Political Illusions of the Cajun Mafia

6/A6
A6 AMERICAN PRESS ThuRSdAy, SEPTEMbER 17, 2015
By Doris Maricle
dmaricle@americanpress.com
JENNINGS — Jennings
American Legion Hospital
is implementing a program
to recognize veterans during
their hospital stays.
“When veterans come in to
be admitted one of the questions
we always ask is if they
are a veteran,” said marketing
director Mindy Hetzel. “Now,
if they say yes, we will ask
them if they would like to be
acknowledged for their service
to the country during their
stay.”
Those wishing to be recognized
will be given a U.S. flag
decal on their identification
bracelet. The patient’s room
will also be identified by a
patriotic sign placed outside
the door.
“It’s a great connection for
the hospital with the location
of the (Southwest Louisiana)
veterans home and the number
of veterans we serve,” said
hospital CEO Dana Williams.
“I am glad we can be a part of
the special recognition to show
support for our veterans.”
Hetzel said several veterans
have accepted the special
down this week and now we
are working to salvage what is
left,” Dustin Chaisson said.
The group is hand cleaning
and separating thousands of
bricks from a pile of rubble
left from the dilapidated wall.
“We want to salvage all the
bricks and get them back into
the new design,” Benjamin
Chaisson said.
The brothers are shocked
at the number of good bricks
that the group has been able to
save. Portions of a north wall
will still have to come down,
they said.
Jeff Davis Arts Council
President Greg Marcantel said
the damage caused organizers
to change the plans for the
FROM PAGE A1 l LOCAL
American Legion Hospital honors veterans
CAMPUS
Continued from A1
funds left to build another
facility, but we convinced
our state agency to allow us
to take the money and start
renovating the campus.”
Aspinwall said most of
the sidewalks and landscaping
have been ripped
out and replaced, and new
gazebos are going up for
students who want to study
outside.
“All the buildings have
been painted, and there will
be new quad areas, new
bench seating,” he said.
“There will be sprinklers
so all the landscape looks
very nice. It’s going to be a
beautiful campus.”
Aspinwall said that
wasn’t always the case.
“I always tell people,
when I first came I didn’t
know if this was a campus
or airport. I didn’t know
where it started and where
it stopped,” he said. “It
really looks like a college
campus now.”
He said the new sidewalks
are also proving to be
an added health benefit for
students.
“I was walking upstairs
this morning where you can
look out the big window,
and I noticed a young lady
using our sidewalks for
exercise because now you
can go from (the arts and
humanities building) all the
way to the other end of the
campus continuously,” he
said.
“Before you had to get off
the sidewalk, walk through
the grass and the mud to get
to the buildings. Now it’s
like a trail.”
Aspinwall said one of the
original hangars on campus
will be getting a face-lift
in the coming months and
that construction on a new
student union building will
begin in November.
“There’s still a couple of
buildings that need a little
work to them, but we have
come so far,” he said.
recognition since the program
began on Sept. 1. “The veterans
we have served so far have
been emotionally touched and
very appreciative that we are
recognizing them like this,”
she said.
Karen Roy, community
outreach manager for program
sponsor Woodmen of the
World Life Insurance Society,
said the program is being used
by four hospitals and 10 nursing
homes in Louisiana. Seven
other hospitals are considering
starting similar programs,
she said.
Roy said the program to
building.
“We no longer think we will
be ale to rebuild the building,”
Marcantel said. “Now we are
hoping to create some kind of
public space in the center of
our Main Street district.”
He said architect Steve
Oubre has some “interesting
ideas” for the future project,
but did not elaborate.
Volunteers hope to incorporate
the arches, bricks and
black Carrar glass from the
original structure in the new
plans for the site. Three original
safes from the building
have also been saved.
“We want to keep the
spirit of the Heywood building
alive as a memorial to the
past,” Dustin Chaisson said.
“I am excited about the future
of this area, especially with
the new City Hall across the
honor veterans was the brainchild
of a nurse in St. Tammany
Parish.
“Her father was a patient
and he passed away in the
hospital so she draped an
American flag over his body
and had the staff do a moment
of silence,” Roy said.
“The employees thought
it was a great thing to do and
started thinking of how they
could get the program in
place.”
Woodmen Life provides
flags and financial support for
hospitals wishing to honor
veterans.
doris Maricle / American Press
christopher broussard, Dustin chaisson, Harrel chaisson and benjamin chaisson work
Wednesday to clean and separate bricks from a pile of rubble left from the dilapidated wall of
the Heywood building in downtown Jennings. Volunteers hope to use the bricks, remaining
arches and black carrar glass from the original structure to create a public space after a recent
storm destroyed plans to restore the building for office space.
HEYWOOD
Continued from A1
JINDAL
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the GOP presidential nomination
in 2016, sought to block
Democratic President Barack
Obama’s administration from
retaliating if Louisiana exits
Common Core.
Dick said Jindal didn’t
prove the state faces any
possible injury if Louisiana
decides to drop its use of the
multistate standards and testing.
“It fact, the alleged injuries
street. We all feel like it will be
better than before and something
the public can use.
“I think people are going to
be able to still recognize what
it was,” he said. “It will still
be the Heywood building for
many and something everyone
can be proud of. Something
that will still be here even
when we are gone.”
The Chaissons plan to
continue working to clean up
the site through the weekend.
Anyone wishing to volunteer
can show up at the site between
7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Efforts are also continuing
to help raise funds for the
project. To date, over $150,000
has been raised, but more is
needed, organizers say.
l
Online: www.savetheheywood.
com.
that Jindal anticipates, should
the state discontinue its use
of the (Common Core), appear
to be purely speculative
considering similar actions
taken by other states that have
not suffered the anticipated
consequences,” Dick wrote in
doris Maricle / American Press
Woodmen of the World Life insurance society local sales representative
ben monic, Jennings American Legion Hospital
ceO Dana Williams, Woodmen Life recruiting sales manager
ricky sonnier, Woodmen Life community outreach manager
Karen roy, Woodmen Life chapter 33 member ella Dartex and
hospital marketing head mindy Hetzel unveil new bracelets
and door tags used to identify veterans during their hospital
stays.
Man from 2014 drug
sting convicted
A 36-year-old man connected
with the drug sting known
as Operation 27 was found
guilty Tuesday of one count
of conspiracy to possess illegal
drugs.
William Joseph DeVillier,
one of more than 50 people
indicted in June 2014 on
cocaine-distribution charges,
was found guilty by Judge
Sharon Wilson.
Operation 27 was named
after Norvell Harris, who was
arrested for the 27th time.
Harris was indicted in June
2014 on 188 counts, with 159
being conspiracy to distribute
cocaine.
Sex offender fails
to pay required fee
A sex offender who failed
to pay a required registration
fee and failed to contact Lake
Charles police was arrested
Thursday, authorities said.
James Leo Washington Jr.
registered with officials on
Aug. 12 but was unable to pay
the fee, assessed on release
after a failure to register arrest,
said Deputy Chief Mark
Kraus.
Washington didn’t pay
within the 30 days allowed
and didn’t contact police,
Kraus said, so an arrest warrant
was issued.
Washington was convicted
of forcible rape in 1995 and
must register for life.
crime briefs
According to a news
release from the Calcasieu
Parish District Attorney’s
Office, DeVillier and Harris
sent text messages to each
other in March 2014 to set up
a place and time for DeVillier
to buy cocaine. The two met
on Prien Lake Road, where
authorities saw DeVillier get
into a car with Harris.
After DeVillier exited the
vehicle and left the scene,
officers followed him to a
location on Ryan Street and
arrested him. DeVillier will
be sentenced Oct. 16.
John Guidroz
Welsh woman jailed
on stalking charges
A Welsh woman was arrested
Wednesday on charges
that she harassed, stalked
and photographed someone,
the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff
’s Office said.
Felicia Ann
Fontenot, 40, of
418 Cooper St.,
was booked on
charges of cyberstalking
and
stalking. The
Fontenot
victim reported
the incident
earlier this month, Cmdr.
Chris Ivey said.
Fontenot is being held in
the parish jail without bond,
Ivey said.
her decision.
She also said the governor
didn’t prove “there is a substantial
likelihood of success
on the merits” in the lawsuit’s
broader effort to declare the
federal grant and waiver
programs illegal and unconstitutional.
In his lawsuit, Jindal
claimed the education department’s
actions forced states to
move toward a national education
curriculum in violation
of the state sovereignty clause
in the Constitution and federal
law.
COUNCIL
Continued from A1
that region were being “victimized.”
“We are not opposed to
progress. We are opposed to
an apartment complex sitting
smack dab in the middle of a
residential area, in this community,”
she said.
While the council was only
voting on the annexation of the
property and not the formal
approval of the apartment project,
Doug Burguieres, assistant
director in the city’s planning
and development department,
said the parish did recommend
stipulations to the council.
“During the review process
through the parish, the parish
staff recommendations for the
project included a drainage
study, traffic impact analysis,
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screening in the dumpsters, fencing
the development,” he said.
Councilman Rodney Geyen
told the crowd in attendance
that he would hope there could
be a reasonable conclusion
to the night’s discussion. He
recommended the council
postpone a decision until the
developer could hear more
from the community in the
Elliot Road area.
“There must be a happy
medium somewhere,” he said.
Council President Dana
Jackson said the developer
for the complex would have
a longer way to go before being
able to actually build the
units. For now, the council
was only voting to annex the
property, he said. He said the
annexation could benefit the
local economy in more ways
than one.
“We want the sales tax actually.
In order to grow,” he said.
“That’s the reason we can’t
get offers from big companies
coming in here to build restaurants
because of that fact that
we don’t have a 100,000 people
sitting in the city. I’m not voting
for the complex to be like
it is, but I am voting for the
annexation.”
Councilwoman Luvertha
August and Mary Morris
voted against the annexation
of the property. Morris then
abstained from voting on the
corresponding two ordinances
to classify the property as residential
and amend the city’s
official zoning map.
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