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RUMMAGE SALE
At Patterson United Methodist Church, 1204 Main St., from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 8. Items include clothes, shoes, household items, linens, books, toys and fall decorations.

APPRECIATION
Second Missionary Baptist Church, 401 Fifth St., Morgan City, hosting a 23-year appreciation program for the Rev. Ivory Wilson Jr. at 2 p.m. Sept. 9. Guest speaker the Rev. Dr. McCullen Williams, New Morning Star Baptist, Labadieville and Old Fountain Missionary Baptist, Thibodaux. Public invited.

AARP DANCE
From 7-11 p.m. Sept. 22 at St. Mary Senior Citizens Center, 4014 Chennault St., Morgan City. Music by Tee Nah Nah. Tickets $8. For info call 985-384-2277.

John McCain was a rare commodity in U.S. politics. He was a war hero, full of good-natured irreverence, and a contrarian in the Republican Party. McCain made it abundantly clear that he put America before party politics. And when they both served in congress, McCain and Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer became good friends.
I met and visited Sen. McCain on one occasion at the invitation of Roemer. The meeting was at the former governor’s Baton Rouge office, and McCain made it very clear to me that he loved Louisiana. He told me outside of his home state of Arizona, “there’s no place I’d rather be to enjoy the great food and the company of really lively and interesting folks than down her in Louisiana.”
Buddy Roemer had been out of the limelight for 17 years, once he stepped down as Louisiana’s governor in 1991. But when Senator John McCain wrapped up the Republican presidential nomination, Roemer found himself back in the catbird’s seat as a major player on the national scene.
Roemer signed on with the McCain team over a year before the election when the Arizona senator was just one of many in the pack.
The Louisiana governor was on my syndicated radio show early on, touting McCain’s credentials when his campaign seemed to be in free-fall. By then Roemer had emerged as a key McCain adviser, and was featured in TV spots nationwide.
Buddy Roemer has always been a gambler. When he was governor, his campaign disclosure statements regularly showed winnings at poker games held at the Governor’s Mansion. And Roemer has never been averse to playing a long shot, even on his own campaigns.
He fought uphill races to get elected to Congress in the 1980s, and was in the rear of the pack in governor’s race when the campaign began back in 1987.
During the 2008 presidential election, Louisiana Sen. David Vitter had initially pushed Louisiana Republicans to support the quixotic campaign of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
But when Giuliani’s campaign crashed and burned, Roemer quietly began lining up support and raising campaign funds for McCain. If the Republican candidate had ended up being successful in that coming fall presidential election, Roemer would have emerged as a cabinet secretary, ambassador, or hold some other high post in a McCain administration.
When George W. Bush was elected president in 2000, Roemer was under serious consideration to be Ambassador to China. He used to play tennis with former President Bush 43, and stayed in touch with a cross-section of Republicans throughout the country.
After getting out of elective office, Roemer had been involved in several successful bank ventures.
But the lure of public service was still there. If John McCain became the next president, the odds were pretty good that a former governor of Louisiana was going to be heading to Washington, DC.
McCain’s presidential aspirations were unsuccessful, but he did carry Louisiana with 60 percent of the vote. After being sidetracked by Barack Obama, he went on to spend 10 more successful years in the U.S. Senate. Roe-mer built more banks and became a popular Louisiana author.
If you had to sum up John McCain’s life in a couple of words, they would be “honor and character.” He ruffled the feathers of a number of republicans by working with democrats across the aisle on issues he felt were good for America. His philosophy was simple -- put country before party politics.
Knowing of his impending death, McCain said about his life: “I don’t have a complaint. Not one. It’s been quite a ride. I made a small place for myself in the story of America and the history of my times. I hope those who mourn my passing, and even those who don’t, will celebrate as I celebrate a happy life lived in imperfect service to a country made of ideals, whose continued service is the hope of the world.
"And I wish all of you great adventures, good company, and lives as lucky as mine.”
Sums up a pretty darn good life.
Peace and Justice
Jim Brown
Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all of his columns at www.jimbrownusa.com.

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.

Tuesday, Sept. 4

5:51 a.m. 1000 block of Brashear Avenue; Alarm.

7:39 a.m. 800 block of Levee Road; Complaint.

8:24 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Arrest.

9:06 a.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Alarm.

9:10 a.m. 700 block of Sixth Street; Theft.

9:55 a.m. 300 block of First Street; Complaint.

11:05 a.m. 1100 block of Chester Bowles Street; Arrest.

11:09 a.m. Greenwood Street; Lost and found.

11:12 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Arrest.

11:14 a.m. 900 block of Short Street; Animal complaint.

11:35 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Arrest.

11:38 a.m. Federal Avenue; Disturbance.

12:10 a.m. 900 block of Ditch Avenue; Complaint.

1 p.m. 2300 block of La. 70; 911 hang up call.

1:02 p.m. 800 block of Brashear Avenue; Theft.

1:11 p.m. 200 block of Fourth Street; Telephone harassment.

1:37 p.m. 500 block of Orange Street; Complaint.

1:44 p.m. 1100 block of North Victor II Boulevard; Crash.

1:54 p.m. 600 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard; Disturbance.

2:14 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Arrest.

2:25 p.m. Fifth and Everett streets; Arrest.

2:57 p.m. 100 block of Wren Street; Theft.

3:17 p.m. 2100 block of Cedar Street; Alarm.

3:19 p.m. 1400 block of Sandra Street; Juvenile problem.

3:30 p.m. Sixth and Onstead streets; Juvenile problem.

5:02 p.m. 500 block of Orange Street; Removal of subject.

5:07 p.m. 600 block of Third Street; Alarm.

5:43 p.m. 2400 block of Apple Street; Disturbance.

6:06 p.m. 1100 block of Fourth Street; Disturbance.

6:14 p.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Found property.

6:58 p.m. 2300 block of La. 70; Stand by.

8:09 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Communication complaint.

8:19 p.m. 7400 block of La. 182; Arrest.

8:21 p.m. 500 block of Marshall Street; Hang up call.

8:30 p.m. 600 block of Terrebonne Street; Complaint.

9:29 p.m. 1000 block of Brashear Avenue; Alarm.

10:08 p.m. 3000 block of Roderick Street; Warrant Arrest.

11:02 p.m. 800 block of Clothilde Street; Criminal damage to property.

Wednesday, Sept. 5

12:42 a.m. 1500 block of Filmore Street; Animal complaint.

2:23 a.m. 800 block of Clothilde Street; Animal complaint.

4:29 a.m. 100 block of Wren Street; Assault.

5:04 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Warrant arrest.

Morgan City is no exception to the nation’s opioid crisis as officials work to combat the issue.

Police Chief James Blair said police have seen an increase in opioid overdoses within the past few years, tracking the number of overdoses with area medical facilities.

Last week, the Morgan City Council authorized the city to sign a contract with a team of attorneys to pursue a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors and determine how much opioid abuse has affected the city.

In the 1990s, opioid manufacturers labeled the drugs as safe to treat chronic pain without scientific evidence, Attorney John Young said during last week’s council meeting. Young is among a group of attorneys representing Louisiana plaintiffs in the opioid litigation.

The St. Mary Parish Council is pursuing an opioid lawsuit, too, and the Patterson City Council is considering participation.

Morgan City police officers have responded to complaints during which naloxone, an antidote to opioids, has been used to treat opioid overdoses and prevent deaths, Blair said.

Roughly two decades ago, doctors began commonly prescribing oxycodone and other opioid medications to individuals to treat chronic pain.

From 1999 to 2016, more than 200,000 people died in the United States from overdoses related to prescription opioids. Overdose deaths involving prescription opioids were five times higher in 2016 than in 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I don’t think they were prepared for the amount of abuse that it brought, that it inflicted upon the public,” Blair said.

The police department has taken “a proactive approach” and equipped officers with naloxone “to administer in the event of an overdose and to protect the officers in case they come into contact with Fentanyl-based products or any other harmful substance,” Blair said.

Coming into contact with Fentanyl, a powerful opioid, and other similar substances “has become an ever increasing danger to law enforcement personnel,” Blair said.

Morgan City police officers have received training on how to administer naloxone, which is done through the nostrils.

This past weekend, police encountered an individual who had to receive two doses of naloxone before being transported to the hospital to be treated for an overdose. That individual did survive, Blair said.

Two to three years ago, police acquired a medical drop box for the department’s front lobby to allow people to safely dispose of medicines.

“A great deal of the addictions, the source of the addictions are in our own homes in the medicine cabinets,” Blair said.

Unused or expired medicines can be accessible in homes, and that accessibility can lead to addiction. Many people have used the department’s drop box to get rid of potentially harmful medicines anonymously, he said.

In 2017, Morgan City police collected probably “a couple hundred pounds” of medications through the drop box and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s drug-take back initiative the department participates in annually, Blair said.

Fire Chief Alvin Cockerham said the fire department also receives some calls to assist emergency medical personnel with opioid overdoses, but not as much as the police department.

The fire department plans to eventually supply firefighters with naloxone to administer, too, Cockerham said.

“It’s out there. It’s gotten worse and worse,” Cockerham said of the opioid epidemic.

Opioid abuse has been a problem for a long time, but more reporting on the issue made people more aware of how deadly opioids can be, Cockerham said.