RSS Feed

Baldwin’s Board of Aldermen received news Thursday of an estimated $271,000 of expected grant relief to be awarded for use in the repair of the town’s water treatment plant.
The news came from State Rep. Sam Jones during the monthly meeting at Baldwin Town Hall.
Jones addressed the board and others in attendance firstly, by presenting a letter from Gov. John Bel Edwards, in which Edwards congratulated the town of Baldwin for winning a grant for $35,000, to be used to fix a pump and replace a filter at the water treatment plant.
However, concerning the remainder of the $271,000, there was a caveat. Jones informed the board that the remaining $236,000 comprising the $271,000 was slated to be awarded, but was being held up due to political restructuring in Washington, DC.
Jones lamented that money can get hung up in the bureaucracy of government, with ease. He advised, “File your contracts as quickly as you can get ‘em, and pull your money down as quickly as you can get it.”
According to Jones, the remainder of the town’s grant funds only have left to be released, but the official who was to release the funds was recently fired, leaving the grants unreleased until the vacant seat can be filled. Jones did say he had faith that the funds would soon be released and that the town would then only have to raise another $29,000 to achieve its initial goal of $300,000 estimated to fully repair the water treatment plant.
Jones suggested the board apply for a United States Department of Agriculture grant to make up the $29,000 deficit, as well as to look into procuring the services of a professional grant writer, thereby maximizing the efficiency and surety of attaining sought-after monies.
Though a significant portion of the board meeting belonged to Jones, he was by no means the only contributor at the podium.
Former alderwoman and concerned Baldwin citizen Thor Frederick addressed what she perceived as a lack of police presence in the town. She cited as example a recent incident in which Mayor Donna Lanceslin was assisting by directing traffic through an intersection, with no police on the scene.
“None of these comments are personal,” Frederick said. “My point in all of this is the lack of concern for the job, (that of the chief and the officers), and their possibly tending to matters of a second job while on town time. You have to take care of your first job before you take care of your second job. You can’t do one on top of the other.”
Frederick went on to propose that the writing of citations by the police department could become a systematic component of augmenting the town’s “financial situation,” as she had seen state highway patrol units in the town, doing that very thing.
She also urged the citizens of Baldwin to exhibit fidelity in the regular paying of their utility bills, to assist in the financial stability of the town and the providing of its civil services.
She closed by saying, “The only thing I want to see, is for Baldwin to thrive and survive, and only the citizens of Baldwin can do that.”
Assistant Police Chief Joe Garrison answered Frederick’s charges by stating that he, the chief, and the officers of Baldwin had been working tirelessly for the security of the community. He pointed out that every call the department received, including that from Frederick, as recently as a few weeks ago, was answered in a thorough and timely fashion. To which, Frederick consented, and commended the department.
Lance Mire was recognized as Baldwin Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief, and the community was informed of Fit Fun and Fabulous Serving St. Mary Parish, a conglomerate effort of organizations to benefit the community, to be held all day Oct. 5, in downtown Franklin.

Submitted Photo
The Berwick Branch of the St. Mary Parish Public Library has prepared an informational display promoting the annual ham radio event at the Berwick riverfront 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. The display includes information on ham radio, as well as a model display for the shoebox contest for families. The Ham Radio Day is an international event to contact lighthouses around the world. The day will include ham radio contacts, children’s activities, Town Market vendors, homeland security, a presentation on the solar eclipse, food and snowballs. The event also includes a family contest with family prizes. The contest is to decorate a shoebox to look like any era radio; it does not have to work, just look like a radio. Information on the contest and ham radio can be seen at the Berwick Branch Library. Pictured from left are Carol Sealine, Susan Worth and Trinisha Johnson.

It’s a simple message: Beware of racism in the United States.
But Procter & Gamble took a calculated risk with its ad that features black mothers speaking to children about racial bias through the decades. The company says it knew there might be a backlash — and the ad has been criticized as being anti-police or anti-white. But it says it felt after hearing from consumers that the ad would be worth it.
“The Talk,” which makes no mention of any P&G product, has been the talk of social media.
The ad is part of a shift by some corporations that are making emotional appeals to consumers by treading into territory that could be polarizing. But experts say there are likely to be more of these ads, as companies seek younger customers who respond to them.
“Brands just can’t push their messages out there,” said Luis Garcia, president and lead strategist of MarketVision, a San Antonio, Texas-based marketing firm. “They have to create meaningful ways that are going to engage people.”
Consumers have so many choices among so many brands, Garcia said, that people remember only what matters to them.
In the P&G video released online last month, a mom in the 1950s tells her daughter she is not just “pretty for a black girl,” as someone told the girl, but “beautiful, period.” And a mom in the 1960s tells her son he may hear an epithet, but not to let it hurt him. Another mom, this time in the 1990s, reminds her son to take his identification with him as he sets off for practice.
None of the company’s products, like Pampers diapers, Tide detergent or Crest toothpaste, are shown. Instead, after clips of mothers giving children “the talk,” the video invites people to discuss it online with the hashtag #TalkAboutBias.
The ad is scheduled to begin airing on national television this week.
Damon Jones, a spokesman for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, said not including products in “The Talk” was a conscious decision because the company wanted viewers to focus on its message. Ads for P&G products often feature smiling babies wearing its diapers or highlight dishes that sparkle after using its soap.
“There’s a time for product placement,” Jones said. “There’s a time to do something broader.”
Jones said the company believed now was the time to tackle racial bias after hearing feedback from consumers. He said “The Talk” ad seemed like an evolution from other socially conscious Procter & Gamble efforts, and cited its #LikeAGirl campaign that criticized emojis for being “stereotypical” and “limiting” toward women.
Procter & Gamble isn’t the first company to try to tackle difficult topics. Some brands are specifically known for taking positions on political or social issues. Other big brands have tried it too. Earlier this year, Nike unveiled its “Equality Has No Boundaries” commercial featuring well-known athletes. And Anheuser-Busch released a Super Bowl ad that focused on its founder’s immigrant past.
Such ads often draw criticism, not only from those who oppose the social message but also sometimes from people it’s trying to appeal to.
Pepsi was reproached early this year over a video that took images from Black Lives Matter protests and ended with Kendall Jenner, a white woman, giving a police officer a can of Pepsi. Critics said the commercial trivialized the issue of black residents’ interaction with police.
And two years ago, Starbucks launched a “Race Together” campaign aimed at getting customers to talk about race, only to end it shortly after critics claimed it was poorly executed and a marketing ploy.
The P&G ad has drawn positive and negative reactions.
Jennifer Johnson of Detroit said the conversations portrayed in the ads are rooted in real life. She says she’s had similar talks with her now-adult daughter over the years.
“She liked to go out and I would tell her to be careful,” said Johnson, 55, who is black. “She would say ‘alright, ma. I got you.’”
Johnson also believes that the ad, although illustrating black experiences, is meant for all audiences and that it may steer more business toward P&G products.
Victor Taylor, a black 63-year-old retiree in Bakersfield, California, called the ad “reality.”
“That’s what (black) children go through every day,” Taylor said about being treated differently. “I don’t find the ad prejudiced. I found it informing to the children growing up.”
Still, the ad didn’t make him want to go out and buy Crest or Tide, Taylor added.
Some social media users saw the ad as stroking racial animosity. Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin said it amounted to “identity-politics pandering” and alienated law enforcement.
“P&G should stand for quality consumer goods, not empty Protest & Grumble that divides more than it unites,” Malkin wrote.
Robert Passikoff, president of the customer research firm Brand Keys Inc. in New York, said that’s the risk Procter & Gamble took and wondered how shareholders, even those who agree with the ad’s message, might respond. P&G is currently resisting activist investor Nelson Peltz, who is seeking faster changes and better financial results from the consumer products company.
“I’m the last of the Mad Men era,” Passikoff said. “I believe companies are not there for social change. They are there to sell products.”
But Benjamin Bates, a professor of health communication at Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication, said he believed the reward outweighed the risk since the ad appealed to African-Americans, and younger consumers who are more comfortable with diversity.
“The people the ad would alienate are a small percentage,” Bates said. “I, as a CEO, would probably think, ‘If I lose some racists because of this, I’m OK with that’.”
Jones said the company is exploring more campaigns that tackle difficult issues about gender, racial and equality.