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April 11, 1995 – July 16, 2017
Cody Allan Morgan of Baldwin passed away at the all too young age of 22 in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 16, 2017, as the result of an automobile accident. Cody was born on April 11, 1995 in Lafayette, the younger of two children born to Troy Allan Morgan and Brenda Fontenot Morgan. He was a 2013 graduate of West St. Mary High School in Baldwin as well as a graduate from SLCC. Cody had a sharp wit and clever mind. He loved to make people laugh through his dry and corny sense of humor. He lived life his way and truly walked to the beat of a different drum. But Cody was also a very compassionate young man who overcame many troubles that life tends to throw our way. He had a fighting spirit and that fight enabled him to come out of the darkness to find his sunshine. Although Cody was a man of few words his love for family and friends was never in question. He will be fondly remembered and truly missed by all who knew and loved him.
Those he leaves to cherish his memory include his parents, Troy Allan Morgan and Brenda Fontenot Morgan; his sister, Jerica M. Foster and her husband Cody; his maternal grandmother, Esther Sargee Fontenot; his paternal grandparents, Chester Morgan and Bonnie Odum Morgan; two nephews, Landon and Luke Foster; one uncle, Lynn Fontenot; two aunts, Glenda F. Marcel and Tammy M. Romero; his close friend, Zach Pichoff; as well as numerous cousins, family members and friends.
He was preceded in death by his maternal grandfather, Leo B. Fontenot.
Private services will be held with interment in Perpetual Park Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be Troy Allan Morgan, Cody Foster, Clay Berry, Zach Pichoff, Lynn Fontenot Sr., and Hunter Chargois. Honorary pallbearers will be Landon and Luke Foster.
Family and friends may view the obituary and express their condolences online by visiting www.iberts.com.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Ibert’s Mortuary, Inc., 1007 Main Street, Franklin, La. 70538, (337) 828-5426.
Linda Vincent Francis, 63, a resident of Franklin, La. passed away on Sunday, July 16, 2017 at 6:58 am at the Franklin Foundation Hospital in Franklin, La.
Visitation will be observed on Saturday, July 22, 2017 at Lighthouse Missionary Baptist Church 1110 Barrow Street Franklin, La., from 8 a.m. until funeral services at 10 a.m. Reverend Allen Randle will officiate the services. Burial will follow funeral services in the Perpetual Park Cemetery in Franklin, La.
She leaves to cherish her memories her husband Micheal L. Francis of Franklin, La; a son Shawn M. Francis of Arlington, Texas; a daughter, Mrs. Kelly (Tressala) Roberts of Breaux Bridge La.; seven grandchildren; five brothers: Leslie Barabin of Los Angeles, Calif.; Keith Lewis and Kevin Lewis of Houston, Texas, Shelton Vincent of San Diego, Calif. and Sheldon Vincent of Harvey, La.; seven sisters, Diane Lewis, Sandra Lewis, Annette Lewis of Los Angeles, Calif., Carol Vincent and Pastor Sharon Vincent Jones of New Iberia, La., Debra Lewis and Kathy Lewis of Franklin, La., and Mrs. Kelvin (Paula) Drexeler of Baldwin, La.; eight brothers-in-laws; three sisters-in-law, three aunts; one uncle, and a host of nieces, nephews, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, and step-father.
Jones Funeral Home of Morgan City-Franklin-Houma-Jeanerette in charge of arrangements.
Visit www.jones-funeral-home.com to send condolences to family.
Franklin Police Chief Sabria McGuire addressed the City Council Tuesday with an update on the Safe Zone program in Franklin.
McGuire said that when the Safe Zones were implemented, they were used by the immediate community and by people outside the immediate community, primarily for the exchange and commerce of goods. “Mainly it’s used for child exchange, now,” McGuire said. “The courts are ordering for the child to be exchanged there because they know we do have cameras, and audio and video there. As far as items being sold, like on Craigslist, or with Instagram sales, that has decreased.”
McGuire expressed a desire to let it be known publicly that the Safe Zones are still a productive place for the purchase and sale of goods.
She pointed to a recent rash of oil field thefts in Iberia and St. Mary parishes, under circumstances surrounding such exchanges of goods, as proof that the Safe Zones’ utility should be considered for such transactions. “Of course if you use the zone, for something stolen, probably you are not going to come in front of the Police Department where there is constantly a police officer on site,” she said. “We do have the child exchange on Northwest Boulevard. That is working well, but we do want to get the buzz out about items being exchanged.”
Councilman Joseph Garrison commended Chief McGuire and her Department on their efforts concerning the Safe Zones, but then pivoted to the need in Franklin for an increased public effort towards citizens being on alert in their own community.
McGuire reported a success with such efforts in the Pecan Acres area. “Daywatch is coming,” McGuire said. “That meeting was extremely productive. We had over thirty citizens from that community that met with us. We are encouraging other neighborhoods to get involved.”
She said that the community of Pecan Acres had, since falling victim to 20 burglaries, banded together to address the crime in their neighborhood by crafting a clever system of communication among the citizens, used to identify, describe and report criminals to the police.
McGuire discussed a program called, LeadsOnline, implemented with the assistance of Mayor Raymond Harris Jr.
“We encourage everyone to write down their serial numbers,” McGuire said, “If you do have something stolen, we can get it put into the system. What LeadsOnline does, is they monitor pawn shops, social networks, and online networks such as Craigslist. We recovered stolen property from nine burglaries because people were able to report the makes, models, and serial numbers.”
That all started in that community,” McGuire said of Pecan Acres, “If you go to an area to do something that you are not supposed to do, don’t go to Pecan Acres, because they’re gonna know. They are still constantly watching.”
McGuire closed by saying that it took approximately two weeks to get the outbreak of burglaries in Pecan Acres under control. Though, she nodded one last time to perspective criminals of Pecan Acres, “If you are thinking of going there, they haven’t let their guard down. They’re still on alert.”
Then, to the Franklin community at large, she said, “If you see something, say something. Please don’t wait until the next day to call us. Call us when it is happening.”
Story and Photos by
CASEY COLLIER
City and town mayors of St. Mary Parish met with Keep St. Mary Beautiful chairpersons, municipal public works directors and Parish Councilman Paul Naquin Jr. at the St. Mary Parish Courthouse Monday to receive five Billy Goats from the chair and vice-chairpersons of KSMB.
At the meeting, parish and local officials signed memorandums of understanding to acknowledge acceptance and responsibility for the donated equipment.
Keep St. Mary Beautiful, the parish’s anti-litter and community organization, donated the five Billy Goats, MV multi-surface commercial vacuums, with half of the monies of a $10,000 state grant allocated to KSMB from tourist funds. The donation of the Billy Goats was touted by Patterson Mayor Rodney Grogan to have been researched and executed by Didi Battle and Oletha Hebert, the chair and vice-chairpersons of KSMB, respectively.
The machines are made by Billy Goat Industries, located outside of Kansas City, Missouri.
Each of the municipalities of St. Mary Parish received a Billy Goat with the exception of Patterson, due to lack of necessity, Grogan said. Among the remaining recipients, Franklin and Morgan City will retain single units, loaned from the parish, on a full-time basis. Baldwin and Berwick will share a unit, depending on timing and necessity. Though, it was also agreed that the Billy Goats would be accessible to all municipalities by each municipality upon request.
The meeting was officiated by Mayor Grogan, who said of the donations, “This piece of equipment here can be used to vacuum up leaves, cans, bottle tops, cigarette butts and so forth. We are signing these memorandums today, because we’ve been afforded the opportunity to provide each governing agency here, with the MV lawn and litter vacuum, designated for both hard surfaces and turf. This equipment is ideal for both large properties and commercial lots, leaf cleanup in parks, city streets, sidewalks, and municipal festivals. It is also for cans, bottles, grass clippings, litter and other debris. It gobbles it all up.”
In addition to the purchase and donation of the Billy Goats, KSMB, using the remaining funds from the $10,000 state grant, purchased and donated a large recycle bin to be placed in the community of Verdunville.
A 71-year resident of Franklin and former city councilman, Skip Hebert, voiced his concern about the city’s plastic water meter covers floating away from their seats subsequent to heavy rainfall.
Hebert addressed the mayor and council at their regular meeting Tuesday.
Hebert’s concern lay in the question of the meter covers being attached to the meters by wires, which in some cases detach from the meter, and in so doing, may leave the meter’s account holder responsible for charges inconsistent to actual water usage.
Ed Hay, city director of finance, explained in reference to the meters, “Here’s how it works. The wires are hardwired into the device…even if someone were to tamper with the wires the meter itself records the readings. It’s internal, within the mechanism. It keeps the readings. We can always retrieve the readings even if something (like that) happens.”
Hay said the floating of the plastic lids off the meters is because current housings for the city’s water meters are cement boxes topped with plastic lids. Hay attributed the floating lids to their not fitting the concrete boxes correctly.
“What we are doing over a period of time, is replacing the cement boxes with plastic boxes that the tops fit to, and hold in place, so that we won’t have that problem,” he said. “Another thing we are working on right now is a system, a portal that every customer will be able to come to at City Hall, and sign up and get a password that will allow them to see their system, their water, and they’ll be able to regulate, and look and see what’s going on.”
In other business, the council heard from Jeff Billiot from Volunteers of America, an organization dedicated to housing homeless veterans. Though the Volunteers of America is based out of New Orleans, Billiot said they have an office in Houma, and that the region of coverage for that office includes Franklin. “We can’t be everywhere,” said Billiot, “So we’d like to extend our services through your assessments. If you see a homeless veteran, direct them to us.”
Also in attendance was Suzanne deMahy, with an announcement of her election as judge of the 16th Judicial Court, Division B. She was unopposed.
deMahy is set to be sworn in sometime in December. She will be replacing Judge Paul deMahy, who is set to retire by Dec. 31.
Also Tuesday:
—Carla Weindenborner announced her candidacy for Third Ward and Franklin City Marshal, to be decided by special election in October.
—Ordinance 3363 was adopted declaring certain movable property no longer needed for public purposes as surplus movable property; due to said movable property constituting a burden of unnecessary expense and consuming needed space and offering said property for sale that could be utilized by others; authorizing the Mayor and Council of the City of Franklin to auction said surplus movable property through the sealed bid process to the bidder submitting the highest sealed bid.
—A resolution authorizing Mayor Raymond Harris Jr. to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Office of Children and Family Services of the State of Louisiana was approved.
—Keep St. Mary Beautiful City-Wide Cleanup will take place August 12, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Stage parking lot.
—The City Dance Recital and Student Art Show will be held Saturday at the Teche Theatre. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the recital begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are on sale for $5 and can be purchased at the following locations: Broussard-Harris Recreation Center, T-shirts and Treasures, The French Door, The Lamp Lighter and Meyer’s Shoe Store.
The Patterson 10-year-old All-Stars knocked off undefeated Ville Platte twice Tuesday to advance to this weekend's best-of-three series in Alexandria as the Louisiana Dixie Youth South Regional Champion.
Patterson defeated Ville Platte, 5-0, in game one to force a winner-take-all game, which Patterson rallied from a 2-0 deficit with three runs in the fourth inning for the eventual win.
Patterson entered the South Regional final with one loss in regional play, an 18-4 defeat to Ville Platte Sunday, which moved Patterson to the loser's bracket.
The local squad advanced to Tuesday's final after defeating Ruston, 8-5, Monday.
This weekend, Patterson will face Girard, which defeated West Carroll, 10-0, for the Louisiana Dixie Youth North Regional Title Tuesday.
Game one will be held Friday, while games two and, if necessary, a third game, will be held Saturday. The winner of the series advances to the Dixie Youth AAA World Series in Oxford, Alabama, Aug. 5-10.
Look for more on the Patterson-Ville Platte game in Wednesday's newspaper and at www.stmarynow.com..
The Patterson 10-year-old All-Stars are the lone area Triple AAA team remaining in postseason play as the squad rallied for an 8-5 victory against Ruston at the Louisiana Dixie Youth South Regional in Ruston Monday.
Patterson now will advance to the championship game where it must knock off undefeated Ville Platte twice to advance to the best-, two-out-of-three state championship this weekend in Alexandria. Tuesday’s game will begin at 5:30 p.m. If Patterson wins game 1, an if-necessary game will follow at 7:30 p.m. Ville Platte handed Patterson its lone regional loss Sunday, 18-4.
Meanwhile, in the North Regional in West Monroe, Morgan City’s postseason run came to an end as it fell to West Carroll, 11-8, Monday.
Below is a look at Patterson’s and Morgan City’s regional contests.
Patterson 10s
The Patterson 10-year-old All-Stars have recorded a 3-1 record at the Louisiana Dixie Youth South Regional in Ruston with wins against the Monroe Americans (10-0) Friday, Ruston (8-7) Saturday and Ruston (8-5) Monday. The squad’s lone loss was an 18-4 setback to Ville Platte Sunday.
Against Monroe, Patterson picked up the run-rule victory in five innings. Patterson scored three runs in the first, one in the fourth and six in the fifth.
Patterson outhit Monroe 9-1.
Patterson pitchers Dillon Richard and Braden Mouton combined to surrender just one hit and one walk while fanning seven. Richard earned the win as he pitched three innings and surrendered one hit and fanned five. Mouton pitched two innings and walked one and fanned two.
Brylon Jennings and Mouton led Patterson’s offense. Jennings was 1-for-1 with a home run, an RBI and two runs scored, while Mouton was 2-for-3 with an RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored. Other top Patterson offensive contributors included Drew Dinger, 1-for-2, two RBIs and two runs scored; Richard and VJ Byrd, each 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored; Billy Jack Caldwell, 1-for-1, a stolen base and a run scored; Landon Lipari, 1-for-1, a run scored; and Parker Jennings, 1-for-2, two stolen bases and a run scored.
Against Ruston Saturday, Patterson scored three runs in its final at bat for the 8-7 walk-off victory. Trailing 7-5 entering the bottom of the sixth, Patterson scored three runs for the victory. Patterson outhit Ruston, 10-5.
Dinger led Patterson with a 2-for-3 performance with a double, an RBI, a stolen base and two runs. Other top Patterson offensive contributors included Parker Jennings, 2-for-3, an RBI and a run; Byrd, 1-for-3, two RBIs and a stolen base; Richard, 1-for-3, a triple and a run; Mouton, 1-for-3, a double and two runs; Landon Bernadou, 1-for-3, an RBI; Caldwell, 1-for-1, a stolen base and two runs; Lipari, 1-for-3; and Jennings and Haden Rebardi, an RBI apiece.
Byrd, the third of three pitchers Patterson used, earned the win. In 0.2 innings, he surrendered three walks.
Dinger started for Patterson on the mound. In 3.1 innings, he surrendered three runs (two earned) on two hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Mouton pitched two innings and surrendered four runs (four earned) on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
Against Ville Platte Sunday, Patterson led for much of the first three innings, rebounding from a 2-0 deficit in the top of the first with four runs in the bottom of the first and led 4-3 after three complete.
However, Ville Platte scored five runs in the fourth and 10 in the fifth for a commanding 18-4 lead. The game was called after five innings due to the mercy rule.
Ville Platte outhit Patterson, 15-7.
Offensively, Byrd led Patterson with a 1-for-2 performance with two RBIs and a run scored. Other top Patterson offensive contributors included Brylon Jennings and Bernadou, each 1-for-2 with an RBI; Richard, 1-for-1 with a run scored; Mouton and Dinger, each 1-for-2 with a run scored; and Parker Jennings, 1-for-2.
Mouton, the second of five Patterson pitchers, suffered the loss. In one inning, he surrendered five runs (five earned) on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
Monday against Ruston, Patterson rallied from a 5-1 deficit after three innings with three runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth.
Despite the loss, R u s t o n o u t h i t Patterson, 13-10.
Mouton, Dinger and Richard led Patterson’s offensive production. Mouton was 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Richard was 1-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Dinger added a 2-for-3 performance with two doubles, and three RBIs. Other top Patterson offensive contributors included Lipari, 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run; Brylon Jennings, 1-for-3 with a stolen base; VJ Byrd, 1-for-3; and Bernadou, 1-for-1.
Dinger, the third of four Patterson pitchers used, earned the win in relief. In 2.2 innings, he surrendered five hits and fanned two.
Morgan City 10s
The Morgan City 10-year-old All-Stars finished 2-2 at the Louisiana Dixie Youth North Regional in West Monroe this postseason.
Morgan City defeated Haughton (10-6) Friday and West Carroll (20-7) Saturday before falling to Girard (7-4) Sunday and being eliminated by West Carroll (11-8) Monday.
Against Haughton, Morgan City led 3-0 after two innings and 5-0 after three complete. Haughton scored two runs in the bottom of fourth, and each team scored two in the sixth inning for a 7-4 Morgan City lead. Morgan City scored three in the top of the sixth, and Haughton, two in the bottom of the frame for the final.
Morgan City outhit Haughton, 10-8.
Kyle Stansbury led Morgan City’s offense with a 2-for-3 performance with two RBIs and a stolen base. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors included RJ Bennett, 2-for-3 with an RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored; Benjamin Case, 2-for-4, a run scored; Gregory Hamer, 1-for-3, a double, an RBI and two runs scored; Bodie Hoffpauir, 1-for-2, an RBI, two stolen bases and a run scored; Brandon Cordero and Shamus LaCoste, each 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored; and Thomas Mancuso, an RBI.
Cordero earned the win. In 3.2 innings, he surrendered two runs (two earned) on three hits with three walks and fanned nine.
Against West Carroll Saturday, Morgan City earned the run-rule victory in five innings. Morgan City led 4-0 after an inning, 6-2 after two complete and 11-2 after the fourth. Morgan City scored nine more runs in the fifth, while West Carroll plated five in the bottom of the frame but couldn’t stop the early ending via the mercy rule.
Morgan City outhit West Carroll, 18-7.
Case, Hamer, Bennett and Stansbury led Morgan City’s offense. Case was 4-for-4 with three RBIs, two stolen bases and three runs scored, while Hamer was 3-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and two runs scored. Bennett was 3-for-4 with four RBIs, a stolen base and three runs scored, and Stansbury was 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, three RBIs and a run scored. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors included Hoffpauir, 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored; LaCoste, 2-for-4, two RBIs, a stolen base and a run scored; and Mancuso, 1-for-4, a double, two RBIs and a run scored.
Hamer earned the win on the mound. In four innings, he surrendered three runs (two earned) on four hits with three walks and fanned two.
Against Girard, Morgan City trailed the whole game as Girard took a 2-0 lead after an inning and led 4-3 after three complete. The Jefferson Parish team took a 7-3 after the top of the fifth, and Morgan City scored its final run in the bottom of the fifth.
Girard outhit Morgan City, 9-6.
Hamer led Morgan City with a 1-for-3 performance with an RBI and a stolen base. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors included Cade Menina, 1-for-1 with an RBI and a run scored; Case and Bryce Solar, each 1-for-2 with a run scored; Carter Whipple, 1-for-1, a run scored; and Bennett, 1-for-2.
Cordero suffered the loss. In 3.1 innings, he surrendered four runs (one earned) on six hits with one walk, one hit batter and fanned five.
Against West Carroll Monday, Morgan City could not hold onto a first-inning lead en route to being eliminated from the tournament. While Morgan City led 4-0 after the top of the first, West Carroll countered with five runs in the bottom of the frame and three more in the bottom of the third for an 8-4 lead. Morgan City cut its deficit to 8-6 in the top of the fourth, but West Carroll extended its lead to 11-6 in the bottom of the fourth. Morgan City scored its final two runs in the top of the fifth.
West Carroll outhit Morgan City, 6-5, and Morgan City committed four errors to West Carroll’s two miscues. Of West Carroll’s 11 runs, seven were earned.
Whipple led Morgan City with a 1-for-2 performance with two RBIs and a run scored. Other top Morgan City offensive contributors included Mancuso, 1-for-2 with an RBI; LaCoste, 1-for-3, an RBI; Stansbury, 1-for-1; Case, 1-for-4, a run scored; Bennett, an RBI and two runs scored; and Solar, an RBI.
Landon Aucoin suffered the loss. In an inning of work, he surrendered five runs (three earned) on three hits with two walks and one strikeout.
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The Patterson and Morgan City 10-year-old All-Star teams remain alive in regional play, but both will be trying to fight their way out of the elimination bracket as each lost their
games Sunday.
Both teams finished the weekend 2-1.
At the South Regional in Ruston, Patterson opened play with a 10-0 victory against the Monroe Americans Friday before rallying in its final at bat to defeat Ruston, 8-7, Saturday. The local squad fell Sunday to Ville Platte, 18-4. T h a t m e a n s Patterson falls to t h e e l i m i n a t i o n bracket where it will play Monday at 5:30 p.m. against Ruston.
Meanwhile, in West Monroe, Morgan City started the weekend with a 10-6 victory against Haughton Friday before routing West Carroll, 20-7, Saturday. Sunday, Morgan City fell to Girard, 7-4. Morgan City will return to action today at 5:30 p.m. when it faces West Carroll in an elimination game.
The north and south regionals will conclude Tuesday evening, and the winners from each will advance to play in Alexandria, beginning Friday, in a best, two-out-of-three series for the state title.
Look for more on each team, including stats from the weekend, in Tuesday’s newspaper.
Franklin Banner-Tribune
P.O. Box 566, Franklin, LA 70538
Phone: 337-828-3706
Fax: 337-828-2874
Morgan City Review
1014 Front Street, Morgan City, LA 70380
Phone: 985-384-8370
Fax: 985-384-4255