YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER LAROSE, LA thelafourchegazette.com
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
SERVING: MATHEWS • GHEENS • LOCKPORT • VALENTINE • LAROSE CUT OFF • GALLIANO • GOLDEN MEADOW • LEEVILLE • GRAND ISLE
Condemning property can be a lengthy process
Storm debt paid, Entergy Louisiana customers get lower bills By MELINDA DESLATTE Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — More than 1 million Entergy Louisiana customers will see their utility bills drop this month after the debts have been paid from repairing damage done by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the company announced Wednesday. Residential customers will see monthly charges fall a few dollars per month, depending on where they live, according to estimates released by Entergy Louisiana. In southeast and north Louisiana, those customers will get a reduction of about $4.35 per month, based on average usage of 1,000 kilowatt-hours. Residential users from around the Baton Rouge area west to the Texas state line will get a reduction of about $2.57 per month.
By Julia Arenstam Daily Comet Staff Writer
Staff photo
School traffic guards will soon be an all-to-familiar sight beginning Thursday as public school begins in Lafourche Parish. Motorists are cautioned to obey all school traffic laws and be on the look out for children and school buses.
South Lafourche Airport to design drainage improvements under FAA grant By Julia Arenstam Daily Comet Staff Writer
The South Lafourche Airport in Galliano recently received a portion of $25.6 million in grant money distributed in Louisiana from the Federal Aviation Administration. The grant was split between 13 airports in the state through the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The state is also matching more than $2.8 million for the program. The South Lafourche Leonard Miller
See Entergy Page 3-A
MEETINGS
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 8 AMERICAN LEGION POST #315 7:00 p.m. 210 Legion Ave. - Galliano
THURSDAY, AUG. 9
G.M. ROTARY CLUB 7:00 p.m. Old Parish Library - LA 1 Golden Meadow
SATURDAY, AUG. 11 LES ARTISTE DU BAYOU ART GUILD 9:00 a.m. Larose Civic Center
INSIDE
Arrests.......................8-A Calendar of Events.....2-A
Classifieds...................6-A Engagement...............3-A
Lottery.........................2-A News In Brief...............7-A Obituaries.............6-A/7-A
Public Notice...............8-A
VOLUME 52 NUMBER 48
An aerial view of the South Lafourche Leonard Miller Jr. Airport. Submitted photo
Jr. Airport will receive $54,000 to design drainage improvements that have hindered the south side of the airfield, Airport Manager Richard Osborne said. Once the designs are complete, the project will cost another several hundred thousand dollars to complete next year, he said. “This Federal investment will allow us to continue to grow the airport sustainably well in to the future,” said Chett Chiasson, executive director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission and South Lafourche Airport. The FAA awarded $25.6 million as part of the 2018 Airport Improvement Program grants using $3.18 billion in funding provided by Congress for airports across the country, a LADOTD press release states. “We’re grateful to receive this grant for airport improvements all across our state,” LADOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson said. “Air travel is an essential part of the state’s infrastructure, and we owe it to the traveling public to provide safe, high-quality airports. As always, we’re dedicated to continuing the search for alternate means of funding to improve the quality of life of our citizens and visitors.” See Airport Page 3-A
At least 12 properties in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes have been condemned and authorized for demolition this year. The condemnation process differs in each parish, with parish council approval required at different phases. When a property or structure is reported to the parish as a derelict, nuisance, haven for drug or crime activity, or eyesore, it is turned over to parish officials to investigate and determine if any codes have been violated. Each parish has its own set of codes, or rules, that buildings must adhere to in order to be deemed safe and livable. In Terrebonne, a property can be condemned after it has been reported, inspected, the owners are notified, the Parish Council holds a public hearing and votes to condemn and public bids are solicited for demolition. Most of that process falls under the authority of the Planning and Zoning Department’s Nuisance Abatement Division. Property owners are given several opportunities to bring a building into compliance before demolition. See Property Page 5-A
Effort to end Louisiana split-jury law gets bipartisan push By MELINDA DESLATTE Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — An unlikely, bipartisan coalition is working to win voter support for a proposal ending Louisiana’s Jim Crow-era law that allows split juries to convict people of serious felony crimes, a former district attorney said Monday. Voters will decide the fate of the constitutional change on the Nov. 6 ballot. See Law Page 3-A
History, Hollywood and voodoo all in a New Orleans cemetery By BETH J. HARPAZ, AP Travel Editor
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — If you’ve heard about New Orleans’ famous cemeteries with their above-ground tombs, chances are you’ve heard about the gravesite of the so-called voodoo queen. Her name was Marie Laveau and she is buried in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. But visitors looking to visit her grave need to know a couple of things. First, you can’t sightsee there on your own. Since 2015, tourists have been allowed into the cemetery only on guided tours. “We were having so much vandalism in the cemetery, in addition to panhandlers saying they were tour guides and handing visitors markers to mark up the tombs,” said Sherri Peppo, executive director of New Orleans Catholic Cemeteries. “It got out of hand.” Even with the rules, the cemetery still gets some 200,000 visitors a year on authorized tours. And unlike the sprawling 19th-century garden cemeteries found
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elsewhere in the country, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is tiny and crowded, not much bigger than a square block. Chances are you’ll be snaking in a line along the graveyard’s cramped and narrow paths, taking turns gawking at the vaults where its most famous denizens are spending eternity. The second thing to know is that Laveau’s story is just one of many fascinating tales connected to this place. You’ll also hear the story behind one of America’s most famous court cases, Plessy v. Ferguson. You’ll get a glimpse of a gleaming white tomb shaped like a pyramid owned by a Hollywood celebrity. And you’ll see the vault where a famous scene from a classic 1960s movie was shot. ARCHITECTURE AND HISTORY New Orleans is celebrating its 300th birthday this year, marking the city’s founding by French settlers in 1718. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, the city’s oldest
graveyard, dates to 1789. Two explanations are offered for why its burial vaults are built above ground: because of the high water table and flooding, and because it was a European cultural custom. See Cemetery Page 3-A
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