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Shrimp and Petroleum Festival royalty

Mon, 08/28/2017 - 10:46am

Peter Bello Photography
Jimmy Skiles of Berwick and Emma Thomas of Morgan City were presented as the 82nd Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival King and Queen during a coronation Saturday at the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium. Skiles, a Berwick High graduate, is an Army veteran. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Nicholls State University in 1973. The former Shrimp and Petroleum Festival board member is executive vice president at Laborde Marine. Skiles has volunteered many years as a coach for baseball, softball, basketball and football, and served on many recreation boards. He is a member of the API advisory board and has served on many oil industry boards. He and his wife, the former Edie Dilsaver, have three children and seven grandchildren. Thomas, 19, is the daughter of Christy and Ruben Thomas of Morgan City. The Central Catholic High School graduate is majoring in kinesiology with a concentration in occupational therapy at LSU. They will reign over the festival which will be held Thursday through Monday in downtown Morgan City.

Wheel House for Aug. 28

Mon, 08/28/2017 - 10:41am

MIXER
Senior citizens and teenagers invited to an Intergenerational Mixer 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, at Berwick Civic Complex. Dancing and laughter planned. Sponsored by Berwick High School Interact, St. Mary Parish Council on Aging, and Berwick Town Council.

Police Reports 8-28-17

Mon, 08/28/2017 - 9:53am

Franklin Police Chief Sabria McGuire reported the following arrests:
Harry Johnson, 38, of Ibert Street, Franklin, was arrested Thursday at 7:33 a.m. on a warrant for Third Ward City Court for failure to appear on the charge of speeding. Johnson was booked, processed, and released on a $350 bond.
Marie Sophus, 61, of Isabella Street, Franklin, was arrested Thursday at 10:39 a.m. on a warrant for the charge of remaining where forbidden. Sophus was booked, processed, and released to appear in Third Ward City Court.
Chitimacha Police Chief Hal Hutchinson reported the following arrests:
Javier Davison, 24, of City Place Drive, Lockport, was arrested Friday on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released on a summons.
Courtney Flanagan, 25, of St. Joseph Street, Raceland, was arrested Friday on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia and released on a summons.
While patrolling the reservation, an officer observed a vehicle that did not stop at a stop sign. This resulted in a traffic stop. During the traffic stop, Davison and Flanagan were arrested.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff Mark Hebert reported the following arrests:
Juvenile male, 15, was arrested Friday at 11:41 a.m. on the charge of possession of Schedule I - marijuana. School resource officers responded to a school in regards to a juvenile being in possession of marijuana while on campus. The juvenile was released into the custody of his guardian pending juvenile proceedings.
Clifford Badeaux, 60, of 623 Martin Luther King Road, Charenton, was arrested Friday at 5:20 p.m. on warrant for the charge of theft of utilities. While investigating a different incident, deputies made contact with Badeaux. Deputies learned that Badeaux had an active arrest warrant. The warrant stemmed from a complaint made on May 5, 2015, where deputies found evidence that Badeaux had stolen utilities. Badeaux was transported to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center for booking. Bail is set at $1,000.
Harold Melancon Jr., 44, of 120 Bayou View Drive, Franklin, was arrested Friday at 11:38 p.m. on the charge of simple battery. A deputy patrolling the Franklin area was dispatched to a local bar in regards to a fight. Deputies found evidence that Melancon was involved in a physical altercation with the victim. Melancon was released on a summons.
Jake Gaddy, 24, of 208 Tunica Drive, Charenton, was arrested Saturday at 2:13 a.m. on charges of driving while intoxicated and careless operation with crash. A deputy patrolling the Baldwin area responded to a report of a single vehicle crash on La. 87, near the 5400 block. The deputy observed the vehicle to be resting in the roadway. While speaking with Gaddy, the deputy could smell an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and observed indicators of impairment. Gaddy later registered a 0.219g percent blood alcohol concentration on a breath test. Gaddy was transported to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center for booking. He was released on a $3,000 bond.
Devin Bell, 26, of 719 Gabriel Street, Franklin, was arrested Saturday at 2:45 a.m. on a warrant for failure to appear on the charges of no vehicle registration, operating a vehicle without a driver’s license on person, and failure to honor written promise. A deputy in the Patterson area observed a vehicle traveling with a broken tail light. The deputy conducted a traffic stop on US 90 near Red Cypress, and made contact with Bell. The deputy learned that Bell held an active warrant. Bell was transported to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center for booking. Bell was released on a $355 bond.
Jervis Bazile, 37, 118 Lancelin St., Baldwin, was arrested Saturday at 11:39 p.m. on charges of domestic abuse battery, unauthorized entry of inhabited dwelling, failure to obtain special identification card sex offender and a Lafayette Parish warrant for failure to appear for fine and the charge of no driver’s license.
A deputy patrolling the Baldwin area responded to a residence, in regards to a fight. The deputy found evidence that Bazile entered the residence through a window without permission, and also threw a can of beer at the victim after a verbal altercation. While speaking with Bazile, the deputy learned that he was carrying an expired sex offender identification card and held an active warrant for his arrest. Bazile was transported to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center for booking. No bail is set.
Evan Hebert, 23, of 10310 E. Admiral Doyle Drive, New Iberia, was arrested Sunday at 1:19 a.m. on charges of driving while intoxicated, open container in motor vehicle and improper lane usage. A deputy patrolling the Baldwin area observed a vehicle traveling on La. 182 cross both the center line and white fog line. The deputy conducted a traffic stop near Adeline Bridge Approach Road. Upon making contact with Hebert, the deputy smelled an odor of alcohol emitting from the vehicle, and observed an open container of alcoholic beverage resting in the center console cup holder. Hebert performed poorly on the standardized field sobriety test conducted by the deputy. Hebert later registered a 0.145g percent blood alcohol concentration on a breath test. Hebert was transported to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center for booking. He was released on a $3,250 bond.
Edmond Robertson, 60, of 112 Jolivette St., Baldwin, was arrested Monday at 1:52 a.m. on the charge of improper telephone communications. A deputy patrolling Saint Joseph responded to several reports of false medical emergencies at a residence. The deputy found evidence that Robertson placed several calls to E-911. Robertson was transported to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center for booking. No bail is set.

Parish officials ready for up to 10 inches of rain

Mon, 08/28/2017 - 8:58am

Rain chances diminish for festival weekend

By ZACHARY FITZGERALD

zfitzgerald@daily-review.com

Tropical Storm Harvey is expected to bring as much as 10 inches of rainfall to the Tri-City area during the next few days, but St. Mary Parish officials say the area should be able to handle that type of rain event.

Rain chances will start to diminish for the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival that starts Thursday and continues through Labor Day weekend.

As of 7:30 a.m. Monday, Harvey was still a tropical storm but “quite lopsided with most of the weather far east of it,” said Meteorologist Donovan Landreneau of the National Weather Service’s Lake Charles office.

The Morgan City area could get 5 to 10 inches of rainfall through Labor Day weekend. Most of that rain will likely fall within the next two to three days, he said.

Duval Arthur, St. Mary Parish’s emergency preparedness director, said officials are preparing for up to the predicted 10 inches of rain during a four-day period. Arthur expected the bulk of that rainfall to occur Monday and Tuesday with 3 to 4 inches each day.

“We should be able to handle that without much problems,” Arthur said. “Our pumps are certainly adequate to take care of that.”

Arthur expects St. Mary Parish to get through the storms all right. Wind shouldn’t be an issue for St. Mary Parish, and storm surge should be minimal on the parish’s coastline.

The Tri-City area will have essentially 100 percent chance of rain through probably Wednesday, Landreneau said.

“We’re just going to have continuous rounds of showers and thunderstorms,” Landreneau said. “The system is expected to lift out Wednesday late afternoon and Thursday.”

However, rain chances will only slowly diminish Thursday, when the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival kicks off in downtown Morgan City. Rain chances will drop to about 40 to 50 percent for Labor Day weekend.

“It should be quite a bit less coverage than now,” Landreneau said.

Louisiana’s coast could experience 20 mph to 30 mph winds from Harvey with higher gusts possible, Landreneau said.

The center of Harvey is expected to slowly make its way from the Texas coast into east Texas. Most of the bad weather is going to occur northeast of the center.

As a precautionary measure, sand is available for residents to fill their own sandbags under the parish barn on La. 182 under the water tower in Bayou Vista and under the U.S. 90 bridge in Amelia, Arthur said.

Sand and bags are available under the U.S. 90 bridge in downtown Berwick for residents to fill their own bags, Mayor Louis Ratcliff said. Sand is available under the U.S. 90 bridge on David Drive in Morgan City, Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said.

Sand and bags are also available for Patterson residents at the fire station across the tracks on the corner of Veterans Boulevard and Progresso Road and at the Public Works Department located on Taft Street, Patterson Mayor Rodney Grogan said. Residents must bring their own shovels.

The southeast Texas region has gotten 15 to 20 inches of rainfall, with some areas getting as much as 25 inches. That rain event “almost looks very, eerily reminiscent of the Baton Rouge and Lafayette flooding” during August 2016, Landreneau said.

Tornado warning for Baldwin, Sorrel, Four Corners until 9:15 a.m. Monday

Mon, 08/28/2017 - 8:48am

A tornado warning is in effect for west St. Mary Parish, including Baldwin, Sorrel and Four Corners, until 9:15 a.m. Monday, said Duval Arthur, the parish's emergency preparedness director.

HMS receivers

Mon, 08/28/2017 - 7:36am

The Hanson Memorial Tigers receivers are pictured above. They including, kneeling left to right, O.Brien Verdin, Jake Srigley, Kevin Garrette and Jacob Rogers. Standing left to right, Zach Weber, Hunter Vice, Pierce Hanagriff, Logan Rodriguez, and William Splane.

Bayou Teche Youth Football

Mon, 08/28/2017 - 7:35am

Bayou Teche Youth Football team was honored by the St. Mary Parish Council at its regular meeting Wednesday. The 12U team has been chosen to compete at half-time at the Saints game this week. Each year, the NFL and USA Football partner with youth organizations throughout America with its 360 Initiative, James Gibson told the council.

K-9 'Buddy' Receives tactical vest from Canine Wounded Heroes

Mon, 08/28/2017 - 7:34am

Canine Wound Heroes provided a tactical vest to St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office K-9, “Buddy.”
The non-profit’s mission is to protect police dogs from gunshot, stabbing injuries and death by providing vests to agencies who want to protect their K-9’s. Thanks to its donors, the organization provides the vests at no cost to law enforcement agencies.
Made in the USA, the E613 ballistic vest was provided by K-9 Tactical Gear and is equipped with stab protection and a stabilized body extraction harness.
K-9 Buddy was provided with the vest thanks to donations made by people across the country to Canine Wounded Heroes.
“We are appreciative of the generosity of the people who support Canine Wounded Heroes who helped us fill this need,” Sheriff Mark Hebert said. “The new vest will help keep K-9 Buddy and his handler safe as they perform their duties to the citizens of St. Mary Parish.”
The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office also thanked Didi Battle and Delores Stewart of Franklin for their assistance which ultimately led to receiving the grant for the K-9 vest.
If you’d like to participate in this great cause visit Canine Wounded Heroes’ website at http://www.caninewoundedheroes.org or their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/caninewoundedheroes/

St. Martin schools to close Monday

Sun, 08/27/2017 - 9:18pm

All St. Martin Parish public schools/offices will be closed Monday. Subsequent closures will be on a day-by-day basis, Superintendent Lottie Beebe said in a news release.

The latest: Tornado confirmed in Cameron

Sat, 08/26/2017 - 4:37pm

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Latest on Louisiana's preparations for Hurricane Harvey (all times local): 3:50 p.m. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says the National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado touched down in the Cameron Parish town of Hackberry. The tornado hit about 12:25 p.m. Saturday. Edwards says there were no reports of injuries or fatalities but there was "significant property damage." Meteorologist Jared Rackley says they have yet to survey the area but photos show an overturned camper and other damage. Rackley says a tornado watch is up for most of southwest Louisiana and south-central Louisiana until 2 a.m. Sunday. He urges residents to ...

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