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The original plans for Morgan City’s new Emergency Operations Center included a warehouse for emergency materials and supplies. But there wasn’t enough money in 2015, so the warehouse had to wait.
In 2023, the federal government awarded a grant for construction of the warehouse. But the grant wasn’t funded.
Then, on March 22, the same budget deal that warded off a partial federal government shutdown directed $2.3 million to the Port of Morgan for the long-deferred warehouse.
“We’re guaranteed,” port Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said. “We’re in. We’ve got it.”
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette and the man who represents most of St. Mary in the House, announced the $2.3 million in funding late last week. The same press release announced $2 million in funding for a biomedical research facility at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Wade also credited Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, for his work on behalf of the warehouse project on the U.S. Senate side.
Now the Emergency Operations Center has the money to build the 10,000-square-foot warehouse, eight years after the center opened. The center houses U.S. Coast Guard personnel and the St. Mary Levee District office as well as the port administration.
“We had to take our time for the right opportunity,” Wade said.
The Higgins press release noted that the congressman voted against House Resolution 1102, which authorized the funding.
“I opposed House Resolution 1102 because of the total level of overall spending and the removal of many Conservative policy riders through the Senate,” Higgins said in his press release.
“However, I dedicated months of effort to get our community funding language included in the 12 appropriations bills that were passed through the House.
“My office worked very closely with our local government entities and district stakeholders for the better part of 2023 to secure Louisiana 3rd District funding in the legislation. These projects are critical for South Louisiana’s economic prosperity and financial growth.
“My office has long prioritized funding for our communities, and we will continue to work through the Congressional appropriations process to deliver wins for Louisiana.”
GOMESA
money
On Monday, Higgins’ office also announced that $1.3 million for St. Mary Parish is included in $156.3 million being distributed from Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act funds.
The federal government collects GOMESA funds from offshore energy producers and distributes it to coastal counties and parishes. Higgins said the money headed for St. Mary will be used for coastal restoration work.
“This announcement is a major investment for South Louisiana’s prosperity,” Higgins said. “GOMESA provides critical funding for coastal restoration and mitigation efforts along Louisiana’s coast.

MONTHLY
FEEDING
For seniors and the needy at noon Saturday, April 6, at Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church, 113 Federal Ave., Morgan City. Dine-in only.

ANNUAL
WOMEN’S DAY
At 9:30 a.m. Sunday, April 28, at New Salem Baptist Church, 1412 Cherry St., Patterson. Speaker will be Sister Regenia B. Leonard, Zion Chapel AME Church, Patterson. Public is invited.

In early 1919, a newspaper writer mused that “with the advent of spring comes the yearning in the heart … for the great national past-time — baseball.”
It was a sentiment shared across south Louisiana, where rivalries had been building at least since the 1880s.
Louisiana’s first teams were in New Orleans.
The Picayune reported in 1859 that a game between the Louisiana Baseball Club and “Jones’s side” was “virtually the inauguration of this noble and manly game among us.”
Teams were scattered across the rest of south Louisiana well before 1891, when the Abbeville Meridional lamented that “for the past two years there has been a marked decrease in the vim with which our boys have entered the base ball [sic] arena.”
The Meridional said 1891 opponents would include Breaux Bridge, Abbeville, Lake Charles, Lafayette, and possibly Orange, Texas.
The Gulf Coast League was probably the first here with Big League ties.
It was formed in 1907 and included the Alexandria White Sox, Lafayette Browns, Lake Charles Creoles, Monroe Municipals, Opelousas Indians, and Orange Hoo-Hoos. That version of the league lasted only through the 1908 season, but it was revived for short runs in the 1920s and again in the 1950s.
By then communities had begun to realize that a good rivalry with nearby teams brought visitors (and money) to town.
A “hotly contested” game between St. Martinville and Broussard was front page news in the St. Martinville paper in April 1914, but the editor moaned that the game was poorly attended because the bad roads kept Broussard fans away.
St. Martinville and Broussard were among a handful of semi-pro teams in the area at that time.
A 1919 newspaper account said “teams like Rayne, Lafayette, [and] Jeanerette [are] reputed to be the classiest and fastest in Louisiana semi-professional circles.”
Baseball also flourished early to the Black community. In April 1923, the Teche News promoted “a big game” between the Patterson Giants and St. Martinville Black Eagles.
 In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Lafayette Big Chiefs drew substantial crowds, taking on teams from New Orleans, Hammond, Opelousas, Jeanerette and Port Arthur, and also powerhouses such as the New York Cubans and Carta Blanca All Stars, “made up of outstanding players from Mexican leagues,” according to the Advertiser.
The newspaper said 4,000 fans turned out for a game against the New Orleans Creoles, “including 1,033 white fans.”
A big parade celebrated the return of professional ball to Crowley when the Gulf Coast League was revived in 1950. The Signal reported, “Headed by the bands of St. Michael’s and Crowley High schools, the parade will feature a total of five Crowley Boy Scout troops in full uniform, three Cub Scout packs in parade dress, the Negro American Legion post drill team, … all of the Crowley Miller baseball players, and officers and board of directors of the Crowley Baseball Association.”
In that opening game, “Johnny George’s crew put on a top show in scoring a 6-2 victory over the Lake Charles Lakers before a paid attendance of 2,000.”
The Evangeline League is probably the best known of the south Louisiana leagues.
It began in 1934 with six teams, including the Alexandria Aces, Lafayette White Sox, New Iberia Cardinals, Opelousas Indians, Rayne Red Sox, and a team that began the season as the Lake Charles Explorers but finished as the Jeanerette Blues.
Play was suspended during World War II, but the league started again in 1946 and continued until 1957, when teams included the Crowley Millers, Lafayette Oilers, Lake Charles Giants, Alexandria Aces, Baton Rouge Rebels and Thibodaux Senators.
The league by that time had settled a bit from the days it rightfully was called the “Hot Pepper league” because brawls were as common as double plays. It helped that two umpires were used in the league’s later years.
In the early days, only one man had to call balls and strikes, umpire the bases, and keep watch on the outfield. League historian Paul Leslie said it was more than one ump could handle, and caused some chicanery.
"On close plays in the outfield, the distracted official lost sight of the base runners who often took shortcuts across the diamond to either third base or home plate,” he wrote.
I know that to be true. I still remember a game I attended as a young boy in Lake Charles during which the crowd, seeing the ump looking the other way, rose almost in unison to yell, “Cut across, Shorty! Cut across.”
I don’t remember Shorty’s real name (if I ever knew it), but I do remember that, to the delight of the crowd, he barely avoided the pitcher’s mound as he ran directly from first to third.
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

DEAR ABBY: I need a second opinion. My grandfather sold me an old farmstead that has been in the family for 200 years. Last week, he showed me a wooded area behind the barn with a human skull. He told me that when his father died more than 50 years ago, he was curious about how long it would take a body to decompose, so he left his body in the woods to keep track of its progress. He has 50 years’ worth of pictures and notes. He told the rest of the family that Great- Grandpa had been cremated, and apparently no one questioned him about the ashes.
At this point, the skull is all that’s left. I checked with a lawyer, who tells me that in my state no laws were broken. That said, I don’t want my great-grandfather’s skull sitting in the woods behind my barn! My husband says I should quietly bury it, burn the pictures and the notes and forget about it. That just doesn’t feel right to me.
It feels like I’m helping my grandfather get away with something and it feels “icky.” Should I tell the rest of the family, or continue allowing them to believe that Great- Granddad was cremated? I’m resenting my grandfather for putting me in the middle of this, and any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.
BOUGHT MORE THAN I BARGAINED FOR

DEAR BARGAINED: Your letter is a first. Why do I get the impression that your grandfather must have HATED his father to have treated his remains so disrespectfully? The farmstead and everything that goes with it is yours now to keep or dispose of.
What you need to do is decide whether to donate your great- grandfather’s skull to a medical or dental school (or coven?), place it in a columbarium or bury it on your property. As to whether to tell the rest of the family, what positive thing would be accomplished by sharing this unpleasantness with them? You are a caring individual; let your conscience be your guide.

DEAR ABBY: I’m a full-figured 25-year-old woman who lives at home. My family has three dogs. Every night, I go into my mother and father’s bedroom to pick up the youngest one to hold for a few minutes and say goodnight. The dog likes to sleep closer to the middle of the bed, so I need to bend over to reach the dog. When I bend over, my mother gives me a “look” because she says my shirt starts to reveal my body and I should be “mindful” of my dad.
I wear long T-shirts, long pants, and sometimes bras when I’m around the house because I’m trying to be mindful of my dad and younger brother. I want to be free to not think I need to cover up when I’m doing something small like picking up the dog. Dad is a good man. He has never disrespected me in any way as I matured into a woman, so my mother’s extra “carefulness” bothers me. What should I do?
JUST WANT MY DOG

DEAR JUST WANT: Because at 25 you are still living under your mother’s roof, you should respect her wishes. Once you get a place of your own, you can bounce around as much as you wish.

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