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September 1, 1928 -October 19, 2017

Onesime Joseph Richard, a native of Church Point and a longtime resident of Berwick, passed away Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017, at the age of 89.

Onesime was a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather. He worked diligently throughout his life to provide and care for his family as a farmer, carpenter, truck driver, police officer at the Berwick Police Department, and later a maintenance man for Cameron Iron Works. He was also a volunteer fireman and a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. A deeply devoted Catholic, he was a proud parishioner of St. Stephen Catholic Church where he assisted as a Eucharistic Minister and Usher. In his pastime, he enjoyed dancing and vegetable gardening.

Those left to cherish Onesime’s memory are his loving wife of 68 years, Aza H. Richard of Berwick; his children, Norma Jane Bower and her husband, Paul, of Bayou Vista, Judy Fontenot and her husband,
Dennis, of Bayou Vista, Charlotte Stewart and her husband, James, of Berwick, and Joey Richard, and his wife, Becky, of Bayou Vista; one brother, Robert Richard and his wife, Glenda, of Bayou Vista; nine grandchildren, Melissa, P.J., Nickie, Mill, Kimberly, Zach, Sandi, Jordan and Dawson; nine great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Ferrol and Elvina Savoie Richard; his brother, Ferdie Richard; and his sister, Theresa Cormier.

The family requests that visitation be observed Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a rosary being prayed at 7 p.m. at Hargrave Funeral Home of Morgan City. Visitation will resume Monday, Oct. 23, 2017, at 9 a.m. until time of Mass at 11 a.m. at St. Stephen Catholic Church of Berwick. Following services, Onesime will be laid to rest in the St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery in Patterson.

Normand Bergeron, 64, a resident of Morgan City, died Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017, at Morgan City Health Care Center.

Jones Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements, which are pending at this time.

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana’s governor and lawmakers have had no shortage of meetings about the impending “fiscal cliff,” when more than $1 billion in temporary taxes roll off the books and create a giant hole for the budget.

But so far, those meetings add up to a lot of talking and still no plan for closing the gap, as the months roll by and the cliff grows nearer. A House fiscal retreat held earlier this month wrapped up with lawmakers in the chamber saying they intend more meetings.

The $1 billion-plus shortfall hits July 1, with the start of the 2018-19 budget year. Though the state’s operating budget tops $28 billion, any cuts would come from the $9.4 billion general fund, the portion of money funded by state taxes, limiting which agencies would take the hits.

No one in the Louisiana Capitol has suggested a detailed list of cuts to strip that much money without devastating public colleges, the TOPS tuition program and health care services.

There’s a tacit expectation that some package of tax changes — whether removal of tax breaks, renewal of the expiring 1 percent state sales tax or something else — will be required to avoid deep, damaging reductions.

The conversations suggest officials understand the gravity of the looming shortfall and the implications for state services. Eventually, however, someone elected to help lead Louisiana has to step forward publicly with ideas, or everyone’s careening off the cliff together.

Gov. John Bel Edwards has held closed-door meetings to discuss the state’s finances with business leaders and local elected leaders around Louisiana, with the last ones planned this week in Lake Charles.

“I believe that we all hold a piece of the puzzle to enacting meaningful budget stabilization and reform,” the Democratic governor said after meetings in Monroe. “The pending $1 billion fiscal cliff is a collective problem requiring a collective solution.”

Edwards’ office says the governor will release a report about those meetings in November. Whether that will form the basis for a package of tax proposals remains unclear.

The governor’s roadblock in his previous effort to address the fiscal cliff was the majority-Republican House, where most tax bills must start and where nearly all tax bills were stymied. House GOP efforts to shrink state spending to lessen the size of the budget gap also failed.

Any tax plans will require a special legislative session to consider. Edwards wants to hold such a session early next year, before the regular session in which the next budget will be built. But the governor said he won’t call a special session unless he can reach agreement with House GOP leaders on what tax proposals they will support.

Senators are having their own conversations, but they are largely hamstrung until the House can reach a consensus.

Republican House Speaker Taylor Barras has traveled the state to visit with House lawmakers and has sat down with Edwards several times to discuss the budget.

Individual groups of legislators also have been gathering to talk about options.

Nearly two-thirds of House members attended a bipartisan, closed-door retreat this month to hear financial updates and hash out budget ideas.

“We know there are no easy solutions. We need to decide on two to three scenarios to solve this crisis, then find the votes,” Minden Rep. Gene Reynolds, leader of the House Democrats, said in a statement after the gathering.

Alexandria Rep. Lance Harris, head of the House GOP delegation, described it as “the first step in moving us forward to resolving our problems.”

Then, Harris described more meetings.

“From this point forward, we will be meeting as separate delegations and then come back together, hopefully with solutions,” he said in a statement.

Barras doesn’t seem inclined to spearhead his own plan, instead describing a consensus approach. On Thursday, he said the fiscal retreat opened “the floodgate for ideas” and “created lots of scenarios to consider as we go forward.”

“By the end of the year, December, certainly we will have a feel for where members are with the proposals. What finally coalesces, that could come sooner, that could come later. It’s hard to make that call,” he said.

Additional meetings are planned.
Melinda Deslatte has covered Louisiana politics for The Associated Press since 2000. Follow her at http://twitter.com/melindadeslatte

KENNER (AP) — Authorities have found the body of a man who was killed during an explosion on an oil and gas platform in Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto said a helicopter spotted the body of 44-year-old Timothy Morrison on Friday afternoon. He said the body was on the lake’s shoreline, about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the platform.

Morrison, of Katy, Texas, was a contract worker on the platform when the explosion happened Sunday in Jefferson Parish waters north of the suburb of Kenner.

Lopinto says investigators are still determining the cause of the blast. The explosion, which rattled homes in Kenner, injured seven platform workers, three critically.More oil than initially believed spilled off Louisiana coast

Oil spill bigger
than estimated
The Coast Guard says the amount of oil discharged into the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana’s coast last weekend is substantially higher than initial estimates.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement says oil spewed out of an underwater fractured pipe Saturday in the Gulf of Mexico about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of Venice, Louisiana.

The Coast Guard said in a news release Thursday that offshore oil and gas operator LLOG Exploration Offshore reports about 16,000 barrels of oil were discharged. The operator initially estimated that 7,950 to 9,350 barrels had spilled.

The Coast Guard says multiple flights over the area have detected no recoverable oil.

The Deepwater Horizon spill leaked more than 3 million barrels into the Gulf in 2010.