The ribbon was cut April 7 for Southland Firearms, 1557 Hwy. 90 East in Bayou Vista. The owner is David Hill. Also attending the ribbon-cutting were local officials and members and staffers from the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce.
Submitted Photo
On March 25, the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Well Mind LLC, 1014 Seventh St., Morgan City. Lena Turner is the owner of The Well Mind, which offers counseling.
When President Joe Biden recently signed off on a $1.5 trillion government spending measure, he also gave the green light to $178 million in earmarks for Louisiana that were secured by members of our congressional delegation.
For longtime political observers, it was a return to form. But the tally also showed just how far some of Louisiana’s lawmakers have advanced in Washington’s power structure.
From Billy Tauzin and Jim McCrery to Mary Landrieu and John Breaux, Louisiana lawmakers have a long and fruitful history of locking down earmarks for back home. By the turn of the current century, however, critics painted earmarks as a corrupt stick-and-carrot practice — forcing lawmakers to tap-dance around earmarks, rather than dance for them.
The practice fell out of vogue for roughly a decade, until it was revived nearly a year ago. Now there are safeguards attached to earmarks. Members requesting earmarks must be clearly identified, just like the recipients, and there are a host of other guidelines.
But the basic process remains the same. If a lawmaker has a need in their district and it meets all of the requirements, that proposed request can be placed in a spending bill. If the request, or earmark, survives the process, it becomes bacon to bring back home.
For the recently signed $1.5 trillion spending bill, every member of the House and Senate from Louisiana landed earmarks save one: U.S. Sen. John Kennedy. That may come as a surprise to you, especially since Kennedy is the only member from our delegation with an appropriations seat.
Kennedy isn’t prohibited from requesting earmarks as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In fact, a few of his fellow members notched impressive hauls. Sen. Richard Shelby, for example, collected $648 million in earmarks for his home state of Alabama, including $126 million for university improvements and endowments.
Asked why Kennedy didn’t have earmarks like the rest of the delegation, his communications director Jess Andrews released this statement: “As the only appropriator in the delegation, Sen. Kennedy has worked effectively to secure the projects Louisiana needs and Louisiana taxpayers deserve. Whether or not earmarks are allowed at any given time, the senator makes sure that our state punches above its weight, seeing that billions of dollars in Louisiana priorities get funded.”
According to the Associated Press, Louisiana had $178 million in earmarks in the recent spending bill, or $38.56 in spending per capita. In comparison, Mississippi received $266 million ($90.42 per capita), Alabama saw $541 million ($19.29) and Texas got $280 million ($9.49).
The biggest difference between today’s earmarks and those of yesteryear is how they’re doled out — even lawmakers who don’t support the host legislation can still score.
Congressman Garret Graves of Baton Rouge, for instance, joined most of his Louisiana colleagues in voting against the spending bill, but he still received more earmarks than any other Louisiana member of the U.S. House. “I’m supposed to say I didn’t vote for the bill, so I’m not going to go work projects for our district?” Graves told the AP. “No, that’s not what our job is.”
Based on a review of the spending bill by the data team at The New York Times, Graves had $45 million in earmarks in the legislation. He was outpaced only by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who received $104 million in earmarks, more than anyone else in the delegation, and ranked as 34th overall in the Senate.
As for the rest of the delegation, Congressman Mike Johnson of Shreveport secured $36 million in earmarks; House GOP Whip Steve Scalise of Jefferson, $30 million; Congressman Clay Higgins of Port Barre, $21.5 million; Congressman Troy Carter of New Orleans, $17.5 million; and Congresswoman Julia Letlow of Start, $13.6 million.
It’s a strong sign for Louisiana that three of our delegation members — Graves, Johnson and Scalise — are among the top 13 House members with the most earmarks. All three men have enviable positions in the leadership. In additional to Scalise serving as the GOP whip, Johnson is vice chair of the House Republican Caucus and Graves, as the Aviation Subcommittee’s ranking member, could make a bid to become transportation chair in the future.
As for the Louisiana projects connected to these earmarks, all of which have been vetted under the new system, they are plentiful and varied, touching on everything from water projects and sugar cane aid to university-level aerospace research.
While some folks might frown on earmarks, the new congressional guidelines have introduced additional accountability into the process. That’s a positive development not only for fans of good government, but also for champions of research and infrastructure spending. For lawmakers representing the political incubator that is Louisiana, earmarks likewise mean opportunities — and we should enjoy plenty of those in future spending bills.
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.
Lawmakers want to help retired teachers return to work
BATON ROUGE–The Senate Retirement Committee advanced a bill to make it easier financially for retired teachers to come back to work to help ease statewide shortages.
Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, the sponsor of the bill, said it addresses the shortage of teachers and other personnel. Mathematics, science, English, language arts and special education have all been identified as areas with shortages that require certified teachers.
Current law suspends retirement benefits for many teachers who return to work depending on when they retired.
Fields’ bill would expand the number of certified teachers in any subject area who could return without losing retirement pay. That would include any who retired before July 1, 2020.
Meanwhile, the House Education Committee advanced a bill Wednesday to maintain a database with training courses and requirements teachers must complete to become certified. The new database would allow new and experienced teachers to keep track of new regulations for professional certifications.
“We have a new social studies standard that come out,” author Rep. Buddy Mincey, R-Livingston, “We [need to] re-train our teachers on what that is.”
Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Bogalusa, pointed to a potential conflict in hiring retired teachers over new teachers.
“The only thing worse than not having people getting their teacher degree,” Mizell said. “Is people getting their teaching degree and not getting a job.”
Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Bossier City, added an amendment to Fields’ bill. The amendment would require schools to first contact colleges within a 120-mile radius about a job opportunity before giving it to a returning retiree.
“I want to make sure are those individuals who are in college, who are getting an education, that they are getting an opportunity to fill these positions,” Peacock said. “I don't want them to be overlooked.”
However, the number of new teachers coming out of the state’s universities has dropped sharply given that pay for teachers in Louisiana lags the Southern average.
“When I was in college, the largest department at Southern University was the Department of Education,” Fields said, adding that it is now one of the smallest departments.
LSU’s Department of Education reported that its Geaux Teach STEM department, which was founded to inspire a new generation of science and technology teachers, produced 30 graduates seven years ago but now is producing a dozen at most.
And it’s not just teachers facing shortages.
For schools seeking staff psychologists, “the situation is dire,” said Amber Harris, state delegate for the National Association of School Psychologists and board member of the Louisiana School Psychological Association, testified.
The national association recommends that schools should employ psychologists at a rate of one for every 500 students in a district. The rate in Louisiana is one psychologist for 3,300 students. Louisiana ranks in the bottom 10 when compared to all 50 states.
“We have a handful of school psychologists who are willing to come back to work if this did not impact their retirement,” Harris said, referring to rules that reduce or suspend retirement benefits for retired school employees who return to work.
According to Harris, Ouachita Parish had 12 school psychologists for the district, now it has three. Morehouse Parish had three. Now it has one.
“We have to do something,” Harris said. “Because this has long-term social ramifications because these kids are not getting educated and not getting their mental health taken care of like they should be within the schools.”
Chris Broadwater, vice president for workforce policy and general counsel of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, spoke about the shortages higher education is facing as well.
“The vast majority of the conversation surrounding these bills has all been focused on the K-12 classroom,” Broadwater said. “But I want you to realize this is not just an issue for the K-12 systems.”
Broadwater said most highly technical instructors in his system are reaching retirement age and are not incentivized to stay in the classroom. Broadwater points to both their low wages and the inadequate benefits of coming back to work after retirement.
“We're looking for a lifeline in some of these places,” Broadwater said.
Dr. Jim Henderson, University of Louisiana System president, said his schools struggle to find instructors for nursing and healthcare complexes. Finding and retaining these instructors is very difficult, he said, because they must compete with private sector benefits.
“One of our challenges is a lot of retired nurse faculty participated in a defined benefit program that creates an incentive for them to leave teaching simply because they're losing money every time they come to work,” Henderson said.
Instructor shortages in higher education is not yet included in any bills put forth by legislators, but Broadwater and Henderson hope to add on to existing bills to help alleviate these problems.
BATON ROUGE—On Black Maternal Health Advocacy Day Wednesday, the House voted 101-0 to pass a bill to provide for perinatal mood disorder screening, specifically for postpartum depression and awareness.
Rep. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, authored the mental health bill, House Bill 784, to help deal with Louisiana’s alarming maternal and infant mortality rates. Louisiana has the highest maternal death rate in the country and the second-highest infant death rate.
At a House Health and Welfare Committee meeting earlier this month, Robin Gruenfeld with the March of Dimes said, “One in seven women experience symptoms of depression during their pregnancy and the 12 months following delivery. These women are more likely to give birth preterm or experience the loss of an infant.”
The bill requires healthcare providers who offer postnatal care to screen patients for signs of postpartum depression or related health disorders. The healthcare provider will likely be the new mother’s obstetrician or their child’s pediatrician.
Screening tools include a patient health questionnaire, the postpartum depression screening scale and the perinatal grief intensity scale.
After the providers administer the screening, they can refer the patient to a mental health professional if necessary.
“Screening alone, the simple recognition that there may be a problem, can have clinical benefits,” said Gruenfeld.
During the Health and Welfare Committee meeting, the chairman, Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewell, shared emotional testimony on the effect postpartum depression had on his family. Bagley said that he lost his wife to suicide after her struggle with postpartum depression.
Duplessis said: “This is a real issue for mothers who have just delivered that also ends up becoming a very real issue for babies and for our children.”
According to Gruenfeld, postpartum depression disproportionately affects women of color and impoverished women. Poverty is associated with twice the rate of postpartum depression.
“Mothers are really struggling right now,” said Meshawn Tarver with The Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies.
Tarver said the pandemic and current economy has only made things harder for new mothers. She said the bill is not only about screening but about spreading awareness.
The bill requires all hospitals and birthing centers to provide women with information about postpartum depression, its symptoms and treatment and other resources before discharge.
Tarver hopes that the bill, which now goes to the Senate, will improve birth outcomes in Louisiana.
“Healing begins with screening,” said Gruenfeld.
A resolution to repeal Gov. John Bel Edwards’ rule to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the Louisiana school immunization schedule has gained approval from the House Health and Welfare Committee.
The committee voted 10-6 to approve House Concurrent Resolution 3, sponsored by state Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall, to eliminate a rule that requires students ages 16 and older to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccine to attend public schools, colleges or universities this fall.
The same committee voted 13-2 in December to reject the rule from the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), but Edwards overruled the rejection to allow the requirement to proceed.
HCR 3 would repeal the rule in its entirety if approved by lawmakers in both chambers after Tuesday’s committee vote.
Bagley, who is the chair-man of the House Health and Welfare Committee, highlighted the seven-hour committee debate over the issue in December that included support from Democrats to reject the rule and argued parents should make the decision about vaccinating their children, not the government.
“This is not a Democrat or Republican thing, I don’t think,” he said. “I think it’s right and wrong. I think you should have the right to make that choice for your children because they’re really not old enough to do that.
“Now, we’re allowing the government to make that choice. I don’t think that’s right and the committee agrees with me.”
Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans, who was out of state during the December meeting, pointed out the LDH rule allows parents to exempt their children from the COVID vaccine and questioned why the resolution was necessary.
Bagley countered that some schools have refused to honor the exemptions, despite the potential legal ramifications.
“Some places have decided they don’t care what the law is,” he said.
Several parents and health experts testified in support of the resolution, with most concerned with the safety of the vaccine and the unknown long-term impacts to students’ health.
Fiorella Trapani, co-director for Health Freedom Louisiana, a health advocacy group, claimed that COVID-19 is not a vaccine-preventable disease like others on the school immunization schedule, and she cited several studies to argue the mRNA vaccine is in reality untested gene therapy.
“To add this to the required list of vaccines for children is unprecedented,” she said. “We don’t have any long term studies. We don’t know how it will affect the human DNA. We’re already seeing studies coming out showing it does get reabsorbed, and can be absorbed into your DNA permanently.”
Dr. Evelyn Griffin testified about the adverse reactions to the vaccine she’s witnessed with her patients and the lack of any organized effort to investigate the issues.
“What concerns me now is what I observed in my pa-tients and in my community is an increase in bizarre and rare conditions in my 20 years of medicine that I have not seen in the past,” she said. “Rashes, tremors, seizures, blood clots, strokes, heart attacks in healthy, young patients.”
Griffin also pointed to statistics that show “the average kid in Louisiana has a higher chance of getting struck by lightning than dying of COVID.”
Other medical experts argued that COVID has become more common in children in the last year, and presented evidence that vaccines reduce the odds of contracting and spreading diseases.
Dr. Joseph Bocchini, a pediatrician from Shreveport, argued “we have ample data about these vaccines being very safe and highly effective at reducing hospitalizations and in reducing deaths in children, not only in adults.”
Dr. John Vanchiere, a pediatric infectious disease expert who has led three vaccine trials for LSU Health Shreveport, argued the vaccine requirement is a public health issue and such requirements “are effective, they work.”
“The vaccines are a good,” he said. “They improve the health and save lives.”
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.
Tuesday, April 12
11:12 a.m. 300 block of Federal Avenue; Loud music.
2:29 p.m. 300 block of Chennault Street; Complaint.
4:13 p.m. 1300 block of Second Street; Warrant arrest.
4:43 p.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Accident.
5:32 p.m. Area of Bowman Street; Complaint.
5:45 p.m. 500 block of Garber Street; Complaint.
6:30 p.m. 7700 block of La. 182; Complaint.
6:39 p.m. 1400 block of Federal Avenue; Disturbance.
8:36 p.m. 1200 block of Railroad Avenue; Criminal damage to property.
8:47 p.m. 7200 block of La. 182; Loud music.
9:04 p.m. Second/Barrow streets; Loud music.
10 p.m. Brashear Avenue near Shrimp Boat; Assistance.
10:38 p.m. Front Street/Railroad Avenue; Suspicious person.
Wednesday, April 13
12:35 a.m. 500 block of Marshall Street; Complaint.
1:30 a.m. Berwick Police Department; Warrants arrest.
4:32 a.m. 7400 block of La. 182; Medical call.
(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 Parish deputies made two arrests for failure to appear to answer drug-related charges Tuesday, including one involving possession with intent to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl.
St. Mary
Sheriff Blaise Smith advised that over the last 24-hour reporting period, the Sheriff’s Office responded to 29 complaints and made these arrests:
—Mary Marie Chatman, 36, Houma, was arrested at 11:38 a.m. Tuesday on two warrants alleging failure to appear on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Bond was set at $15,100.
—Destiny Raye Kelley, 44, Baton Rouge, was arrested at 11:38 a.m. Tuesday on a warrant alleging failure to appear on the charges of possession of methamphetamine; possession of drug paraphernalia; operating a vehicle while license is suspended, revoked, or canceled; and improper lane usage.
Bond was set at $3,600.
—Gregory Joseph Payne, 18, Patterson, was at 12:55 p.m. Tuesday on charges of theft of a motor vehicle and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Bail was set at $25,000.
Morgan City
Police Chief James F. Blair reported that the Morgan City Police Department responded to 28 calls for service over the last 24-hour reporting period and made these arrests:
—Patrick Arabie, 52, Egle Street, Morgan City, was arrested 1 p.m. Tuesday on a 6th Ward Morgan City Court warrant alleging probation violation.
—Raphael Domonic Valentine, 39, Barrow Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 4:24 p.m. Tuesday on a 16th Judicial District Court warrant alleging failure to appear for trial.
Berwick
Police Chief David Leonard Sr. reported these arrests:
—Christopher L. Lacaze, 43, Fourth Street, Berwick, was arrested at 10:42 p.m. Tuesday on a Morgan City warrant alleging contempt of court; and St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office warrants alleging failure to appear for trial on charges of domestic battery (first offense), violation of protective orders, and possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
—Amanda R. Campbell, 34, Fourth Street, Berwick, was at 10:42 p.m. Tuesday on Morgan City warrants alleging failure to appear for trial on a charge of possession of synthetic cannabinoids and failure to appear for trial on a charge of possession of a controlled dangerous substance in the presence of minors.
At 10:40 p.m. Tuesday, officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for failing to use a turn signal. During the stop, Lacaze was identified as the driver, and Campbell was identified as a passenger. They were both found to have active warrants for their arrest. Both were placed under arrest and transported to the Berwick Police Department for booking. Lacaze and Campbell were transferred to the Morgan City Jail for housing.
BATON ROUGE—Three anti-vaccine bills ran into trouble with lawmakers Tuesday during lengthy debates.
Rep. Larry Bagley, a Stonewall Republican, had proposed a bill that would make it a misdemeanor crime for government agencies and schools to discriminate against people based on their vaccine status.
The bill, House Bill 54, was aimed at blocking requirements for people to be vaccinated to access the premises. Bagley ended up returning the bill to the calendar, which means it will not be taken up again unless two-thirds of the House votes to reconsider it.
“I had hundreds of calls, as most of you did, too, in the past year. …Friends … losing jobs,” Bagley said on the House floor. “I fully believe that you as an individual could have the right to choose.”
But other lawmakers pointed out problems with the bill concerning enforcement, charges and freedom of speech.
“I don't think we ought to be just criminalizing everything,” Rep. Robby Carter, D-Amite, said.
When Bagley presented the bill to the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice last week, it included a provision for jail time, but that was changed to a fine of up to $1,000.
Several other vaccine-related bills were discussed Tuesday in the House Committee on Health and Welfare.
Rep. Troy Romero, R-Welsh, sponsored HB 295, which would have required that a COVID antibody test be considered as a substitute for proof of vaccination.
Romero contended that COVID-19 is not a vaccine-preventable disease and that the COVID-19 vaccine is not actually a vaccine but a “shot.”
Both of those claims are false, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. And when Dr. Michael Bolton, a pediatric infectious disease expert told the committee that COVID is a vaccine-preventable disease, many people packed into the hearing room loudly voiced their disagreement.
Nonetheless, Romero’s bill was killed by the committee in a 10-7 vote, with two Republicans among those voting to kill it.
The committee also considered HB 479, which would have required a hospital to grant emergency privileges to a doctor willing to prescribe a treatment that had been requested by the patient but denied by the hospital.
Rep. Larry Frieman, R-Abita Springs, who sponsored the bill, said it was written to apply not just to COVID-19 but to other conditions.
Several committee members took issue with that, arguing that the language was too broad.
Carter, the Democrat from Amite, said he was concerned about the bill’s implications for abortion.
“I've had a strong anti-abortion stance since I've been representative,” Carter said. “What if you have a patient who's in a hospital and they say, ‘I want the drug-inducing abortion medicine,’ and the Catholic hospital says, ‘We don't allow that here, period.’ Couldn't they use this law to say, ‘I've got a physician willing to come in and give her that abortion-inducing drug and you can't stop me from doing it?’”
Carter also said that just because a doctor is willing to prescribe it, a treatment may not necessarily in the best interest of the patient.
“Anybody on health and welfare knows we get doctors to come up here and testify all the time for stuff that I wouldn't let touch my dog,” Carter said.
Dr. Robert Peltier, the chief medical officer of North Oaks Medical Center in Hammond, said he had concerns about granting privileges to new physicians within the 24-hour period required by the bill.
Peltier said it normally takes hospitals 45 to 60 days to credential a physician.
Frieman opted to voluntarily defer the bill to work on the problems.
During the discussions, Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, claimed that the Pfizer vaccine and the Comirnaty vaccine are two different shots.
But federal health officials have said that claim is false, as Comirnaty is simply the branded name for the Pfizer vaccine.
Remember the tussle last winter between the St. Mary Parish School Board and Parish President David Hanagriff over a tax exemption for Metal Shark?
The back-and-forth resulted from shipbuilder Metal Shark’s request for a property tax break for a modest expansion. The School Board voted to deny the exemption, but Metal Shark got it anyway.
And thereby hangs a tale. It’s an important tale in a parish that would like to think of itself as business-friendly and ready to grow economically. You may be asked to help write a chapter in that story.
The School Board had the opportunity, fleeting though it was, to say yes or no to Metal Shark because of changes instituted by the new John Bel Edwards administration in the Louisiana Industrial Tax Exemption Program. Basically, the program offers an 80% exemption from local property taxes to new industry or to an expansion by an existing industry for up to 10 years. The business with the exemption commits to maintaining jobs enumerated in its application.
Before the Edwards changes, the program had drawn criticism for being completely top-down, with the exemption decisions being made by the state Board of Commerce and Industry, and shoddy in its oversight. The Advocate blew the whistle in 2017, finding that the program, which offered a 100% exemption then, coughed up billions in exemptions. Some of it went to enterprises that failed to live up to their hiring commitments.
The 2017 changes reduced the size of the exemption and gave the affected local governments the right to say yes or no.
Now SB151 by state Sen. J. Rogers Pope, R-Denham Springs, has been sent to the Senate floor without recommendation by the Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee, chaired by our own Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin.
The bill would give voters the chance to amend the state constitution to require approval by those affected local governments when an ITEP application comes along. But first, SB151 will have to win approval from two-thirds of the Legislature.
Pope and other supporters say local governments deserve the right to make their own decision about their own revenues. There’s also a feeling that a Republican governor would be more likely to overturn Edwards’ changes.
As for the Democrats, well, quick: Name a Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
Opponents, including big-time business lobbies such as the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, argue that the need to get approval from four or five governmental entities makes the process too cumbersome.
Hanagriff tried to overcome that obstacle. He went to local governments and to the sheriff to acquire the right to make the exemption decision himself, provided an economic analysis showed a positive impact.
Metal Shark’s expansion of two jobs with a $73,000 annual payroll was expected to cost local governments $99,000 over the 10 years, including $46,000 in lost taxes for the School Board. Because the analysis showed a slight negative impact, Hanagriff went to Franklin and the Sheriff’s Office and received approval.
The School Board voted against the Metal Shark request over the size of the expansion and, maybe, because a previous Bollinger exemption had cost the board $85,000. But the School Board’s vote came Dec. 9, past a 30-day deadline that no one in St. Mary seemed to know about. Metal Shark got its tax break.
That case was a fluke. But it demonstrated how some local officials feel they’re getting rolled.
Together Louisiana, an advocacy group pushing the constitutional amendment, calls the ITEP program “corporate welfare.” In 2017, the group says, St. Mary governments gave up $9.3 million of property tax revenue, a number equal to 16% of the total actually collected, because of 356 ITEP exemptions from 38 companies.
From 1998 to 2017, ITEP applications from St Mary claiming to create more than 2,600 jobs actually resulted in only 223 jobs, according to Together Louisiana’s analysis.
But you should probably remember that in 2017, St. Mary was in the process of losing 6,000 jobs from its summer 2014 peak employment of 27,000, according to figures from the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
It should also be remembered that the local governments are giving up taxes only on the new industry or expansion, not taxes they’re already collecting.
When the School Board voted against the Metal Shark exemption, Hanagriff said the members were sending the wrong message to potential employers.
We’ll see which message gets through on the Senate and House floors and, maybe, at the ballot box.
Bill Decker is managing editor of The Review.
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