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Radio logs for June 27

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, June 26

5:27 a.m. 2300 block of La. 70; Reckless driving.

6:58 a.m. 1200 block of David Drive; Alarm.

8:52 a.m. 1100 block of Federal Avenue; Complaint.

9:33 a.m. Glenwood Street; Alarm.

10:09 a.m. 300 block of Lawrence Street; Theft.

4:09 p.m. 1200 block of David Drive; Alarm.

4:16 p.m. 1400 block of Victor II Boulevard; Accident.

4:59 p.m. 700 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard; 911 hang up.

6:55 p.m. 7800 block of La. 182; Complaint.

7:29 p.m. 700 block of Everett Street; Complaint.

7:42 p.m. 300 block of Patton Street; Complaint.

9:51 p.m. 1400 block of Federal Avenue; Complaint.

10:02 p.m. 600 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard; Arrest.

10:03 p.m. 7300 block of La. 182; Patrol request.

11:30 p.m. 500 block of Railroad Avenue; Complaint.

Three arrests in Main Street incident Monday

Franklin Police Chief Sabria McGuire reported three arrests Tuesday in connection with the search warrant served Monday night on Main Street in Franklin.
According to McGuire, Michael Morris Jr., 19, of Talbot Street, Franklin, was arrested Monday at 8:55 p.m., as was previously reported by St. Mary Parish Sheriff Scott Anslum.
Melvina Morris, 49, of Talbot Street, Franklin, was arrested Monday at 7:45 p.m. on the charge of accessory after the fact to attempted first degree murder.
Morris was booked, processed, and held with no bond set at the time of press release.
Davian Burrell, 17, of Ninth Street, Franklin, was arrested Monday at 10:53 p.m. on charges of obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact to attempted first degree murder.
Burrell was booked, processed, and held with no bond set at the time of press release.
McGuire reported that the three arrests stemmed from an investigation by the Franklin Police Department in regards to several calls of shots fired, over the course of last weekend.
FPD reportedly received information that a vehicle that was involved in one of the shootings was at the residence of 300 Main Street.
The FPD then reportedly applied for a search warrant for that residence and contacted the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office for assistance.
A perimeter of the area was set up, and two subjects were allegedly seen leaving the residence in an attempt to evade police.
Morris Jr., for whose arrest officers had knowledge of multiple active felony warrants, was seen attempting to leave the area by a vehicle driven by Morris.
A traffic stop was conducted on the vehicle and both subjects were arrested.
The FPD was reportedly able to recover five weapons from the residence, which consisted of four rifles and one shotgun.
McGuire further stated that the investigation continues, as more arrests are pending.

Group commissions economic study

St. Mary Excel, an organization of St. Mary Parish Foundation, has commissioned a land use study to be performed by Urban Land Institute, a foundation news release said.

The goal is to learn how the areas of Morgan City and the town of Berwick can diversify the area’s economy using its major waterways to attract and grow industry.

Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit research and education organization with 40,000 members worldwide. Members are developers, engineers, architects, urban planners, bankers, investors, economic development specialists, market analysts, land use professionals and real estate agents, the release said.

An Advisory Services Panel will visit the area during a five-day period beginning Sept. 16. Panelists will focus on challenges of land use, economic development, real estate, urban planning, design, land economics and public policy.

After touring an assigned area, the panel will present oral recommendations at the close of the on-site assignment. They will offer conclusions Sept. 21. A written report, with photographs and drawings, will be provided to St. Mary Excel within 60 days of the panel’s visit, the release said.

Organizers held a news conference Tuesday in Morgan City to discuss the announcement.

Members of St. Mary Excel and others have been working for 2 1/2 years to facilitate the study through numerous meetings, said Monica Mancuso, the group’s president.

“The Urban Land Institute technical assistance visit is vital to our area to move this area from a previously dependent oilfield economy to one that’s diversified,” Mancuso said.

Mancuso, a retired teacher, moved to Morgan City when she was in the fifth grade after her father got an oilfield job. She spoke Tuesday next two of her grandsons who just recently finished the fifth grade at Wyandotte Elementary School in Morgan City.

Though Mancuso called herself a “product of the oilfield,” she recognizes the area’s need for economic diversification to allow the community to prosper in the future, she said.

“What are the jobs going to look like when it’s time for them (her grandsons) to find meaningful work?” Mancuso asked.

St. Mary Excel is a project of the St. Mary Parish Foundation, an affiliate of Community Foundation of Acadiana. This project was led by Mancuso and Alice Pecoraro, Catherine Holcomb, Laura Dozar and Lucien Cutrera.

The project has secured more than $135,000 to fund this public-private partnership. Donors include the St. Mary Parish Council, the Morgan City port commission, Morgan City Council, Hellenic Inc., Hancock Whitney Bank, the Berwick Town Council, St. Mary Parish Tourist Commission, B and G Foods/Taco Bell, Dr. Trey Morice and Jennifer Morice, Bill Hidalgo and Judy Hidalgo, the Conrad Family Foundation, Central Boats, Lapco Incorporated, Jodi and Burt Adams, Mike and Dianne Lind, in memory of Helen Laughlin by family members, Dr. Joseph Guarisco, A.J. Dohmann, Lucien Cutrera, Jason Akers, Bart Mancuso and Monica Mancuso, Briant Dozar and Laura Dozar, Brian Laughlin and Nancy Laughlin, and Linda Spitale and Sam Spitale.

In 2017, the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce and St. Mary Parish Tourism Commission performed a quality of life survey for Morgan City and Berwick. A majority of those surveyed said they do not agree the area is doing enough to attract businesses and entrepreneurial opportunities, provide job opportunities that support young people staying in the area and attract jobs that pay well and offer benefits.

Several cities throughout Louisiana have commissioned an Urban Land Institute study such as New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Charity Hospital and the Claiborne Area Planned Development, Baton Rouge downtown revitalization, Lafayette downtown development and Moncus Park in Lafayette, the release said.

In addition, cities across the nation with a similar population to Morgan City and Berwick have commissioned the institute to conduct studies.

Police: Ex-tenant stole AC units from home

A 29-year-old Bayou Vista woman was charged with theft in Morgan City after she took two air conditioner units from a home following her eviction from that home, Police Chief James Blair said in a news release.

—Korianne M. Parker, 29, of Carol Road in Bayou Vista, was arrested at 2:59 p.m. Monday on a warrant charging her with theft less than $1,000 and on a charge of disturbing the peace intoxicated.

Patrol officers observed a woman walking in the area of La. 182 that appeared to be in a very inebriated condition, Blair said. A stop was initiated when Parker was identified. Parker was in an intoxicated state. Parker was also found to hold an active arrest warrant through the Morgan City Police.

The warrant stems from a June 8 investigation when Parker allegedly took two air conditioners valued at $530 from a home after being evicted. The investigation continued when warrants were prepared for Parker’s arrest. Parker was jailed.

Blair reported that officers responded to 40 calls and reported the following arrests:

—Larry Lim, 34, of Dewey Point in San Antonio, was arrested at 3:10 a.m. Sunday on charges of DWI first offense and improper turning.

Patrol officers observed a vehicle being operated in the area of Allison Street in Morgan City negotiate an improper turn. A stop was initiated when Lim was identified as the driver. Lim was in an intoxicated state and performed poorly on a field sobriety test, Blair said. Lim registered 0.194 grams-percent blood alcohol content on a chemical test. Lim was jailed.

—Donald R. Grubbs II, 38, of Bayou Black Drive in Gibson, was arrested at 7:20 a.m. Monday on charges of DWI first offense and improper turning.

Patrol officers responded to the area of La. 70 in regard to a vehicle being operated in a reckless manner. Officers arrived and located a vehicle fitting the description that was provided. The vehicle was observed negotiating an improper turn. A stop was initiated when Grubbs was identified as the driver.

Grubbs was in an intoxicated state and performed poorly on a field sobriety test, Blair said. Grubbs was believed to be under the influence of prescription medication, Blair said. Grubbs registered 0.000 grams-percent blood alcohol content on a chemical test. A blood specimen was obtained from Grubbs which is pending analysis at the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab. Grubbs was jailed.

—Christy Reed, 24, of Fifth Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 10 a.m. Monday on a warrant charging her with theft less than $1,000.

Reed was located and arrested at the police department on a warrant. The warrant stems from a June 18 investigation when Reed allegedly took items valued at $65.84 from a business in the area of La. 182 without paying for them, Blair said. The investigation continued and a warrant was prepared for her arrest. Reed was jailed.

—Jalen Walker, 26, of Willow Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 4:02 p.m. Monday on a charge of domestic abuse battery.

Patrol officers responded to the area of Willow Street in regard to a battery that had been committed. Officers arrived when Walker was identified as one of the parties involved. Walker allegedly struck the victim during an altercation, Blair said. Walker was jailed.

—David A. Sons, 45, of Nevada Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 6:30 p.m. Monday on a warrant charging him with failure to appear for arraignment. Sons was located and arrested at the police department on a city court warrant. Sons was jailed.

St. Mary Parish Sheriff Scott Anslum reported that deputies responded to 53 complaints in the parish and reported no arrests in east St. Mary Parish.

Berwick Police Chief James Richard reported no arrests.

Patterson Police Chief Janis Merritt reported no arrests.

Dying tradition? Blessings for the shrimp fleets are becoming less common

GOLDEN MEADOW (AP) — A parade of decorated shrimp trawlers and other assorted boats amble down Bayou Lafourche on a sunny spring day. Flags and banners flap in the rigging, portable speakers blare country music, and back-deck partiers dig into plates of crawfish and sausage. At the head of the procession, on the bow of the lead boat, a smiling priest in full vestments casts blessings left and right.
Just about everybody in the parade slows when they pass John “Winnie” Wunstell and his 68-foot-long trawler, the biggest in town. They set down their drinks, step away from their grills and yell across the bayou, ribbing him, as they do every year, for skipping out on the Blessing of the Fleet.
The annual event — a blend of Catholic ritual and floating party — marks the start of shrimping season in several south Louisiana communities. But Wunstell and many other shrimpers don’t mark it anymore. Most of the shrimp boats on this stretch of bayou between Galliano and Golden Meadow, nearly 80 miles south of New Orleans, remain tied up for Golden Meadow’s 102nd fleet blessing. The same is true elsewhere along the coast. Some communities no longer hold the event.
A handful of shrimping villages — Chauvin, Dulac, Pointe-aux-Chenes — try to keep the religious tradition alive, albeit in the face of a much-diminished shrimping industry, declining populations and a rapidly eroding coastline.
Morgan City and Biloxi, Miss., have strategically moved their blessing to holiday weekends.
The Morgan City event, rebranded the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in the late 1960s, is one of Louisiana’s largest free festivals, drawing upwards of 125,000 people during the Labor Day weekend. It features dozens of food and craft vendors spread across four city blocks, fireworks and continuous live music. The festival has paid staff, its own offices and is run much like a business enterprise. Of the 170 vendors at the 2012 festival, only 10 percent came from Morgan City and neighboring towns.
The festival embraces the oil industry, which displaced shrimping as the city’s main employer in the 1950s. The same shift has happened in other shrimping communities, but the oil industry hasn’t taken the same hold on the coast’s cultural identity.
“Shrimping has these iconic boats, and they’re bringing back something you can share and eat with your community,” said Audriana Hubbard, an anthropologist who wrote her master’s thesis on the Gulf’s fleet blessing traditions. “How do you share oil? Oil tug boats aren’t pretty or clean. Nobody decorates them. There’s no season for oil, no imagery or symbolism.”
In the past, the Morgan City festival boat parade started with a symbolic touching or “kissing” of bows between a shrimp trawler and a tugboat working in the oil industry. But with so few shrimpers left, the kissing is now usually between two tugboats.
“In the olden days, this was a big thing — all the boats on the bayou,” Wunstell said while waving politely at the smattering of boats Golden Meadow was able to muster for its April 15 blessing. In the 1980s, the event drew 40 boats, all of them working trawlers. This year, only 14 showed up.
“All these people, they got jobs now,” Wunstell said.
By “jobs” he means other than catching shrimp. Many work in the oil industry now. Some shrimp part time, or they maintain their father’s or grandfather’s wood-hulled trawlers, treating them as floating family heirlooms.
“For us, it’s full-time,” Wunstell said of shrimping, as he nodded at his wife, Kelly. “And all that,” he said of the blessing, “we don’t have time for.”
Wunstell spent the blessing fretting about the rising cost of fuel and the shrinking value of his catch. He worries about his swollen feet, which pain him when he stands for too long. He worries about hiring dependable deckhands - not an easy task, he said, when many in the labor pool have drug and alcohol problems or would simply prefer easier work onshore.
Shrimping has always been hard. Through the 1800s and a good part of the last century, it was downright deadly. Boats were smaller, engines weaker, and weather forecasting was mostly guesswork. Little wooden shrimp boats would chug out to sea under cloudless skies and, within a few hours, be plunged to the sea bottom by a sudden storm. Drowning was a common killer, as were fires, explosions and maimings from errant winches, hooks and pulleys.
It was enough to seek protection from a higher power. That’s how the Blessing of the Fleet tradition began more than a century ago.
“They were asking, first of all, to be safe,” said Frederic Brunet, a retired priest who led the town of Chauvin’s blessing for 42 years. “They would want that boat to stay safe and sound. The next thing they would want is a blessing to catch some shrimp and be able to support their families.”
Brunet remembers blessing 110 vessels one year in the late 1970s. This year, the turnout at Chauvin’s April 8 blessing was fewer than 20.
“If we get 10 to 15 boats, it’s good,” Debra Cunningham, 72, said while watching Chauvin’s blessing. “Now nobody has the time or money to decorate anymore. And the old people with boats, like my daddy, have died off.”
In the past, shrimpers and their families would spend days decorating their boats with hundreds of ribbons, palmetto fronds, papier-mâché sculptures, plywood crosses and painted signs honoring Catholic saints. There were rival shrimpers to out-do and crowds to impress.
Costumes were common at the Golden Meadow blessing. The Knights of Columbus would turn out with big hats topped with purple feathers. The event’s man of honor would dress as a naval admiral.
“It was the one thing people’d wait for,” said Miranda Griffin, a lifelong Golden Meadow resident. “It’s what we had.”
“And now every year we worry it isn’t going to happen,” her husband, Robert, added.
Chauvin’s festivities in the 1970s and early ‘80s went from early morning to late night.
“After morning mass, we’d have the parade out to Lake Boudreaux and all the boats would gather there,” Brunet said. “A lot of them had bands, so there’d be dancing, people eating crawfish and every other thing. I’d go boat to boat receiving people and eat a little bit at every boat. Then we’d come back and have a big dance at night. They were glorious times.”
Chauvin’s blessing this year drew a few dozen people to a small park on Bayou Petit Caillou. A Cajun folk band played, a woodworker sold toy pirogues, a family with a food cart sold crab cakes. The boats came and went in less than 30 minutes, and the crowd quietly trickled away.
There’s disagreement over whether partying harmed the tradition.
“In the beginning, people would kneel and make the sign of the cross when the priest came by,” Brunet said. “Now they hold up their beer can, toast-like.”
For Wunstell, the church became overly-involved in Golden Meadow’s blessing, shutting down what was known as the Bull Club Fair, a carnival with lots of eating, drinking and dancing. The church also banned alcohol and required applications to participate in the parade.
“They don’t communicate with the shrimpers,” Wuntsell said. “Now it’s (organized) by people at the church who don’t have anything to do with boats.”
Organizers of the parade did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Also chipping away at the tradition: liability. Many shrimpers say their insurance limits who can board their vessels. Rowdy on-board parties can easily produce legal headaches, even lawsuits.
At its heart, the Blessing of the Fleet is a tradition rooted in an industry, and that industry has been in sharp decline for decades.
Louisiana remains the top shrimp producer in the U.S., capturing more than 100 million pounds annually. Yet, the vast majority of the shrimp eaten in the U.S. - a whopping 90 percent - is imported. Much of it comes from farms in Southeast Asia and Latin America. It’s produced cheaply and at high volumes. Louisiana shrimpers, who venture into the Gulf to catch wild shrimp, simply can’t compete.
“There’s no good price for shrimp, and sometimes there’s no catch,” said Robert Griffin, a retired Golden Meadow oil worker who shrimped in his youth. “But the problem is the overseas shrimp.”
World shrimp prices went into free-fall about 30 years ago. In the 1990s, Gulf shrimp could fetch up to $4.50 per pound. Now shrimpers are lucky to get $1.50.
“It’s getting worse,” Wunstell said. “I just had this little guy call me all excited to get 75 cents per pound. We’re getting played.”
Fisheries regulations are tighter than they used to be. Fuel costs are higher, and deckhands and shrimp processing workers are in short supply.
Environmental changes are making shrimp harder to come by. Erosion and the sinking of the coastal landscape robs Louisiana of a football field worth of wetland every 100 minutes. With this loss goes critical shrimp habitat. Brown shrimp - the catch of inland shrimpers in Barataria, Terrebonne and other bays - depend on coastal estuaries. As these marshy environments fragment and dissolve, brown shrimp survival plummets.
A decade of disasters - both natural and human-made - took a heavy toll on the coast’s shrimping communities. Between 2000 and 2010, the coast was battered by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike and Isaac, and poisoned by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Populations had been sinking for years, but they plummeted after the spill and spate of hurricanes. The Golden Meadow-Galliano area lost 7 percent of its residents between 2005 and 2015, according to Louisiana’s Strategic Adaptions for Future Environments (LA SAFE). Chauvin and the nearby shrimping port of Cocodrie lost 17 percent. Other small coastal communities, including Dulac, Jean Lafitte and Buras, have also seen double-digit population declines in recent years.
The employment numbers are even worse, with jobs decreasing in Chauvin, Cocodrie and other towns by as much as 50 percent between 2004 and 2014, according to LA SAFE.
The blessing tradition has changed to compensate for waning participation. In Golden Meadow and Chauvin, it had been held in August but was moved to May because several boats were staying out at sea longer, sometimes well into August.
Other blessing events have managed to grow by targeting tourists. Chauvin, Golden Meadow, Dulac and Point-aux-Chien do little to promote their blessing beyond their own communities.In Golden Meadow and other coastal towns, they’re sticking as close to tradition as possible, for better or worse.
Robert Griffin, the retired Golden Meadow oil worker, comes from a long line of shrimpers. He gave up on the shrimping life in his youth, but not the shrimping identity.
“It’s who we are,” he said. “The boat blessing is going to stay, even if it’s just down to one boat.”
_

LEONA R. SMITH

March 5, 1929- June 24, 2018
Leona R. Smith, a lifelong resident of Patterson, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 24, 2018.
A devout Catholic, Leona had a deep love for her faith as well as a strong devotion to our Blessed Mother, praying the rosary often. She had an entrepreneurial spirit that drove her to open and operate several local businesses at various times in her life, which included Merle Norman Cosmetics and Blue Sky Gift Shop, both in Morgan City, and West End Food Stop in Patterson. She was an avid tennis player and was truly young at heart; proving a person’s age is nothing more than a number. She will be deeply missed and fondly remembered by all who knew and loved her.
She will live on in the hearts and memories of her children, Don Smith, Dan Smith and his wife Denise, Patricia S. Tieperman and her husband John, Trudy S. Andrews and her husband Drew, Ginger S. Griffin and her husband Wally, and Todd Smith; 10 grandchildren, Olivia Smith Spicer, André Smith, Madeleine Smith, Lori Tieperman Lott, Keeley Tieperman Stromberg, Connor Tieperman, Gran Andrews, Erin Andrews Logan, Tyler Griffin and Trent Smith; 12 great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Jane Smith Evans and Iris B. Roy; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Those she is reunited with that have gone on before her include her husband, Donald C. Smith; grandson, Max Griffin; great-granddaughter, Graci Andrews; son-in-law, Hal Thomas; her parents, Blume Roy and Thelma Roy Brassett; sister, Margie R. St. Romain; and brother, Levy “Buddy” Roy.
A gathering of family and friends was held Tuesday, June 26, 2018, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Patterson beginning at 9:00 a.m. with a Mass of Christian Burial being celebrated at 11:00 a.m. Following the Mass, she was laid to rest in St. Joseph Cemetery. Father Bill Melancon was Celebrant of the Mass and conducted the services. Serving as pallbearers were Don Smith, Dan Smith, Todd Smith, Gran Andrews, Tyler Griffin and Trent Smith.
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., 1111 Lia Street, Patterson, LA 70392, (985) 395-7873.

WILLIAM DAVID DUCK JR.

April 22, 1937- June 22, 2018
William David Duck Jr., a native of Ruston, Louisiana, and a long-time resident of Berwick and Stephensville, Louisiana, went home to be with the Lord on Friday, June 22, 2018 surrounded by his loving family, at the age of 81.
William enjoyed fishing, traveling and truly embraced the scenic routes he traveled.
Those left to cherish William’s memory are his two sons, William David Duck III, and Kermit Duck and his wife, Stephanie; two grandchildren, Aiden Duck and Evan Duck; his sister-in-law, Shirley Chaisson; his brother-in-law, Barry “Rip” Dayton Jr.; and numerous nieces, nephews and friends.
William will be joined in heaven by his parents, William and Eunice Duck; his wife of 49 years, Linda; and his sister, Beverly Dayton.
Visitation will be held on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at Hargrave Funeral Home from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Visitation will resume at the funeral home on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 from 8:00 a.m. until dismissal at 10:30 a.m.
A mass of Christian burial will be held on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
Following Mass, William will be laid to rest in the Morgan City Cemetery.
Hargrave Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.

Radio logs for June 26

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.

Monday, June 25

7:05 a.m. La. 70; Reckless driving.

7:15 a.m. 2400 block of Apple Street; Assistance.

7:48 a.m. 600 block of Onstead Street; Alarm.

9:35 a.m. U.S. 90 East; Reckless driving.

12:09 p.m. 2900 block of Railroad Avenue; Suspicious person.

1:36 p.m. 700 block of Belanger Street; Medical.

1:43 p.m. U.S. 90 East; Reckless driving.

3:55 p.m. 700 block of Willow Street; Disturbance.

4:18 p.m. 900 block of Seventh Street; Theft.

4:25 p.m. 1000 block of Sycamore Street; Harassment.

4:47 p.m. 900 block of Ninth Street; Suspicious vehicle.

4:49 p.m. 3200 block of Tammy Drive; Civil matter.

5:05 p.m. Onstead Street and Federal Avenue; Animal complaint.

5:28 p.m. 100 block of Poncio Street; Removal of subject.

6:22 p.m. 1200 block of David Drive; Alarm.

6:35 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Arrest.

6:38 p.m. Marguerite and Sixth streets; Crash.

6:50 p.m. 5000 block of Railroad Avenue; Medical.

7:28 p.m. 1000 block of Brashear Avenue; Removal of subject.

7:40 p.m. 1400 block of Third Street; Complaint.

7:57 p.m. 700 block of Willow Street; Complaint.

8:27 p.m. 100 block of Egle Mill Lane; Complaint.

8:36 p.m. 1000 block of La. 70; Theft.

8:58 p.m. 400 block of Brashear Avenue; Complaint.

9:03 p.m. 500 block of Third Street; Complaint.

9:05 p.m. 400 block of Brashear Avenue; Lost and found.

10:26 p.m. 600 block of Egle Street; Juvenile problem.

11:17 p.m. 1000 block of Eighth Street; Vehicle burglary.

Tuesday, June 26

12:19 a.m. 1300 block of Sixth Street; Complaint.

Wheel House for June 26

DINNERS
Sold by Music Department of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 507 Fourth St., Morgan City, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 30. Menu: baked chicken, baked spaghetti, rice dressing, sweet peas, bread and drink. Donation $8.

REDEDICATION
And Family and Friends Day at Cherry Street Park, Patterson, Saturday, June 30. Free food, music, games. Public invited.

FAMILY/FRIENDS
New Mt. Esther Baptist Church, 1211 James St., Siracusa Subdivision, hosting Family and Friends Day at 3 p.m. July 22. Guest speaker Bishop Darryl S. Brister, Beacon Light International Cathedral, New Orleans. Public invited. For info call 225-315-7097.

OPEC and its allies agree to share oil production hike

VIENNA (AP) — OPEC nations and oil-producing countries not in the cartel said Saturday they have agreed to share increased oil production a day after OPEC announced it would pump more crude oil — a move that should help contain the recent rise in global energy prices.
Russia and other oil-producing allies said after their meeting in Vienna with OPEC countries they would endorse a nominal output increase of 1 million barrels crude oil per day.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a statement that both member and non-member oil producing countries “decided that countries will strive to adhere to the overall conformity level, voluntarily adjusted to 100 percent.”
The statement did not say how exactly the production increase would be split between OPEC and non-OPEC nations.
Saud Arabia’s minister of energy, Khalid Al-Falih, said after Saturday’s meeting that the exact allocation for each country would depend among other things on their production capacities.
“Saudi Arabia obviously can deliver as much as the market would need, but we’re going to be respectful of the 1 million barrel cap — and at the same time be respectful of allocating some of that to countries that deliver it,” Al-Falih said.
Questions remain over the ability of some OPEC nations — Iran and Venezuela in particular — to increase production as they struggle with domestic turmoil and sanctions.
U.S. President Donald Trump had been calling publicly for the cartel to help lower prices by producing more. And after OPEC’s deal on Friday, Trump tweeted: “Hope OPEC will increase output substantially. Need to keep prices down!”
Al-Falih said after Saturday’s meeting in Vienna that tweets from Trump were “reflective of his concern for American consumers.”
Al-Falih also said leaders from other countries including India, China and South Korea had also expressed concerns to him that their economies were “starting to feel the pinch of higher oil prices.”
Taking a somewhat different stance, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Saturday’s endorsement to increase oil production was based on “fundamental principles, on research done by our teams, by teams of our friends and colleagues, the OPEC secretariat.”
“Twitter is not one of the instruments we base our decisions on,” Novak added, referring to Trump.

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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