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The St. Mary Chamber of Commerce honored The Frame Shop for 55 years in business and Morgan City Health Care Center for 50 years in business at a chamber business luncheon last week at the Petroleum Club of Morgan City.

THIBODAUX — The Nicholls State University cross country program is set to host the Nicholls Cross Country Invitational and Dr. Richard Morvant Invitational on Sept. 1 at the Nicholls Farm, marking the program’s first home cross country meet in more than 24 years, according to NSU media relations news release.
“I am thrilled that Nicholls Cross Country will be hosting a home cross country meet this year,” Nicholls head cross country coach Stefanie Slekis said. “This event would not be possible without the support of so many departments and staff members at Nicholls and additional alumni and members of our local community.”
The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. with the Colonel Cross Country 3 Mile open to community members and alumni.
The University Women’s 4000m will follow at 8 a.m. and the University Men’s 6000m subsequently at 8:30 a.m. Nicholls, Tulane and University of New Orleans are set to compete in the university events.
High school events are set to begin at 9 a.m. with the Dr. Richard Morvant Girls 3 Mile, followed by the Boys 3 Mile at 9:30 a.m. The Junior Varsity Girls 2 Mile will commence at 10 a.m., and the Boys 2 Mile will take place at 10:30 a.m. Ascension Catholic, E.D. White Catholic, Hahnville, St. Thomas More and Vandebilt are set to compete in the high school events.
“The idea of hosting a home cross country meet this fall started as a conversation with (athletics director) Matt Roan because Nicholls is scheduled to host the Southland Conference Cross Country Championships in October of 2020,” Slekis said. “In an effort to prepare to host a premier championship event, we wanted to establish a home cross country meet as an annual tradition for our department.”
Universities and high schools that wish to compete must submit entries by 5 p.m. on Aug. 29. Universities can register through www.Direct Athletics.com, while high schools can register through www.Chipped Timing.com.
Community members can register for the Colonel Cross Country 3 Mile for $20 online or $25 on the day of the race. All proceeds will benefit Nicholls cross country and track and field.
In addition, the Nicholls cross country and track and field teams are hosting a T-shirt fundraiser. T-shirts cost $15 each, and proceeds will go toward purchasing practice gear for the upcoming season. To purchase a T-shirt, visit www.geauxcolonels.com/xctfshirt.

Area universities have place players on the 2018 STATS FCS Preseason All-America teams.
The team is comprised of:
2018 STATS FCS PRESEASON
ALL-AMERICA TEAM
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
QB — Devlin Hodges, senior, 6-1, 205, Samford
RB — Bruce Anderson, senior, 5-11, 216, North Dakota State
RB — Dom Bragalone, senior, 5-11, 230, Lehigh
FB — Cal Daniels, senior, 6-2, 255, Stony Brook
WR — Keelan Doss, senior, 6-3, 210, UC Davis
WR — Neil O’Connor, senior, 5-11, 190, New Hampshire
WR — Nathan Stewart, junior, 5-11, 175, Sam Houston State
TE — Charlie Taumoepeau, junior, 6-3, 240, Portland State
OL — Larry Allen III, senior, 6-4, 285, Harvard
OL — B.J. Autry, senior, 6-5, 340, Jacksonville State
OL — Ethan Greenidge, senior, 6-4, 335, Villanova
OL — Zach Larsen, junior, 6-1, 300, Southern Utah
OL — Iosua Opeta, senior, 6-4, 295, Weber State
DEFENSE
DL — Miles Brown, senior, 6-2, 320, Wofford
DL — Ahmad Gooden, senior, 6-1, 240, Samford
DL — Khalen Saunders, senior, 6-2, 310, Western Illinois
DL — Chris Terrell, junior, 6-3, 266, Central Arkansas
LB — Bryson Armstrong, sophomore, 5-11, 205, Kennesaw State
LB — Josh Buss, senior, 6-2, 220, Montana
LB — Warren Messer, senior, 5-11, 230, Elon
LB — Christian Rozeboom, junior, 6-2, 230, South Dakota State
DB — Nasir Adderley, senior, 6-0, 190, Delaware
DB — Marlon Bridges, junior, 6-0, 200, Jacksonville State
DB — Robbie Grimsley, senior, 6-0, 191, North Dakota State
DB — Rashad Robinson, senior, 5-11, 182, James Madison
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK — Lorran Fonseca, senior, 5-11, 185, Nicholls
P — Alex Pechin, senior, 6-0, 185, Bucknell
LS — Chris Wilkerson, grad, 6-2, 245, Stephen F. Austin
KR — Juwan Petit-Frere, junior, 5-7, 170, Southeastern Louisiana
PR — Justice Shelton-Mosley, senior, 5-10, 195, Harvard
AP — Davion Davis, senior, 5-11, 180, Sam Houston State
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
QB — Easton Stick, senior, 6-2, 221, North Dakota State
RB — Zane Dudek, sophomore, 5-9, 190, Yale
RB — Tevin McCaster, senior, 5-10, 195, Youngstown State
FB — Joe Protheroe, senior, 6-0, 230, Cal Poly
WR — Jesper Horsted, senior, 6-4, 215, Princeton
WR — Kamron Lewis, senior, 6-4, 195, Saint Francis
WR — Kelvin McKnight, senior, 5-9, 188, Samford
TE — Lawayne Ross, junior, 6-0, 264, McNeese
OL — Daniel Cooney, senior, 6-8, 315, San Diego
OL — Tyler Davis, senior, 6-1, 279, The Citadel
OL — Noah Johnson, junior, 6-4, 300, Idaho
OL — Tanner Volson, senior, 6-4, 301, North Dakota State
OL — Mitchell Watanabe, senior, 6-4, 330, Sam Houston State
DEFENSE
DL — Andrew Clyde, senior, 6-3, 275, Richmond
DL — Darin Greenfield, junior, 6-3, 235, South Dakota
DL — Greg Menard, senior, 6-2, 238, North Dakota State
DL — Jaison Williams, junior, 6-1, 225, Austin Peay
LB — De’Arius Christmas, senior, 5-10, 220, Grambling State
LB — Thomas Costigan, senior, 6-3, 230, Bryant
LB — Nick Miller, senior, 5-11, 215, Penn
LB — Troy Reeder, senior, 6-2, 245, Delaware
DB — Deion Harris, senior, 6-3, 200, North Dakota
DB — Davanta Reynolds, senior, 5-10, 200, North Carolina Central
DB — Rob Rolle, senior, 6-0, 185, Villanova
DB — Marvin Tillman, senior, 6-1, 190, Western Carolina
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK — Trey Tuttle, sophomore, 5-9, 190, Weber State
P — Ian Berryman, senior, 6-0, 205, Western Carolina
LS — Daniel Caracciolo, sophomore, 5-11, 215, James Madison
KR — Jean Constant, junior, 5-9, 168, Bryant
PR — D’Angelo Amos, junior, 6-1, 182, James Madison
AP — Chandler Burks, senior, 5-10, 187, Kennesaw State
AP — John Santiago, senior, 5-9, 180, North Dakota
THIRD TEAM
OFFENSE
QB — Gage Gubrud, senior, 6-2, 205, Eastern Washington
RB — A.J. Hines, junior, 5-11, 225, Duquesne
RB — Marquis Terry, senior, 5-6, 179, Southeast Missouri State
FB — Andre Stoddard, senior, 5-10, 230, Wofford
WR — Dejon Brissett, senior, 6-2, 190, Richmond
WR — Emmanuel Butler, senior, 6-4, 220, Northern Arizona
WR — Nehari Crawford, senior, 5-11, 170, Duquesne
WR — Reggie White Jr., senior, 6-3, 210, Monmouth
TE — Wes Preece, junior, 6-5, 240, UC Davis
OL — Chandler Arceneaux, senior, 6-5, 295, Nicholls
OL — C.J. Collins, senior, 6-3, 256, Kennesaw State
OL — Jahee Jackson, junior, 6-3, 295, James Madison
OL — Zack Johnson, junior, 6-6, 312, North Dakota State
OL — Zach Weeks, senior, 6-3, 285, Western Carolina
OL — Gavin Wiggins, senior, 6-4, 300, Youngstown State
DEFENSE
DL — Darryl Johnson Jr., junior, 6-5, 226, North Carolina A&T
DL — Ricky Neal, senior, 6-1, 241, Northern Iowa
DL — Aaron Patrick, junior, 6-4, 236, Eastern Kentucky
DL — Chris Stewart, senior, 6-2, 270, Sam Houston State
DL — Nick Wheeler, junior, 6-2, 245, Colgate
LB — Jabril Cox, sophomore, 6-3, 227, North Dakota State
LB — Armand Dellovade, senior, 6-0, 215, Youngstown State
LB — Kaden Elliss, senior, 6-3, 222, Idaho
LB — Gunnar Scholato, senior, 6-3, 234, Austin Peay
LB — LeGrand Toia, senior, 6-2, 215, Weber State
DB — Jordan Brown, senior, 6-1, 195, South Dakota State
DB — Mister Harriel, senior, 6-1, 200, Sacramento State
DB — Franklin McCain, sophomore, 5-11, 175, North Carolina A&T
DB — Jimmy Moreland, senior, 5-11, 172, James Madison
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK — Marc Orozco, senior, 5-9, 170, Grambling State
P — Jamie Gillan, senior, 6-2, 195, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
LS — Steven Wethli, senior, 6-0, 230, Youngstown State
KR — Rashid Shaheed, sophomore, 6-0, 170, Weber State
PR — Jaquan Brooks, junior, 5-10, 175, Campbell
AP — John Lovett, senior, 6-3, 225, Princeton

When you hear about Medicare, you probably think of the federal program that helps pay for older adults’ health care. What you may not realize is that another of Medicare’s major responsibilities is to inspect health care facilities to make sure that patients receive safe and high-quality care.
Among those facilities are the nation’s more than 15,000 nursing homes.
Nursing facilities wanting to get reimbursed for treating Medicare patients must be certified as meeting certain health and safety requirements. The federal agency that oversees Medicare — the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — works closely with the states to accomplish that.
Trained health professionals make unannounced visits to nursing homes to check whether the health and safety standards are being met and, if not met, to ensure the problems are addressed. An inspection is often the result of a complaint lodged by a patient or family member.
Nursing homes that don’t promptly correct their shortcomings may be subject to fines. If the health and safety violations persist and pose a serious enough threat to patients, the facilities may be terminated from the Medicare program and forbidden to bill the government for patient care.
Unless and until a nursing home actually loses its Medicare funding, this regulatory process often goes unnoticed by the general public. But you can see how the nursing homes in your community have fared in recent health and safety inspections by visiting Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare website at www.medicare.gov/nhcompare.
Besides providing detailed information on inspections, the website reports on facilities’ staffing and such quality measures as whether residents are in pain or losing weight. The site uses a five-star rating system to help you understand the differences in the quality of care between nursing homes.
Families must often search for a nursing home for a spouse or parent at a moment’s notice, after some crisis or emergency. With little time to spare, many turn to Nursing Home Compare to begin their research. The website receives more than 1 million visits every year.
The website has a solid reputation among consumers, having been revised over the years to make it even more trustworthy and user-friendly. You can search for facilities by city, county, state or ZIP code.
As helpful as those online comparisons are, Nursing Home Compare isn’t meant to be the final word on the subject. It’s just one guide to use when looking for a nursing facility.
If you’re the one who’s been hospitalized, your physician, discharge planner or social worker can help identify an appropriate facility for your recovery.
If you’re the one assisting a spouse or parent about to enter a nursing facility, you also might:
—Ask for recommendations from friends, family or neighbors who may have had a loved one in a nursing home.
—Call your state’s long-term care ombudsman to find out how many complaints have been filed against particular nursing homes, what kind of complaints they were and whether they were resolved. In Louisiana, the ombudsman’s number is 1-866-632-0922.
—Visit the nursing homes that interest you. Make an appointment and think of the questions that are important to you. Nursing Home Compare contains a helpful checklist of questions that covers everything from care and safety to activities and food.
When you or a family member becomes a patient in a nursing home, you have a right to expect the facility will comply with Medicare’s health and safety standards. The thousands of unannounced inspections done each year by federal and state surveyors put teeth in those standards and hold rule-breakers accountable.
This regulatory process aims to call out the poor performers and bring them back in compliance. It is a vital mission for Medicare.
For more tips on selecting a nursing home, visit the Nursing Home Compare website at www.medicare.gov/nh compare or call Medicare’s 24-7 customer service line at 1-800-633-4227. A free Medicare publication, a “Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home,” can also be downloaded from the website or requested by phone.