YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER LAROSE, LA thelafourchegazette.com
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Development agency to focus on economic diversity
SERVING: MATHEWS • GHEENS • LOCKPORT • VALENTINE • LAROSE CUT OFF • GALLIANO • GOLDEN MEADOW • LEEVILLE • GRAND ISLE
Lafourche jail opening delayed to 2018
A scary sight …
By Jordan Legendre The Courier
THIBODAUX, La. (AP) — To address the struggling local economy, the South Louisiana Economic Council wants to help retain and expand area businesses and aggressively market the bayou region to new industries. That’s part of the economic development agency’s 2017-19 strategic plan. “We plan to be aggressive in preparing for these good changes coming,” SLEC president Vic Lafont said. “But the main thing right now is how to keep the ship from sinking. We’ve lost a lot of good people already. The good news is that it’s going to come back. How we do with that come back will determine how we do with the next downturn.” Houma-Thibodaux, a metro area comprised of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, has lost about 12,000 jobs over the past two years amid the worst oil bust since the 1980s. State figures released last week show the area lost 900 jobs last month alone. The November jobless rate was at 6 percent. SLEC’s plan offers five goals the organization hopes to achieve over the See Agency Page 5-A
MEETINGS WEDNESDAY, JAN. 4
FIRE PROTECTION DIST. 9 6:30 p.m. Gheens Community Center 1783 LA 654 - Gheens
By Bridget Mire Daily Comet Staff Writer
Photo by Babs
A scary sight anytime you see one. This waterspout was seen Monday in the Fourchon area ahead of the line of thunderstorms that was headed our way. As of press time Tuesday, at least five people were killed in neighboring states while an unstable weather system moved across the Southeast bringing severe storms and high winds. State emergency officials reported no injuries or deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi, but a trip to Walmart was memorable for some shoppers in Marksville, Louisiana, as severe weather blew out skylights in the store, sending water and glass cascading onto shoppers.
Program helps smokers kick the habit Smoking Cessation Trust offers quit tips for Louisiana smokers
NEW ORLEANS – As 2016 draws to an end and many people begin to make New Year’s resolutions, one resolution that consistently appears at the top of many lists is “quitting smoking.” Louisiana currently ranks 43 (up three spots from 46 in 2015) out of 50 states for tobacco use according to the recently released 2016 America’s Health Rankings® Report from the United Health Foundation. Presently, 21.9% (24% in 2015) of the state’s adult population lights up. The U.S. average for adult smokers is now 17.5% (18.1% in 2015). The state’s overall health ranking is now 49, up one spot from 50 in 2015. “In spite of a smoking ban in Orleans Parish, an increased cigarette tax and HUD mandat-
LAF. SCHOOL BOARD 7:00 p.m. 805 E. 7th St. - Thibodaux
ing that public housing go smoke-free beginning in 2017, Louisiana citizens continue to smoke in larger than average numbers,” said Mike Rogers, CEO, Smoking Cessation Trust Management Services. “To that end, the Trust continues to help people face their challenges by offering eligible smokers free products and services that could help them kick the addiction. To date, the Smoking Cessation Trust has enrolled nearly 64,000 members. In addition to helping restore smokers’ health, the Smoking Cessation Trust can help smokers save hundreds of dollars annually, as smoking becomes a progressively more expensive habit to support.
It’s Carnival time …
THURSDAY, JAN. 5
BAYOU FELLOWSHIP #484 7:00 p.m. E. 93rd St. - Galliano LAF. HUMANE SOCIETY 5:30 p.m. Lockport Branch Library
Arrests............................7-A Calendar of Events.........2-A Classifieds........................6-A Legal Advertisement......8-A
Lottery.............................2-A News In Brief...................3-A Obituaries........................6-A
Surfin’ The Net................7-A
See Program Page 3-A
Louisiana state income tax filing begins January 23
Delays have pushed back completion of the new Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex to August 2018. “I guess because we were so thoughtful, it delayed the process,” Sheriff Craig Webre said. Crews began driving pilings for the foundation on Nov. 18 and finished recently, almost a week ahead of schedule. The complex will be located across from the current jail at the corner of La. 3185 and Veterans Boulevard in Thibodaux. Utility work and pouring the slab come next. The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office purchased 42 acres last year for $962,775, and a groundbreaking ceremony took place June 18. The jail will not stretch over the whole property, but the land couldn’t be subdivided for sale. Although the Sheriff’s Office initially predicted the complex could be finished later this year, it’s now expected to be complete by August 2018. Webre said design and cost negotiations caused some delays. For example, those involved with the project figured out how to design a housing unit for maximum-security inmates and those with special needs so that it would only require one staff member at a time. They also decided to position the medical unit next to the intake unit so a nurse could easily get there. “We could probably have the jail 25 percent complete if we had simply gone to someone and said, ‘Give us a canned, off-the-shelf jail that you built somewhere else and just tell us how much it costs,’ and not made any decisions. We would have ended up with someone else’s jail, and it would not have been specific to the mission statement of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Webre said. See Jail Page 3-A
A grand re-opening …
Enhanced security measures in place to protect taxpayers from fraud
INSIDE
Bid Notice........................8-A
VOLUME 51 NUMBER 17
The 2017 royalty for the New Krewe Of Atlantis will be King Kerry Dufrene and his wife Queen Christy along with their children Prince Bryce and Princess Brianna. The parade will roll through the Town of Golden Meadow on Saturday, February 25 at noon. This year’s theme is Novels Made Into Movies. The ball will be held on Friday, Feb. 24 at the Cut Off Youth Center at 7 p.m. The public is invited to join. Tickets are $5 per person and can be purchased at the door. Dress code is casual or costume.
BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) will begin accepting 2016 state individual income tax returns on Monday, January 23, the same date that the IRS begins accepting federal returns. On that date, LDR will begin accepting returns filed electronically at www.revenue.louisiana.gov /fileonline and through third-party commercial software, along with paper returns submitted in person and through the mail. See Tax Filing Page 5-A
Photo by Babs
A grand re-opening ribbon cutting was held New Year’s Day at Kief Hardware, 16230 LA 3235, in Cut Off. Owner James Cabirac had the honors of cutting the ribbon and celebrating with family, friends, and employees to live Cajun music, dancing and jambalaya. The store has been closed all December long due to remodeling and accommodating the new Sears Hometown Store and Hi-5 being added in soon. Kief Hardware has been proudly serving the community since 1944.
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