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Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality presented the city of Franklin with a check Tuesday for $1,880,000 to repair and renovate the city’s waste water treatment plant. From left are Franklin Councilman Lester Levine, Secretary of Louisiana DEQ Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, Franklin Mayor Raymond Harris Jr., Franklin Mayor-Elect Eugene Foulcard, Waste Water Treatment Plant Manager Calvin Sanders, Franklin Councilman Jaime Robinson and Advisor to the Sec. of DEQ Bijan Sharafkhani.

Jerilyn Breaux, director of marketing at Franklin Health Care and Rehabilitation Center, spoke Tuesday to Franklin Rotarians concerning current events at FHCRC and the kind and manner of care they provide.
Breaux announced that Senior Olympics are set to take place May 30, Senior Health and Wellness Day, at the Bayou Vista Community Center.
FHCRC will be joining with sister-centers parishwide and St. Mary Council on Aging to host the event. The event is said to provide activities and games through which seniors who attend may participate and compete.
Breaux also trumpeted upcoming renovations to Franklin’s 112-resident facility which will expand their 20-bed, secured dementia unit.
“Our company is spending a lot of resources and time,” Breaux said, “to transition the facility to what is called, ‘memory care beyond compare.’
“A lot of things will be changing and will include work stations that will incorporate life-enhancing activities like: art, safety and gardening.”
Coupling with the new dementia unit, Breaux said FHCRC will be working to expand by the end of the month, the facility’s dementia training which is provided by “dementia experts.”
“We are always striving to expand our knowledge,” Breaux said, “and the nurses in our Butterfly neighborhood, (dementia unit) require more specialized training than regular staff. They get eight additional hours of online training and they also get additional hands-on training for caring for our individuals with dementia.”
She also touted the center’s being certified as a Music & Memory organization, a program which works in the renewal of cognitive and physical capabilities through the benefits of personal music playlists.
Breaux said there are not many M&M certified facilities in the state, and FHCRC is one of the two that she knows of.
The M&M program donated iPods to the facility upon their certification; and through personal interest assessments and the help of family members, FHCRC staff compiles individualized playlists for patients, providing them with music from their past, to evoke stimulation.
“You can see the immediate effects,” Breaux said. “When you put the iPod on, if it’s music that they like, they’ll start tapping and moving their feet.”
She went on to say that the center has a resident “Zydeco man” who, when participating in the program; and hearing Zydeco music played “his boogey shoes come on, and you almost have to take them off for him to stop.”
“We’ve really been having positive results,” she said. “We really want to use this as a positive intervention, rather than going immediately to medication, we want to use this intervention first.”
Breaux closed by stating that the FHCRC is always available for tours, if one were so inclined.

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, May 22

7:12 a.m. Terrebonne Street; Hit and run.

7:27 a.m. 300 block of Seventh Street; Complaint.

8:07 a.m. 3000 block of Francis Street; Reckless driving.

8:11 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Complaint.

8:39 a.m. 1800 block of Victor II Boulevard; Alarm.

9:13 a.m. Brashear Avenue; Crash.

10:09 a.m. 800 block of Youngs Road; Complaint.

10:44 a.m. 800 block of David Drive; Complaint.

10:54 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Arrest.

11 a.m. Fourth and General Patton streets; Suspicious subject.

1:52 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Complaint.

1:55 p.m. 7200 block of La. 182; Complaint.

2:13 p.m. 300 block of Lawrence Street; Theft.

4:03 p.m. Berwick; Assistance.

4:30 p.m. 300 block of Mallard Street; Disturbance.

6:24 p.m. Levee Road and Shaw Drive; Medical.

8:36 p.m. 300 block of Laurel Street; Disturbance.

11:21 p.m. 800 block of Youngs Road; Suspicious vehicle.

Wednesday, May 23

12:59 a.m. 500 block of Railroad Avenue; Disturbance.

1:05 a.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Disturbance.

3:22 a.m. 1200 block of David Drive; Suspicious activity.

Conventional wisdom about credit cards is often black and white, from whether you should use cards at all to which types deserve a slot in your wallet.
But personal finance is just that — personal, experts say.
“Financial advice is best when it is not one-size-fits-all,” said Bruce McClary, spokesman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “Everybody is different in the way they set priorities and manage budget decisions, so it makes sense that some advice may not be a perfect fit for all people.”
Credit card tips might be easier to understand when they’re binary — do this, don’t do that — but that advice usually doesn’t apply to everybody. In fact, some advice could hurt more than help.
Here’s a sampling of conventional wisdom on credit cards and why it might not apply to you.
—“Never use credit cards.” Cardholders can get in trouble by charging too much, then paying finance charges. That downside is real and important, but this advice ignores the majority of cardholders, who pay off balances monthly. Credit cards have many benefits, including convenience, building credit, rewards and fraud protections.
“There is a stigma associated with credit cards, but they can be effective money-management tools as long as you use them correctly,” said Paul Golden, spokesman for the National Endowment for Financial Education. “Much of the bad reputation originates from irresponsible use, overspending and using a product that isn’t quite right for you.”
—“Always use credit cards.” For those who regularly incur credit card debt or know they can’t trust themselves not to overspend with plastic, credit cards can be a lousy idea. Instead, cash and debit cards can help to curb spending. Besides, not everyone can qualify for credit cards.
—“Never pay an annual fee.” Plenty of good credit cards charge nothing. But cards with annual fees typically offer rewards and benefits. They might include sign-up bonuses, airport lounge access and hundreds of dollars in travel credits. “Not paying an annual fee is good advice in general, but there are some circumstances when the value of earned rewards might outweigh the cost of using the card,” McClary said.
—“Don’t transfer balances from card to card.” The idea behind this is that moving debt to different cards doesn’t address the problem of paying it off. In fact, it could add to debt because balance-transfer cards often charge a fee of 3 to 5 percent of the amount transferred. But the upside is, balance-transfer cards can provide breathing room for carrying balances without finance charges — often more than a year. That’s useful when you can’t pay now but likely could pay later.
—“Always use a rewards card.” If you use a card as a payment tool and pay the balance in full every month, a rewards card is ideal. But for those who carry balances and pay finance charges, the interest would be more than the rewards. A low-interest card or one with an introductory zero percent offer is better for those cardholders.
—“Never close a credit card account.” Closing an account can hurt your credit rating, because scoring formulas like to see that you aren’t using more than 30 percent of your available credit (less is better) and a lengthy credit history, both of which suffer with a closure. Still, you might want to cancel an unwanted card to avoid paying an annual fee — if the issuer won’t let you downgrade to a no-fee card.
“If you’ve had an account for a few years and it has a decent limit and is in good standing, then keep it,” Golden said. “However, if you’re paying a hefty annual fee, you will have to decide if it’s worth the credit-score hit to close the account.”
—“Always pay your bill in full.” You should pay off your credit card bill monthly to avoid paying finance charges. An exception might be during times of hardship, when paying for a necessity, such as rent or food, trumps paying the credit card bill in full. Or you might be within a zero percent interest period on your card and decide to use cash to address a different financial priority.
“Carrying a balance can be a costly proposition, so if it becomes difficult to manage the debt you owe, it is best to have a conversation with your creditor and consider getting help from a nonprofit credit counseling agency before things get worse,” McClary said.
—This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet.
Related links:
—National Foundation for Credit Counseling https://www.nfcc.org/
—National Endowment for Financial Education https://www.nefe.org/