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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.
Thursday, Feb. 24
6:01 a.m. 100 block of Poncio Street; Com-plaint.
6:19 a.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Alarm.
9:12 a.m. 500 block of Roderick Street; Theft.
9:41 a.m. 1000 block of Birch Street; Complaint.
9:46 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Complaint.
9:58 a.m. 7300 block of La. 182; Complaint.
10:18 a.m. 400 block of Bowman Street; Harassment.
10:26 a.m. 900 block of Willard Street; Welfare concern.
11:47 a.m. 200 block of Mallard Street; Com-plaint.
12:12 p.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Complaint.
1:08 p.m. 7100 block of Park Road; Suspicious person.
1:09 p.m. 200 block of Freret Street; Traffic incident.
1:58 p.m. Park Road; Reckless driver.
2:09 p.m. La. 182 at Old Bridge; Traffic inci-dent.
2:41 p.m. Brashear Avenue; Suspicious person.
2:41 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Found property.
2:54 p.m. 900 block of Marguerite Street; Removal of subject.
3:40 p.m. U.S. 90 Westbound; Assistance.
4:43 p.m. 100 block of Wren Street; Removal of subject.
4:44 p.m. 1600 block of Front Street; Complaint.
5:20 p.m. Front and Everett streets; Medical.
5:48 p.m. 6400 block of U.S. 90; Disturbance.
5:54 p.m. Justa Street/Lake Palourde Road; Complaint.
6 p.m. 300 block of Egle Street; Medical.
7:01 p.m. La. 70; Subject in road.
7:11 p.m. 2300 block of Clements Street; Complaint.
7:25 p.m. 7000 block of South Railroad Avenue; 911 hang up.
7:36 p.m. 500 block of Terrebonne Street; Suspicious person.
7:56 p.m. 300 block of Second Street; Kick’em out closed down.
8:57 p.m. Old M C Bank; Alarm.
9:32 p.m. 1100 block of Brownell Homes; Animal complaint.
10:09 p.m. Florence Street; Suspicious per-son.
10:38 p.m. Green-wood/Freret streets; Suspicious person.
11:30 p.m. Morgan City Junior High; Suspicious person.
Friday, Feb. 25
Midnight Brownell Homes; Reckless operation.
2:26 a.m. 600 block of Kentucky Street; Welfare check.
4:49 a.m. 7000 block of South Railroad Avenue; 911 hang up.

Both nature and gardening are full of surprises. Have you ever seen a flowering shrub that has two completely different flower colors on the same plant? Or have you noticed that a portion of your plants’ variegated leaves are now solid green or a different shape all together? Strange changes in plants can be rationally explained if we dig a little deeper.
Some of these surprises stem from the way plants were bred and produced. Plant breeding has been practiced since the dawn of human civilization, starting with agriculture more than 10,000 years ago. Agriculture is the science and practice of farming, including the cultivation of crops and animals for food. Agriculture is thought to have been established with the domestication of cereal grains such as wheat when humans recognized superior plant qualities and began saving seeds.
Plant breeding has come a long way since the start of agriculture. Humans branched out beyond food crops to ornamental plants that enhance and create unique landscapes.
Ornamental plant breeders cultivate plants that have desirable characteristics such as larger flowers, extended bloom times, repeat blooms, unique flower colors, variegated foliage and increased flower production. Disease and pest resistance, in addition to drought tolerance, are additional traits selected for by breeders.
There are several techniques plant breeders use to enhance plants. Hybridization is the practice of bringing together desirable traits from two different plant varieties through cross-pollination to produce a new plant with distinct characteristics. One great example of this is in flowering ornamental plants, including bedding plants and flowering shrubs and trees.
Plants also can have genetic changes or mutations that produce a unique characteristic that we find striking. These mutations are often referred to as “sports,” and breeders will take cuttings of them to develop new cultivars that will retain those unique characteristics. Variegated plants are often selected this way.
The variation in color is often just the absence of the green pigment (chlorophyll) in some of the plant cells. This can be the result of a cell mutation, or it can be a genetically inherited trait that is passed down to offspring. A genetic trait is stable, while random mutations are unstable.
The variegation mutations are an anomaly of nature. Plant breeders see these mutations as something beautiful and then clone the plants to produce more plants with those specific traits. This also can happen in reverse when you observe a plant that once displayed foliage of several colors but has reverted to full green, single-colored foliage. These are both naturally occurring mishaps of nature.
Variegation also can be the result of viral infections. Yes, when the plant becomes infected with certain viruses, it can cause symptoms that result in two-toned coloring (foliar mosaic) that gives it a distinctive pattern, or the veins of the plant will turn yellow or lose green coloring between the veins. The leaf may become curled, causing a malformation, or the plant could be stunted in growth (dwarf). These characteristics can be attractive to breeders, even though they were caused by a virus.
Some growers have tapped into this tool of utilizing viruses to manipulate the physical appearance of plants. One example is tulip-breaking virus, which was used in the early 17th century by Danish growers to force beautiful flower variegation. The variegated tulip flowers increased the commercial value of the crop tremendously, and this was certainly an economic benefit.
Reversion of variegation also can be seen in variegated flowers. An example of this is the floribunda rose Hocus Pocus that is a sport of the dark red hybrid tea rose known as Black Beauty. Hocus Pocus can be genetically unstable and sometimes produces dark red roses alongside the striped blossoms, reverting back to the characteristic traits of its parent plant.
Once a plant reverts to its original characteristics, it will no longer be able to produce variegation. Those reverted portions of the plant can be removed by pruning to keep the plant uniform, if you wish. Alternatively, embrace those natural surprises — they are beautiful in their own unique way.

The Review/Bill Decker
The St. Mary Chamber installed its leaders for 2022 at a luncheon Wednesday at the Petroleum Club of Morgan City. Top Photo: Longtime Morgan City Main Street Director Beth Chiasson, shown speaking in the photo above, will lead the Chamber staff as president. Bottom Photo: Morgan City Court Judge Kim Stansbury, right, administers the oath for Ed "Tiger" Verdin, who will chair the Chamber Board of Directors. You can find more about the new Chamber officers and the award-winners for the year in a special section that will appear in the March 2 edition.

Louisiana is set to receive $75 million in federal funding over the next five years to install a network of electric vehicle charging stations along the state’s highways.
The funding is part of a $5 billion program included in the infrastructure law approved by Congress that is expected to result in $14.1 million allocated to Louisiana for this fiscal year, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced last week.
The intent of the funding is to develop a network of electric vehicle chargers along highways and rural areas to support domestic manufacturing jobs and make electric vehicles more affordable for working families.
“This investment is a step in the right direction to help Louisiana achieve its climate goals of becoming net zero by 2050, and I am thankful to Sen. Bill Cassidy and Congressman Troy Carter for their work in making this a reality,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “We have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the impacts of climate change, which harms the state’s natural resources. One of the biggest changes in a low-carbon future will be seen in the way we travel. By making electric vehicles affordable to the daily commuter, and having the infrastructure to accommodate this, Louisiana can transition to using more renewable energy sources. These changes won’t come overnight, but this investment will help us in our efforts to reach these goals.”
Federal Highway Administration guidelines require a minimum 20% state match for the federal funds, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) is creating grant programs for electric and alternative fuel vehicles, such as those that run on hydrogen, natural gas or propane.
DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson said the aim is to convert traditional gas stations into refueling stations that offer multiple options.
“We aim to have Louisiana become a competitor in EVs, and in doing so want to convert the appropriate allocation of ‘gas’ station assets into ‘fuel’ stations where a wide variety of fuels are available, electricity for charging EV batteries being one of them,” Wilson said.
The DOTD is expected to develop the grant programs and solicit applications over the next year, with the goal of making awards next year. The department also plans to monitor and inspect installations to assess the programs for future grants, according to the Edwards announcement.
The Biden administration has set a goal of installing electric charging stations every 50 miles along highways to encourage more drivers to purchase electric vehicles. Louisiana currently has 141 public electric charging stations for 1,950 registered electric vehicles, according to 2020 data from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Data from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the same year shows a total of 3.8 million registered vehicles in the state.
“The U.S. market share of plug-in electric vehicle (EV) sales is only one-third the size of the Chinese EV market – in 2020, plug-in electric vehicles made up only 2.3% of new car sales in the U.S., compared to 6.2% in China,” according to a U.S. Department of Transportation fact sheet.
The funding announced last week is in addition to $1.7 million for 82 electric vehicle charging stations made available through a settlement between Volkswagon and the U.S. Justice Department over violations of the Clean Air Act.