YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER LAROSE, LA thelafourchegazette.com
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Draft 2020 coastal plan outlined in Houma
SERVING: MATHEWS • GHEENS • LOCKPORT • VALENTINE • LAROSE CUT OFF • GALLIANO • GOLDEN MEADOW • LEEVILLE • GRAND ISLE
Oil prices rise in January By Keith Magill Daily Comet / Houma Today Executive Editor
By Julia Arenstam Daily Comet Staff Writer
The state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority visited Houma last Wednesday to discuss final approval of the 2020 Annual Plan. The draft plan, presented to the public at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, proposes spending about $2.5 billion through 2022 for coastal restoration and hurricane protection projects. “We’re not in the business of sitting on money. When we get dollars in the door, our plan is to get those out the door and expend them in the form of projects for the people of the coast,” CPRA’s new Executive Director Bren Haase said. Haase, who was appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards last week after Michael Ellison resigned, outlined the draft 2020 plan to the large crowd in Houma, focusing on projects in the TerrebonneLafourche area. See Coastal Plan Page 3-A
MEETINGS
WED., FEB. 6 LAFOURCHE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD Regular Meeting 7:00 p.m. 805 E. 7th St. - Thibodaux LAF. FIRE DISTRICT 9 6:30 p.m. Gheens Community Ctr. 1783 LA 654 - Gheens
THURSDAY, FEB. 7 GOLDEN MEADOW ROTARY CLUB 7:00 p.m. Old Parish Library LA 1- Golden Meadow
BAYOU FELLOWSHIP #484 7:00 p.m. E. 93rd St. - Galliano
SATURDAY, FEB. 9 LES ARTISTE DU BAYOU ART GUILD 9:00 a.m. Larose Civic Center
INSIDE
Arrests........................7-A
Calendar of Events.....2-A
Classifieds...................6-A Lottery........................2-A
Obituaries....................7-A
VOLUME 53 NUMBER 22
Photo by Babs
A foggy day didn’t deter Grand Isle resident Ethan Schwark from fishing last weekend. The forecast calls for highs near 80 degrees Thursday before a cold front drops temps into the fifties Friday. Welcome to the roller-coaster ride that is southeast Louisiana weather.
School security upgrades continue By Julia Arenstam, Daily Comet Staff Writer
The Lafourche Parish School Board is scheduled to move forward with several large projects this week. The board will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the School Board office, 805 E. 7th St., Thibodaux. According to the tentative agenda, the board is scheduled to award construction bids for over $866,000 in security upgrades at Thibodaux High School. According to bidding results, TBT Contracting was the low bidder, with four other companies bidding on the project. Duplantis Design Group is designing the project. The total estimated project cost, including design fees, is about $963,000. The district has been slowly upgrading security at each school to create singlepoint-of-entry systems and new technol-
Oil prices rose 18 percent last month, the biggest gain for any January on record. Rising crude prices have long been cited as a necessary ingredient for any rebound in Houma-Thibodaux’s offshore-oil-based economy. The area has lost roughly 16,000 jobs — nearly one of every five — since mid-2014 as low crude prices sparked layoffs and work slowdowns throughout the oil industry. The U.S. industry has rebounded along with oil prices, but job growth has been limited mostly to inland shale fields, where drilling is less costly than the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Economists and analysts say that is beginning to change as companies drive down the break-even cost of Gulf drilling and oil prices have risen. The number of oil and gas and maritime jobs in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes has remained relatively stable for nearly a year, though the local economy overall lost 1,000 jobs in 2018, according to state figures released last week. Louisiana economist Loren Scott told local business people last fall that he expects the area to gain 700 jobs this year and 2,100 in 2020 as oil prices rise and offshore drilling picks up. But that forecast depends largely on oil prices rising steadily. “After much bloodletting, the corner appears to have been turned,” his economic forecast for 2019-20 says.
ogy. In 2015, the School Board voted to spend about $3 million a year over 10 years using a portion of the system’s existing property tax. The board is also expected to move forward with bids to replace the roof at W.S. Lafargue Elementary School and to move the lab at Larose-Cut Off Middle School. The board has held off on hiring an architectural firm for the merged East and West Thibodaux Middle School project. Under the previous board, the Land and Facilities Management Committee heard several presentations from prospective architects, but a final hiring decision was held off until the new board took office. See School Page 3-A
Local businessman announces candidacy for Rep. District 55
I, Donovan Fremin, with great thought and prayer, have decided to run for the District 55 seat of the Louisiana House of RepresenDonovan Fremin tatives which is being vacated by current Representative Jerome “Dee” Richard. I am a lifelong resident of Thibodaux, graduated from Thibodaux High School and attended Nicholls State University. I have been married for 19 years to my wonderful wife, Amanda Enclade Fremin,
and we have two beautiful children, Declan and Finley. I am a Republican with conservative values and my family and I are parishioners of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. For many years I have supported numerous local charitable and non-profit organizations. I also enjoy volunteering with the Thibodaux Recreation Department. I work for the parent company Delta Music, Inc. where I also manage and supervise its subsidiaries (Fremin Investments, Inc., Fremin Brother Rentals, LLC, Delta Coin Machines, Inc. and Executive Gaming, Inc.). See Fremin Page 3-A
See Oil Prices Page 3-A
Larose man arrested for attempted aggravated arson, domestic abuse
A Larose man who was wanted for attempted aggravated arson, domestic abuse battery, and other charges has been arrested. Glenn Wilson Jr., 27, was arrested Friday for Glenn Wilson warrants stemming from an incident in mid-January. At approximately 9:30 a.m. on January 14, deputies were dispatched to a disturbance at Wilson’s residence on Hwy. 308 in Larose. When deputies arrived, they heard someone yell to enter the residence from a side door. Deputies noticed a strong odor of gasoline outside and inside the residence. They immediately made contact with a handicapped man who indicated Wilson was one of his care-
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