YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER LAROSE, LA thelafourchegazette.com
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Trivia Night is back!
The Larose Civic Center is sponsoring its annual Trivia Night fundraiser this Saturday, March 19, featuring music and games, more prizes than ever before and more chances to win! The evening will begin at 6:00 p.m. with a silent auction, concessions and cash bar available. Register your team of six to compete in this trivia contest of 10 categories with 10 questions each. Teams compete for the championship title, but awards are also given to those wearing the funniest attire and for best team name. Jambalaya dinners are available by pre-order only. Get jambalaya, salad, garlic bread and dessert for $8. There’s still time to register your team. No late fees! Register online at bayoucivicclub.org. Please bring cash or credit cards, as checks will not be accepted during the event. Form your teams, fill out a registration form and return to the Larose Civic Center Office. For more information, contact the Civic Center at (985) 693-7355.
SERVING: MATHEWS • GHEENS • LOCKPORT • VALENTINE • LAROSE CUT OFF • GALLIANO • GOLDEN MEADOW • LEEVILLE • GRAND ISLE
New legislative session opens with same budget problems budget crisis to the next. They were unable to fully dig out of the gaps in a contentious special session on taxes that ended last week, so they start the threemonth regular session staring down an $800 million shortfall for the fiscal year that begins July 1. With taxes off the table for the session, lawmakers will be left cobbling together a budget that likely will contain steep cuts across services — and talking about the possibility of a second special session on taxes to lessen some of the slashing. Edwards, in office since January, described the special session’s results as “lacking.� “As we begin this regular session, let’s get back on track,� he said. “Let’s make the most of the time we have here to improve our state.� In a news conference later
MELINDA DESLATTE Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards outlined an expansive agenda to lawmakers Monday as they opened their regular legislative session, saying that while Louisiana’s budget troubles will continue to be his focus, he will also seek to fulfill campaign promises to raise the minimum wage and enact an equal-pay law. “Stabilizing the budget must remain our top priority, but setting Louisiana on a more prosperous trajectory also requires focusing on policies that will move our state and our people forward,� he told a joint gathering of the House and Senate. Lawmakers face the same financial problems that have kept Louisiana staggering from one
Monday, Edwards said a second special session on the budget is “more likely than not,� though he didn’t offer a timeline or proposal. He said with the current budget gaps, Louisiana won’t be able to adequately fund higher education, health care services and the TOPS free college tuition program. While the state’s finances again will take center stage this session, lawmakers also have offered a wide range of measures for consideration. Old education battles on higher education management and the content standards taught in Louisiana’s public schools are expected to flare up again. New contentious discussions about removing Confederate monuments and requiring welfare recipients to hold jobs in order to receive assistance are being introduced.
THURSDAY, MAR. 17
BAYOU FELLOWSHIP #484 7:00 p.m. E. 93rd St. - Galliano THE CENTER Special Ed. District #1 12 Noon Conference Room 5510 W. Ave. D, W. 55th St. Cut Off RECREATION DIST. #1 7:00 p.m. Lockport Town Hall 710 Church St. - Lockport BAYOU FELLOWSHIP 7:00 p.m. E. 93rd St. - Galliano
INSIDE
Arrests.............................9-A
Calendar of Events.........2-A
Classifieds................8-A/9-A Legal Advertisement....10-A
Letters and Opinions......2-A Lottery.............................2-A
Memorials........................9-A
News In Brief..................3-A
Obituaries.......................9-A
Surfin’ the Net...............10-A
Photo by Babs
Leeville will get a fishing pier, despite state’s budget woes
A fishing pier planned at the Leeville Public Boat Launch will go on as planned despite the state’s budget woes.
Buster Avera, Contributing Writer
Lafourche Parish Councilman Daniel Lorraine spent a good bit of pre-public council meeting time on Tuesday, March 8, showing constituents a letter from the State of Louisiana announcing funding from State Capital Outlay for a fishing pier at the Leeville Public Boat Launch. Trouble is, the date of the letter is August 10, 2015. Lorraine says the letter and its announcement should have been made public in August and the project should be completed by now. He is worried that a state budget crisis
and Special Legislative Session in Baton Rouge may cause the state to withdraw the $500,000 dedicated to the project. “If we lose this money because of budget crisis, shame on Charlotte and Archie Chiasson,� said Lorraine. But the money is budgeted, and along with a parish appropriation of an additional $166,000, a fishing pier and pavilion will be added to the $1.2 million Leeville Public Boat Launch in the near future Bob Gourges, of “Between the Banks� TV fishing show, also spoke about the pier’s potential.
At the 3rd Annual Leeville Arts and Heritage Festival, locals and visitors alike are invited to celebrate the historic south Lafourche fishing village with food, art and crafts and live entertainment. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, March 19 at Top Water Marina, 24015 LA 1. According to the Daily Comet, Janet Rhodus, of Launch Leeville, said the festival’s main objective is to raise awareness about Leeville and the toll land loss has taken on the community. Leeville sits in a precarious place, miles outside the parish’s levee system to the north. Ten miles of open water and marsh to the south separate it from Port Fourchon. Since the opening of the elevated LA 1 Highway, Leeville has seen a decline in the amount of visitors and fishers. And although it is still young, the festival has been successful at bringing more attention to the community and helping people reconnect with the area, Rhodus said. See Leeville Page 6-A
A winner ‌
See Pier Page 6-A
West Larose Lift Bridge to be out again for repairs
Just when you thought it was almost done, the West Larose Vertical Lift Bridge on LA 1 crossing the Intracoastal Canal Waterway in Larose, will again be closed continuously to vehicular traffic, in the next several weeks, in order for DOTD’s contactor to perform various structural installations and repairs as part of a multi-million dollar rehabilitation project. The specific closure times are as follows: - Continuous closure from 7 a.m. on
Lawmakers are proposing bills that will bring national debates on illegal immigration and same-sex marriage to the state Capitol’s halls. New efforts to restrict abortion and strip funding from Planned Parenthood have been proposed among the more than 1,200 bills up for consideration. Some lawmakers returned to Baton Rouge from districts recovering from severe flooding after days of storms inundated neighborhoods in north and southeast Louisiana, including Edwards’ home parish. The governor spoke of the devastation as he asked lawmakers to pull together. “We have enough problems to solve. We don’t need to create more in the process,� Edwards said. See Budget Page 6-A
Leeville hosting 3rd Annual Arts and Heritage Fest Saturday
MEETINGS VETERANS MEMORIAL DISTRICT, WARD 10 5:00 p.m. Behind the Monument Hwy. 3235 - Galliano
VOLUME 50 NUMBER 27
Friday, March 18 until 5 p.m. on Monday, March 21; - From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22, to Friday, March 25; - From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, March 28, to Friday, April 1. Outside of the above-mentioned closure times, the bridge will be open to vehicular traffic. - Continuous closures are expected to occur from 7 a.m. on Monday, April 4, until 5 p.m. on Friday, April 8.
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Photo by Babs
The 12th Annual Relay for Life Cake Bingo at the Larose Civic Center Sunday featured raffles, concessions, delicious gumbo, and, of course, cake bingos. All proceeds raised by the Duke’s of Earl Relay For Life team benefitted the American Cancer Society. Bryson Alonzo, age 5, shows off his winning 4-corners bingo card. Bryson won a chocolate cake.
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