RSS Feed

John K. Flores: Duck season optimism runs high, but numbers are low

Fri, 11/15/2024 - 6:00am

JOHN K. FLORES

Despite warm weather, despite swarms of mosquitos, and despite low duck numbers, Louisiana’s West Zone duck hunters went to the marsh this past weekend to open the 2024-25 waterfowl season.
Per usual, waterfowl hunters went to the field with high expectations. They always do. They read and gobble up, good or bad, information during the off season. And, honestly, it wasn’t good.
Just prior to the September special teal season, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service released their annual Waterfowl Population and Status Report. The 2024 report revealed duck numbers were up 5% from 2023’s survey and down 4% from the overall long-term average. In all, there were 33.9 million breeding ducks estimated in the U.S. and Canada.
To the average person who doesn’t duck hunt, this might seem like a large number, but one only has to go back to 2016 when the same survey estimated 48.3 million breeding ducks. Essentially, duck numbers have been on an eight-year decline.
The reasons for these declines are many and complex. Changes in agricultural practices, ethanol mandates in gasoline, hunting pressure, coastal habitat loss, a falloff in Conservation Reserve Program participation, and climate change all have played a part. None the less, waterfowl biologists agree, the breeding duck population isn’t what the fall flight ultimately will be once little ducks are hatched and become big ducks; those that survive the nesting season that is.
This ultimately brings us to November’s Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries aerial survey conducted just prior to last weekend’s opener.
The 2024 November estimate of 510,000 ducks in Louisiana’s coastal region and Little River basin is again, the lowest on record, and 12.7% lower than last November’s previous record low estimate of 584,000, the report says.
The report goes on to say this year’s estimate is 37% lower than the most recent 5-year average of 809,000 ducks and 58% lower than the most recent 10-year average of 1.2 million.
As far as coastal habitat, the aerial survey points out marsh conditions in the Southwest as being generally good and were good to very good overall in the Southeast.
So, how was opening weekend? Bayou Guide Service’s owner/operator Bill Lake hunts the marsh south of Gibson. According to Lake, his normally lush marsh that’s usually full of subaquatic vegetation is void of grass this year.
Lake said, “We have no grass on the lease. Hurricane Francine pushed saltwater via the Intracoastal into the lease and killed all of the vegetation. We only shot three ducks Saturday and didn’t go Sunday. This season may be over already.”
Troy Lefort hunted an area known as the Burns opening day just west of the Mermentau River and Creole on Sunday in Southwest, Louisiana.
Lefort, who resides in Lake Charles, said, “Everybody who hunted, there were three blinds on our section that were hunted limited out. Me and my daughter hunted in Creole on Sunday. A friend of mine who hunted Creole on Saturday said they killed 30 teal in 32 minutes opening day. We were late getting to the blind on Sunday, but still killed our 12 birds in 40 minutes. It was an absolutely insane opening weekend.”
Most of the birds Lefort and his daughter killed were both blue-winged and green-winged teal he says. But, unlike Lake’s ponds south of Gibson, Lefort said his ponds in Creole were absolutely covered in duck weed, which he says he hadn’t seen the likes of in many years.
Further west in the Johnson Bayou area, Steve Stroderd from Carlyss hunted with his son and a family friend opening day.
Stroderd said, “What a fun opener we had this weekend in spite of the heat and mosquitos. We managed a decent mess of birds. We were a couple short of our limit on Saturday. Sunday was another warm one, but we tamed down the mosquitos and ended up with another nice mess of birds — mostly blue-winged — but some green-winged teal too.”
Britt Cavalier, owner/operator of E&E Machine Shop in Houma, hunted close to his home in Chauvin opening morning.
Cavalier said, “Opening day was pretty phenomenal. There were plenty of hunters in the marsh and the teal flew great. We were done around 7:30 in the morning. Day 2 was much slower, still had plenty of hunters around, but nowhere near as many birds in the air.”
Teal reports pretty much reflect the LDWF’s aerial survey where blue-winged teal numbers made up the bulk of birds (229,000). There were 26,000 green-winged teal estimated along the coastal parishes along with 87,000 gadwalls.
This Saturday, duck season opens in the East Zone, which represents much of the Atchafalaya Basin and farm country North and Northwest of I-10 to the Arkansas state line.
It’ll take some cold snowy weather in the mid-continent prairie states to push ducks down to coastal Louisiana. For now, hunters will have to settle for teal and mix of other puddle ducks they have until then.
John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.

Assault, child porn charges result from Wednesday arrests

Thu, 11/14/2024 - 2:40pm

Staff Report

(Editor’s note: The charges listed here and the narratives that go with them are provided by the police agencies that made the arrests. Guilt or innocence has not been determined in court.)

St. Mary deputies reported Wednesday arrests on aggravated assault and child pornography charges.

St. Mary

Sheriff Gary Driskell reported that over the last 24-hour reporting period, the Sheriff's Office responded to 37 complaints and made these arrests:

--Edgar Roberto Vaquera, 35, Amelia, was arrested at 8:04 p.m. Wednesday on charges of aggravated assault and battery of a dating partner.

Bail has not been set at this time.

--Jason Arlen Deville, 43, Schriever, was arrested at 10:54 a.m. Wednesday on a warrant alleging failure to appear on a charge of possession of marijuana. Bail was set at $7,500.

--Jeffery Mark Lejeune, 60, Bayou Vista, was arrested at 3:33 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of possession of pornography involving juveniles. Bail has not been set at this time.

Franklin

Chief Cedric Handy reported that the Franklin Police Department responded to eight calls for service over the last 24-hour reporting period and made this arrest:

--Chloe Westman, 20, Oakdale Street, Franklin, was arrested at 6:41 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of simple assault. Westman was booked, processed and held on a $1,000 bond.

Morgan City radio logs for Nov. 13

Thu, 11/14/2024 - 1:57pm

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the police department at 985-380-4605.
Wednesday, Nov. 13
7:02 a.m. 300 block of Wren Street; Disturbance.
8:01 a.m. 800 block of Victor II Boulevard; Alarm.
8:28 a.m. 700 block of Duke Street; Complaint.
9:02 a.m. 1000 block of Greenwood Street; Crash.
9:30 a.m. 300 block of Bowman Street; Complaint.
11:28 a.m. 700 block of Justa Street; Alarm.
12:01 p.m. 1100 block of Marguerite Street; Medical.
2:21 p.m. 600 block of Leona Street; Complaint.
2:56 p.m. 1000 block of Clothilde Street; Subject removal.
3:12 p.m. 700 block of Justa Street; Alarm.
3:54 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Disturbance.
4:42 p.m. 1800 block of Filmore Street; Complaint.
4:46 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Complaint.
5:14 p.m. 1100 block of Chester Bowles Street; Disturbance.
5:52 p.m. La. 182/Martin Luther King Boulevard; Crash.
6:06 p.m. 1500 block of North Third Street; Alarm.
6:13 p.m. 900 block of First Street; Welfare concern.
6:45 p.m. 400 block of Kidd Street; Complaint.
7:28 p.m. 800 block of South Everett Street; Medical.
8:57 p.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Animal complaint.
9:43 p.m. 800 block of Brashear Avenue; Medical.
10:22 p.m. 900 block of Short Street; Complaint.

Parish president: State will pay for Morgan City flood protection upgrade

Thu, 11/14/2024 - 1:35pm

BILL DECKER

bdecker@daily-review.com

FRANKLIN — Help is on the way for flood control in Morgan City, St. Mary Parish Council members learned Wednesday.
In other business, two measures that appeared unlikely to cause controversy — renaming a Sorrel Park for a recently deceased volunteer and a resolution supporting Louisiana shrimp — were sources of debate Wednesday.
Flood money
Parish President Sam Jones told the council that Gov. Jeff Landry has allowed coastal protection and restoration funds to be used to upgrade some of the pumps that protect Morgan City from flooding inside the levee system.
The move comes after Hurricane Francine dumped heavy rain on the city Sept. 11. The official rainfall total was about 10 inches, with anecdotal reports of 20 inches or more in isolated areas, all in about half a day.
Francine caused water damage in an estimated 350 Morgan City homes.
Consolidated Gravity Drainage District 2A has a series of pump stations that are designed to move water out of the city during heavy rain.
The pump upgrade will cost $4.5 million-$6 million, Jones said. GIS Engineering LLC of Baton Rouge, a company specializing in coastal restoration work, has been hired for the work.
Sorrel park
Councilman the Rev. Craig Mathews of Jeanerette introduced an ordinance renaming Sorrel Community Park in honor of Laddy Jean Butlers, a longtime park volunteer who died Oct. 14.
A public hearing and passage vote were due at Wednesday’s meeting. The hearing brought divided opinions into the picture.
Some speakers objected to renaming the park after a single person when others had served on the park board and donated their time.
“I don’t think it would be right to name the park after just one person,” Latarsha Charles told the council. “As I said, this has already divided the community.”
Others spoke in favor of the name change, citing Butlers’ long service, even mowing the park’s grass when she was fighting cancer.
Mathews said he was surprised at the reaction to the proposed ordinance. At his urging, the council tabled the ordinance until a public forum considers the name change.
Shrimp
Councilman Rodney Olander of Franklin, a commercial fisherman for more than 40 years, introduced a resolution asking the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival organizers to offer only Louisiana shrimp at the festival.
Olander is also a member of the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force, which asked Sea D Consulting to evaluate shrimp at the 2024 festival in Morgan City. Sea D is a food safety company that has a technique for tracing the origin of shrimp.
The test made national news when four of the five shrimp vendors evaluated were found to be serving imported, farm-raised shrimp, probably from Ecuador or India. All five vendors said they were serving Gulf of Mexico shrimp, Sea D said.
The festival board later issued a statement saying it will require vendors to follow a law prohibiting the labeling of foreign shrimp as domestic. The law takes effect in January.
The resolution “tells everyone that the St. Mary Parish Council supports our local shrimpers,” Olander said.
But Councilman Dean Adams of Morgan City felt the resolution unfairly singles out the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival.
Other objections centered on the possible difficulty of acquiring enough wild-caught Gulf shrimp to fill the needs of vendors and customers.
“I don’t want to tell people what to buy,” said Councilman Les Rulf of Patterson.
Olander expressed surprise at the opposition to the motion.
“I go to Washington every year to fight for the industry,” Olander said. “We’re losing the industry.”
The council passed the resolution 9-2, with Adams and Rulf voting no.

Wheel House for Nov. 15

Thu, 11/14/2024 - 1:27pm

MASS CHOIR
ANNIVERSARY
11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 24, Good Hope Baptist Church, 908 Washington St., Patterson. Chosen colors: Black and gold.

THANKSGIVING
SOCIAL
Honoring our seniors, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, Patterson Area Civic Center. Presented by Friends of the Patterson Community. Hosted by Charles McKinley and Allise J. Salazar.

Marine Corps birthday

Thu, 11/14/2024 - 1:23pm

On Sunday, Marine Corps League St. Mary Detachment No. 600 celebrated the Marine Corps' 249th birthday. "We gathered as a family and ate and swapped sea stories," said a spokesman. "It was a great time."

Submitted photo

La. House passes corporate, personal income tax cuts

Thu, 11/14/2024 - 1:14pm

ELLA RAY and GRACE THOMPSON, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – Key provisions of the governor’s plan to cut personal income and corporate taxes passed the state House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The House voted 87-12 to shift individual income tax rates to a flat 3% and 83-14 to eliminate the corporate franchise tax.
These bills, which now move to the Senate, are designed to shift revenue collection in the state to sales taxes on more items and away from income taxes as a bid to make Louisiana more attractive to taxpayers and businesses.
“We’re trying to put more money in the pockets of Louisiana citizens so they can choose on the sales tax side what they purchase,” said Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, who shepherded the bills through the House floor.
In addition to setting a 3% flat tax, the bill would raise the standard deductions for individuals. Currently, individual income tax rates are tiered so that the rates increase as incomes rise. The maximum tax level is just over 4%.
Emerson said that individual income taxes punish those who make more money. Anyone who makes more than $12,500 per year would receive lower rates, she said. The average income in Louisiana in 2022 was around $30,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“This is our attempt to consolidate it into a flat tax which we believe is more fair,” Emerson said.
Some Democrats have countered that collecting more money from sales taxes is unfair to residents with lower incomes.
The elimination of the corporate franchise tax, which is a tax merely to own property or conduct business in the state, would begin on Jan. 1, 2026, with certain business tax credits ending on June 30, 2025. Emerson and her allies argued that this move would attract out-of-state business to Louisiana.
“The best thing about this tax is that it has zero impact on the state general fund,” Emerson said, referring to the state’s ability to spend money. She went on to explain that all funds received from the corporate franchise tax go directly into the Revenue Stabilization Fund, a state trust fund.
With this, some representatives expressed their worries regarding who would gain the most from the removal of the tax.
“Where would the savings from eliminating this tax go to?” asked Democratic Rep. Matthew Willard of New Orleans, implying that corporate stakeholders, rather than workers in Louisiana, would receive the most significant advantages.
Rep. Mandie Landry, also a New Orleans Democrat, expressed her concern, implying that this repeal would unfairly favor non-Louisianian corporations at the expense of local-owned businesses.
“This is mostly going to benefit out-of-state corporations,” Landry said.
Emerson described the franchise tax as “regressive” and “arbitrary” and claimed its repeal would allow Louisiana to overall attract more businesses to the state that might choose other states with more advantageous tax systems.
Each part of the package, including a proposal to start charging sales taxes on many business services, works together, Emerson said, to fill the loss in money caused by cutting income taxes.
“The package all works together to get as close to revenue neutral as possible,” she said.
However, some representatives were uncertain about how that would work out in reality.
Many of the criticisms of the bills had a similar theme: Why is the Legislature voting on creating a loss of revenue without knowing if it will also pass the measures to make up the money?
“So we’re supposed to vote on cutting the budget by about a billion dollars a year without roughly knowing now how we’re going to plug it?” asked Landry, the Democratic lawmaker.
Bills seeking to fill the revenue loss will go before the House in the coming days. One bill features a list of nearly 50 “luxury services” like car towing and pet grooming that would be subject to sales tax.
Other legislation eliminates or reduces tax exemptions that certain businesses and industries use such as the film industry to make movies in Louisiana.
The House also approved on Tuesday a complex series of provisions that will go before voters on March 29.
Lawmakers would transfer certain tax benefits like the $75,000 homestead exemption on property taxes from the state Constitution to state statute.
Each bill passed with about 80 votes.
The changes would also merge two state savings accounts, double the standard deduction on income tax forms for seniors and exempt the purchase of prescription drugs from local sales taxes.
It would pave the way to give teachers a $2,000 raise by using $2 billion in education trust funds to pay down a portion of the teachers retirement system debt and use the savings on debt service to pay for the raises.
The proposal would give school support workers a $1,000 raise.

Ticket for the Boy Scout dinner

Thu, 11/14/2024 - 1:06pm

Submitted photo
Lenny Dartez, right, gives Morgan City Police Chief Chad M. Adams the first ticket for the annual Boy Scouts of America Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 12 at the AARP building, 4014 Chennault St., Morgan City. Take out orders are available. For ticket information, call Dartez at 985-759-0515, Bill Cefalu Sr. at 985-397-1445 or Dan Duplantis at 985-518-7486.

Malek joins Life Coast Community Health Center

Thu, 11/14/2024 - 12:53pm

Life Coast Community Health Center announced the addition of Dr. Andrew Malek to the medical staff in Thibodaux.
Malek is a board-certified family medicine physician.
"We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Malek to our Thibodaux location," said Shannon Boudreaux, CEO of Life Coast Community Health Center. "His expertise in family medicine and dedication to community health align perfectly with our mission to provide comprehensive, high-quality care to all residents of south Louisiana."
Malek completed his family medicine residency at the Institute for Family Health (Mid-Hudson) in July, following his medical education at the American University of Antigua. His diverse background includes global health initiatives, having participated in medical outreach programs in Lebanon and Antigua.
To schedule an appointment, please call 985-492-6170.

Dear Abby: The daughter who refuses to see the truth

Thu, 11/14/2024 - 12:32pm

DEAR ABBY: My daughter, “Virginia,; age 27, lives with her boyfriend, “Ray,” on the East Coast and teaches kindergarten. Last month, she confided that she had caught him cheating. She saw texts on his phone. When she confronted him, Ray immediately confessed and was very apologetic, but he also kept the woman’s number in his phone.
Ray will soon be moving to another state, and her job will end in about three weeks. Virginia is seriously considering going with him and has also mentioned marriage. Her mother and I are divorced due to her mother’s infidelity, but we agree that we will counsel her not to stay with him. Although he took responsibility, cheating is destructive in any serious relationship.
I have gone back and forth with Virginia via email, but sometimes she stops communicating. I haven’t been harsh, but I did ask her why Ray would keep the other woman’s number unless he wanted to remain in contact with her.
Can you think of anything else a worried dad can do to help the situation? Obviously, Virginia can ignore parental advice and do what she wants. I am also wondering what I can say to Ray when I see him next. I neither want to give him a pass nor condemn him as a monster.
STRONG DAD
IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR DAD: Talk with your daughter, face-to-face if possible. Tell her that, as an adult, she can do what she wants, but as a caring parent, you cannot stay silent. Remind her that Ray KEPT THE OTHER WOMAN’S NUMBER, which means he intends at some point to contact her. Explain that, to you, this means he is less committed to your daughter than he should be.
As to what you might say to Virginia’s boyfriend, tell him you are disgusted by his selfishness and dishonesty, and he doesn’t deserve your daughter. If you have any more thoughts on the subject you would like to share, feel free to air them.
DEAR ABBY: What would you say about a man who offered his wife’s siblings an all-expense-paid trip to Paris, knowing that his wife could not consider going on such a trip because of mobility issues?
Full disclosure: The husband and wife have been to Paris in the past (when the wife’s health was OK), but the husband feels the need to go again and has no one else to accompany him. His wife will be left home alone to fend for herself. Somehow, this whole deal leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Please set me straight.
HOMEBODY IN NORTH CAROLINA

DEAR HOMEBODY: People with physical disabilities travel internationally all the time. If the husband has the money to take his wife’s siblings on an all-expense paid trip to Paris, surely he could afford to take his wife AND A CAREGIVER with him on that trip down memory lane. That way, she would be looked after and still be able to enjoy the trip to the degree that she’s able. Has no one suggested it besides me?

***

What teens need to know about sex, drugs, AIDS and getting along with peers and parents is in “What Every Teen Should Know.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 to: Dear Abby, Teen Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447.