Embarking on a senior season far different than his first three, McNeese's Khalil Thomas still plans to attack

It was in “Little League,” Khalil Thomas says.

“I was a safety, maybe,” Thomas remembers. “Wasn’t for long.”

In addition to those ambiguous duties in the secondary, Thomas began to return kicks on this peewee team. Coaches noted he was the fastest child on the field.

“They took me off of defense,” Thomas says, “and they just wanted the ball in my hands. Told me to never tackle anyone and get hurt.”

This was Thomas’ only stint as a defensive football player, at least the last the 5-foot-9 speedster can intelligibly remember.

Eight months ago, a Lance Guidry phone call converted Thomas, a running back throughout his prep career and a receiver his first three seasons at McNeese, to cornerback.

New to the position and already with an inherent height disadvantage, Thomas was a favorite quarterback target during spring. Customarily, he’d cover Kent Shelby — an all-conference receiver who, at 6-foot-3, towers over his cornerback by six inches.

“I knew he’d be a great DB, but I didn’t know he was going to be this good,” Shelby said. “Yeah, he’s a little corner, but he’s feisty. He’s not just going to give up an easy touchdown or an easy pass. You’re going to have to actually work for it and that’s what I like about him.”

Players switching sides of the ball possess an intrinsic advantage with the ability to exploit the meticulous details of their former positions. Thomas says he can cut a receiver’s route tree at the stem, knowing exactly where he’ll break and how to track the quarterback’s impeding throw.

His speed, too, is an asset. When he was still defensive coordinator, McNeese coach Lance Guidry always toyed with getting Thomas — who ran a 10.5 100-meter dash in high school — snaps in the secondary, but it was not feasible until he was, officially, named head coach.

“It was kind of the first thing we addressed, that we had a corner depth problem,” Guidry said. “So we moved Khalil there immediately. He did good this spring, but he’s really doing well now … he plays the ball well and gets it out. When you can add a guy on defense that’s fast like Khalil, it just makes your defense faster.”

Thomas ran with the first-team throughout spring and is slated to make the first defensive start of his football life on Saturday against Tarleton State — one of only two seniors on defense. The other, Jake Grode, is filling in for the injured Anthony Yruegas.

It’s hardly the only change in Thomas’ final season.

The team’s kickoff returner for the past three seasons, Thomas will still receive the opening kickoff, he said, but then cede his place to freshman Justin Pratt on ensuing returns.

Guidry put a “rotation” in place on kickoff returns to mitigate the risk of injury to Thomas, one of the few reliable corners a depleted secondary can rely upon.

“I’m trying to score,” Thomas said. “They only give me the first one every game, so I’m trying to get the team started in good field position, if not try to set up a score. I’m not hiding, I’m not running, I’m just going to attack it.”

Much like everything in a senior season few could have envisioned beginning this way.

Upon their high school graduations, Shelby and Thomas attended the 2013 Bayou Bowl, where the best graduated seniors from Texas and Louisiana play an all-star game.

“I just knew what kind of player and competitor he was,” Shelby says. “Never thought he’d cover me. Thought we were going to end here as receivers. But, hey, we needed him at corner.”

There is no defensive back like him, Shelby says. He’s one of the best speedy corners in the country, the receiver proclaims, eight months after this experiment was hatched.

“I love having the ball in my hands, but at the same time, I want to win a championship,” Thomas said. “So if (Guidry) told me the best place to do that and the best place for me to help the team is defense, I went right away and told him I’d work my ass off and do it. I got some great coaches and they got me where I’d want to be.”

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US court upholds ban on gun sales to marijuana card holders

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal government ban on the sale of guns to medical marijuana card holders does not violate the Second Amendment, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.

The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals applies to the nine Western states that fall under the court's jurisdiction, including California, Washington and Oregon.

It came in a lawsuit filed by S. Rowan Wilson, a Nevada woman who said she tried to buy a firearm for self-defense in 2011 after obtaining a medical marijuana card. The gun store refused, citing the federal rule banning the sale of firearms to illegal drug users.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has told gun sellers they can assume a person with a medical marijuana card uses the drug.

The 9th Circuit in its 3-0 decision said Congress reasonably concluded that marijuana and other drug use "raises the risk of irrational or unpredictable behavior with which gun use should not be associated."

The court also concluded that it's reasonable for federal regulators to assume a medical marijuana card holder was more likely to use the drug.

Wilson's attorney, Chaz Rainey, said there needs to be more consistency in the application of the Second Amendment. He planned to appeal.

"We live in a world where having a medical marijuana card is enough to say you don't get a gun, but if you're on the no fly list your constitutional right is still protected," he said.

The 9th Circuit also rejected other constitutional challenges to the ban that were raised by Wilson, including her argument that her gun rights were being stripped without due process.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said the idea that marijuana users were more prone to violence is a fallacy.

"Responsible adults who use cannabis in a manner that is compliant with the laws of their states ought to receive the same legal rights and protections as other citizens," he said.

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Searchers respond to midair aircraft collision in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Searchers are responding to a midair collision of two small commercial airplanes carrying a total of five people in western Alaska.

Alaska National Guard officials say the collision occurred 60 miles north of Bethel just before 11 a.m. Wednesday. There's no immediate word on casualties.

Officials say the planes involved in the crash are a Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 Caravan carrying three people and a Renfro's Alaskan Adventures Piper PA-18 super cub with two people aboard.

A Guard helicopter with medics on board left Bethel around noon to head to the crash site.

Alaska State Troopers also are involved in the response.

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Trump says he and Mexican leader discussed wall, not payment

MEXICO CITY -- Standing alongside the president of Mexico, a measured Donald Trump on Wednesday defended the right of the United States to build a massive border wall along its southern flank, but he declined to repeat his frequent promise to force Mexico to pay for it.

Trump, the U.S. presidential candidate who is widely despised across Mexico, also sidestepped his repeated criticism of Mexican immigrants following a closed-door meeting at the official residence of the country's president, Enrique Pena Nieto. Trump and Pena Nieto, who has compared the New York billionaire to Adolf Hitler, addressed reporters from adjacent podiums flanked by a Mexican flag.

"We did discus the wall. We didn't discuss payment of the wall," Trump said.

In his announcement of his presidential candidacy last year, Trump derided Mexico as a source of rapists and criminals coming to the U.S., and his presence on Wednesday sparked anger and protests across the capital city. A former Mexican president bluntly told the celebrity businessman that, despite Pena Nieto's hospitality, he was not welcome.

"We don't like him. We don't want him. We reject his visit," former President Vicente Fox told CNN, calling the trip a "political stunt."

Pena Nieto was less combative as he addressed reporters alongside Trump. He acknowledged the two men had differences, but he described their conversation as "open and constructive." They shook hands as the session ended.

The trip, a politically risky move for Trump 10 weeks before America's presidential Election Day, came just hours before the Republican nominee was to deliver a highly anticipated speech in Arizona about illegal immigration. That has been a defining issue of Trump's presidential campaign, but also one on which he's appeared to waver in recent days.

After saying during his Republican primary campaign he would use a "deportation force" to expel all of the estimated 11 million people living in the United States illegally, Trump suggested last week he could soften that stance. But he still says he plans to build a huge wall — paid for by Mexico — along the two nations' border. He is under pressure to clarify just where he stands in a speech that's been rescheduled several times as he and his staff has sent varied and conflicting messages on the issue.

"The American people are going to see more clearly that there's one candidate in this race who's prepared to take the steps necessary to end the flood of illegal immigration," Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, said Wednesday on CNN.

Trump will also make clear, Pence later told CBS, "that there will be no path to legalization, no path to citizenship. People will need to leave the country to be able to obtain legal status or obtain citizenship."

The buildup to the speech was abruptly interrupted Tuesday night by the news that Trump would visit Mexico, accepting on short notice an invitation offered last week by Pena Nieto. The newspaper El Universal wrote in an editorial that Trump "caught Mexican diplomats off guard."

Campaigning in Ohio earlier in the day, Democrat Hillary Clinton jabbed at Trump's Mexican appearance as she promoted her own experience working with foreign leaders as the nation's chief diplomat.

"People have to get to know that they can count on you, that you won't say one thing one day and something totally different the next," she told the American Legion in Cincinnati. "And it certainly takes more than trying to make up for a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours and then flying home again."

He has promised, if elected, to deport millions of immigrants who are in the United States illegally, force Mexico to build a wall to secure the nearly 2,000-mile border and renegotiate the NAFTA trade agreement to make it more favorable to the United States.

Pena Nieto made his invitation to both Trump and Clinton, who met with him in Mexico in 2014. The inclusion of Trump puzzled many in Mexico, who said it wasn't clear why their own unpopular president would agree to meet with someone so widely disliked in his country.

Mexico City-based security analyst Alejandro Hope suggested that Pena Nieto "wanted to invite Hillary, but that meant inviting both of them, and nobody thought Trump would accept first."

Pena Nieto has been sharply critical of Trump's immigration policies, particularly the Republican's plans to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. In a March interview, he said that "there is no scenario" under which Mexico would do so and compared Trump's language to that of dictators Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

Trump responded to Vicente Fox's criticism on Twitter earlier in the day, saying the former president had, like Pena Nieto, invited him to come. Fox shot back with a tweet of his own, saying he had invited Trump to "come and apologize to all Mexicans. Stop lying! Mexico is not yours to play with, show some respect."

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2 months later, flood-ravaged West Virginia town rebuilds

RAINELLE, W.Va. -- Two months after a freak storm flooded homes and killed 23 people in West Virginia, residents in impoverished Rainelle curl up in tents and campers at night while their homes are gutted during the day.

Spray-painted X's on the front doors of damaged homes are a constant reminder of the frantic searches for survivors after nearly a foot of rain fell in less than 12 hours, stranding people in cars, homes and businesses. Five people in Rainelle died.

The town of 1,500 people, nestled in a low-lying valley in Greenbrier County, was battered as badly as any during the June 23 floods. Labeled a 1,000-year flood by the National Weather Service, the storm destroyed more than 2,100 homes statewide and damaged another 2,000, the American Red Cross estimated. So far, the federal government has spent more than $111 million helping the state dig out.

Mayor Andrea "Andy" Pendleton believes Rainelle is facing "Noah's Ark" moment — a chance to rebuild and rebrand a town once known for the world's largest hardwood sawmill. Pendleton said she wants to see better homes for everyone.

"A better place to live," Pendleton said. "And some reason for somebody to come to town. We haven't got that niche yet. We used to. Don't have it any more."

It's hit or miss for businesses along the main drag in Rainelle — some have reopened, like Ace Hardware, others are rebuilding and some still sit in eerie darkness. The state has granted about $750,000 to help nearly 90 small businesses, including $168,000 for an eye care clinic, an insurance company and more than a dozen other businesses in Rainelle.

Pendleton, who goes by "Mayor Andy," walks from house to house peppering residents with questions to keep them on track: Have they filed with FEMA? Have they applied for a new home? Do they understand rules about asbestos removal and raising their homes higher in the flood plain?

Walter Crouch, CEO of the Appalachia Service Project, said his nonprofit group plans to build at least 50 homes and repair 60 others in town. The first two new homes should be finished by mid-October. Time is of the essence, he said, to ensure a swarm of residents don't skip town before they can get a home.

FEMA has almost wrapped up work on Linda Bennett's temporary one-bedroom place, which sits next to her old home.

During the floods, another resident paddled a canoe to her house, smashed out a window and saved her and her disabled husband. The water had risen to her chin, she said.

Since then, her daughter has helped set up the inside of her new FEMA trailer.

"We don't need a lot," Bennett said. "Just so we're together down here, with the dog."

So far, almost 8,800 people statewide have applied for FEMA individual aid. Across Greenbrier, Kanawha, Clay and Nicholas counties, FEMA has provided 16 temporary trailer homes. Across 12 counties, FEMA has paid out $33.1 million in housing aid and $6.3 million for other individual needs.

From the town's founding in 1906 until 1975, Rainelle was home to the Meadow River Lumber Company, which once had the world's largest hardwood sawmill. Like much of the struggling coal-dependent state, Rainelle hasn't diversified from its focus on natural resources. The median income is about $25,700, with almost one in three people below the poverty level.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is asking flooded towns such as Rainelle to see opportunity in rebuilding. He assembled higher education, public health and economic development officials to help flood-torn areas rethink their economies.

But, at times, it's hard to focus on the future while people piece their lives back together.

A couple blocks away from Bennett's house, a cramped camper has been home for Imojean Gilbert and her husband Jackie, who has cancer. They spent weeks bouncing from shelter to shelter — eight in all — and they have been living in the camper for more than a month.

The shell of their home remains, but it will likely be torn down. The couple is awaiting construction of a FEMA trailer, and living in the camper has taken its toll.

"My husband, he's getting sick and tired of it," she said. "It works on our nerves."

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Chris Stapleton, Maren Morris, Eric Church lead CMA nods

NEW YORK -- Chris Stapleton, Eric Church and budding newcomer Maren Morris are the leaders at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards.

The three performers received five nominations each Wednesday. The awards show, in its 50th year, will air live Nov. 2 on ABC in Nashville, Tennessee at the Bridgestone Arena.

Stapleton is nominated for entertainer of the year along with Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan and Keith Urban. Stapleton's nominations also include single, male vocalist, music video and musical event of the year, which he shares with wife Morgane for their performance of "You Are My Sunshine."

Morris had a breakout year, getting nominations for female vocalist, new artist and album of the year for "Hero." Her hit, "My Church," is up for single and song of the year.

Church's nominations include album, male vocalist, music video, single and song of the year.

The duo Joey + Rory earned a nomination for vocal duo of the year. Joey Feek, who formed the group with her husband Rory, died earlier this year at age 40.

Underwood and Brad Paisley will host the 2016 CMA Awards.

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Historic commercial flight from US lands in Cuba

SANTA CLARA, Cuba -- The first commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than a half century landed in the central city of Santa Clara on Wednesday morning, re-establishing regular air service severed at the height of the Cold War.

Cheers broke out in the cabin of JetBlue flight 387 as the plane touched down. Passengers — mostly airline executives, U.S. government officials and journalists, with a sprinkling of Cuban-American families and U.S. travelers — were given gift bags with Cuban cookbooks, commemorative luggage tags and Cuban flags, which they were encouraged to wave.

The arrival opens a new era of U.S.-Cuba travel with about 300 flights a week connecting the U.S. with an island cut off from most Americans by the 55-year-old trade embargo on Cuba and formal ban on U.S. citizens engaging in tourism on the island.

"Seeing the American airlines landing routinely around the island will drive a sense of openness, integration and normality. That has a huge psychological impact," said Richard Feinberg, author of the new book "Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy."

Also Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the carriers selected to operate routes to Havana: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines.

The department said in a statement that carriers will serve the Cuban capital from Atlanta, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York City, Orlando and Tampa.

Airlines are obligated to begin flights within 90 days — right after Thanksgiving — but may begin earlier. Delta said it would launch daily service Dec. 1 from Atlanta, Miami and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, "subject to Cuban regulatory approval," with flights going on sale Sept. 10.

The restart of commercial travel between the two countries is one of the most important steps in President Barack Obama's two-year-old policy of normalizing relations with the island. Historians disagree on the exact date of the last commercial flight but it appears to have been after Cuba banned incoming flights during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Twitter that the last commercial flight was in 1961.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes both addressed passengers on board the 150-seat Airbus A320, which was staffed by a specially selected five-member crew of Cuban-Americans. Airline executives changed from American business attire into loose-fitting Cuban-style guayabera shirts before landing.

"This is one of the most visible examples of the president's activities to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba," Foxx said.

"It's a positive step and a concrete contribution to the process of improving relations between the two countries," Cuba's vice minister of transportation Eduardo Rodriguez told journalists Monday.

Neta Rodriguez, a 62-year-old Havana-born South Florida homemaker, checked in Wednesday morning with her daughter, son-in-law and three grandsons for a visit to family in Santa Clara and Havana.

More than the historic nature of the flight, she said she appreciated the $200 price and the ability to book online instead of visiting a charter office

U.S. travel to Cuba is on track to triple this year to more than 300,000 visitors in the wake of the 2014 declaration of detente. Cuba's cash-starved centrally planned economy has been bolstered by the boom in U.S. visitors, along with hundreds of thousands of travelers from other nations hoping to see Cuba before more Americans arrive.

Wednesday's first commercial flight "will be a positive step and a concrete contribution to the process of improving

Commercial flights are expected to significantly increase the number of American visitors, although it's not clear by how much. Many of the air routes are currently used by expensive charter flights that are largely expected to go out of business with the advent of regularly scheduled service from the U.S.

Hundreds of thousands of Cuban-born Americans fly to the island each year with the chaotic, understaffed charter companies, which require four-hour check-in waits and charge high rates for any luggage in excess of restrictive baggage allowances. Americans without ties to Cuba have found it hard to negotiate the charters, most of which don't accept online bookings or help travelers navigate the federal affidavit still required for U.S. travelers to Cuba.

Cuban officials insist the continuing U.S. ban on tourism will limit the impact of commercial flights to Cuba, but some experts believe the drastic reduction in the difficulty of flying to Cuba could turn the surge in U.S. visitors into a tidal wave. Americans are allowed to visit the island on "people-to-people" cultural and educational visits, among other reasons.

Americans who fit one of 12 categories will now be able to fill out a federal affidavit by clicking a box on an online form and, in many cases, buy their Cuban tourist visa near the check-in counters of U.S. airports. Within weeks, Americans will be able to fly direct from cities including Chicago, Philadelphia and Minneapolis, Miami and Fort Lauderdale to eight Cuban cities and two beach resorts.

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Hurricane weakens as it nears Hawaii's Big Island

HILO, Hawaii -- Merchants boarded up shop windows Wednesday along Hilo Bay, and shoppers snatched supplies of food and water from grocery store shelves as what could be the first hurricane to hit Hawaii in a quarter-century neared the island.

The National Weather Service said Hurricane Madeline had weakened but remained on track to hit Hawaii's Big Island early Thursday.

Officials urged residents to expect hurricane conditions and to take steps to protect themselves and their property.

"Hopefully our roofs stay on, and our houses don't float way or get blown away," said Big Island resident Mitzi Bettencourt, who boarded up walls of glass windows at her brother's oceanfront home. "It's like, 'Oh my God, are we going to get flattened or what?'"

Elsewhere, the National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Hermine had formed in the Gulf of Mexico and was centered about 400 miles from Tampa, Florida. It was expected to pick up speed and approach the northwest Florida coast Thursday afternoon. A warning was dropped about a tropical depression that had been moving toward North Carolina.

In Hawaii, Peggy Beckett, a retiree and beekeeper, stopped at a Hilo supermarket to pick up onion bagels, cheese, cold cuts and salad to add to her canned food at home. She also has a cooler with ice plus a portable burner and batteries to get her through the storm.

Noting the lines of people at the market, Beckett said people were getting prepared but weren't panicking.

"There's always a lot of disbelief on the island that the storms will really be as big and bad as forecast," she said, noting that she and her partner had taken precautions to protect their beehives.

Hurricane Madeline has been downgraded to a Category 1 storm. It was about 140 miles southeast of Hilo early Wednesday — with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph — and on track to skirt or hit the southern edge of the Big Island, an area that features ranches, small towns and Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park.

Bettencourt manages several vacation rental properties and her own home sits a few blocks from the ocean. She and her neighbors were stocking their pantries, stowing lawn furniture and preparing for power outages.

"If they're not prepared now, they should get prepared fast," said Chevy Chevalier, a meteorologist with the weather service.

The previous hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii was Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which hit Kauai, Chevalier said.

A second Pacific hurricane, called Lester, was far from Hawaii, and expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it passes the state.

Gov. David Ige has issued an emergency proclamation for both storms, allowing the state to quickly spend money. Schools were closed and about a dozen facilities were outfitted as emergency shelters.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Oahu this week. The White House was tracking the weather but didn't anticipate changing Obama's schedule.

The Hawaiian islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai were under a tropical storm watch, but there were no alerts for Oahu or Kauai.

On the Big Island, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was closing some areas, including a coastal lava viewing site.

The U.S. Coast Guard asked crews of barges and ships to prepare to leave Hilo Harbor and told ocean-going vessels to seek sheltered waters until storm conditions subside.

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US set to destroy big chemical weapon stockpile

DENVER -- The U.S. Army plans to start operating a $4.5 billion plant next week that will destroy the nation's largest remaining stockpile of mustard agent, complying with an international treaty that bans chemical weapons, officials said Wednesday.

The largely automated plant at the military's Pueblo Chemical Depot in southern Colorado will begin destroying about 780,000 chemical-filled artillery shells soon after this weekend, said Greg Mohrman, site manager for the plant. He declined to be specific, citing security concerns and possible last-minute delays.

Robots will dismantle the shells, and the plant will use water and bacteria to neutralize the mustard agent, which can maim or kill by damaging skin, the eyes and airways. At full capacity, the facility can destroy an average of 500 shells a day and is expected to finish in mid-2020.

The depot has already destroyed 560 shells and bottles of mustard agent that were leaking or had other problems that made them unsuitable for the plant.

Those containers were placed in a sealed chamber, torn open with explosive charges and neutralized with chemicals. That system can only destroy four to six shells a day.

The shells stored at the Pueblo depot contain a combined 2,600 tons of the chemical. They are being destroyed under a 1997 treaty.

Irene Kornelly, chairwoman of a citizens advisory commission that Congress established as a liaison between the public and the plant operators, said her group had no remaining safety concerns.

The Army stores an additional 523 tons of mustard and deadly nerve agents at Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky. Blue Grass is expected to start destroying its weapons next year, finishing in 2023.

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Lawmakers say FEMA too slow to set up mobile homes

BATON ROUGE -- State lawmakers Wednesday lambasted the pace of mobile home setup for flood victims, saying it's unacceptable that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has moved only one manufactured housing unit into a yard nearly three weeks after the catastrophic flooding.

Rep. Clay Schexnayder, a Republican who represents areas of hard-hit Ascension and Livingston parishes, criticized the FEMA mobile home program at a House homeland security committee meeting. He said it is slowing people's ability to repair their damaged homes.

"We're not expediting it fast enough to get these trailers in place. I'm confused as to why it's taking us so long to do that," Schexnayder said. He added: "Having one trailer set up so far out of all of this, one trailer, where I'm from I don't call that satisfactory at all."

The mobile homes are larger and require more preparation than the heavily-maligned FEMA trailers moved into Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which were derided as cramped and toxic with formaldehyde.

"These are not easy units to install," FEMA regional director Gerard Stolar said of the manufactured housing units that have replaced the travel trailers.

Stolar didn't offer a timeline for when more mobile homes might be installed in homeowners' yards, but said several storm victims have been approved for the units. He said after site inspection and approval for a unit, installation of a mobile home can take up to a week, requiring utility hookups and extensive setup.

After hearing the preparation and site work required, Rep. Rodney Lyons, D-Harvey, replied: "This is almost like home construction."

Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration hopes more people will take advantage of a separate "shelter at home" program that provides grants of up to $15,000 so people can make modest, quick repairs that allow them to live in their houses as they do the larger reconstruction work. Thousands have applied for the program so far.

State officials said they expect to have crews working on "shelter at home" repairs as early as Friday.

Rep. Cedric Glover, D-Shreveport, suggested FEMA might want to revisit its decision to scrap the Katrina-era travel trailer since the larger mobile homes take so long to install.

Also Wednesday, FEMA issued a news release urging recipients of various forms of government disaster aid to make sure they use the money properly. The agency said more than $202 million in individual assistance aid is already in the hands of flood victims.

Purposes for the grants and loans vary but may include emergency housing repairs, temporary housing or other disaster-related expenses.

"A letter explaining a payment's purpose will arrive within a day or two of the check or direct deposit payment," FEMA's release said. "If survivors use payments on anything other than their intended purpose, they may have to repay those funds - and might not be able to receive future disaster assistance.

Government agencies aren't the only ones offering help to flood victims.

The New Orleans Opera Association and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra are giving a concert next Thursday evening to benefit south Louisiana public schools, arts organizations and artists affected by the floods.

Among the charitable efforts planned are a Sept. 8 concert by the New Orleans Opera Association and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra to benefit public schools and arts organizations hit by the floods.

Also, The Advocate of Baton Rouge reports (http://bit.ly/2bRwGLk) that he charitable Baton Rouge Area Foundation, has distributed more than $1.6 million so far to local nonprofits helping people affected by the floods.

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Africa's elephants rapidly declining as poaching thrives

HONOLULU -- The number of savanna elephants in Africa is rapidly declining and the animals are in danger of being wiped out as international and domestic ivory trades drive poaching across the continent, according to a study released Wednesday.

Africa's savanna elephant population plummeted by about 30 percent from 2007 to 2014 and is declining at about 8 percent a year, said a survey funded by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen.

"If we can't save the African elephant, what is the hope of conserving the rest of Africa's wildlife?" elephant ecologist Mike Chase, the lead researcher, said in a statement. "I am hopeful that, with the right tools, research, conservation efforts and political will, we can help conserve elephants for decades to come."

The aerial survey covered 18 countries using dozens of airplanes to fly the equivalent of going to the moon and partway back. The study, known as the Great Elephant Census and involving 90 scientists, estimated a population of 352,271 savanna elephants.

Overall, researchers spotted about 12 carcasses for every 100 live elephants, indicating poaching at a high enough level to cause population decline. But the rates were much higher than that in some countries.

Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania experienced greater population declines than previously known, and elephants face local extinction in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Zambia, the study said. It also says numbers of elephants in South Africa, Uganda and parts of Malawi and Kenya were stable or partly increasing.

Results of the study were announced ahead of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress in Honolulu.

Allen, who provided $7 million for the effort, said he decided to launch the census after hearing three years ago that there had not been a comprehensive count of African elephants in decades.

"I took my first trip to Africa in 2006 and have been fascinated by elephants ever since," he said. "They are intelligent, expressive and dignified — but not to be underestimated. So, as this latest poaching crisis began escalating, I felt compelled to do something about it."

The research team used the limited existing data as a baseline for the study. But this survey is more comprehensive and will serve as a more reliable baseline for future observations, the team said.

Its methodology involves manually counting animals while maintaining a specific altitude and following calibrated strips of land below the plane. The method is widely used for surveying animals on large plots of land and was the most accurate method of three tested on a known population in Africa, Chase said. The team also used video surveillance when counting big herds.

Ivory trading that threatens elephants is banned internationally. But the domestic trade of ivory within countries is legal nearly everywhere.

A motion being considered at the Hawaii conference seeks to change that by gaining international consensus to close all domestic ivory markets, noting that illegal killing of elephants for their tusks threatens national security, hinders economic development and endangers those tasked with protecting the animals.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced their commitment last year to combatting wildlife trafficking. The leaders promised to work toward a nearly complete ban on ivory imports and exports and an end to the domestic ivory trade.

The decline in savanna elephants, like the dwindling numbers of African forest elephants, is directly tied to criminal poaching activities, some with ties to terrorist groups, according to Washington's nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency.

"Trade in ivory has been a driver of destabilization wherever it occurs in Africa," agency President Allan Thornton said.

Thornton said one-time auctions of stockpiled ivory to China and Japan in 2008 resulted in a spike in illegal poaching, and the rate of decline among Africa's elephants has been accelerating since.

In areas with a high rate of population decline, the savanna turns into an overgrown thicket devoid of grasslands that sustain other wildlife and becomes overrun by disease-carrying tsetse flies, said James Deutsch, director of Allen's Vulcan Inc. Wildlife Conservation.

Furthermore, that land becomes useless for tourism when the elephants are removed, he said.

"Once you remove elephants from parks, it becomes very hard to gain the political will to maintain those parks," Deutsch said.

U.N. Environment deputy head Ibrahim Thiaw said African nations are realizing that wildlife is worth saving because it brings in tourist dollars to fund education, health care and infrastructure.

"As depressing as these numbers are, I hope they act as a further spark for action and change," Thiaw said in a statement. "The Great Elephant Census tells us we must act, and now."

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Study: Ohio's abortion pill law led to worse health outcomes

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio's restrictions on the so-called abortion pill led to a higher rate of side effects, more doctor visits and additional medical treatment for patients, according to a new study.

The requirements cleared a Republican-controlled legislature in 2004, but legal challenges delayed them from taking effect until 2011.

Once implemented, Ohio's law initially required physicians administering mifepristone to follow outdated protocols for the abortion drug, originally known as RU-486. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's guidelines at the time contained a higher, more expensive dosage of the drug. It's prescribed along with a second drug, misoprostol.

The FDA revised its protocol in March, allowing Ohio providers to update their practice.

Supporters of the Ohio law had argued it would help protect women's health by mandating a federally approved protocol. But the study, led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, suggests the opposite.

"There is no evidence that the change in law led to improved abortion outcomes," according to the results published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine.

State Rep. Tom Brinkman, a Cincinnati Republican who pushed for the law, had said he feared clinics were "passing these things out like candy."

"I'm not a scientist, but I don't see what's wrong with going with what the FDA says," he told the AP in 2005 during a court fight over the law. "The FDA does all the research, and we abide by it."

The study compared years before and after Ohio's law was in place.

Researchers analyzed chart data from 2,783 women who obtained a medical abortion from four Ohio clinics between 2010 and 2014.

They found that after the law, there was an increase in the percentage of patients who required additional medical treatment to complete their abortions. Medical interventions rose to 14.3 percent compared to 4.9 percent before law. Such treatment included repeat dosages of the drugs, blood transfusions and surgery.

The rate of women reporting at least one side effect also increased to 15.6 percent from 8.4 percent.

Medical abortions at the clinics involved in the study dropped after the law — from 22 percent of all abortions in 2010, to 5 percent in 2014.

"Health care legislation really should be based in scientific evidence," said Ushma Upadhyay, the study's lead author, in an interview. "Laws that affect anybody's health, really, should evaluate the clinical evidence before being enacted."

Under the new FDA-approved label, a smaller dose of mifepristone can be used up to 70 days after the beginning of the last menstrual period instead of the 49-day limit in effect under the old label. Also, the second drug in the protocol, which follows a day or two later, can be taken by a woman at home and not be required to be administered at a clinic, reducing the number of office visits a woman must make.

The study's results aren't surprising because Ohio providers had to return to older protocols that had since advanced in practice, said James Trussell of Princeton University. He had no role in the study but researches reproductive health and contraception.

"They were performing evidence-based medicine that was not in the label, and they had to go back to the label," Trussell said.

Often, doctors change how they prescribe old drugs as new research is reported in scientific journals, something that typically happens well before the FDA changes the official labeling. But Ohio's law prohibits any of the so-called off-label use of abortion-inducing drugs. Similar laws are in place in North Dakota and Texas.

"Just as what happened before, there will be advances made that are not in the label," Trussell said. "Providers in Ohio won't be able to follow it."

The California researchers were joined by one researcher from Ohio State University, and another from Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The study was supported by a research grant from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which had no role in the research.

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Fewer students enrolled in Louisiana's public colleges

BATON ROUGE -- Enrollment in Louisiana's public higher education system has dropped by about 4.4 percent in a five-year span.

The Advertiser (http://bit.ly/2bQua7W ) reports that enrollment has dropped by about 10,000 students in five years — from roughly 225,000 in 2010 to 215,000 in 2015.

During that time, schools have significantly raised tuition and fees as well as cut costs through eliminating programs.

"We've had to increase tuition and fees and really ... we're out-pricing our market," said Ray Belton, president-chancellor of the Southern University System since July 1, 2015.

The Southern system, the smallest system in the state, lost 958 students or 6.8 percent in five years. It has more than 13,000 students in four schools, down from 14,019 in 2010.

According to CollegeBoard, average tuition and fees for in-state schools went from $4,733 in 2010-11 to $7,871 in 2015-16. That's a 66-percent increase in tuition and fees.

Belton said there are students with an outstanding balance by the spring semester who just can't afford to stay.

"We are now very sensitive to the cost of enrollment, and we hope to start reversing that trend of tuition increases," Belton said. "This year alone we're looking at out-of-state tuition. We made the decision to reduce it by $1,000 with the aim, moving forward, to not charge more for out-of-state."

Schools in the Louisiana Community & Technical Colleges System saw tuition hikes for several consecutive years. This coming school year will be the first time since 2008 that LCTCS students won't see an increase.

And from 2010 to 2015, the system dropped about 10 percent, losing 7,373 students to about 66,000.

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Bucs beat Saints in season opener

Barbe used a strong start and a big third-set comeback to defeat the Saints 25-11, 22-25, 26-24 and 25-22 in a tightly contested season opener Tuesday night at St. Louis Catholic High.

After dominating the first set, the Bucs (1-0) squandered a big lead in the second set before erasing a late 11-point deficit to steal the third and closing the match out in the fourth set, despite the best efforts of a pesky Saints (0-1) squad.

“St. Louis fought and they went after everything,” said Barbe head coach Katie Franks. “They had heart and they had hustle. They weren’t giving up at all. That’s exactly what they have to do and that’s what we need to do. We need to learn from that as well.”

Barbe cruised to an early first-set victory, tallying 11 of the last 14 points of the set and taking it 25-11.

It seemed the Bucs had the match well in hand as they carried the momentum into the second set to take 10-2 lead.

But the Saints battled back, tying the set at 15 apiece before taking the set 25-22 and the momentum.

“That was the epitome of the drills we’ve been running,” said St. Louis head coach Elizabeth Thompson. “It made me feel good as a coach that we’ve been working on that, and they could come out here accomplish that.”

St. Louis seemed well on its way to a 2-1 advantage as it rattled off nine consecutive points to take a 21-10 lead in the third set.

Barbe mounted a comeback, however, and went on 16-3 run to steal the set 26-24 and regain control of the match.

“We showed a lot of heart, especially in that third set when we fought back,” Franks said. “I just kept telling them to play one point at a time. No matter how far you’re down, you just have to play one point at a time and keep playing.”

Bucs senior middle blocker Koko Daniels tallied five kills in seven points at one point during the rally.

“Koko was definitely a big factor,” Franks said. “She’s our best hitter right now. We just have to get everybody on the same page being more consistent with everything.”

The fourth set came down to the wire. With the set tied at 22-all, Barbe scored the last three points to take set 25-22 and the season-opening victory.

The Bucs won’t have much time to celebrate, however, as they return to the court today to host four-time defending Division II state champion St. Thomas More.

“It’s a big game,” Franks said. “We have to be more aggressive and we have to play defense and control the ball. If we keep rallies going, they’re going to get tired, and we just have to keep playing. It is a big game, but we’re going treat them just like any other team.”

 

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Longtime publisher for Cameron, DeQuincy newspapers dies

Jerry Wise, longtime publisher, editor and co-owner of the Cameron Parish Pilot and DeQuincy News, died Monday. He was 87.

DeQuincy Mayor Lawrence Henagan called Wise an “icon who will be truly missed.”

“He was a classy guy who I had a lot of respect for,” said Henagan. “He loved DeQuincy and the people in it.”

Henagan said there were times Wise would refuse to print a letter to the editor knowing it would “start some turmoil” in the small town.

“I respected him for that because sometimes people will print something that will stir things up and sell some papers,” he said. “But Jerry knew DeQuincy was a small town and he had DeQuincy at heart.”

The mayor also said that Wise was someone he would occasionally call on to get his thoughts on an issue. “He was a person who would give you an honest opinion about what he thought was best for the town,” he said.

Wise began his career in journalism after graduating from Northwestern State University in 1949 when he worked three months at the Daily Iberian. He followed that with consecutive one-year stints at the Southwest Citizen and Shreveport Journal. In 1951, his brother, Erbon Wise, bought the Southwest Builder, and he edited that paper for five years.

In late 1956, Jerry and his wife, Joy Nell Butler Wise, saw an opportunity for a newspaper in Cameron Parish and established the Cameron Parish Pilot. The first edition was published Friday, Oct. 5, 1956. They also established the weekly Westlaker in Westlake but sold it nine months later.

In 1965, the Wises bought the DeQuincy News from Francis and Vera Massingill — publishers from 1925 to 1965. The newspaper, established in 1923, is one of the oldest businesses in DeQuincy.

Aside from the work he did with his own newspapers, Wise was active within the industry and the DeQuincy community. He was a member of the Louisiana Press Association for more than 50 years and served as its president for the 1976-77 term.

Wise was a member of the DeQuincy Rotary Club, the DeQuincy Chamber of Commerce, the Supper Club and DeQuincy Masonic Lodge 279. He served on the Calcasieu Parish Library Board and the Erbon & Marie Wise Trust Foundation, which provided journalism scholarships.

Jerry and Joy Wise served as grand marshals for the 1990 Louisiana Railroad Days Festival parade in DeQuincy and were honored as Distinguished Persons of the Year by the DeQuincy Chamber of Commerce in 2005.

 

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Budget of $73 million proposed for LC

Lake Charles’ proposed operating and capital budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year reflects ongoing growth in the region and the demands it has placed on city services. Mayor Randy Roach said the $73 million proposed budget, which includes a $200,000 surplus, is “relatively balanced” overall.

Roach said the region continues to be a market leader in the state when it comes to attracting new businesses. In Southwest Louisiana alone, there is $43 billion worth of construction projects underway. Roach said the area has also seen 60 straight months of job growth.

“When you compare that to statewide, where there has been a decrease in job growth, you can see how fortunate we are,” he said.

He went on to say that while the growth is beneficial to the area, a “tremendous demand” has been placed on services like water, sewer, fire, police, and parks and recreation.

Water and wastewater have been two of the city’s more significant investments over the last few years and the issue remains prevalent in the city’s current proposed budget. Lake Charles is in the midst of making its largest investment into wastewater with the $42 million rehabilitation of Treatment Plant B/C. The project is not included in the current proposed budget.

“These are big-ticket items. You have to spend money on these things,” Roach said.

Mixed in with the work are the city’s yearly improvements to wastewater collection basins, an initiative Roach described as “labor intensive.”

“It’s renovating an existing system. It’s like putting a new roof on a house,” he said.

To help fund some of the future infrastructure improvements, Roach said the city will be relying on the renewal of a one-cent sales tax and several millages. The sales tax was originally approved in the late 1980s and has been renewed by voters ever since.

“That one-cent sales tax would generate about $25 million per year. You can get just an idea, when you have this budget, you get an idea of how important that sales tax really is,” Roach said.

City Finance Director Karen Harrell discussed the city’s $68 million in general fund expenditures, a majority of which are directed to operating expenses related to city police, fire and public works.

Harrell said retirement contributions to some of the departments remain a significant part of the city’s expenses. In 2009, the city’s contribution was right at $2 million. It increased in 2010, and now the current fiscal year has a budgeted contribution of just over $6 million.

Harrell said the expenses highlight the need for the city to renew the one-cent sales tax since 48 percent is dedicated to the general fund, 16 percent to wastewater, 8 percent to recreation funds, and 28 percent to the capital budget.

“It’s very important that we stress to our citizens that it’s a renewal. There are no new taxes,” she said. “It’s important. Those revenues are budgeted 100 percent as though they are renewed.”

City Administrator John Cardone discussed the nearly $33 million proposed capital budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. He said that with the rehabilitation of Plant B/C not included in the document, the city’s capital expenses for wastewater and water is roughly $14 million, while streets and drainage is around $10 million.

A large portion of the funding for the projects comes from a sales tax and money generated by gambling.

The city’s proposed authorization schedule for wastewater and water projects includes work on a wastewater basin, and a power center lift station and force main project, according to the budget.

In the budget, the city has also set aside funding for a new 9-million-gallon water plant in southeast Lake Charles. Cardone said officials have been having conversations with the parish to extend water service to certain areas outside of Lake Charles.

“We recognize that we’re going to have to expand capacity for our water system,” Cardone said. “We started to put money aside in order to do that for a new water plant. With all of the capacity that’s taking place with the new casinos and developments in the area, it’s starting to get to be a little bit more of a challenge.”

With the detailed budget being presented to the council, Roach said the city still has issues on the horizon that need to be taken into account. He said changes in the Affordable Care Act will require the city to acknowledge new eligibility standards. While there are no firm numbers as of yet, Roach said the new rules could cost the city between $300,000 and $500,000 per year. He also said the city’s retirement contributions will continue to be a category that needs to be monitored.

 

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Kinder-Jennings rematch: Bulldogs last team to beat Yellow Jackets

Kinder came up a few inches short against Jennings last year, losing a season-opening game 41-40.

The Yellow Jackets haven’t lost since, rolling to 14 consecutive wins and the Class 2A state championship.

Kinder gets a chance to avenge that loss Thursday night when it visits Jennings.

The game pits one of the state’s most successful programs against one of the state’s top players.

The Yellow Jackets are 42-3 — with three consecutive 14-1 seasons — since Bret Fuselier took over as head coach. Each of the last three seasons have ended in the Superdome with two state championships.

Jennings features running back Travis Etienne, who was named the Class 3A Offensive MVP last season after running for 2,901 yards and scoring 47 touchdowns. He ran for 259 yards and scored five touchdowns against Kinder.

“This is a great high school matchup in any classification game, this is a fan’s matchup,” said Jennings head coach Rusty Phelps. “Both schools have a lot of history and pride in their programs. Hopefully we can get out there with our young guys and battle with them.”

Jennings beat Sam Houston 7-3 in its jamboree last week. Kinder posted shutouts against Oberlin and Oakdale at the Allen Parish Jamboree.

“It was good. We started four new guys on the offensive line, including two sophomores,” Phelps said of the jamboree win. “We got better there. That was a big concern of ours coming in. We are not there yet, but we got better last week against a 5A team that had several starters back on defense.”

Phelps said he was pleased with the progress shown by the Bulldogs defense, which struggled last year.

“Putting those guys in the fire, we had eight sophomores we played with. They have gotten better, they understand what we are doing,” Phelps said.

“Against Barbe (in a preseason scrimmage) and Sam Houston we tackled better,” he said. “Hopefully that continues and we continue to grow on defense. I don’t think we are a finished product, but I saw some things last week that were pretty good for us. We had some kids making plays.”

Phelps said Kinder looks no different after losing a few top players from last year’s team.

“I know they graduated seven or eight guys, but it looks like they have just plugged in new guys,” he said. “They look like they are poised to be strong again in 2A. They played young guys defensively last year. Those guys got 15 games last year got better. They look like the same team from the past three years.”

Elsewhere Thursday night, Lake Charles College Prep will play its first home game, hosting Delta Charter at Cougar Stadium. The Blazers are coming off a jamboree win over Rosepine.

 

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JD Battle of the Bows Cajun Fiddle Competition to take place

JENNINGS — The second Jeff Davis Battle of the Bows Cajun Fiddle Competition will be 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 1 in the Strand Theatre, 432 N. Main St. Doors will open at 8 a.m.

“We want to give fiddle players in this area a chance to compete and showcase their talent,” organizer Doug Dugas said. “It’s also about preserving, promoting and handing down our heritage to our youth.”

This year’s competition will be dedicated to the memory of Cajun fiddler Arthur Leger, who died in March at the age of 95. Leger played on the Louisiana Hayride and recorded with numerous Cajun and country music artists.

“Each year we want to honor our legendary Cajun fiddlers of the past,” Dugas said. “It’s very important that we recognize them so that our youth will know the people that were instrumental in getting Cajun music going in our area and really making it happen.”

Both amateurs and professionals are urged to participate. Last year, 16 contestants from across south Louisiana competed for cash prizes and trophies. Dugas is hoping to see even more contestants this year.

“I think the fact that we are helping preserve Cajun music by passing it down to the youth is a big draw,” he said.

The competition is open to Cajun fiddle players of all ages and abilities. Categories are youth (age 12 and under), junior (ages 13-18), adult (age 19 and older) and professional (all ages).

A twin fiddling category has been added this year to replace the visitors category. Participants may enter the individual fiddle competition and participate in the twin competition.

“Ron Yule, a fiddle player from DeRidder who has been attending out acoustic jam sessions, suggested doing twin fiddling,” Dugas said. “I liked the idea, and I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

A panel of three judges from the Cajun music industry will judge the competition. The criteria will be Cajun music knowledge, accuracy of noting and intonation, along with all the other techniques involved in playing the fiddle Cajun style.

Each contestant will be required to play a Cajun waltz of their choice and a Cajun two-step of their choice as listed on the entry form.

There is no registration fee. Contestants can register in advance at cajunjam.org or by 8:30 a.m. on event day. Registration forms are also available at www.jeffdavis.org or by calling 821-5521.

 

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Aid may be available for flood victims who rent

Federal officials announced Monday that Louisiana renters whose property was damaged by recent flooding after Aug. 10 may qualify for help from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would provide disaster recovery assistance in the form of grants, while the SBA will offer low-interest loans.

Although renters in the Baton Rouge area suffered the heaviest flood-related losses, renters across the state who report their losses will be considered for funding, officials said.

One local area with renters that may need federal help is Lake Arthur, which received some of the worst flooding in Southwest Louisiana. The Lake Arthur Housing Authority, which manages low-income apartments, said eight of its properties suffered damage in recent flooding.

Agency director Karen Stokes said the eight families had “taken on water in their apartments” on Aug. 13 during a flash flood before the back-flooding that was expected to hit the area.

FEMA grants will cover a variety of expenses, such as flood-related medical bills, vehicle damage, property losses and rent payments on new property. The grants aren’t considered taxable income and won’t affect eligibility for other forms of federal aid, like Social Security and welfare assistance.

Those eligible for SBA loans will receive up to $40,000 to cover property repairs or replacements.

Renters may apply for federal funding at DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362. For more information on SBA loans, call 800-659-2955, email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or visit sba.gov/disaster.

 

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Bust of Leo Russell Keene III to be unveiled Saturday

Sulphur Mayor Chris Duncan has announced that the Military Veterans Fund has commissioned a bust in honor of Leo Russell Keene III to be placed in the Brimstone Museum. Keene died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

The bust, made by local artist Janie Stine LaCroix, will be unveiled by Allan Grimm, Keene’s stepfather, during a ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at 900 S. Huntington St.

“Leo Russell Keene III was born in Sulphur. His family has been a part of our city for a long time,” Duncan said.

“Russ lost his life on Sept. 11, 2001, but not before helping several of his co-workers escape the South Tower. He died a hero, and this bust will help his story to be told for generations to come.”

Keene’s mother, Susan Grimm, said he was an adventurous person, was honest and hardworking and “loved a challenge.” She said he considered a two-month backpacking trip in New Zealand to be one of the greatest things he had ever done.

Grimm said his family and friends were important to him and that “he truly cared about what other people had to say.”

When Keene went to New Zealand, Grimm said, he started collecting boomerangs. She said they symbolized for him that when you give to others in life, you will receive back. “He believed that what you do in life will determine who you will be when you no longer can choose,” Grimm said.

She said the bust is an acknowledgement by the town he was born and raised in and a show of appreciation for his heroism.

For more information, call Sulphur City Hall at 527-4500.

 

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Driftwood LNG reaches out to local community

As Driftwood LNG advances its outreach efforts within the local community, officials associated with the project are encouraging residents to continue bringing forth questions or concerns. The company provides mail, phone and email contact information on its website — driftwoodlng.com.

Documentation of past dialogue is included in the company’s filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Public comments have run the gamut this month from support to opposition, according to the filings. Company officials said the responses are the result of an extensive public outreach campaign. And in the months since the project was initially announced, Driftwood has communicated with hundreds of people through four open houses and several thousand more through letters, according to officials.

“We want to be a part of this community and as such we want honest feedback and have worked hard to swiftly answer inquiries that have come through via our website, phone lines and FERC comments,” Joi Lecznar, public affairs and communication representative for Tellurian Investments, owners of Driftwood LNG, said in an email.

The company’s multibillion-dollar LNG production and export terminal will be located south of Lake Charles and will consist of five plants exporting 26 million tons of LNG per year. Each plant will have one gas pretreatment unit and four liquefaction units.

Since Aug. 1, Driftwood has received letters of support from residents in Lake Charles, Westlake, Elton, Eunice and Iowa — all of which have been included in the company’s FERC filings. Several of the letters cited the project’s potential economic impact as being beneficial to the area.

Other filings consisted primarily of questions from residents affected by the facility’s construction. Two of the comments asked for more information about a pipeline affecting certain property boundaries.

Local activist Charlie Atherton has several comments listed in the company’s filings with FERC. Atherton said he has been in contact with the company since the project was announced months ago, and while he still has unanswered questions, he has occasionally been provided responses with updated information.

Atherton said the open houses, which company officials said took place in Sulphur, Oberlin, Eunice and Lake Charles between July 18 and July 21, were of little help to landowners. Atherton credited FERC officials with providing accurate information about the project and encouraging him to e-file his comments “so they may become part of the administrative record for the Driftwood LNG Project.”

Driftwood officials said the terminal’s construction will last seven years, beginning in 2018 and ending in 2025. The company is expected to file its formal application to construct the facility in March 2017, and pending regulatory approval, construction could start no later than March 2018.

In the questions and connections section of the Driftwood website is an area where residents can sign up for email alerts and a monthly newsletter. Emails can be sent to info@driftwoodlng.com and general inquiries can be made by calling 832-962-4027 or 888-321-7260.

Landowners can submit inquiries by calling 855-327-9519 or emailing landowners@driftwoodlng.com.

 

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Former Facebook news curators say the story selection algorithm failed to improve over time and wasn’t ready to be released

You might have heard: Trying to get rid of human bias in its trending topics, Facebook announced it would no longer longer employ humans to write descriptions for the section, but just three days after that announcement, the trending news section include a fake news story claiming Megyn Kelly had been fired from Fox News

But did you know: While Facebook’s move to automate its trending news feature seemed to be an effort to end controversy around allegations of liberal bias in the section, former members of the trending news team tell Slate that they understood that Facebook’s end goal was always to automate the story selection process. But those news curators also say that the software Facebook is using isn’t ready to be rolled out: The algorithm was supposed to improve over time, but a contractor who worked on the algorithm for over a year said, “I didn’t notice a change at all.”

+ Another former news curator predicted to Digiday that the trending news feature could go away entirely: “I think they are just going to get rid of the product altogether, because there is going to be backlash when people who do use the tool realize that the quality has gone down — unless there are severe algorithmic changes that improve the quality of the topics” (Digiday)

+ In the wake of the trending news section including a fake news story, Poynter’s Kelly McBride calls for Facebook to add a public editor to explain the company’s controversies from its point of view (Poynter); “False content often gives off great signals on Facebook,” Craig Silverman writes, and the elements of false or misleading content are often what makes it successful on Facebook (BuzzFeed News)

+ While in Italy on Monday, Mark Zuckerberg reiterates that he doesn’t see Facebook as a media company: “We are a tech company, not a media company,” Zuckerberg said in response to a question about whether Facebook would become a news editor (Reuters); Peter Kafka argues that’s not true, however: “When you gather people’s attention, and sell that attention to advertisers, guess what? You’re a media company” (Recode); In an academic paper published earlier this spring, Philip Napoli and Robyn Caplan explain why it matters when companies such as Facebook deny that they’re media companies (Social Science Research Network)

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How news organizations are taking advantage of Amazon’s Alexa

News is one of the core features of Amazon’s AI software Alexa, and news organizations are trying to figure out the best ways to use Alexa. So far, there’s two main ways news organizations can use Alexa: Flash Briefings and skills. In Flash Briefings, the user asks Alexa for their Flash Briefing, and Alexa will launch into pre-recorded updates from broadcasters, headlines from the AP, and weather info from AccuWeather. Through the Alexa phone app, users can also choose which updates they want to receive. “Skills” are installed by users, and can include asking Alexa for a specific piece of information — for example, The Washington Post built a skill for its summer Olympics coverage and another for its political coverage.

+ From last week: Publishers can now create audio apps for Amazon’s Alexa(Amazon)

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How a Lithuanian news site is using its journalists to get users to turn off ad blockers

Lithuanian news site 15Min.lt, the country’s second-largest news organization, is taking a new approach to getting users to turn off ad blockers. Rather than a pop-up message asking the reader to turn their ad blocker off, 15Min.lt is using its journalists to appeal to readers directly. 15Min.lt created 12 videos featuring members of its staff explaining why readers should either whitelist the site or pay a €1 per month fee. Plus, the videos are related to the articles the user is trying to read: If a user is trying to read a business story, they’ll see a video with 15Mint.lt’s business journalist.

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How Nextdoor implemented new features to reduce racist posts by 75 percent

“Erasing racism through technology alone is impossible,” Kashmir Hill writes, but neighborhood social network Nextdoor found that a few changes to its interface reduced the number of racist posts significantly. Those changes, which were rolled out to all of its users last week, include requiring users whose posts in the “crime and safety” section mention race to submit additional information — such as more information about what the person they’re posting about looked like or what they were wearing. Plus, Nextdoor added “racial profiling” as a category when users mark a conversation as inappropriate.

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How the rise of mobile could create a ‘a second-class digital citizenship’ of less informed news consumers

According to a new report from Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, the rise of mobile has a dark side that could lead to the creation of a less engaged, “second-class digital citizenship” made up of less informed news consumers. Somewhat paradoxically, the report’s research Joanna Dunaway says that smartphones are an imperfect tool for consuming news, due to their smaller screens, slower connection speeds and cost of data compared to desktops. Dunaway explains: “We found that, relative to computer users, mobile users spent less time reading news content and were less likely to notice and follow links and to do so for longer periods of time.”

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Journalists do read and respond to comments, new research from the Engaging News Project finds

New research from the Engaging News Project finds that journalists do actually read and respond to comments. Based on interviews with 34 journalists, all journalists interviewed said they read comments at least occasionally and two-thirds of those interviewed said they responded to commenters at least occasionally. And while some journalists were more enthusiastic about reading the comments than others, some of those interviewed said they found reading comments to be a regular part of their job: “It’s a way of finding out much more immediately how your work is being received,” one journalist said.

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Need to Know: Aug. 31, 2016

Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism

OFF THE TOP

You might have heard: Trying to get rid of human bias in its trending topics, Facebook announced it would no longer longer employ humans to write descriptions for the section, but just three days after that announcement, the trending news section include a fake news story claiming Megyn Kelly had been fired from Fox News

But did you know: Former Facebook news curators say the story selection algorithm failed to improve over time and wasn’t ready to be released (Slate)
While Facebook’s move to automate its trending news feature seemed to be an effort to end controversy around allegations of liberal bias in the section, former members of the trending news team tell Slate that they understood that Facebook’s end goal was always to automate the story selection process. But those news curators also say that the software Facebook is using isn’t ready to be rolled out: The algorithm was supposed to improve over time, but a contractor who worked on the algorithm for over a year said, “I didn’t notice a change at all.”

+ Another former news curator predicted to Digiday that the trending news feature could go away entirely: “I think they are just going to get rid of the product altogether, because there is going to be backlash when people who do use the tool realize that the quality has gone down — unless there are severe algorithmic changes that improve the quality of the topics” (Digiday)

+ In the wake of the trending news section including a fake news story, Poynter’s Kelly McBride calls for Facebook to add a public editor to explain the company’s controversies from its point of view (Poynter); “False content often gives off great signals on Facebook,” Craig Silverman writes, and the elements of false or misleading content are often what makes it successful on Facebook (BuzzFeed News)

+ While in Italy on Monday, Mark Zuckerberg reiterates that he doesn’t see Facebook as a media company: “We are a tech company, not a media company,” Zuckerberg said in response to a question about whether Facebook would become a news editor (Reuters); Peter Kafka argues that’s not true, however: “When you gather people’s attention, and sell that attention to advertisers, guess what? You’re a media company” (Recode); In an academic paper published earlier this spring, Philip Napoli and Robyn Caplan explain why it matters when companies such as Facebook deny that they’re media companies (Social Science Research Network)

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+ Noted: Tribune Media will sell its Tribune Tower in Chicago to a Los Angeles-based developer for $240 million (Chicago Tribune); President Obama will guest-edit Wired’s November issue (Politico), and he will be the first sitting president to guest-edit a magazine (Wired); Reuters launches a partnership with Graphiq to offer its members access to interactive data visualizations (Reuters); Twitter will share video revenue with individual content creators, offering 70 percent of ad revenue to creators (CNBC)

TRY THIS AT HOME

How news organizations are taking advantage of Amazon’s Alexa (Nieman Lab)
News is one of the core features of Amazon’s AI software Alexa, and news organizations are trying to figure out the best ways to use Alexa. So far, there’s two main ways news organizations can use Alexa: Flash Briefings and skills. In Flash Briefings, the user asks Alexa for their Flash Briefing, and Alexa will launch into pre-recorded updates from broadcasters, headlines from the AP, and weather info from AccuWeather. Through the Alexa phone app, users can also choose which updates they want to receive. “Skills” are installed by users, and can include asking Alexa for a specific piece of information — for example, The Washington Post built a skill for its summer Olympics coverage and another for its political coverage.

+ From last week: Publishers can now create audio apps for Amazon’s Alexa (Amazon)

OFFSHORE

How a Lithuanian news site is using its journalists to get users to turn off ad blockers (Poynter)
Lithuanian news site 15Min.lt, the country’s second-largest news organization, is taking a new approach to getting users to turn off ad blockers. Rather than a pop-up message asking the reader to turn their ad blocker off, 15Min.lt is using its journalists to appeal to readers directly. 15Min.lt created 12 videos featuring members of its staff explaining why readers should either whitelist the site or pay a €1 per month fee. Plus, the videos are related to the articles the user is trying to read: If a user is trying to read a business story, they’ll see a video with 15Mint.lt’s business journalist.

OFFBEAT

How Nextdoor implemented new features to reduce racist posts by 75 percent (Fusion)
“Erasing racism through technology alone is impossible,” Kashmir Hill writes, but neighborhood social network Nextdoor found that a few changes to its interface reduced the number of racist posts significantly. Those changes, which were rolled out to all of its users last week, include requiring users whose posts in the “crime and safety” section mention race to submit additional information — such as more information about what the person they’re posting about looked like or what they were wearing. Plus, Nextdoor added “racial profiling” as a category when users mark a conversation as inappropriate.

+ The potential problems with Facebook and WhatsApp sharing data: Facebook suggested that psychiatrist’s patients friend each other, likely because all of those people had the psychiatrist’s phone number, which was linked to her Facebook account (Fusion)

UP FOR DEBATE

How the rise of mobile could create a ‘a second-class digital citizenship’ of less informed news consumers (Nieman Lab)
According to a new report from Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, the rise of mobile has a dark side that could lead to the creation of a less engaged, “second-class digital citizenship” made up of less informed news consumers. Somewhat paradoxically, the report’s research Joanna Dunaway says that smartphones are an imperfect tool for consuming news, due to their smaller screens, slower connection speeds and cost of data compared to desktops. Dunaway explains: “We found that, relative to computer users, mobile users spent less time reading news content and were less likely to notice and follow links and to do so for longer periods of time.”

SHAREABLE

Journalists do read and respond to comments, new research from the Engaging News Project finds (Engaging News Project)
New research from the Engaging News Project finds that journalists do actually read and respond to comments. Based on interviews with 34 journalists, all journalists interviewed said they read comments at least occasionally and two-thirds of those interviewed said they responded to commenters at least occasionally. And while some journalists were more enthusiastic about reading the comments than others, some of those interviewed said they found reading comments to be a regular part of their job: “It’s a way of finding out much more immediately how your work is being received,” one journalist said.

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Just three days after removing human editors, Facebook’s trending news section included a fake story about Megyn Kelly getting fired from Fox News

On Friday, Facebook announced that it would no longer employ human editors for its trending news section; on Monday, Facebook’s trending news section included a fake news story claiming Megyn Kelly was fired from Fox News. The story about Kelly occupied the top spot on Facebook’s trending news section, a spot that supposed to include “automatically selected original news story with an excerpt pulled directly from the top article itself.” Even though the story was fake, Abby Ohlheiser writes, “one thing about this whole debacle is very believable, though: that the [Megyn Kelly] article was shared widely across Facebook,” showing flaws in Facebook’s trending news algorithm.

+ “What does it mean when [Facebook is] promoting blatantly false news and clickbait aggregation? How can legitimate news outlets operate in this environment when they are becoming increasingly reliant on Facebook? Do users even care that they’re being fed stories from sites of ill repute?” (Nieman Lab); Algorithms aren’t without bias, Christopher Groskopf writes, because human biases are inevitably written into the algorithm (Quartz)

+ Facebook says it’s working on ways to more accurately detect fake news now(Business Insider)

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Trying to get rid of human bias in its trending topics, Facebook will no longer employ humans to write descriptions for the section

You might have heard: Former Facebook news curators told Gizmodo they regularly suppressed conservative news from the site’s trending news section, butFacebook says it found no systematic bias in its own investigation

But did you know: Facebook will no longer employ humans to write the descriptions for its trending topics section, and has laid off the 15 to 18 people on its Trending team contracted through a third party, Quartz reports. Now, trending topics will appear as either a short phrase or single word with a number representing how many people are talking about the topic on Facebook. But, removing humans from trending topics doesn’t necessarily remove bias, Quartz notes: “Facebook’s primary reason for hiring human curators appeared to be to train their algorithms in what was newsworthy — and so it’s very likely their human biases were recorded and potentially amplified by the AI.”

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