2016, Part Deux: LSU joined by familiar faces in BR regional

The NCAA baseball tournament selection committee must have really enjoyed last year’s Baton Rouge regional.

The committee all but created a sequel Monday while awarding LSU a coveted national seed for the sixth straight year.

Sub in SWAC tournament winner Texas Southern for last year’s regional No. 4 seed, Utah Valley, and it’s Part Deux.

The Tigers will also welcome Southeastern Louisiana as the region’s No. 2 seed, with Rice as the No. 3.

Not exactly strangers.

Last year the roles were reversed — Rice was No. 2 and SLU was No. 3 in Baton Rouge.

“It seems like Rice and Southeastern are in our regional every year,” LSU outfielder Greg Deichmann said. “It’s crazy.”

It’s not real original.

Southeastern, which got an at-large bid out of the Southland Conference and lost to the Tigers in Alex Box Stadium earlier this season, will be making its third trip to the Baton Rouge regional in the last four years.

“Rice — it seems like we can’t get away from them,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Since I’ve been at LSU we’ve played them in Omaha, in the super regionals, and in regionals.”

LSU played the Owls three times in last year’s regional, winning the first and third games to advance.

“Nobody thought Rice was going to be in the tournament this year,” Mainieri said of the Owls, who had to score two runs in the ninth inning to beat Southern Miss in the Conference USA Today tournament final to earn the automatic bid. “But they’ve made a miraculous run to win their conference tournament. They’ve earned their way here.”

For the super regional, the Baton Rouge regional winner will be paired against the Hattiesburg Miss., regional where top-seeded Southern Miss is hosting Mississippi State (2), South Alabama (3) and Illinois-Chicago (4).

LSU’s late-season surge earned it the No. 4 national seed when the 64- team complete field was announced Monday. It was the sixth straight year for the Tigers to get one of the eight national seeds, tying the NCAA record also held by Stanford.

“I think probably about five or six weeks ago it was probably a far-fetched idea that we would even be a national seed,” Mainieri said. “Our guys have played great over the last month, and I think we’ve earned it.”

Other national seeds were Oregon State, North Carolina, Florida, Texas Tech, Louisville, TCU and Stanford.

It means the Tigers would not have to leave Alex Box Stadium to earn a trip to the College World Series — as long as they win there.

“I’m not even worried about Rice or Southeastern right now,” Mainieri said. “We have to get through Texas Southern first.”

Play opens Friday when the Tigers (43-17), riding an 11-game winning streak and fresh off winning the SEC tournament, will play Texas Southern (20-32) at 2:30 p.m. Friday.

Southeastern (36-20), the only state team to make the tournament, and Rice (31-29) will play in the second game at 7 p.m. That game features an interesting coaching matchup with the Lions’ 32-year-old Matt Riser against Rice’s ageless wonder, 81-year-old Wayne Graham.

LSU was one of eight SEC teams to make the field — the most of any conference — joined by No. 3 national seed Florida, while Kentucky and Arkansas will also be hosting regionals.

Others who will be traveling are Mississippi State (Hattiesburg), Auburn (Florida State), Vanderbilt (Clemson) and Texas A&M (Houston).

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Shooting in Iowa: Authorities searching for two suspects

An Iowa man was shot while inside his mobile home Sunday, according to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to a report of a disturbance on P.E. Daigle Road in Iowa in the early morning hours and upon arrival deputies learned of the shooting. 

The investigation revealed the victim’s fiancée was outside of the home when Robert J. Handy, 27, 4435 Brown St., Lake Charles, and another man pulled up, approached the victim’s fiancée and began arguing loudly.

The victim opened the door to his home, at which time, Handy told the victim to go back inside, then cocked a handgun.  

Both Handy and the other man began shooting at the home.  The victim’s fiancée told the two men that her child was inside of the home, and they continued to shoot at the home, then fled the scene in a truck.

The victim was struck by one of the rounds while he was in his home.  He was transported to a hospital where he is believed to be in stable condition.

The child was not injured.

A warrant has been issued for Handy for two counts of attempted 2nd degree murder.  Judge Canaday has set his bond at $1,300,000.  

Detectives are attempting to identify the other man who was with Handy outside of the victim’s mobile home.

CPSO detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating Handy and identifying the other man.  They fled the scene in a maroon Ford F150 pickup truck.  It is believed the truck’s license plate is a dealer tag.  Anyone with any information about the shooting or knowing the whereabouts of Handy and the other man is asked to call CPSO lead detective Roland Jones at 431-8015 or call 911. If no answer leave voicemail and Jones will return the call ASAP.

 

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White House communications director resigns amid tensions

WASHINGTON -- A top White House communications staffer has resigned as President Donald Trump considers a major staff overhaul.

The departure of Michael Dubke, Trump's communications director, comes as aides say Trump has grown increasingly frustrated by allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and revelations of possible ties between his campaign and Moscow.

Trump tweeted Tuesday: "Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News."

Dubke wrote in a statement that it had been an honor to serve Trump and "my distinct pleasure to work side-by-side, day-by-day with the staff of the communications and press departments."

Dubke's last day has not yet been determined.

A Republican consultant, Dubke joined the White House team in February after campaign aide Jason Miller — Trump's original choice for communications director — withdrew from the White House team. Dubke founded Crossroads Media, a GOP firm that specializes in political advertising.

Dubke is the latest White House staffer to leave this administration as scrutiny intensifies over contacts Trump staffers may have had with Russian government officials during the campaign and transition period.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Dubke resigned before Trump left for his international trip earlier this month, suggesting that his departure is not linked to any pending shake-ups.

But his departure raises questions about whether previous Trump loyalists are headed to the White House. Trump has entertained formally bringing back his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and former deputy campaign manager, David Bossie.

Bossie told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" that the Trump administration has reached out to him but hasn't offered him a job yet.

"They have talked to many people, including me," Bossie said. He later added: "It's an ongoing conversation and that's a fair way to put it."

In an interview on Fox News on Tuesday, Conway said Dubke "made very clear that he would see through the president's international trip, and come to work every day and work hard even through that trip because there was much to do here back at the White House."

Dubke's hiring was intended to lighten the load on Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, who had also been handling the duties of communications director during Trump's first month in office. Trump has privately pinned some of the blame for his administration's rough start on the White House's communications strategy.

While overseas, Trump's longtime lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, joined a still-forming legal team to help the president shoulder the intensifying investigations into Russian interference in the election and his associates' potential involvement. More attorneys with deep experience in Washington investigations are expected to be added, along with crisis communication experts, to help the White House in the weeks ahead.

The latest revelations to emerge last week involved Trump's son-in-law and top aide, Jared Kushner. Shortly after the election, Kushner allegedly discussed setting up a secret communications channel with the Russian government to facilitate sensitive discussions about the conflict in Syria.

The intent was to connect Trump's chief national security adviser at the time, Michael Flynn, with Russian military leaders, a person familiar with the discussions told the AP. The person wasn't authorized to publicly discuss private policy deliberations and insisted on anonymity.

Flynn handed in his resignation in February after it was revealed he misled top White House officials about his contacts with Russian officials.

The disclosure of the back channel has put the White House on the defensive. Just back from his nine-day trip to the Middle East and Europe, Trump dismissed recent reports as "fake news."

Trump also has renewed his criticism of Germany following Chancellor Angela Merkel's suggestion that her country needs to adopt a more independent stance in world affairs.

Trump posted a tweet Tuesday saying "we have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change."

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Cowboys still proud at season's ending

The McNeese State baseball team’s season officially came to an end on Monday as the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee opted not to include the Cowboys in the 2017 tournament bracket.

The Southland Conference regular season champions missed out on a continued postseason after going 1-2 in the SLC tournament and a slew of upsets in conference tournaments across the country shrunk the bubble and squeezed the Cowboys out.

“It’s tough because I didn’t think Friday was the last game this team was going to play,” said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. “We were a fun team, and this team did a lot of great things.

“It’s an imperfect system. It’s one of those things where people try to make the best decisions that they can. We forced them to make a difficult decision.”

Despite the disappointing outcome, Hill said the Cowboys have little to be sad about.

“Are our guys good enough to be in the mix?” Hill asked rhetorically. “Yep. They sure are. There’s no doubt. We just didn’t get picked. That doesn’t change our identity, it doesn’t change what we did, it doesn’t change any of those things. We just don’t get to play one more week.”

As much as this may sting in the moment, Hill said he knows that pain is only temporary.

The Cowboys will look back at what they accomplished this season and remember it proudly, Hill said.

“It’s not sad,” he said. “I’m really proud of them. If there was anything I could have done to let them keep going, I wanted to do that. But that’s just the way it works sometimes.

“When you look 365 days from now, or next fall when our kids are getting honored at a football game getting their rings, there won’t be any sadness there. It’s just the immediacy of the moment.”

Hill said the 2017 edition of the Cowboys set up the future of the program for success by forcing their name into the national conversation and setting expectations at a higher level.

Despite missing out on the tournament, the fact that the Cowboys were in the discussion for an at-large bid, something that has never happened at McNeese, is something to be proud of, Hill said.

“Any time you’ve been at Memorial Day watching the selection show and you’re disappointed, it puts a little fire in your belly,” he said. “We’ve seen what the process looks like. … Next year’s team is going to be its own team. They’re older, they’ve been through different things. You just have to let it happen organically.”

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Several controversies await Louisiana lawmakers

Members of the Legislature begin the eighth and next-to-last week of their fiscal session today facing a number of controversies. Contentious issues involve the proposed fiscal 2017-18 budget, gasoline taxes, criminal justice reform, construction spending, disagreements between the House and Senate and between Democrats and Republicans and failure to raise funds to avoid a $1.3 billion deficit July 1, 2018.

The Legislature has to adjourn its fiscal session at 6 p.m. June 8, and there is already talk of the need for its fourth special session since members took office in January of 2016. Efforts to reform the budget and tax systems have pretty much been derailed.

The Senate has been holding budget hearings and expects its Finance Committee to reveal its plan today for dealing with a proposed $29 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The House only budgeted 97.5 percent of the revenues expected, holding back $206 million in the event there is another annual mid-year budget deficit in 2018.

Many senators and Gov. John Bel Edwards believe the House’s $235 million reduction in the state Department of Health’s budget will cause serious cutbacks in essential health care services for the disabled and mental health patients. The final Senate budget plan may use that $206 million the House set aside for future use.

Sen. Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte and chairman of the Finance Committee, told The Associated Press the House considers restoration of those funds to be a “deal-breaker.”

“I’m not sure how much room there is to negotiate,” he said.

A proposed 17-cent-per-gallon increase in the state’s 20-cent gasoline tax is scheduled for debate again Wednesday. House Bill 632 by Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, was returned to the calendar last week because the hour was late and the 70 votes (two-thirds) needed for taxes weren’t there.

News reports over the weekend indicated Carter has some amendments lined up that might improve his bill’s chances for passage. The legislation already has provisions that tie the money to transportation projects and nothing else.

A group of 34 business and economic development organizations have thrown their support behind the increase. Americans for Prosperity, a conservative organization, and the state Republican Party are major opponents.

Most Baton Rouge area legislators support the increase since gridlock at the Interstate 10 bridge over the Mississippi River has become the nation’s No. 1 traffic nightmare.

Criminal justice reform, a bipartisan effort, is currently being held up because of dissension between Democrats and Republicans in the House. Democrats are holding up the state’s construction bill in an effort to get the GOP leadership to negotiate with them over budget and other issues.

Republican leaders, in return, have threatened to delay bipartisan criminal justice legislation that is designed to relieve Louisiana of its reputation for having the highest incarceration rate in the nation.

House Republicans have refused to approve revenue-raising measures or curb the approval of tax breaks, which total nearly $7 billion annually. Ending some of those breaks would raise revenues and help resolve the expected 2018 deficit, but lawmakers are moving in the opposite direction.

Jim Richardson, an LSU economics professor and co-chairman of a task force that studied tax and budget reform for a year, told The Advocate those actions are the reason the tax system is broken. He said tax giveaways add up and cost money.

“You do it one by one, and it means you have to have higher (tax) rates,” he said. “Then you need more exemptions to offset the higher rates. That’s where the system falls apart.”

The House Ways and Means Committee, which has killed most revenue bills, has a full agenda today that includes even more tax breaks already approved by the Senate. It does have measures that raise money.

Senate Bill 25 by Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, would repeal an $18 and soon-to-be $25 education annual income tax credit. It would raise $9.2 million this year and $12.8 million annually after that. The full House has already killed a similar measure by Rep. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles. Funds Abraham wanted to save would have been used to train citizens in badly needed industrial jobs.

S.B. 172 by Morrell eliminates tax credits in 2020-21 that would raise $51 million that year and $277 million in 2021-22. The Senate approved it 22-14.

Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, has S.B. 79 that would raise $12.5 million annually by eliminating corporate income and franchise tax credits. The Senate voted 37-1 for Luneau’s bill.

A name change proposed for the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches is causing another rift. Senators voted 31-2 to name the school after the late Rep. Jimmy Long Sr. However, many of the school’s 5,000 alumni are protesting vigorously.

Sen. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi and a close friend of Long, said Long all but created the school and deserves the honor. He said he would amend it to add Long’s name to the school but it would remain with its current title on a day-to-day basis.

Alumni are still resisting, saying they prefer a plan to instead name a $23 million residential dormitory after Long.

The full House this week will start deciding whether to agree with changes made to House bills by the Senate. Failure to concur will result in sending the legislation to conference committees in hopes of ironing out the differences.

The House will also debate Senate bills while the Senate will be debating House measures.

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Summer camp allows children with cancer a chance to be kids again

When Marissa Boudreaux was diagnosed with leukemia at 8 years old, her life changed overnight, she said.

Boudreaux, now 19, said she went from being thought of as “normal” to being known as the “sick child,” one whom others pitied and tried to protect.

But when her mother discovered Camp Quality Louisiana, a free summer camp for children with cancer, and their siblings, Boudreaux said she got the chance to experience a carefree childhood once again.

“It was an escape,” she said. “It was how I could be ‘normal’ during one of the hardest times of my life.”

She said it was difficult at first to be away from her mother because of the strong relationship the two formed during treatment. Her mother, Tanya, said it was difficult for her as well.

“I was afraid to let her go at first because, you know, you want to protect them, but once I realized it was very organized and controlled, I felt comfortable,” she said. “She made friends and had fun. She was very, very happy.”

The family camped at a site nearby, just in case something went wrong. Her mother laughed as she remembered checking on her daughter from binoculars across the lake.

Although she wanted to be with her, she said, she was glad that her daughter was able to spend a week away from everything she associated with leukemia.

“It’s really more about letting them go and having their time,” she said.

Boudreaux said some of her favorite memories of camp were playing Minute to Win It-style games and singing in the annual talent show.

She said Camp Quality was structured like any other summer camp — no one talked about cancer, and she wasn’t treated with kid gloves anymore.

“There are different types of people that surround you when you’re sick like that long-term,” Boudreaux said.

“Some people treat you like you’re wrapped in bubble wrap. Some are the ones who wrap you in the bubble wrap. And some are the ones who encourage you to run at the wall. At Camp Quality, they encourage you to run at the wall.”

After attending the camp from ages 9 to 16, she became a companion at age 18 to one of the campers, a sibling of a child with cancer.

Each child at the camp gets assigned an older companion to guide him or her through daily activities.

Boudreaux said she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to make the transition from camper to companion. But by the second day, she said, she had gotten the hang of it.

“My first camper was Keeley. She was 6 then, and I taught her how to tie her shoes,” Boudreaux said. “We just had a blast.”

Camp Quality is an international organization that has operated in Louisiana since 1989. The Louisiana camp is one of 15 other camps in the U.S. and runs solely off donations and grants.

Director Alan Barth said the camp’s mission is “letting kids with cancer be kids again.”

“During this week, we never talk about the disease,” Barth said. “We never talk about treatments or anything else like that. We just have a good time.”

Barth said 28 to 35 children each year attend the Louisiana camp, scheduled this year for July 23-28 at King’s Camp in Mer Rouge. About 17 have signed up so far, he said, leaving “plenty of space” for new campers.

Barth said he and his team also host events throughout the year, including a reunion in the fall, a butterfly release at St. Jude Fall Fest in Zwolle, and a 5K fundraiser in the spring.

Barth said this year the group raised $8,500 at the 5K — over three times the usual amount — thanks to a substantial donation from Amerigroup Insurance Co.

He said donations and grants from large companies are becoming more important now that the camp can no longer rely on telethons for funding. He said the last telethon it held two years ago flopped.

“We almost lost money on the event,” he said.

Barth said he has been busy writing grants and recruiting companions for this year’s event. He started working at the camp about five years ago as kitchen manager and stepped in as director last year when the previous director received a job out of state.

Barth said he has a special connection to the camp.

“I actually had cancer 13 years ago myself,” he said. “So I can relate to these kids a lot.”

He said he harbored reservations about working there but had a change of heart once he met the campers.

“These kids come to camp, and they’re not focusing on their cancer,” he said.

“They’re just having fun, and nobody judges them. It’s a judgment-free area. They might have scars from where they had surgery, but nobody says anything. They’re accepted. There’s no pressure. Personally, it just makes me feel good to know that they are really enjoying themselves for a week.”

He said siblings, too, are given the chance to be kids again at Camp Quality. “Siblings have a tough time, too, because they’re not getting the attention that the cancer kids are,” Barth said.

Although Camp Quality accepts siblings on a space-available basis, he said, the Louisiana camp usually has room.

In addition to campers, the camp is recruiting companions and volunteers. Barth said many companions were once campers themselves. He said they often form a bond with the children and keep in contact after camp is over. He said he, too, keeps in touch with campers by inviting them to reunions and sending them birthday cards.

Barth said that this year campers can look forward to horseback riding, canoeing, rope courses, archery, arts and crafts, and swimming.

Three or four nurses are available at all times to give the children medicine and check on them. He said those who have restrictions will be given a schedule catered to their needs.

Most importantly, he said, the kids will have a week to let loose and be themselves.

“It’s kind of like Disneyland,” Barth said. “They say that’s the happiest place on Earth. Well, this is the happiest place on Earth when the kids are there.”

l

For more information, contact Barth at 318-547-4319 or alan.barth@campqualityusa.org. To register as a camper or as a volunteer, visit http://ift.tt/2rc6DV5.

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Minority advocates say Trump's budget will hurt their causes

WASHINGTON -- Advocates for minority communities say President Donald Trump's proposed budget answers the question he famously posed to black Americans during his campaign: "What the hell do you have to lose?"

His $4.1 trillion spending plan for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 generally makes deep cuts in safety net programs, including Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and Social Security's disability program.

"Here is the reality: Many poor black families and brown families and Asian families and indigenous families will be devastated by this budget," said Bishop Dwayne Royster, founder of Philadelphia's Living Water United Church of Christ.

The White House said its budget would put the country back on track for a healthy economy.

"We're not going to measure compassion by the amount of money that we spend, but by the number of people that we help," White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said this past week.

Critics decry the priorities in Trump's budget, which Congress is unlikely to pass as submitted. Still, it will serve as a guidepost for what the White House wants lawmakers to deliver to the president.

"It is an attack of unimaginable cruelty on the most vulnerable among us, the youngest, the oldest, the poorest, and hardworking people who need a little help to gain or hang on to a decent middle-class life," Hillary Clinton said Friday.

Trump's budget would slash Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provide health insurance for millions of poor families, by $616 billion over the next decade. It would cut the food stamp program by $191 billion over the next decade and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program by $22 billion.

"Great nations are known by how they care for the old and the vulnerable, not by how much they can take away from them to give to their wealthy friends," NAACP Chairman Leon W. Russell said.

Several people pointed to the targeting of the Education Department for a 13 percent cut as particularly troubling.

That "will undoubtedly hurt our most vulnerable children, especially those from low-income and working-class Black families, who rely on access to special education programs, well-trained teachers, smaller class sizes, literacy grants, and before and after school programs-all of which will be at risk for cuts or elimination," said Jacqueline Cooper, president of the Black Alliance for Educational Options.

The head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., said Trump's budget "wastes billions of dollars on a costly and ineffective border wall and deportation force" while proposing cuts to programs that have been essential to helping Hispanic families.

The budget seeks $2.6 billion for border security technology, including money to design and build a wall along the southern border. Trump repeatedly promised voters during the campaign that Mexico would pay for a wall, a notion that Mexican officials have rejected.

NAACP officials said Trump's proposal would gut civil rights enforcement in the federal government.

It would defund and cut at least 10 percent of key civil rights enforcement positions across the government, including positions at the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Legal Services Corporation, which helped more than 2 million low-income individuals with legal representation last year, advocates said.

"I am not sure what is more insidious — regurgitating the sham of old trickle-down theories of economics or purposely refusing to adequately fund civil rights positions necessary to protect individuals from voter suppression, job discrimination or police brutality," Russell said.

The budget does maintain the same funding for historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions from President Barack Obama's administration. It reinstates year-round Pell Grants and increases charter school spending, which the Thurgood Marshall College Fund "can utilize to build and strengthen K-12 pipeline initiatives that operate on several HBCU campuses," said the fund's president, Johnny Taylor.

But United Negro College Fund President Michael Lomax noted that HBCUs will be hurt in other ways.

"In fact, the proposed budget would cut federal financial aid lifelines that thousands of HBCU students depend on to attend college and earn their degrees," Lomax said.

Native American groups, who say their needs are perpetually underfunded, say the cuts would worsen their plight.

"Tribes have had to endure too many budget cuts over the years as it is, but this proposal cuts even deeper," said Fawn Sharp, president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, which represents 57 Native American tribes in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, California, Montana and Idaho. "It is so severe that it's absolutely illogical and unreasonable."

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Parish hoping to improve drainage

Calcasieu Parish officials are waiting to get input from a group of stakeholders on an initiative to improve drainage parishwide, which includes $18 million to $20 million in regional capital projects and $6 million to $8 million in smaller, street-level drainage projects.

Allen Wainwright, parish public works director, told members of the Public Works Committee on Thursday that parish officials will sort through comments from the drainage coalition — which includes builders, architects, engineers and others — before coming up with a draft ordinance plan. Parish Administrator Bryan Beam said the stakeholder input process will continue through May 30.

The draft ordinance will go before the parish drainage committee in June, then move to the Planning and Zoning Board in July. The full Police Jury is expected to take action on the ordinance in July or August.

Wainwright said work on any capital improvement projects won’t start until engineering plans are approved and permits are obtained.

For future development, Wainwright said officials will come up with preliminary conceptual plans to identify any hurdles and attempt to shorten the time it takes to get through the process. There will also be a required plan to manage stormwater runoff.

Wainwright said areas that are too small for a detention pond or on-site mitigation would pay a drainage impact fee. He said drainage layout and plans will be drawn up and inspected throughout the construction process.

Capital projects

Wainwright said the coalition is working on a plan for capital projects, including $18 million to $20 million in regional projects that would affect a large portion of the watersheds.

He said there are six projects selected by the coalition, along with a 14.5-acre regional detention pond, estimated at $5 million. Wainwright said the timeline calls for having design plans done later this year, but that getting the project done will come down to funding.

The parish, city of Lake Charles and Ward 3 Gravity Drainage District 4 have entered into a cost-sharing agreement to buy the property that would house the detention pond. It is along Louisiana Avenue near the intersection of East McNeese Street. The property fronts Contraband Bayou.

Under the agreement, the Police Jury would pay 50 percent of the property’s cost, while the city and drainage district would each pay 25 percent.

Wainwright said there are $6 million to $8 million worth of proposed street-level drainage projects. He said the 50 projects are intended to bring roadside ditches and culverts up to parish standards.

Wainwright said $1 million more in watershed planning studies are designed to mimic FEMA guidelines. He said the studies will provide a path to maximize a community rating system and hopefully reduce insurance rates.

Wainwright said capital projects that are selected will go through 2-D modeling and a cost-benefit analysis and undergo 30 percent of engineering plans before they are recommended for funding and go out for bids.

“This is going to be a program that needs to go forward for generations if you’re really going to try and get ahead of where we’re at today,” he said. “These projects are not going to get any smaller.”

Wainwright said funding will be requested in next year’s budget for some of the capital projects. He said the plan is to have some projects bid and under construction sometime in 2018.

Beam said the 4-mill Road and Drainage Trust Fund tax raises $7.5 million annually. He said some of that money could be shifted to fund drainage projects.

District 15 Police Juror Les Farnum said he wants the ordinances to improve drainage but not drive out potential development.

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Avenue of Flags hits milestone

The Avenue of Flags recently hit a milestone that has been over three decades in the making. Flag number 1,000 was recently donated to the organization for its biannual displays, which are the largest in the country featuring memorial flags.

“We didn’t know if we would ever get to this, to be honest with you. But we wanted two things: to be the largest display in the United States and to get to 1,000 flags. It has taken a long time — 34 years — and we continue to grow,” said Ted Harless Jr., executive director.

Carol Fontenot, of Sulphur, a longtime Avenue of Flags volunteer and member of the board of directors, donated the flag to the organization after her stepmother, Paula Pryne, gave it to her. It is the casket flag of her father, Ralph Harvey “Buck” Pryne Jr., of Vidor, Texas, a Navy veteran who served during the Korean War and died in 2005.

Fontenot said she is honored to have the flag be part of something so meaningful. She also said she is proud of the time she has spent working for the organization. “I’m not a veteran. I have never been in a war,” she said. “But I feel like being a part of the Avenue of Flags is something that I can do to honor those who have sacrificed for our country.”

Harless said the flags represent freedom and patriotism. “We are also showing the community that anyone who served in the armed forces is respected. And we are thanking everyone who ever wore a uniform,” he said.

The individually numbered casket flags, measuring 5 by 91⁄2 feet, are flown along the roads winding through Orange Grove-Graceland Cemetery on Broad Street twice a year, Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The display started with 50 flags in 1983 as a project of Sons of the American Revolution Oliver Pollock Chapter. By Friday morning, Harless said, the group had moved past the 1,000 mark with four more newly donated flags.

“People find us somehow. Flags come from everywhere. Throughout the year, we probably get about 20 to 40 of them,” he said.

Harless said a Memorial Day event will be at 9 a.m. Monday, May 29, in the cemetery. He said it will include a keynote address by Cmdr. Dan Cost of the Coast Guard and a ceremony memorializing Sgt. Alex Paul Guidry.

Harless said about 200 volunteers will help put up the flags. He said anyone who would like to assist should be at the cemetery by 6 a.m. Monday.

He said the group is also in need of monetary donations. For more information on donating or volunteering, call 436-8940. Donations can also be mailed to Avenue of Flags, 127 W. Broad St., Suite 600, Lake Charles, LA 70601.

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Gasoline tax hike only solution

“If not now, when?”

Supporters of an increase in the state’s 20-cent-per gallon gasoline tax are asking members of the Louisiana Legislature that question. Among their number are 34 influential business and economic development groups that are usually no fans of higher taxes of any kind.

If not now, the “when” is 2021, four years down the road. The next fiscal session when taxes can be changed is 2019, a statewide election year when higher taxes are definitely out of the question.

Louisiana roads got a “D” and bridges a “D-plus” grade from the state’s civil engineers this year, and they said both had only gotten worse since similar grades five years ago. Even a “D-plus” grade means the state’s road and bridge systems don’t provide the services intended and are at risk of failure.

The state last raised its gasoline tax by four cents in 1989 (28 years ago) when 16 major projects in the TIMED program were approved. Two of those projects aren’t completed and paying for the other 14 is actually consuming five cents of the 20-cent tax.

The four-laning of U.S. 171 and U.S. 165 were two of those projects that have been completed to the great benefit of those of us who live in this corner of the state. It would not have happened without the higher gasoline tax.

Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, is sponsor of House Bill 632 that proposes to increase the state gasoline tax by 17 cents per gallon. It would raise $269.7 million the rest of this fiscal year, $551.6 million in 2018-19 and $606.7 million by 2021-22.

The legislation squeaked out of the House Ways and Means Committee with a 9-7 vote, four of those favorable votes coming from tax-shy Republicans on the committee. Three of them — Reps. Paula Davis, Barry Ivey and Clay Schexnayder — are from the Baton Rouge area, which has a national reputation for having the most serious traffic gridlock in the country at the Interstate 10 bridge over the Mississippi River.

Ivey, an archconservative, said an upgrade in a state beset by education, health and other problems would send a message that Louisiana “is growing up a bit.”

Carter’s bill was scheduled to be debated by the full House last week, but the hour was late and he admitted he didn’t have the necessary 70 votes (two-thirds) required to approve the increase. The bill comes up again this Wednesday, which is probably the last chance to get it through the legislative process before a required June 8 session adjournment.

The word over the weekend was that Carter is considering amendments that might make the increase more palatable to additional reluctant Republicans. It’s still going to be a tough sell whatever the changes might be.

Legislators got some valuable advice last week from one of their own — Georgia state Sen. Brandon Beach, a Republican and LSU graduate. Beach is chairman of his state’s Senate Transportation Committee and president and CEO of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce.

The Advocate published a guest column by Beach, who said he considers Louisiana his home away from home and has a personal interest in seeing it succeed.

“Georgia and Louisiana similarly have two of the largest state highway systems in the country, each with more than 16,000 state-controlled miles. Both are in deplorable condition, but we are changing that in Georgia,” Beach said.

Beach said Georgia also ignored its transportation system far too long. Miles of highway were crumbling or congested, bridges closed because of deficiencies and the state was losing its economic competitiveness as employers looked elsewhere to locate facilities and jobs.

A Republican governor and GOP Legislature control Georgia, he said, and both decided it was time for bold leadership. It passed the Transportation Funding Act of 2015 that provided more than $900 million a year in dedicated, predictable and sustainable revenue for infrastructure.

“In Georgia, we set partisan politics aside and voted to increase revenue,” Beach said. “There, I said it. We voted in large, bipartisan numbers, to put Georgia first. As a friend of Louisiana, I urge you to do the same.”

Over the last four years, 21 other states have also increased fuel taxes for roads, bridges and other transportation needs. Georgia’s state gasoline tax is 49.5 cents per gallon, the national average.

Currently, 43 states have gasoline taxes higher than Louisiana. The proposed 17-cent increase, with the 18.4-cent federal tax, would make Louisiana’s combined tax 55.4 cents per gallon. A 10-cent increase would make the total tax 48.4 cents, which is just below the national average.

The increase is estimated to cost motorists an average of $120 per year, not a heavy burden on anyone. Even so, Carter isn’t laboring under any misconceptions about the tough selling job he faces this week.

The state’s road and bridge situation is so bad lawmakers, if never before or never again, are going to have to show tremendous political courage this week and do the right thing — approve the increase. That is what true representative government is supposed to be about.

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than five decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jbeam@americanpress.com.

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Judge denies accused man's request to juggle during trial

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.— A Massachusetts judge has denied a man's request to juggle during his trial to show jurors he was just clowning around when he allegedly tried to rob a convenience store.

The Republican reports (http://bit.ly/2rJzyk4 ) that a Springfield judge on Thursday rejected Orlando Melendez's request to juggle for jurors when the case goes to trial. He claimed in his written motion that he is a real clown.

Melendez has pleaded not guilty to charges he used a toy gun to try to rob a convenience store in December.

The 20-year-old man, who is representing himself, asked that he be allowed to juggle three wads of paper for 20 seconds to show jurors that the alleged attempted robbery was a misunderstanding.

Jury selection is set to begin June 8.

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Ex-Senate staffer: Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning has died

LOUISVILLE, Ky.— Jim Bunning, a former Hall of Fame pitcher who went on to serve in Congress, has died. He was 85.

Bunning's death was confirmed by Jon Deuser, who served as chief of staff when Bunning was in the Senate. Deuser said he was notified about the death by Bunning's family.

Bunning was one of only 18 Major League Baseball pitchers to throw a perfect game in the modern era. In the Senate, his ornery nature forced Republican leaders to push him to retire after two terms.

The Kentucky Republican also served 12 years in the U.S. House. He was a staunchly conservative voice in the Senate and a fierce protector of state interests such as tobacco, coal and military bases. He did not seek re-election in 2010.

The only member of the Baseball Hall of Fame to serve in Congress, Bunning was the second pitcher to record 100 wins and 1,000 strikeouts in the American and National Leagues.

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New Orleans jail employee arrested in smuggling case

NEW ORLEANS— A 23-year-old employee at the New Orleans jail has been arrested for trying to smuggle heroin and other drugs into the facility for an inmate.

The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office says Ciboney Parker was arrested early Friday at the Orleans Justice Center, where she worked.

She faces charges of possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession of Schedule IV drugs (tramadol) and bringing contraband into a correctional facility. Bond was set at $7,000.

NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports (http://bit.ly/2qrJomb ) sheriff's office investigators intercepted recorded calls between Parker, inmate Elton Williams and Williams' girlfriend, Brittany Theophile. Authorities say the trio used the calls to coordinate how Parker would get the drugs to Williams from Theophile.

It was not immediately clear what charges Williams and Theophile face as a result of the investigation.

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Drop in sales tax this weekend on hurricane prep supplies

BATON ROUGE— Louisiana residents looking to stock up on supplies for the hurricane season might want to do their shopping this weekend.

The Department of Revenue says the Louisiana Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday starts Saturday and ends Sunday evening. It provides a 2 percent sales tax exemption on certain items used during a hurricane.

Purchases include items such as flashlights or candles, batteries, storm shutters and radios.

Local sales taxes still apply, and the state sales tax holiday doesn't apply to items sold at airports, hotels, convenience stores or entertainment complexes.

The six-month Atlantic storm season officially starts June 1.

Government forecasters say this could be an above-normal hurricane season.

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Valero makes $1 million gift to LSU College of Engineering

BATON ROUGE— Louisiana State University's College of Engineering is getting a $1 million leadership gift from Valero Energy Corporation to support the engineering education and hands-on experiences for engineering students.

Officials say the Valero Fund at the LSU Foundation will acquire cutting-edge equipment for undergraduate education and research labs and offer technology support for research by College of Engineering faculty.

Judy Wornat, dean of the engineering college, says the gift will provide the next generation of LSU engineers with a state-of-the-art learning environment that better prepares them for jobs in the industry.

Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries, is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels and other petrochemical products.

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Police identify suspect in double killing on Oregon train

PORTLAND, Ore.— The 35-year-old man identified by authorities in the fatal stabbing of two people on a Portland light-rail train has a criminal record that includes stints in prison.

Court records show that Jeremy Joseph Christian was convicted of robbery, kidnapping and a weapons charge in 2002. Christian is being held in the Multnomah County Jail on suspicion of aggravated murder and attempted murder.

Police say two people died Friday and another was hurt in the stabbing after Christian yelled racial slurs at two young women who appeared to be Muslim, one of whom was wearing a hijab.

Police say that before the stabbing, the assailant on the train was ranting on many topics, using "hate speech or biased language."
One person was dead at the scene and another died at a hospital. The third person was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

"In the midst of his ranting and raving, some people approached him and appeared to try to intervene with his behavior and some of the people that he was yelling at," police Sgt. Pete Simpson told The Oregonian. "They were attacked viciously."
It wasn't clear why the man was yelling, Simpson said.

"He was talking about a lot of different things, not just specifically anti-Muslim," Simpson said.
The attack happened on a MAX train as it headed east. A train remained stopped on the tracks at a transit center which was closed while police investigated.

Evelin Hernandez, a 38-year-old resident of Clackamas, Oregon, told the newspaper she was on the train when the man began making racist remarks to the women. A group of men tried to quiet him and he stabbed them, she said.

It's horrific," Simpson said. "There's no other word to describe what happened today."

Millions of Muslims marked the start of Ramadan Friday, a time of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts.

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Suspect arrested in fatal shooting of Virginia special agent

RICHMOND, Va.— A Virginia State Police special agent died Saturday after being shot by a man sitting in a car in a Richmond public housing complex, police said. The shooting suspect fled on foot, sparking an overnight manhunt that ended with the man's arrest about an hour after the agent's death.

Virginia State Police said Travis A. Ball of Richmond is being held without bond on charges that include malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Additional charges are pending.

Ball, 27, is charged in the shooting of Special Agent Michael T. Walter, who died early Saturday at VCU Medical Center in Richmond. Ball was taken into custody at a residence in Northumberland County about an hour after Walter died.

Walter had two sons— ages 14 and 9— and a 6-year-old daughter State Police Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty said. He was an 18-year veteran of Virginia State Police and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Flaherty said.

Walter was promoted to special agent in 2010 and was working in drug enforcement in the state police's Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Richmond field office. Outside of his work in law enforcement, he founded a nonprofit youth wrestling organization.
"We're family. Like any family, these sorts of losses are incredibly tragic," Flaherty said.

Walter was shot Friday night while on patrol with a City of Richmond police officer. The officers observed a Chevrolet Cobalt pull up to a curb on Redd Street and then pulled in behind the car.

The Richmond officer went to speak to the driver. Walter approached the passenger side of the car when a "single shot rang out," according to the statement. Ball then took off after the shooting, sparking an overnight manhunt by eight local, state, federal law enforcement agencies.

The Richmond officer was not injured, police said. A handgun was recovered at the scene near the Chevrolet Cobalt.
Walter routinely partnered with the Richmond Police Department on investigative and patrol operatives, the statement said.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said he and the first lady are heartbroken for Walter's wife and children.

"Special Agent Walter was one of our brave men and women in uniform who risk their lives every single day to protect their fellow Virginians. We will be forever grateful for his service and sacrifice," McAuliffe said in a statement.

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Supreme Court travel ban case could test Trump's reach

WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court may soon decide how courts are supposed to view presidential power in the age of Donald Trump.

The administration has promised a high-court appeal of a ruling blocking the president's ban on visitors from six majority Muslim countries.

The case could be a major test for the young administration — and for a court that's had its 5-4 conservative majority restored with the confirmation of Trump nomine Neil Gorsuch as the ninth justice.

First, the justices must agree to intervene— something they'll probably do considering the importance of the issue.

If that's the case, then they'll be dealing with an area of the law — namely immigration — where courts have given presidents a lot of leeway.

But the president's power over immigration isn't absolute.

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Some women-only screenings planned for 'Wonder Woman'

NEW YORK— Some haters are grumbling on social media about women-only screenings planned for the upcoming "Wonder Woman" film starring Gal Gadot.

Controversy bubbled up Friday over plans in Austin, Texas, and Brooklyn to set aside some shows for women only at Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas. That includes female-only staff.

While the special screenings earned support on social media, some male posters on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere were not pleased, declaring gender discrimination.

The Alamo theater operators fired back on social media, defending the screenings and offering some proceeds to Planned Parenthood.

The film based on the DC Comics character opens June 2.

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California bills target private business to help immigrants

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California Democrats are expanding their efforts to resist President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally with bills aimed at limiting how much private businesses can cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Democrats control all levels of state government, and leaders have vowed to resist Trump administration policies at every turn. Immigration is among their key issues, but most legislation so far has been aimed at limiting what police can do to help immigration authorities and providing additional state services and support to immigrants in the country illegally.

Now, two bills that advanced in the Assembly in the past week are taking aim at private businesses.

A measure that would bar landlords from disclosing tenants' immigration status or reporting them to immigration officials passed the chamber. A bill prohibiting public and private employers from letting immigration agents come into their worksites or view their employee files cleared a committee.

Both bills contain exceptions if employers or landlords are complying with a warrant or subpoena.

Ann Morse, who tracks immigration bills for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said the California measures are the only ones she knows of that aim to limit landlords and private businesses' cooperation and communication with immigration enforcement.
Both bills are sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu of San Francisco. He said they are necessary to protect against deportation of immigrants who haven't committed crimes since entering the country.

Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who opposes the measures, said he thinks they could actually promote fear in immigrant communities, and existing laws already protect tenants. He said the proposals, along with many of the other immigration bills introduced this session, are designed more to make a political statement than to enact good policy.

"If you have a private citizen who provides certain information at the behest of a federal authority, they might end up facing (consequences) just for complying with the request," the Sacramento-area Republican said. "Measures like that do more harm than good."

Jith Meganathan, a policy advocate for the Western Center on Law and Poverty, said that following Trump's victory last fall, organizations that provide legal assistance to low-income Californians began receiving more reports of landlords threatening tenants over their immigration status. Although some of what Chiu's landlord-tenant bill forbids may already be illegal under the state's anti-discrimination laws, he said the measure, AB291, will provide important legal clarity.

At a hearing on the bill in early May, Oakland resident Maria Estrada told lawmakers her landlord in 2015 threatened to report her family when he learned her daughter did not have legal permission to live in the country.

Estrada said she had complained to her landlord about a broken refrigerator, a clogged toilet and an unsecure back door, among other problems in her studio apartment. She told lawmakers he threatened to report her daughter to federal immigration authorities if they continued asking him to make repairs.

"We could not sleep because of the stress of our family breaking up," Estrada said. "No one should have to experience the fear, the pain and harassment which my family has suffered just because they are undocumented."

Advocates of Chiu's other bill, AB450, said they haven't seen workplace raids in California since Trump took office. But Steve Smith of the California Labor Federation — an organization supporting the bill — said the new administration has emboldened immigration enforcement agents, and there's concern they will begin targeting businesses.

Marti Fisher, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce, said the measure infringes on business owners' rights.
"It penalizes an employer for choosing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement authorities, thereby denying the employer the right to determine the best course of action for its business," she wrote in a statement explaining the chamber's opposition to the bill.

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