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Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is gearing up for a significant fiscal 2026, with an anticipated $1.8 billion budget aimed at flood risk reduction, coastal restoration, and economic impact.
The agency continues to prioritize construction, allocating 80% of its funding -- approximately $1.44 billion -- toward ground-level projects that protect and restore Louisiana’s vulnerable coastline.
The CPRA’s revenues come from diverse sources, including the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which remains a cornerstone of funding.
GOMESA is projected to contribute $221 million in fiscal 2026, with some funds carried over from previous years. This carryover allows the agency to finance large-scale projects like the Agency Lock and other critical flood protection efforts.
Additional funding comes from settlements, corporate programs, state surplus and non-surplus funds and other revenue streams. These combined sources enable CPRA to tackle ambitious construction and restoration initiatives.
“Our operating expenses are incredibly low at just 2% of the budget, which means nearly every dollar is going toward protecting and restoring our coast,” said Glenn Ledet, the Executive Director of CPRA.
The remaining funds are allocated for planning, engineering, and monitoring completed projects.
CPRA plans to deliver results on 20 dredging projects, aiming to create nearly 15,000 acres of new marshland. This builds on the success of fiscal 2025, where over 10,000 acres were completed by October, with a year-end goal of 12,000 acres.
At any given time, CPRA expects to have 133 active projects underway in fiscal 2026, including marsh creation, shoreline protection, and flood control initiatives.
Notable highlights include the Cameron Gulf Shoreline Protection Project and the continued implementation of the Southwest Coastal Program.
The Southwest Coastal Program includes nonstructural flood protection, such as home elevations, and ecosystem restoration. A pilot program elevating 18 homes is already underway, with plans to expand to 800–1,000 homes.
CPRA’s efforts have far-reaching implications for Louisiana’s economy. In fiscal 2026, the program is projected to generate over 12,000 direct jobs and $723 million in labor income.
CPRA is projecting even greater investment in construction over the next two fiscal years, with construction budgets rising to 84% of expenditures in fiscal 2027 and 88% in fiscal 2028. Despite these high percentages, the agency is committed to securing additional funds for engineering and design to ensure a steady pipeline of projects.

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PUBLIC NOTICE
ADVERTISEMENT
FOR
BIDS
Sealed bids will
be received on
Tuesday, February
18, 2025, by
the Morgan City
Harbor and Terminal
District
(MCHTD), at the
District’s 7327
Highway 182 1st
Floor Media Room,
in Morgan City,
Louisiana until
12:00 P.M, and
MCHTD shall at
that time and
place publically
open the bids and
read them aloud.
ANY PERSON
REQUIRING SPECIAL
ACCOMMODATIONS
SHALL
NOTIFY FACILITY
PLANNING
AND CONTROL
OF THE TYPE(S)
OF ACCOMMODATION
REQUIRED
NOT
LESS THAN
SEVEN (7) DAYS
BEFORE THE
BID OPENING.
FOR: Dock Expansion
– Bulkheading,
State
Drydock & related
Dredging
Slip Maintenance
Dredging
at Bollinger
Morgan City
P R O J E C T
N U M B E R :
36-P15-23-01
Complete Bid
Documents may be
obtained from:
GIS Engineering
LLC
197 Elysian Dr.,
Houma, Louisiana,
70363
985-219-1000
Ann Schouest
bidquestions@
gisy.com
upon deposit of $
125.00 for each
set of documents.
Deposit on the
first set is fully
refundable to all
Prime Bidders upon
return of the
documents, in good
condition, no later
than ten (10) days
after receipt of
bids. Fifty percent
of the deposit
of all other sets of
documents will be
refunded upon return
of documents
as stated above.
All bids shall be
accompanied by
bid security in an
amount of five percent
(5.0%) of the
sum of the base bid
and all alternates.
The form of this
security shall be as
stated in the Instructions
to Bidders
included in
the Bid Documents
for this project.
The successful
Bidder shall be
required to furnish
a Performance and
Payment Bond
written as described
in the Instructions
to Bidders
included in
the Bid Documents
for this project.
A PRE-BID
CONFERENCE
WILL BE HELD
at 10:30 AM on
Thursday, January
30, 2025 at
the Morgan City
Harbor and Terminal
District
(MCHTD), at the
District’s 7327
Highway 182 1st
Floor Media
Room, in Morgan
City,
Louisiana.
Bids shall be
accepted from
Contractors who
are licensed under
LA. R.S. 37:2150-
2192 for the classification
of Heavy
Construction.
Bidder is required
to comply with
provisions and requirements
of LA
R.S. 38:2212(B)(5).
No bid may be
withdrawn for a
period of forty-five
(45) days after
receipt of bids,
except under the
provisions of LA.
R.S. 38:2214.
The Owner reserves
the right to
reject any and all
bids for just cause.
In accordance with
La. R.S. 38:2212(B)
(1), the provisions
and requirements
of this Section; and
those stated in the
bidding documents
shall not be waived
by any entity.
Bid documents
are posted on
http://www.centralauctionhouse.
com. To view
these, download,
and receive bid
notices by e-mail,
you must register
with Central Auction
House (CAH).
Vendors/Contractors
have the
option to submit
their bids electronically
or by paper
copy. For information
about the electronic
submittal
process, contact
Ted Fleming with
Central Auction
House at 1-866-
570-9620.
Each bid shall
be either hand
delivered by the
bidder or his
agent, or such bid
shall be sent by
United States
Postal Service registered
or certified
mail with a return
receipt requested,
or shall be submitted
electronically
with Central Auction
House (CAH).
Bids shall not be
accepted or taken,
including receiving
any hand delivered
bids, on
days which are
recognized as holidays
by the United
States Postal Service.
The mailing
address for bids is:
Port of Morgan
City Admin Office
7327 Highway
182
Morgan City,
Louisiana 70381
No bid received
after the scheduled
time for opening
will be considered.
Failure of the
U.S. Mail to deliver
the bids timely
shall not be considered
due cause
for the scheduled
time of the bid
opening to be
extended.
Bids must be
submitted on the
Louisiana Uniform
Public Works Bid
Form furnished
with the Bidding
Documents. A single
set of Bidding
Documents shall
be issued at the
cost of reproduction
to contractors
who are licensed
by the Licensing
Board of Contractors.
Adv. Jan. 17, 24

mmm

and 31, 2025
Cost: $99.00
PUBLIC NOTICE
LEGAL NOTICE
Sixteenth
Judicial District
Court
——
PARISH OF
ST. MARY
——
STATE OF
LOUISIANA
Vanderbilt
Mortgage and
Finance, Inc.
Vs. No. 138861
Div “B”
Theresa Faye
Johnson and
Barcardi Trenice
Johnson
TAKE NOTICE,
that by virtue of
Order of Seizure
and Sale issued
out of the Honorable
16th Judicial
District Court, in
and for the Parish
of St. Mary, and to
me directed, in the
above numbered
and entitled suit, I
have seized the following
mentioned
and described
property, to wit:
One (1) certain
2023 Clayton Manufactured
Home,
M o d e l
37SAV16803DH23,
bearing serial
n u m b e r
CS2029921TN
to satisfy the
sum of ONE HUNDRED
THIRTEEN
T H O U S A N D
EIGHT HUNDRED
NINETY
FOUR AND 33/100
( $ 11 3 , 8 9 4 . 3 3 )
DOLLARS, plus
interest on the
principal amount
of $111,195.75 at
the rate of 10.50%
per annum from
October 10, 2024
until paid together
with Fifteen (15%)
percent of the total
amount due and
payable as attorneys
fees, or such
other reasonable
amount as fixed by
this Honorable
Court and all costs
of this proceedings,
as well as all
sheriff ’s costs and
commission
All successful
bidders must have
cash, cashier’s
check or a verifiable
letter of credit
in favor of said bidder
from a solvent
bank, savings and
loan association or
other such financial
institution
authorized to do
business in the
state of Louisiana
and full payment
must be made on
the date of sale.
Letter must state
that money is
available on the
date of sale.
I shall expose
the same at public
sale, for Cash,
according to law
WITHOUT appraisement
to the
last and highest
bidder, at the principal
front door of
the 1st floor lobby
area of the Court
House in the Parish
of St. Mary,
Town of Franklin,
Louisiana, on
Wednesday, the
5th day of February
A.D., 2025,
between the legal
hours commencing
at 10 O’Clock A.M.
Sheriff ’s Office
Parish of St. Mary,
La.
Tuesday, the 12th
day of November
A.D., 2024
GARY L.
DRISKELL,
SHERIFF
By: Heidi Rineholt
Deputy Sheriff
Adv. Jan. 24, 2025

mmm

The past week’s extreme weather shows again that the end of January seems to be a favored time for south Louisiana to shiver under brutal temperatures and marvel at heavy snow, but the month doesn’t have exclusive chill rights.
The coldest weather in south Louisiana has come about, as it has this time, when cold, cold air plunges down from Canada. Most of the time the icy blast stops before it gets to us, but it seems to be a more frequent visitor in recent years. We get our biggest snowfalls when that cold air collides with warmer, moister air from the Gulf, which happens pretty often. If the snow doesn’t melt, it can make things still colder because it will reflect away most of the sun’s warming rays.
Just a year ago, an Arctic blast sent us sleet and snow on Jan. 15, sending real temperatures into the 20s and wind chills into single digits. Opelousas registered a low of 15 degrees, Crowley saw 17 degrees and Abbeville dropped to 18. Temperatures fell to 21 as far south as Cameron and Berwick.
In 2022 the big freeze came in December, just in time for Christmas.
We felt the coldest temperatures on the morning of Dec. 23, and lows fell into the upper teens on Christmas Eve and Christmas mornings. The year before, icy weather in the middle of February 2021 sent even colder air — 12 degrees at DeRidder, 13 at Grand Coteau, 16 at Cameron, 17 at Abbeville.
A cold front from the north ran into moist Gulf air on December 8, 2017, bringing a more than an inch of snow at Ville Platte and a half inch at Eunice, but four inches or more at places closer to the Gulf.
Mid-January was again favored in 2014. My notes for my home town of Washington show that snow and ice blanketed the town on January 28, 29, and 30, sending overnight temperatures into the teens and that the temperature stayed below freezing for practically all of that time. The town also got a dusting of snow in the early morning of Jan. 24, when freezing temperatures lasted all that day and an icy mix of snow and rain closed schools and businesses. Two snows in two weeks are a real rarity.
Ville Platte saw more ice accumulation than some other towns during the winter storm that began on Feb. 3, 2011.
But all of south Louisiana saw at least a trace of freezing rain that clung to electric lines and caused widespread power outages.
In 2010, bitterly cold Arctic air camped over south Louisiana on Jan. 7, and stayed for several days Some communities stayed below freezing for more than 36 hours, from around midnight on Jan. 8 through the afternoon of Jan. 9. The cold was blamed for several house fires.
The snowfall on Dec. 4, 2009, was said to be the earliest ever recorded in south Louisiana, and still is.
Eunice got 3 inches. Ville Platte got 2, practically everybody got at least an inch. That was even earlier than the year before, when snow fell on Dec. 11. Washington got 6 inches in 2008, Ville Platte got 5, Eunice got 3, Church Point saw 2½.
A big ice storm kept things frigid for three days in January 1997, with the usual effects, but also, according to a report from the Lake Charles weather office by Mark David Roth, an unexpected side effect was an areawide baby boom. Admissions at local hospitals were 150% of normal during August, September, and October.
The worst of the January freezes may have been 85 years ago. On Jan. 23, 1940, more than 10 inches of snow fell on some parts of south Louisiana.
The Associated Press reported that day that “except in the coastal regions, Louisiana and Mississippi today are mantled in the heaviest snow in years, measuring from one to 13 inches.” Snow began to fall early on the morning of Jan. 22, turning during the day into sleet, then into a cold rain.
That snap helped make January1940 the coldest month in south Louisiana history.
Across the area, the temperature dropped below freezing on 22 of the month’s 31 nights, including a stretch of 17 consecutive nights beginning Jan. 15. Temperatures fell into the teens on five nights.
That 1940 freeze induced or worsened a flu outbreak that took several lives. E.A. McIlhenny reported “incalculable damage” to the Jungle Gardens at Avery Island. Cattlemen drove herds into the woods, where there was some shelter from a biting north wind. It didn’t save many cattle.
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief in early February, when, finally, the freezing gale from the north shifted to the south and brought warm winds from the Gulf.
Nobody knew that in just a few months those gentle southerly breezes would turn into a hurricane that stalled on top of us. It caused one of our worst floods ever, making 1940 not only our coldest year on record, but also the wettest.
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

Our new president has just taken office, and one of his priorities is to seek out the possibility of buying Greenland.
Its closest neighbor is Iceland, so maybe Trump can get a twofer, a lagniappe deal for both countries. And both countries have something in common that could set an example for the United States.
There is 100% literacy and some 10% of the population have actually written books. With such frigid weather, most Greenlanders and Icelanders opt to read regularly all year long. If you’re a book publisher like me, and want to sell a lot of books, that’s great news and a fitting example for our country.
And particularly with this wave of cold weather we here in the Bayou State are experiencing, if you are stuck inside, what better way to pass time by reading a book. 
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t carrying around something to read. The luck of the draw gave me parents who surrounded my siblings and me with books, storytelling, poems, and lengthy letters when we were away from home.
I was immersed in words, and books gave me a special outlet to deal with aspirations, doubts, and a wide range of emotions. I had notes and rhymes taped to my class notepads. Early on it was Dr. Seuss:
 The more that you read
the more things you will know
the more that you learn
the more places you will go.
 As I grew older, I would shudder at the thought of waiting somewhere and not having something to read.
Today, I would not even consider making an appointment for medical treatment, renewing a driver’s license, arriving at an airport, or even waiting for a table at a restaurant without a book or newspaper in my hip pocket.
Maybe that’s why I love baseball so much. There is a lot of down time between innings and even between batters when I can sneak in a page or two. I get itchy if I’m waiting anywhere for more than three or four minutes. Why didn’t I bring along something to read?
A few years back, Baton Rouge had a very minor league baseball team, the River Bats that played at Goldsby Field, a small baseball arena close to the present Louisiana governor’s mansion.
I had season tickets on the first-row right behind home plate, and the average attendance was generally around seventy-five to a hundred fans.
Supplied with a large box of popcorn, a cold beer, and an arm full of newspapers I had saved up, I relished several hours of reading and light entertainment. I’ve had front row LSU basketball season tickets for over 45 years.
The local paper printed a picture of me reading a novel during one such game, and shortly after I received a call from LSU Coach Dale Brown.
He’s an old friend, but he implored me to be more diplomatic in pulling out reading material while the game is going on.
Am I judgmental? Absolutely. Maybe I don’t judge a book by its cover, but I never hesitate to judge a person by what current book, if any, they are reading.
A bibliophile snob? I certainly am. But please don’t tell that to any of my numerous non-reading friends. I try to be diplomatic, and would rather not, well, make them angry
I rarely discard any of my book collection, much to my wife’s chagrin. Oh, I’ll give a book to a friend if they ask me for a recommendation for something to read.
I intentionally keep a few extra copies of a favored novel just for that purpose.
 Books offer both a barrier and a response to calamity in our lives. So with freezing weather keeping most of us indoors, why not curl up with a good book, and keep a diary. Who knows? You might end up on the book best seller lists.
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 his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.