Houston River Baptist Church, Lake Charles
+ Combined concert with Louisiana Baptist Singing Women
For more information about auditioning for or booking the group for a future concert, e-mail Louisiana Baptist Singing Ministers President Glenn Price at glenn@pbcministry.com

Police make drug bust at a local motel

A Morgan City man faces five drug-related charges after city police responded to a complaint about drug activity at a local motel, Police Chief James F. Blair said. Patrick G. Gaudet, 57, of Bush Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 4 a.m. Thursday. Officers answered the complaint at a Brashear Avenue motel and could smell marijuana coming from one of the rooms, Blair said. After getting consent to search the room, officers found possible marijuana, other drugs and paraphernalia, Blair said. Gaudet was booked on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of Schedule II controlled dangerous substances (Vyvanese, hydrocodone and diazepam), and possession ...

PLEASE LOG IN FOR PREMIUM CONTENT. Our website requires visitors to log in to view the best local news from St. Mary Now. Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe today!

Pages

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