YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER LAROSE, LA thelafourchegazette.com
Sunday, July 14, 2019
LPSO to conduct online tax title sale July 24
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office will host a tax title sale on Wednesday, July 24. W The tax sale will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude at 8 p.m. or earlier if all properties are sold. By hosting the sale online, bidders that would not normally be able to attend the auction in person are still able to participate. This sale is open to the general public. Free registration and a list of available properties are now available through our website at www.LPSO.net. Bidders are encouraged to participate online from the comfort and privacy
SERVING: MATHEWS • GHEENS • LOCKPORT • VALENTINE • LAROSE CUT OFF • GALLIANO • GOLDEN MEADOW • LEEVILLE • GRAND ISLE
Crime Stoppers tip leads to arrest of murder suspect Suspect’s mother charged as accessory
According to the Lafourche Parish cated Matthews at the residence, and Sheriff’s Office, an anonymous tip led to he was taken into custody. Matthews’ the arrest of a suspect wanted for the mother, Dardar, was present and was also arrested and charged as an accesmurder of a Montegut man in May. Devante Matthews, 21, of Montegut, sory after the fact. Matthews and Dardar were booked was arrested at his mother’s residence by Matthews Dupre Dardar the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office into the Terrebonne Parish Criminal Tuesday. Matthews is charged with Sec- Justice Complex. Dardar was booked on since May 11. On May 15, TPSO deputies ond Degree murder along with Terance the aforementioned accessory charge as took Terance Dupre into custody after he Dupre, 22, of Montegut, in the shooting well as a contempt warrant. Her bail is set was found driving the victim’s vehicle. This led investigators to learn of a shootdeath of 53-year-old Kirby Courteaux. t at $251,500. Matthews was booked on warrants for ing incident that occurred in Pointe-AuxMatthews’ mother, Rhonda Dardar, Parish) andVeventually S MATHEWS • GHEENS • LOCKPORT • Court VALENTINE • LAROSE and Contempt of in Chenes (Lafourche 40, of Gray, is now also charged as an ac- Simple Robbery led to the discovery of Courteaux’s body C • GALLIANO • GOLDEN MEADOW • LEEVILLE • GRAND ISLE cessory after the fact in addition to a 16- Terrebonne Parish. He will later be transyear-old who was previously charged as ferred to the Lafourche Parish Correc- in Morgan City. Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office detional Complex where he will be held in an accessory. tectives learned Dupre, Devante An anonymous tip was submitted to lieu of $1 million bail. Matthews, and Courteaux were at a boat Crime Stoppers Bayou Region indicating As previously released, on May 14, launch in Point-aux-Chenes on the night Matthews was at his mother’s residence the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office in Gray. On Tuesday afternoon, Terre- began an investigation when a family of May 11, when Courteaux was reportbonne Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies lo- member reported he had been missing edly shot multiple times. See Tips Page 3-A
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Shrimpers call spring season a ‘disaster’ By Halle Parker Daily Comet Staff Writer
See Tax Sale Page 3-A
MEETINGS MONDAY, JULY 15
LAF. FIRE DISTRICT #2 7:00 p.m. Lockport Central Station 806 Crescent Avenue TOWN OF GOLDEN MEADOW 7:00 p.m. 107 Jervis Dr. - G.M.
TUESDAY, JULY 16
LA TABLE FRANCAISE 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. South Lafourche Library 16241 E. Main - Galliano TOWN OF LOCKPORT 7:00 p.m. 710 Church St.
NORTH LAFOURCHE LEVEE DISTRICT 5:15 p.m. 3862 Hwy. 1 - Raceland
CZM ADVISORY BOARD 5:30 p.m. Mathews Govt. Complex 4876 Hwy. 1 - Mathews WED, JULY 17
VFW POST 8538 6:30 p.m. VFW Ave., Larose (Behind LCO)
LAFOURCHE PARISH ANIMAL SHELTER 6:00 p.m. Mathews Govt. Complex 4876 Hwy. 1 - Mathews
INSIDE
Arrests........................5-A
Bid Notice....................5-A Calendar of Events.....2-A
Classifieds..................4-A
Horoscopes................5-A
Lottery.........................2-A Obituaries.............4-A/5-A
Worship Directory.......6-A
VOLUME 30 NUMBER 46
Antique store a labor of love for former prosecutor By SCOTT YOSHONIS The Houma Courier
THIBODAUX, La. (AP) — After a career in the legal profession, some of that as a Lafourche Parish prosecutor, Diana Sanders has found a new calling. Sanders opened an antique store, Back In The Day, 825 Jackson St., Thibodaux, in July 2018 essentially as a hobby in her retirement. While opening a business may not sound as relaxing, as say golfing or shuffleboard, Sanders said it’s a perfect fit for her. “This is a piece of cake for me,” Sanders said. “I was an attorney for 44 years. I did public defender work, and I was a prosecutor for 16 years, so it was very stressful. This is stress-free, I don’t stress over anything.” Sanders started out in the antiques business while she was still working as a prosecutor, setting up booths at local flea markets to sell and buy her wares. The small shop is now filled with items that Sanders hopes evokes a sense of nostalgia in her customers. There are large assortments of old toys and relics from a bygone era of the oil and See Antiques Page 2-A
With the spring inshore shrimp season officially closed, distributor Dean Blanchard said he’s probably received half of the normal haul from the shrimpers. “It was a disaster,” he said of the season, which closed June 28. Record rainfall in the Midwest caused water levels on the Mississippi to rise and stay high for several months. The Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carre spillway twice this year — for the first time since it was created — dumping freshwater out of the river and causing it to inundate typically brackish or salty waters. The process displaced the brown shrimp. Blanchard said the shrimpers had fresh water not only to the east with the Bonnet Carre but the west from the Atchafalaya River, limiting where they could travel to try to find more shrimp. “We were going backwards,” he said. “Some were spending more in fuel than what you got in shrimp.” At a certain point, Blanchard stopped giving shrimpers credit toward diesel for their boats. He said, “I can’t afford to finance everybody.” As of June 28, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reported a 66 percent decrease in brown shrimp catches in the Atchafalaya Basin and a 50 percent decrease in the Barataria and Terrebonne basins. The Pontchartrain and Calcasieu basins showed the largest decreases in the state at 80 percent and 86 percent, respectively. See Shrimp Page 3-A
Parish president names interim administrator By Julia Arenstam Daily Comet Staff Writer
Shortly before the Lafourche Parish Council Tommy Lasseigne meeting Tuesday night, Parish President Jimmy Cantrelle presented a familiar name as the new interim parish administrator. Cantrelle announced his appointment of project manager Tommy Lasseigne to the temporary job, stating, “Tommy has been reliable throughout my term as Lafourche Parish president and together, we have moved major projects forward.” Cantrelle said this is the fourth appointment he’s given to Lasseigne. Lasseigne served as the Human Resources and Finance director from January to October 2016 when he resigned the post. He then became a
~~NEW LISTING~~
parish project manager. Lasseigne was later appointed as interim parish administrator from February to June 2017 and again from February to August 2018, when he was removed by the Parish Council. The need for another administrator arose after Tim Vedros resigned the position last month. Last week, Cantrelle said he would consider making an interim appointment, but wasn’t sure who it would be. Applications for the permanent job closed July 3. Neither Cantrelle nor the Parish Council addressed the nomination at Tuesday’s meeting. Cantrelle did, however, get into a dispute with Golden Meadow Mayor Joey Bouziga over $100,000 that has been budgeted for the town’s seawall project. See Lasseigne Page 3-A
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